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Hello again. Hope all of the readers of The Crossing are doing well out there.
I'm going to keep this spectacularly brief so as to post this before the 'deadline' passes. That was something of a joke.
When there's an ever going avalanche of tunes and cinema happening weekly it's tough to know when to put the brakes on for this project. It’s wild out there!
I can get wrapped up in the collecting data and not focus so much on actually getting this thing out to the awaiting masses. Another joke! A small, but pretty funny joke, really.
As for what's on this list and what may have been missed, the main thing to keep in mind is to keep looking, keep listening, be vigilant for music that stirs the heart, mind and senses alike. Even if it stirs just one of those things you know you are on the right path.
Before I go, here's a more or less complete list of albums (58 albums) I listened to that came out in the year 2014 with only a few that I haven't actually heard yet! An asterisk (*) denotes still on my list to be heard. These are in no order whatsoever but all that I have heard are pretty good to great, most being pretty great! A solid year with a lot of the heavy hitters releasing an album (U2, Springsteen, Petty, Mellencamp, Lucinda, Merchant, Mallonee, that’s right Mallonee!) and a bunch of new surprises as well. How many have you heard? And, more importantly, who should I have on my list that is missing?
1.) Tori Amos - Unrepentant Geraldines
2.) John Mellencamp - Plain Spoken
3.) David Gray - Mutineers
4.) Ed Kowalczyk - The Flood and the Mercy
5.) Bad Suns - Language & Perspective
6.) Rival Sons - Great Western Valkyrie
7.) Said the Whale - Hawaiii
8.) The Gaslight Anthem - Get Hurt
9.) The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream
10.) Grinder Blues - S/T
11.) Night Ranger - High Road
12.) Tesla - Simplicity
13.) Weezer - Everything Will be Alright in the End
14.) We Are Scientists - T.V. en Francais
15.) The Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams
16.) Scars on 45 - Safety in Numbers
17.) Augustines - S/T
18.) Tom Petty - Hypnotic Eye
19.) Needtobreathe - Rivers in the Wasteland
20.) Natalie Merchant - S/T
21.) Will Kimbrough - Sideshow Love
22.) Better Than Ezra - All Together Now
23.) Tweedy - Sukierae
24.) Lucinda Williams - Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone
25.) U2 - Songs of Innocence
26.) Michael Sweet - I'm Not Your Suicide
27.) Roger Clyne - The Independent
28.) Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy
29.) Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes
30.) Foster the People - Supermodel
31.) Unisonic - Light of Dawn
32.) Bob Seger - Ride Out
33.) The Strypes - Snapshot
34.) Flying Colors - Second Nature
35.) Counting Crows - Somewhere Under Wonderland
36.) KXM - S/T
37.) Kodaline - In a Perfect World
38.) James - La Petite Mort
39.) Justin Currie - Lower Reaches
40.) Delta Spirit - Into the Wide
41.) John Gorka - Bright Side of Down
42.) Saga - Sagacity
43.) St. Vincent - S/T
44.) Suzanne Vega - Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles
45.) John Wesley - Disconnect
46.) Marillion - A Sunday Night Above the Rain: Live
47.) Europe - Live at Sweden Rock Festival: 30th Anniversary Show
48.) Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
49.) Big Wreck - Ghosts
50.) Over the Rhine - Blood Oranges in the Snow
51.) Cracker - Berkeley to Bakersfield
52.) Mary Chapin Carpenter – Songs from the Movie*
53.) Black 47 - Last Call
54.) Oysterband - Diamonds on the Water*
55.) Bill Mallonee - Winnowing
56.) The Rainmakers - Monster Movie*
57.) Luka Bloom - Head & Heart*
58.) Pink Floyd - The Endless River
As the late Casey Kasem reminded us of on a weekly basis, "keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars."
It's really not bad advice.
Thanks, Casey.
Recently released and not mentioned in last edition:
* Big Country - Steeltown (30th Anniversary Deluxe.)
* Steve Rothery - 'The Ghosts of Pripyat' and 'Live in Rome'.
* Black 47 - Rise Up (Compilation.)
* Saga - Sagacity (w/bonus live disc.)
* Jars of Clay - 20 (Acoustic w/two new songs.)
* Freedy Johnston - Neon Repairman (Thru website.)
* Eric Peters - Birds of Relocation
* Lori McKenna - Numbered Doors
* The Barr Brothers - Sleeping Operator
* The Last Bison - VA
* Chris Staples - American Soft
* Northcote - Invisible Diamonds EP
* Joe Perry - Merry Christmas EP
* Here Comes the Reign Again: The Second British Invasion: Tribute to the MTV 80’s
+ Are You Here
10/7
* Scars on 45 - Safety in Numbers
* Stevie Nicks - 24 Karat Gold
* Jackson Browne - Standing in the Breach
* Johnny Marr - Playland
* Yellowcard - Lift a Sail
* The Datsuns - Deep Sleep
* Caribou - Our Love
* Broods - Evergreen
* Shakey Graves - S/T
* Hozier - S/T
* Sixx A.M. - Modern Vintage
* Hurtsmile - Retrogrenade
* The Unicorns - Who Will Cut Our Hair When we're Gone?
+ Ozzy Osbourne - Memoirs of a Madman (Compilation.)
+ Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow
+ Obvious Child
+ Houdini
+ Million Dollar Arm
+ A Million Ways to Die in the West
+ Sharknado 2: the Second One
10/14
* U2 - Songs of Innocence (Deluxe CD.)
* Bob Seger - Ride Out
* Devon Allman - Ragged and Dirty
* Foxygen - And Star Power
* Stars - No One is Lost
* Meiko - Dear You
* Exodus - Blood in Blood out
* Sanctuary - Year the Sun Died
+ X Men: Days of Future Past
+ Bad Words
+ Mr. Peabody and Sherman
+ Chinese Puzzle
+ Venus in Fur
10/21
* Diana Krall - Wildflower
* Thurston Moore - The Best Day
* Bear's Den - Islands
* Billy Idol - Kings and Queens of the Underground
* Little Big Town - Pain Killer
* Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth
* Bush - Man on the Run
* Primus - Primus and the Chocolate Factory w/the Fungi Ensemble (Concept album.)
+ Earth to Echo
+ Snowpiercer
+ Life after Beth
+ The Purge: Anarchy
+ Sex Tape
10/28
* Rancid - Honor is All We Know
* Lily & Madeleine - Fumes
* Taylor Swift - 1989
* LeAnn Rimes - One Christmas
* Requiem - The Unexplainable Truth
* Hard Working Americans - The First Waltz
* The Twilight Sad - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave
* Dave Davies - Ripping Up Time
* Paul McCartney - New (Deluxe.)
* Led Zeppelin - IV/Houses of the Holy (Deluxe.)
* The Who - Hits 50 (2 CD's.)
+ Wish I was Here
+ Begin Again
+ The Prince
+ Good People
+ Child of God
+ America: Imagine the World without Her
+ Deliver Us From Evil
11/4
* Neil Young - Storytone
* Over the Rhine - Blood Oranges in the Snow (Holiday themed.)
* Mark Kozelek - Sings Christmas Carols
* Mariachi El Bronx - III
+ Maleficent
+ The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug (Extended edition.)
+ Hercules
+ Land Ho
+ Frontera
+ A Most Wanted Man
+ The Christmas Candle
+ The One I Love
+ Planes: Fire and Rescue
+ Step Up: All In
11/11
* Pink Floyd - The Endless River (2 CD's; mostly instrumental.)
* Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy
* TV on the Radio - Seeds
* Lost on the River: New Basement Tapes (Lost Songs of Bob Dylan performed by Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Jim James, etc; produced by T-Bone Burnett.)
* Foo Fighters - Sonic Highway
* Garth Brooks - Man Against Machine
+ How to Train Your Dragon 2
+ Mood Indigo
+ Jersey Boys
+ Let's Be Cops
+ Tammy
11/18
* Paul McCartney - The Art of McCartney (2 CD tribute album.)
* Steve Taylor & the Perfect Foil - Goliath
* Sam Llanas - The Whole Night Thru
* Hem - The World is Outside EP
* Bryan Ferry - Avonmore
* New Year's Day - Epidemic EP
* Wilco - 'What's Your 20? Essential 1994-2014' (2 CD's.) and 'Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014' (4 CD's.)
* Bruce Springsteen - Album Collection, Vol 1, 1973 to 1984 (Remastered.)
* Interstellar soundtrack
+ Frozen (Sing along version.)
+ 22 Jump Street
+ If I Stay
+ Into the Storm
+ The Wind Arises
+ Reclaim
+ And So It Goes
+ Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
11/25
* Simple Minds - Big Music
* Coldplay - Ghost Stories: Live (CD/DVD.)
* Chumped - Teenage Retirement
* Circa Survive - Descensus
* CJ Ramone - Last Chance to Dance
+ Jason Isbell - Live at Austin City Limits
+ The Giver
+ The November Man
+ What If
+ Expendables 3
+ A Madea Christmas
12/2
* AC/DC - Rock or Bust
* She and Him - Classics
* Walk the Moon - Talking is Hard
* Yo La Tengo - Extra Painful
* Parquet Courts - Content Nausea
* The Pixies - Doolittle25: Bsides, Peel Sessions
* Coasts - S/T (EP.)
* Donnie Vie - The White Album (2 CD's.)
* Two Gallants - We Are Undone
* David Bowie - Nothing Has Changed (1964-2014; 3 CD's.)
* Todd Rundgren - At the BBC: 1972-1982 (4 CD's.)
+ Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
+ As Above, So Below
+ The Hundred Foot Journey
+ Kite
12/9
* Cracker - Berkeley to Bakersfield (2 CD's.)
* Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy (Drums by Tommy Lee.)
* Lynch Mob - Sun Red Sun
* The Brokedowns - Life is a Breeze
* Angels & Airwaves - The Dream Walker
* Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain (Deluxe.)
* The Weeks - Buttons
* Carrie Underwood - Greatest Hits
* The Kinks - Anthology 1964-1971 (5 CD Box Set.)
* The Jam - Setting Sons (Deluxe.)
* Supertramp - Crime of the Century (40th anniversary Deluxe.)
* Frank Sinatra - London (Box set.)
+ Guardians of the Galaxy
+ Frank
+ Calvary
+ Brick Mansions
+ When the Game Stands Tall
+ Dolphin Tale 2
12/16
* Sting - The Last Ship: Broadway Cast Recording
* Gov't Mule - Dark Side of the Mule
* Laurel - Holy Water EP
* Saves the Day - Through Being Cool
* Band Aid Single 30 - Do They Know It's Christmas? (Single.)
+ The Skeleton Twins
+ The Maze Runner
+ Magic in the Moonlight
+ This Is Where I Leave You
+ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
12/23
+ The Trip to Italy
+ The Good Lie
+ Pride
12/30
+ The Equalizer
+ Tusk
1/6
* Joshua Radin - Onward and Sideways
* Aretha Franklin - Through the Storm
* Imelda May - Tribal
+ Boyhood
+ Get On Up
+ Horns
+ The Longest Week
+ The Guest
+ Left Behind
+ No Good Deed
+ Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
1/13
* Guster - Evermotion
* Ting Tings - Super Critical
* Dr. Dog - Live in a Flamingo Hotel
* Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper
* Fences - Lesser Oceans
* Alison Moyet - Minutes and Seconds
* Justin Townes Earle - Absent Fathers
* Suzanne Vega - Live at the Speakeasy
* Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis'
+ Jimi: All is By My Side
+ Gone Girl
+ The Identical
+ Men, Women and Children
+ Love is Strange
+ Two Faces of January
+ A Walk Among the Tombstones
1/20
* The Waterboys - Modern Blues
* The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
* Ryan Bingham - Fear & Saturday Night
* Alan Doyle – So Let’s Go
* Until the Ribbon Breaks - A Lesson Unlearnt
* Belle and Sebastian - Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance
* Sleater-Kinney - No Cities to Love
* The Go-Betweens - G is for Go-Betweens (Box Set.)
+ Lucy
+ The Zero Theorem
+ Annabelle
+ The Drop
+ Rudderless
+ The Box Trolls
1/27
* The Lone Bellow - Then Came the Morning
* Bettye Lavette - Worthy
* The Punch Brothers - The Phosphorescent Blues
* Michael Sweet & George Lynch - Only to Rise
* Her Habits - Northerner
* Julian Casablancas - Tyranny
* Soto - Inside the Vertigo
+ Cyndi Lauper - Front and Center
+ The Judge
+ Before I Go To Sleep
+ My Old Lady
+ The Remaining
2/3
* The Church - Further/Deeper
* Bob Dylan - Shadows in the Night (Covers.)
* Diana Krall - Wildflower (Deluxe.)
* Buxton - Half a Native
* Butch Walker - Afraid of Ghosts
* Title Fight - Hyperview
* David Sylvian & Robert Fripp - Damage: Live
* Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror
+ Nas and Alicia Keys - Illmatic
+ Fury
+ Dear White People
+ The Best of Me
+ Hector and the Search for Happiness
+ The Overnighters
+ The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby
+ Dracula Untold
+ John Wick
+ Ouija
2/10
* Father John Misty - I Love You Honeybear
* Kodaline - Coming Up for Air
* The Vespers - Sisters and Brothers
* Martin Sexton - Mix Tape of the Open Road
* Gretchen Peters - Blackbirds
* Blackberry Smoke - Holding All the Roses
* JD McPherson - Let the Good Times Roll
+ Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
+ Nightcrawler
+ Rosewater
+ Force Majeure
+ Addicted
+ Felony
2/17
* Steve Earle - Terraplane
* The Mavericks - Mono
* Marika Hackman - We Slept at Last
* Kate Pierson - Guitars and Microphones
* Phosphorescent - Live at the Music Hall
+ Dumb and Dumber To
+ Dying of the Light
+ The Homesman
+ Life Itself (documentary on Roger Ebert.)
2/24
* Mat Kearney - Just Kids
* Revolution Saints - S/T (Jack Blades' side project.)
* Imagine Dragons - Smoke and Mirrors
* Sea Change - Breakage
* James McMurtry - Complicated Game
* Gang of Four - What Happens Next
* Eclipse - Armageddonize
3/3
* UFO - A Conspiracy of Stars
* Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday
* Of Montreal - Aureate Gloom
* Amy Speace - That Kind of Girl
* The Slow Show - White Water
3/10
* Will Butler - Policy (Arcade Fire member.)
* Europe - War of Kings
* Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith (30th anniversary Deluxe.)
3/17
* Allison Moorer - Down to Believing
* 10,000 Maniacs - Twice Told Tales: Traditional Folk Songs from the British Isles
LYRICS of the MONTH:
The poem “Compassion” by Miller Williams, father of Lucinda Williams.
“Have compassion for everyone you meet
even if they don’t want it. What seems conceit,
bad manners, or cynicism is always a sign
of things no ears have heard, no eyes have seen.
You do not know what wars are going on
down there where the spirit meets the bone.”
Lucinda Williams singing “Compassion”, a musical adaptation and lead-off track of her double album Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7hw4bV-P8M#t=54
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/miller-williams
http://www.lucindawilliams.com
Merry Christmas and Happy 2015 to all!!!
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Chris