We continue our countdown to the best albums in 2018 and in this episode we announce two albums which share the title of the best one at The Little Lighthouse in the past year. I Am The Polish Army debut album My Old Man struck us with its great enthusiasm, musicianship, songwriting and playful performance. Harlan T. Bobo finally put out his record The History of Violence out on Goner, which just might be his greatest yet. Chip Kinman, along with the help of his son on guitar and his brother behind the knobs created a post-modern patchwork of an album with an astonishing amount of historical and rock references under the Ford Madox Ford moniker. Two ladies, Bat Fangs brought us a quick and powerful rock’n’roll album with hits going steady. Tony Molina on his Kill The Light is even more brief, but the brevity just makes you play the album over and over again. Bad Sports brought an excellent barrage of love punk rock tunes worthy of the greatest examples in the past. Patsy Gelb and her Rats compiled all those perfect singles from their inception on a single record, seriously contending Singles Going Steady as one of the strongest compilation records in the history of rock music. Schizophonics with their amps turned to the max gave us an album that floats like a perfect MC5 tribute. Mama Rosin teamed up with Mick Collins on a collection of cajun and zydeco chants. Ty Segall is as active as ever, but his main release this year entitled Freedom’s Goblin is one of the deepest he recorded yet. Krist Novoselic is back with Giants In The Trees. And that’s our top 10 this year! Looking back at that top 10, this was a really good year and we can only wish 2019 can be at least as good as this one.
Best Albums in 2018
01 I Am The Polish Army - My Old Man
01 Harlan T. Bobo - The History of Violence
02 Ford Madox Ford - This American Blues
03 Bat Fangs
04 Tony Molina - Kill The Light
05 Bad Sports - Constant Stimulation
06 Patsy’s Rats - Singles
07 The Schizophonics - Land Of The Living
08 Broadway Lafayette - Subway Zydeco
09 Ty Segall and The Freedom Band - Freedom's Goblin
10 Giants In The Trees
11 Cross Brothers ‎– Living On Sheepheads
12 Dream Machine - Breaking the Circle
13 Mia Dyson - If I Said Only So Far I Take It Back
14 Earthless - Black Heaven
15 Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs
16 Dommengang - Love Jail
17 Giant Sand - Return To The Valley of Rain
18 Anna Von Hausswolff - Dead Magic
19 David Nance Band - Peaced and Slightly Pulverized
20 Ruby Boots - Don't Talk About It
21 Tav Falco - Cabaret of Daggers
22 Ty Segall - Fudge Sandwich
23 Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys - Rot
24 Painted Doll
25 Kevin Gordon - Tilt And Shine
Cross Brothers – No White Mystery;
Giants In The Trees – Seed Song;
Ty Segall – Alta;
Broadway Lafayette – Angola Dreams;
Schizophonics – Put Your Weight On It;
Patsy’s Rats – More Than This;
Bad Sports – Constant Stimulation;
Tony Molina – Look Inside Your Mind_Losin’ Touch;
Bat Fangs – Fangs Out;
Ford Maddox Ford – Immediate Nico;
Harlan T. Bobo – Storied;
Harlan T. Bobo – Town;
Harlan T. Bobo – Paula;
I Am The Polish Army – You Don’t Know;
I Am The Polish Army – Setup;
I Am The Polish Army – My Old Man.
The highlight of today’s show is interview with Doris and Matthew Melton of Dream Machine. I decided to inspect their interesting histories. You can find out where they come from, how they got together, what got them to switch from love songs to more abstract themes, what equipment they use to make records and what in the world it all has to do with Yugoslav 70s rock. But that’s the second part of the show. The firs part introduces new music from Sick Thoughts, Bad Sports and Platinum Boys. From Greece, we hear the new tunes of their legendary band The Last Drive. Ty Segall, the most productive rock musician ever just finished yet another album this year and it’s one of those cover albums. Today we check out his cover of Dils’ Class War.
A ton of new things today. A lot of it comes from advanced downloads that artists made to promote their upcoming records, so search, stream and download. Amy LaVere and John Paul Keith have a new duet together called Motel Mirrors. Howe Gelb has a new tune that he recorded together with Will Oldham. City of Cool from Australia also have a new tune and so does Eamon McGrath. His new song Exile is meant to announce a three part series of eps that will eventually comprise his future LP. R. Stevie Moore has a new hilarious song as a support for Pussy Riot and he has a reissue of his 1978 record called Delicate Tensions. Alejandro and Javier Escovedo together with Jon Dee Graham reunited into True Believers and prepared a newly recorded song as an advance for their future new record. Talking about reissues, The Replacements are back together and I saw that over in Toronto. They sounded great and we have three songs bootlegged at the reunion show today. Two new exciting records are also out Bras by Bad Sports and Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere by Terry Malts. And Dirtbombs! Two new records, one with brand new records done in bubblegum rock style and the other – a compilation of B sides and singles.
The Replacements fans should pay special attention today. We have a new track for Paul Westerberg and also a new one for Chris Mars. Chris’ song is a part of an effort to raise fund for Slim Dunlap’s recovery after a severe stroke this February. And we also have Kevin Bowe, a musician from Minneapolis who collaborates with Westerberg on Bowe’s new record. Nels Cline is on guitar. We also have the brand new album for Natural Child. They already had one really good one earlier this year called For The Love Of The Game (we have a