The deluxe edition of Lucinda William’s 2001 album, Blessed, was accompanied by a companion CD called The Kitchen Tapes. It features the same 12 songs, in the same order, but recorded as demos by Williams sitting in her kitchen with a guitar and a tape recorder.
Some of those songs ended up with similar acoustic treatments on the final album, but others (like today’s SOTD) became hard-edged rockers, highlighted by excellent supporting guitar work by Elvis Costello.
‘The Best of Everything’ is the final track on Tom Petty’s excellent 1985 album, Southern Accents.
Having always been a huge fan of this album, I was surprised to see that it received generally tepid critical reviews. Individual tracks receive high marks (‘Rebels,’ ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ and the title track, specifically) but the album as a whole was dismissed as an uneven hodgepodge.
I knew Jenny Lewis’ ‘Late Bloomer’ was the best song of 2014 before I’d even finished listening to it the first time.
It’s rare that I “get” a song after just one listen (let alone half of one) but this elegant snapshot of a young woman’s coming of age struck a nerve instantly.
For the second time since 2011, Miranda Lambert released my favorite album of the year. Platinum, like its predecessor, finds her at the peak of her powers, bending country music to her will, practically becoming her own genre.
The best song on an album full of great ones is ‘Priscilla,’ Lambert’s plea to the former Mrs. Presley for advice on how to manage a marriage in the spotlight.
Morning Phase, Beck’s unofficial sequel to his melancholy classic Sea Change, turned out to be every bit as good as its predecessor.
Filled with minor key ruminations on love, loss and rebirth, the record makes for one hell of a wallowing good time.
Meet Me In Montauk 