{"id":15730,"date":"2019-01-17T05:30:59","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T10:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=15730"},"modified":"2019-01-17T08:00:53","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T13:00:53","slug":"ashevilles-top-10-for-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/17\/ashevilles-top-10-for-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Asheville’s Top 10 for 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

2018 has brought forth a bumper crop of superb albums in every genre from artists local (or with strong connections) to Asheville and the surrounding region. Any of these 10 could arguably claim the top spot, and I can immediately think of at least 10 more that would easily warrant inclusion on the list. The pool of talent here is simply that good<\/em>. Presented in alphabetical order:<\/p>\n

Amandla \u2013 <\/b>Laughing Hearts<\/b><\/i><\/a>
\nTechnically, Laughing Hearts<\/em> had a soft release in 2017, but the vinyl version appeared in 2018. Mixing classic soul, rock and other forms, Claude Coleman (who\u2019s also the drummer in Ween) has crafted modern pop for the ages.<\/p>\n

Marley Carroll \u2013 <\/b>Flight Patterns<\/b><\/i> [coming soon; external link for now<\/a>]
\nA one-man-band project, Flight Patterns<\/i> hits the sweet spot between organic and synthesized. While Carroll\u2019s earlier releases were delightfully eclectic, bouncing from one style to another, this one is more fully realized and flows even better.<\/p>\n

Daydream Creatures \u2013 <\/b>Qalupalik<\/b><\/i><\/a>
\nIt\u2019s actually a delight for critics to discover an act that defies categorization. There are hints of everything from the Andrews Sisters to western swing to psychedelic rock and folk on Qalupalik<\/i>. And somehow all those disparate elements blend seamlessly into a satisfying whole.<\/p>\n

Doc Aquatic \u2013 <\/b>Shadowless Man<\/b><\/i><\/b><\/i><\/a> <\/b>
\nThe band\u2019s bassist Charles Gately calls the Doc Aquatic sound \u201cpsych rock, but with a pop sensibility.\u201d If you enjoy the music of Flaming Lips from before they seemed to run out of ideas, Shadowless Man<\/i> should be your next stop.<\/p>\n

Hearts Gone South \u2013 <\/b>Little Things<\/b><\/i><\/a>
\nThe success of albums like Hearts Gone South\u2019s latest may \u2013 if we\u2019re lucky \u2013 spell the beginning of the end for insipid, focus-grouped bro-country. This is the real deal: honky-tonkin\u2019 country and western, done with commitment and authenticity.<\/p>\n

Eleanor Underhill \u2013 <\/b>Navigate the Madness<\/b><\/i><\/a> <\/b>
\nOn her staggeringly superb solo debut, the co-front woman of Underhill Rose shows that her musical ideas are simply too wide-ranging to fit into the context of a single project. The wonderfully eclectic and appealing Navigate the Madness<\/i> is a triumph.<\/p>\n

River Whyless \u2013 <\/b>Kindness, A Rebel<\/b><\/i><\/a>
\nOn its third full-length, the group\u2019s early foundation in acoustic folk sounds now coexists comfortably with more modern (and sometimes electronic) textures. And the quartet hasn\u2019t made any compromises to reach this point.<\/p>\n

Nina Simone \u2013 <\/b>Mood Indigo: The Complete Bethlehem Sessions<\/b><\/i><\/a>
\nThe Tryon-born \u201chigh priestess of soul\u201d passed away more than 15 years ago, but this new set collects all of the sides she cut for Bethlehem Records. Better still, it\u2019s sourced from the original master tapes.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Wilson \u2013 <\/b>Rare Birds<\/b><\/i><\/a>
\nThese days he\u2019s based in California, and travels the world as Roger Waters\u2019 lead guitarist. But Wilson\u2019s Spindale upbringing colors his original music. Rare Birds<\/i> is the epitome of the rock artist synthesizing influences into something original.<\/p>\n

The Zealots \u2013 <\/b>Jawbone<\/b><\/i><\/a>
\nIt\u2019s impressive to sustain three concurrent creative careers \u2013 visual artist, country musician and rocker \u2013 and George Terry McDonald does it in style. Jawbone<\/i> is topical, intelligent and catchy roots-rock of the highest order.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2018 has brought forth a bumper crop of superb albums in every genre from artists local (or with strong connections) to Asheville and the surrounding region. Any of these 10 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,20,26,30,42,49,51,57,62,65,69],"tags":[3057,237,3058,3635,3508,3638,3623,3472,3411,3649,1597,2859,3650],"class_list":["post-15730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alt-country","category-americana","category-country","category-electronica","category-folk","category-jazz","category-new-release","category-pop","category-psych","category-rawk","category-review","category-soul","tag-amandla","tag-asheville","tag-claude-coleman-jr","tag-daydream-creatures","tag-doc-aquatic","tag-eleanor-underhill","tag-george-terry-mcdonald","tag-hearts-gone-south","tag-jonathan-wilson","tag-marley-carroll","tag-nina-simone","tag-river-whyless","tag-the-zealots","cat-4-id","cat-6-id","cat-20-id","cat-26-id","cat-30-id","cat-42-id","cat-49-id","cat-51-id","cat-57-id","cat-62-id","cat-65-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15730"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15931,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15730\/revisions\/15931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}