Christian was working on this month’s column when he went to the hospital. He’d selected his four bands and gathered all the reviews, photos, photo credits, and videos. In honor of Black History Month, he included Black artists from his personal playlist. Christian selected Bartees Strange and Big Joanie because they are succeeding and creating unique music in genres not usually associated with Black artists proving talent can transcend any barrier. Finishing this article has been hard, but it is my honor to share the music he loved with you.
Christian would never allow me to include his photo with his column. He was self-conscious about the weight he’d lost in the last two years, so we used the Guitars instead. Here is one of the last photos he allowed me to take. He’s the redhead surrounded by his big brothers and his nephew. Did you know red hair and blue eyes are the rarest hair/eye combination in the world? It’s true and Christian was one of the rarest human beings I will ever know.
Two Hands is the fourth studio album by the band, Big Thief. It was released on October 11, 2019, through 4AD. Big Thief began work on this album in the desert at Sonic Ranch studio just outside of El Paso as soon as they completed work on their third album, U.F.O.F. in Washington State. Both albums were released in 2019 and the band refers to them as “Earth Twins.” U.F.O.F. has a light ethereal quality, but Two Hands is moody and much heavier. Two Hands features several songs they have played in concert but had never recorded, plus a few new songs written for the album. Instead of an intense studio session, the recording of this album seems to take the form of an impromptu jam session where the members of the band can be heard telling each other when to step back or take a solo. We’ve been invited into the creative process. It’s raw and real and lead singer Adrianne Lenker’s vocals are haunting yet insistent…a growling whisper or a desperate plea punctuated by a frantic guitar solo or the harmonies of her bandmates and their instruments.
My favorite songs on Two Hands are “Not” and “Forgotten Eyes.”
Lenker’s parents were part of a Christian sect and the family lived in a commune until she was six. She wrote her first song when she was 8 and recorded her first album at 13. At 16, she decided she wanted to go to college. Lenker, who never attended high school, passed her GED and was accepted to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. A scholarship provided by Susan Tedeschi of the Tedeschi Trucks Band made it possible for her to attend.
All four members of Big Thief attended the Berklee College of Music, but they didn’t become a band until after they had all graduated. Lenker met Buck Meek at a concert in Boston and their paths crossed again when she ran into him in a bodega the first day she moved to New York. They began to play and perform together before recruiting Max Oleartchik and James Krivchenia to form Big Thief. Lenker and Meek were married briefly and have remained friends and bandmates since their divorce.
The members of Big Thief include:
Adrianne Lenker (guitar and lead vocals)
Buck Meek (guitar and vocals)
Max Oleartchik (bass and vocals)
James Krivchenia (drums, percussion, and vocals)
Other albums by Big Thief:
Masterpiece (2016)
Capacity (2017)
U.F.O.F (2019)
Photo Credits:
Two Hands Album Cover:
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61507292
Big Thief:
By Rebecca Sowell - https://www.flickr.com/photos/154086798@N02/27945031328/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=81251433
Lenker:
By Martin Schumann / Wikipedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74806739
Meek:
Wikipedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74806733
Oleartchik:
Schumann / Wikipedia - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74806737
Krivchenia:
By p_a_h - https://www.flickr.com/photos/64654599@N00/32724342181/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56201843
Sources for information about Big Thief and Two Hands:
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/big-thief-two-hands/
https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/10/album-review-big-thief-two-hands/
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/oct/11/big-thief-two-hands-review-4ad-ufof-adrianne-lenker
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-ordinary-brilliance-of-big-thief
https://www.npr.org/2017/11/09/560267308/the-lore-of-big-thief
Live Forever is the debut studio album of Bartees Strange. It was released on October 2, 2020, for Memory Music. The genius of Live Forever is that it doesn’t try to be any specific genre or try to pigeonhole the artist in any way.
Bartees Leon Cox Jr. performs as Bartees Strange. Cox is an American musician born in Ipswich, England, and raised in Mustang, Oklahoma. His father was in the military and his mother was an opera singer. Cox’s father was stationed at several military bases in Europe before the family settled in Oklahoma.
He was raised in a home filled with a love of all genres of music, especially opera. Cox has been an active musician since 2010 when he performed with the Brooklyn based band, Stay Inside. He released his first solo project (the EP, “Magic Boy”) in 2017 under the name, Bartees & the Strange Fruit. In March 2020, he released an EP of songs by The National which he reimagined and called, Say Goodbye to Pretty Boy. He’s now based in Washington, D.C.
Two of Christian’s favorite songs from this album are “Kelly Rowland” and “Mustang.”
Photo Credits:
Live Forever Album Cover:
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66056120
Image of Bartees Strange:
https://www.facebook.com/BARTEESTRANGE/photos/3511516472279662
Sources for this article:
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/bartees-strange-live-forever/
https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/bartees-strange/live-forever-review/
http://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/bartees_strange_live_forever/
http://www.mtv.com/news/3170224/bartees-strange-interview-live-forever/
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/01/919100503/for-bartees-strange-everything-is-everything
Sistahs is the debut studio album by Big Joanie, a London-based punk band formed in 2013. Sistahs was released on November 30, 2018, on Thurston Moore and Eva Prinz’s Daydream Library Series label. They have recently signed with Kill Rock Stars in the United States. The band identifies as black feminist punk. Their lead singer, Stephanie Phillips was tired of the lack of intersectionality in the London punk scene. Many of the songs on the album address her frustration with being the token black performer or the token black friend to people within the mostly white punk music community. Their lyrics make it clear they aren’t asking for special treatment. They demand to be included based on their talents and will be leaving their mark on the genre.
Two of Christian’s favorite songs from the album are “New Year” and “How Could You Love Me?”
Members of Big Joanie:
Stephanie Phillips – guitar and lead vocals
Estella Adeyeri – bass guitar and vocals
Chardine Taylor-Stone – drums and vocals
Photo credits:
Sistahs Album Cover:
Taken from Bandcamp website for the purposes of this article with no intention of copyright infringement.
https://bigjoanie.bandcamp.com/album/sistahs
Image of Big Joanie:
Taken from Bandcamp website for the purposes of this article with no intention of copyright infringement.
https://bigjoanie.bandcamp.com/
Sources for Big Joanie article:
Review: Big Joanie's 'Sistahs' - Rolling Stone
The Quietus | Features | The Lead Review | Family Trio: Big Joanie’s Sistahs
King of the Beach is the third studio album by the American band Wavves. It was released August 3, 2010, by Fat Possum Records. The album is an excellent combination of punk ala Green Day and pure Beach Boys pop. Lead singer Nathan Williams can switch from gritty angst to falsetto without missing a beat. It’s a fun album that dares you to sing along and remember a carefree summer day.
Wavves was formed in 2008 in San Diego, California by Williams. After early success, Williams suffered a very public breakdown while on stage at the Barcelona Primavera Sound Festival and the band was unable to complete their set. King of the Beach is his comeback album… a sort of redemption anthem for this talented performer.
Fun fact – According to lead singer Nathan Williams, the album cover of King of the Beach is a cartoon version of his pet cat, Snacks.
Other Albums by Wavves:
Wavves (2008)
Wavvves (2009)
Life Sux (2011)
Afraid of Heights (2013)
V (2015)
You’re Welcome (2017)
Two of Christian’s favorite songs from this album are “King of the Beach” and “Take on the World.”
Members of Wavves for the album King of the Beach:
Nathan Williams – vocals, guitar, additional keyboards, drums
Stephen Pope – bass, baritone guitar, synthesizers
Billy Hayes – drums, keyboards, vocals
Photo Credits:
King of the Beach Album Cover:
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49530492
Image of Wavves:
By Christopher Dube - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15376040
Sources for Wavves article:
Wavves: King of the Beach Album Review | Pitchfork
Review: Wavves, 'King of the Beach' | SPIN
Album Review: Wavves - King of the Beach | Consequence of Sound