Dr. Spin's Top 20 for 2018 part 1: Missing the HEEB.

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. In lieu of the annual family trip down to the coast, which has grown prohibitively expensive, we stayed in a historic home in Gonzalez, Texas. The location was not as picturesque, but we were in no way lacking. In addition to the unexpectedly rich history of the town, there was the usual good food and family time, which is the most important aspect of the holiday. During dinner, a relative whom I have not seen in a while asked me what it was I missed most about Austin. I responded, without hesitation: “H.E.B.!”

Of course, the reality is much more complicated than that. There is much that I miss about life in Austin, but is it sometimes hard to tease out whether those things are really about living in Austin or only having one child. Life seemed easier in Austin, but we moved to Denton very shortly after EJ was born, and O surprised us not long after that. I love both of them fiercely, but to be real, having three kids is a exponentially harder than having one, especially when two of them are young. Memories of Austin are bound up with the mobility that having a small family affords. If we had stayed, I think that life would have been even more complex than it is now with a larger family.

Sure, there are things that I objectively miss about Austin, but by and large life has been better since moving to Denton. Our existence here feels permeated by potential for further growth, both for me and the members of my family.

Thanksgiving means one other thing: the first post of my year-end “best albums” list. As usual, I am revealing entries #11-20, with the top 10 showing up before year’s end. Inclusion in the “best albums” list is not dependent on release date - just on the album’s musical merits and its capacity to map to personal events in 2018.

Press "play" and read on.

20. John Powell & John Williams - Solo: A Star Wars Story OST: Powell’s soundtrack singlehandedly inspired me to watch the unfairly criticized Han Solo movie in the first place. In the long term, it actually got more plays than Williams’ masterful but conceptually dense soundtrack to The Last Jedi.

19. Park Jiha - Communion: Jiha’s exploration of the common ground between traditional Korean instruments and ethereal jazz continued to command my attention for a good part of the year. Its mostly soothing, sometimes jarring, but always engaging.

18. Cayucas - Bigfoot: When guests came over in 2018, this was usually the first album I put on. Bigfoot stays light and accessible while frolicking in the joys of songcraft.

17. The Barock Project - Skyline: This album suffered the classic progressive rock arc. At first I was convinced it was a dud, but the amazing musicianship that drives the album reveals itself through many focused listens.

16. Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisch - Blade Runner 2049 OST: Zimmer and Wallfisch’s vast, arresting soundscapes broadened the scope of this Blade Runner sequel, and it maintains its compelling affect as a free-standing piece. The inclusion of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley serve as stylistic interludes throughout, but the final end credits “single” Almost Human nearly tanks the whole experience.

15. Shugo Tokumaru - In Focus?: This super-quirky pop album deserves all the listens it can garner. Its twists and turns threaten to derail the whole experience, but its overall vibe is so playful that it holds together in spite of itself.

14. The Knells - Knells II: Employing a classically trained women’s trio as the lead voice in the band may seem like the selling point here, but the careful arrangements sometime threaten to flatten their emotive potential. The Lifeson-inspired guitar playing of Andrew McKenna Lee functions as a compelling counterbalance.

13. The Wagakki Band - Vocaloid Sanmai: Perhaps my interest in the Wagakki Band’s J-rock on the traditional tip is a bit indulgent, but I have developed a genuine appreciation for their arranging skills and melodic approach. In the end, they get my nerd-rock award for the year.

12. Phoenix - Bankrupt!:  As a power pop entity, Phoenix deserves way more credit than I have given them. I have really come to love Bankrupt!'s too-hip synth pop and am looking forward to delving further into their catalog in the near future.

11. Burial - Untrue: Despite its origins as a piece of DIY electronica, Untrue is a deeply enveloping experience. Its time-stretched vocals and stuttering drums seemingly reach into the night and pull in vividly melancholic environments from rainy, neon-lit street corners.

Fall Roundup - Summing Up the Marching Season

Since I came on as a band director in this district two years ago, it has been my charge to help rebuild its somewhat beleaguered program. There have definitely been times in which I wondered if it was worth dealing with all the stress of moving and starting over. This year, the work has started to take root, and I can say with some confidence that the change has been positive, thanks in no small part to the success of the high school group.

As expected, when the new staff came on, there was no small amount of resistance to our new standards. The band shrunk, but the quality improved. This year, we have a fifty member band. Of those fifty, thirty of them are freshman, making the band generally young and inexperienced. If this wasn’t problematic enough, we decided to work up a socially conscious narrative for the show depicting themes of bullying and self-acceptance. Executing these themes had to be done carefully, else they be misinterpreted.

Despite our obstacles, the band exceeded all expectations.  This is not to say that the marching season was easy - there were many hardships and lots of frustration. In the end, however, they exhibited an impressive work ethic that allowed them to overcome their lack of experience - an investment that paid off. The band made a first division at Regionals, and went on to become Area finalists. Our district has a long history with many ups and downs for the music program, but this was a first. The students have much to be proud of, and I foresee a promising future for them as the program continues to mature.

As we were traveling to away games and contests, I was posted in the back of the bus with earphones in, keeping order and grading papers. This is what went through those earphones these past few months.


Death Grips - Year of the Snitch: Death Grips most recent record captures a lot of the experimentalism of their earliest work without dipping too far into the challenging abrasion of albums like Government Plates and No Love Deep Web. Maybe one of my favorites by the band.

Phoenix - Bankrupt!: It’s been well over five years since I discovered Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, an album of which I thought so highly that I wavered in delving further into their catalog for fear of disappointment. I was recently invited to see them live, however, and decided to take the plunge with Bankrupt!, which, despite possibly not reaching the heights of its predecessor, certainly stands on its own right as a compelling synth-rock gem.

George Clanton - Slide: One could argue whether George Clanton’s distinctive vocal style is a stylistic choice, but the evidence of musical depth on Slide is, in my opinion, incontrovertible. Many critics categorize his work within the questionable “vaporwave” genre , but in my opinion his clear textural connections to My Bloody Valentine and M83 makes Slide the epitome of “synthgaze.”

C418 - Excursions: It seems that the open-world Minecraft environment is conducive to creativity beyond that required to create recursive dungeons and mazes. C418 got his start as a Minecraft soundtrack composer, but has stepped out into more free-standing musical experiments with this surprisingly linear and satisfying ambient project.

FM-84 - Atlas: I tried to swear off any nostalgically indulgent projects for awhile, but Atlas had been trolling my attention for months. I finally relented and and, true to the form of classic 80’s synth pop, it has some cliched moments but remains an entertaining listen overall.

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard - Batman Begins OST: I have long viewed The Dark Knight soundtrack as the first in a trilogy of soundtracks in which Zimmer was exploring possible and impossible sounds in relation to the orchestra. Batman Begins turned this idea on its head, as it contains ideas that expanded dramatically in the Nolan-directed Batman movies to follow.

Low - Double Negative: Double Negative gives the impression that it may, with all respect to Douglas Hofstadter, contain the sound that will result in the destruction of your CD player, but its jarring aspects quickly give way to uniquely crafted textures and beautiful melodies. It is so compelling that, despite being so late in the game, it has emerged as a contender for album of the year, challenging albums that I have had in that slot for months.

Four Fists: 6666: I was pretty excited to hear about this new collaboration featuring P.O.S., one of my favorite hip-hop artists. It is engaging, but doesn’t hold a candle to his now-classic Never Better.

Rabih Abou-Khalil - Arabian Waltz: Just discovered this cross-cultural innovator and based on this album, I look forward to delving further into his catalog. The presence of tuba to this eclectic mix brings to mind the work of Henry Threadgill, but on the Persian tip.