20. Various Artists — Rudy Reboots: WEIRD- A Ska Punk Tribute To Al Yankovic
A good concept can you get you a long way, and a ska tribute to Weird Al deep cuts is as good a concept as it gets. Are they hit and miss? Sure. But the amateur, fans-first quality here is part of the charm. Some of the tunes are legit terrific reinventions, like the stars of the show Local Legends skanking through “I’ll Remember Larry” and the excellently-named Llama Tsunami inventing klezmer-punk on “Nature Trail to Hell.” – Ray Padgett
19. Willie Nelson — Last Leaf On The Tree
I am uncertain what the 91-year-old Nelson is trying to prove, with this, his 153rd album, but, whatever it is, he succeeds. Part of that success is how he confounds his audience, each successive album being teased and touted as possibly his last, with titles and songs chosen to further still that sense. So is this his last leaf? Well, on the basis of this showing, I wouldn’t put any money on it. Always the consummate interpreter, this is mainly the songs of others, which is why we take such interest.
Not losing his preternaturally magpie ear for one moment, here he draws deep from a treasure chest that holds orthodox country fare alongside way more unexpected choices. Beck’s haunting “Lost Cause” may be the most surprising track here, although there’s also a song by the Flaming Lips. Elsewhere, a couple of Tom Waits songs, notably the shimmering title track; Warren Zevon’s aching “Keep Me In Your Heart,” even more wincingly poignant than the original; and a brace of Neil Youngs make up the impressive numbers. The take on the Buffalo Springfield staple, “Broken Arrow” is, however, either brave or foolhardy, depending on your stance.
There is one new Nelson song, a co-write with Micah, his son, who is also responsible for the feisty production job, bringing new sonic textures to Nelson’s palette. There is also an update of old Nelson favorite, “The Ghost,” which closes the set. If this is this year’s last leaf, I’ll bet there’ll soon be buds for next year. – Seuras Og
18. The Flowers Of Indulgence — Dylan’s Lost Songs, Vol. 1
If Bob Dylan wrote a grocery list, the odds are fifty-fifty that there’d be a cover of it by the end of next year. So when 2014’s The Bootleg Series Vol. 11: The Basement Tapes Complete came out, it was a treat to see so many peak-Dylan-era songs that weren’t just uncovered, they were unknown. But they were unknown for a reason; as The New Yorker wrote, “For every moment of revelation and synthesis, there are five throwaways.”
Those songs remained uncovered for another decade, until the Flowers of Indulgence decided to change that. Whoever they are (I’m fairly confident that lead vocalists Don Khan and Tiny Montgomery are using pseudonyms), they’ve taken scraps up off the floor and filled them out, inhabiting them with the spirits of Dylan and the Band. The songs are real songs now, with the only question being their vintage – 2024? 1967? My choice, like the others from that big pink well: timeless. – Patrick Robbins
17. Various Artists — Bad Monkey
I was surprised to see a bona fide Tom Petty tribute album as a soundtrack for a new television series, but it delivers as a stand-alone album with a stacked cast of artists contributing. With a whopping twenty covers, it’s a great album to dip in and listen to your favorite Tom Petty song or to hear your favorite artist’s take on a classic.
Some covers stay faithful the original, but if you are looking for some stand-out covers that have a bit more of a twist, don’t miss the contributions from the composers for the show, Jamie Jackson and WAZ, along with Marcus King’s mournful piano-bar style “The Waiting.” Jackson makes Mary Jane fit right in with the Cell Block Tango crowd of Chicago while WAZ brings cinematic, ominous, energy with big bells and slinky keyboard. – Sara Stoudt
16. Various Artists — Better Than Jail
The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, but 20% of the world’s prisoners. Statistics like these point to a need to reform the criminal justice system. To help shine a spotlight on this cause, Better Than Jail was put together to benefit Equal Justice USA and Free Hearts, two organizations designed to address the issue. Performers as storied as Steve Earle, Bonnie Raitt, and Taj Mahal lead the roster; all of them perform songs associated with prison, written by the likes of Bob Dylan, Merle Haggard, and Lead Belly. Steeped in country and the blues, Better Than Jail feels as American as American can be, with the talent clearly channeled to the cause. Pick cut: Lukas Nelson wedding all the hurt to all the hope in his performance of “I Shall Be Released.” – Patrick Robbins
15. Various Artists — Tonight I’ll Go Down Swingin’: A Tribute To Don Heffington
Heffington was many thing to many people, which explains the rich diversity of talent included here, to pay tribute to the drummer and sometime guitarist. With credits ranging from Emmylou Harris’s Hot Band to Texas country-rockers, Lone Justice, and working with Bob Dylan, Dave Alvin, the Jayhawks and Shelby Lynne, amongst many more, he passed in 2021, of leukemia. From that list, both Jackson Browne and Dave Alvin are here to tip their caps, along with Fiona Apple, Peter Case and Victoria Williams, plus many of musicians who shared his love for being and playing at L.A.’s Largo club. Highlights are many, not least as, like the man, no restrictions are placed upon the genres he could apply his playing to. Alvin provides an extended noirish take on “Avenue C,” all spoken word and skittering jazz-blues, with the Boltcutters then channeling Tom Waits for the sleazy “Crablice and Quaaludes.” Elsewhere, “Everywhere I Look” provides a tingly waft of pina colada fumes, with Browne at his smoothest best, and Apple, going all jazz chantoozie, is a delight on “Lately.” Further to the leftfield, some deranged honkytonk doowop gets offered up by Ramsay Midwood, for “That’s Hollywood,” possibly my favorite.
Heffington himself makes a couple of posthumous performances, notably the endearingly ramshackle live run-through, with his daughter Laura, of Van Morrison’s “Irish Heartbeat.” This, and the pleasure that seeps through the performances conjured up by his peers, all make for a surprising and uplifting listen. – Seuras Og
14. Aya Korem — שלך, א. כורם: הופעה חיה במרכז ענב לתרבות
The title translates to, roughly, Yours, A. Korem: Live Performance at Enav Cultural Center. If you recognize the phrasing on the first part, you can guess who it’s a tribute to. The final line in the “Famous Blue Raincoat” letter is a signoff: “Yours, L. Cohen.”
Israeli singer Korem translates 15 Cohen classics into Hebrew, accompanied simply by acoustic guitar and other vocalists. If you don’t speak Hebrew, you won’t be able to tell from the translated titles what song is what. But Cohen’s melodies are so sticky that you will recognize them immediately. As I wrote in my Cohen book, he particularly appreciated covers that translated his words into other languages, so as to reach non-English speaker. He’d love this album. – Ray Padgett
13. Various Artists — Long Distance Love: A Sweet Relief Tribute To Lowell George
Long Distance Love is the latest tribute album supporting the Sweet Relief Musicians fund. Lowell George was the lead singer and songwriter of the roots rock band Little Feat until just before his death in 1979. Little Feat’s sound incorporates blues rock, R&B, soul and country. George wrote his songs in these traditions but peppered them with little idiosyncrasies: lyrics regularly don’t fit the meter, or fail to rhyme; a little more rarely, the music utterly fails to follow established forms. So it’s fitting that this wide variety of artists have found such a wide variety of takes on his songs.
Some are fairly faithful to the originals but many stray far away in a way George would undoubtedly approve of. Ry Cooder’s son Joachim completely reinvents the funky “Cold Cold Cold” as a spacy jazzy track complete with skronking saxophone. Jonah Tolchin turns “Easy to Slip” into a groovy, soulful jam. Eleni Mandell and Milo Jones transform “Dixie Chicken” from New Orleans R&B to an acoustic blues ballad. Whereas someone like Dave Alvin just leans into the style of the original on “A Apolitical Blues.” It’s a diverse, fittingly idiosyncratic tribute to an idiosyncratic songwriter whose weird impulses hide behind genre exercises. – Riley Haas
12. Dana Gillespie — First Love
If you cast your mind back (or possibly your father’s), you’ll remember the name, possibly even the album cover, with which Gillespie is arguably best known: 1974’s Weren’t Born A Man. At the time, her relationship with David Bowie was understandably under wraps: they were teens at its inception, and remained friends and lovers for the next decade. Bowie’s song “Andy Warhol” was written for her; she included it on that album. She also sang backing vocals on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust. However, this was insufficient to have her then gain much personal chart traction.
Her latest album First Love is, in part, a deliberate trip back in time, and reflects her own personal tastes, as well as those of her production team, two old friends, Tris Penna, the Abbey Road studios production and A&R man, and Marc Almond, of “Tainted Love” fame. All but one of the songs are covers, the artists as varied as Bob Dylan, Morrissey and Lana Del Rey.
First Love opens with a mordant take on “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” transforming the Green Day song into a torch song triumphant. Sure, we all knew the melody classic and strong, but did even Billie Joe Armstrong sense the possibility of stretching it this far? Gillespie sounds purringly experienced and potent, with piano and a ghostly (mellotronic?) choir building the excess with aplomb. “Spent the Day in Bed” then takes Morrisey’s maudlin aspiration and runs it through a Golden Brown Stranglers channel, with surprisingly effective results. The inspiration already there, now it is overt. Matt Gest, Gillespie’s musical director and keyboards man, has already earnt his wedge, and we’re only two songs in. Yes, it gets a bit overwrought, as guitars howl in, but overwrought feels all part the MO. – Seuras Og [read full review]
11. Various Artists — Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense
Stop Making Sense, directed by Oscar-winner Jonathan Demme, was released in 1984 when the band was at its creative, harmonious best. Forty years after its release, the film company A24 polished up Stop Making Sense for a new generation, then celebrated further with the release of a new all-star tribute album, Everybody’s Getting Involved. The range of artists who have feelings for, and take inspiration from, the band is incredibly wide and diverse, which talks to the influence that Talking Heads still have. We are not privy to the brief A24 gave the artists, but you could summarize it as “How do the Talking Heads make you feel?”
The highlights of the album are those that encapsulate their feelings most movingly and eloquently. The Linda Lindas, on “Found a Job,” feel that they want to be a CBGB in its heyday in the Bowery. girl in red really wants you to know that her “Girlfriend is Better,” but that she has compulsions and fears. Thinking about David Byrne’s compulsions and fears has helped her express herself. DJ Tunez reminds you that Talking Heads make him feel incredibly cool. Toro y Moi feel that Tom Tom Club’s “Genius of Love” make them feel funky. None of them are wrong. There are beautiful, skillful, poignant highlights throughout. – Mike Tobyn [read full review]
