Wednesday MidDay Medley
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Produced and Hosted by Mark Manning

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

The 118 Best Recordings of 2018
(Part 3 of 4)

Part-three, of our four-week special: The 118 Best Recordings of 2018. Based on playlists of this little ole radio show, we’ve compiled representative tracks from our favorite full-length and EP recordings of the year. We realize that these “Best of” lists can seem very subjective, please accept our list as a celebration of the year in music.

In 2018 we’ve played nearly 1000 different songs on the show, and we’ve played from over 400 New Releases. More than 250 of these were New MidCoastal Releases. We also conducted over 117 interviews with over 150 different guests. 75 of the representative recordings in our “Best of” list were MidCoastal Releases. Over 35 of the bands and artists in our “Best of” list have joined us as guests on WMM on 90.1 FM. It’s all good!

1. “It’s Showtime Folks”
from: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to All That Jazz / Casablanca / December 20, 1979
[WMM’s theme song]

2. (#59) The Big Iron – “I Disagree”
from: The Big Iron / The Big Iron / April 27, 2018
[The band’s 4th full-length was produced, mixed and mastered by Duane Trower at Weights and Measures Soundlab. http://www.wmsoundlab.com Album cover and photos by Todd Zimmer. All songs by The Big Iron. It’s the band’s follow-up to 2014’s “We Will Fall”, 2008’s “Thanks for the Therapy,” and their 2001 debut recording, “Bury My Mistakes.” Ricky Reyes on guitar; Jon Paul on drums; Jeff Pendergraft on vocals, and Mike Farren on bass. More info at: thebigiron.bandcamp.com/]

3. (#58) Gully Boys – “I Wanna Go Home”
from: Not So Brave / Gully Boys / August 12, 2018
[Minneapolis, Minnesota based three piece all female band, with Kaytee Callahan on vocals & guitar, Natalie Klemond on bass/ & vocals, and Jazmyne McGill ~on drums & vocals. All songs written and performed by Kathy Callahan, Nadirah McGill, and Natalie Klemond. Recorded and mixed by Nick Tveitbakk at Pachyderm Studio. Mastered by Bruce Templeton. More info at http://www..gullyboys.bandcamp.com]

4. (#57) Kississippi – “Rinse, Repeat”
from: Sunset Blush / Bug Crusher Records / April 6, 2018
[Debut full length album from Philadelphia based indie folk band fronted by Zoe Allaire Reynolds (with Adam DaSilva, Jeremy Probst, Allegra Eidinger (They/Them), and Kaylen Alan Krebsbach.]

5. (#56) Yo La Tengo – “Shades of Blue”
from: There’s a Riot Going On / Matador Records / March 16, 2018
[15th album from band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McNew (bass, vocals). In 2015, original guitarist Dave Schramm rejoined the band and appears on their f14th album, Stuff Like That There. Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called “the quintessential critics’ band” and maintains a strong cult following. They chose the name “Yo La Tengo” (Spanish for “I have it”; or referring to a female-gender object or person, also “I’ve Got Her”) in an effort to avoid any connotations in English. The name came from a baseball anecdote. During the 1962 season, New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, “I got it! I got it!” only to run into Chacón, who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, “¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!” instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words “¡Yo la tengo!” as a way to avoid outfield collisions. After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, “What the hell is a Yellow Tango?”]

6. (#55) Kian Byrne – “Sing That Song”
from: Up & Down / Kian Bryne / July 11, 2018
[Kian Byrne is a Kansas City based multi-instrumentalist. He plays drums in The Elders, and drums for Hi-Lüx, and bass for The New Riddim, and for YUM. You can learn more at: kianbyrnemusic.com]

[Kian Byrne plays drums for Julia Haile Trio with Tim Braun on guitar at Ça Va, 4149 Pennsylvania, KCMO, Thursday, December 20, at 9:00 PM]

7. (#54) Mary Gauthier – “Got Your Six”
from: Rifles and Rosary Beads / In The Black / January 26, 2018
[Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. Brand new collection of songs by Mary Gauthier, co-written with U.S. veterans and their families, through Songwriting With Soldiers, a non-profit organization that pairs US veterans with professional songwriters. These songs are a glimpse inside the hearts and souls of both male and female soldiers, and their spouses. From Pop Matters: “SongwritingWith:Soldiers is an organization founded by songwriter Darden Smith that holds retreats pairing wounded veterans with established songwriters to help them to find a voice to express their experiences and through their sharing work towards emotional and spiritual healing. Songwriters who have participated in the program include Beth Nielsen Chapman, Marshall Crenshaw, Radney Foster, and Amy Speace, and some of the songs produced have been recorded by major country artists including Willie Nelson, Trisha Yearwood, Luke Bryan, and Garth Brooks. Mary Gauthier is a natural to serve as a contributor to this cause, her powerful autobiographical songwriting on past records addressing such topics as addiction, abandonment, and the search for meaning amidst pain. Turning her empathetic ear to the plights of others, she guides a group of veterans and their families through the composition of 11 highly effective and affecting songs. Of the experience, Gauthier writes “None of the veterans are artists. They don’t write songs; they don’t know that songs can be used to move trauma. Their understanding of song doesn’t include that. For me, it’s been the whole damn deal. Songwriting saved me. It’s what I think the best songs do, help articulate the ineffable, make the invisible visible, creating resonance, so that people (including the songwriter) don’t feel alone.” Gauthier was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Born to a mother she never knew and left in St Vincent’s Women and Infants Asylum, Gauthier was adopted when she was a year old by an Italian Catholic couple from Thibodaux, Louisiana. At age 15, she ran away from home, and spent the next several years in drug rehabilitation, halfway houses, and living with friends; she spent her 18th birthday in a jail cell. Struggling to deal with being adopted, she used drugs and alcohol. These experiences provided fodder for her songwriting later on. Spurred on by friends, she enrolled at Louisiana State University as a philosophy major, dropping out during her senior year. After attending the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, she opened a Cajun restaurant in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood, Dixie Kitchen (also the title of her first album). Mary ran, and cooked at, the restaurant for eleven years. She was arrested for drunk driving opening night, July 12, 1990, and has been sober ever since. After achieving sobriety, she was driven to dedicate herself full-time to songwriting, and embarked upon a career in music. She wrote her first song at age 35. She sold her share in the restaurant to finance her second album, Drag Queens in Limousines, in 1998. The summer of the release of this album, she was invited to play 11 major folk festivals, including the Newport Folk Festival. Drag Queens in Limousines won in The 1st Annual Independent Music Awards for Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song, and she was nominated for Best New Artist of the year by the Boston Music Awards. She was nominated for three Gay and Lesbian American Music Awards (GLAMA) and won best country artist of the year. In 2002 her third album, Filth and Fire, was named “Best Indy CD of the year” by Jon Pareles of The New York Times. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2001 and secured a publishing deal with Harlan Howard Songs, then secured a record deal with Lost Highway, a division of Universal Music, in 2003. Her first major label release, in 2005, Mercy Now was on the top 10 list for the year in dozens of publications, including NY Times, LA Times, Daily News, and Billboard Magazine.]

8. (#53) Angélique Kidjo – “Born Under Punches”
from: Remain In Light / Kravenworks / June 8, 2018
[Angélique Kidjo has partnered with producer Jeff Bhasker (Rihanna, Kanye West, Harry Styles, Bruno Mars, Drake, Jay-Z) to create Remain In Light – a new project that finds the Benin-born artist reclaiming rock for Africa, bringing Talking Heads’ landmark 1980 album full circle. The record is a track-by-track re-imagination of the original, considered to be one of the greatest albums of the ’80s and deeply influenced by music from West Africa, notably Fela Kuti’s afrobeat. With her version of Remain In Light, Angélique celebrates the genius of Talking Heads, Brian Eno and the touchstones that made the original so revered and injects it with her euphoric singing, explosive percussion, horn orchestrations, and select lyrics performed in languages from her home country. Remain In Light features appearances by Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, Blood Orange, Tony Allen, Antibalas Horns, Angélique’s longtime guitarist Dominic James, and Magatte Sow (percussionist for the ‘Black Panther’ film score). On May 5, 2017, Kidjo presented her “Remain In Light” concert at Carnegie Hall. Her sold out performance was a reinvention of the iconic album by the rock band Talking Heads. The concert included special guest Nona Hendryx, Lionel Loueke, Antibalas, Jason Lindner and an unplanned duet with David Byrne on the song “Once In A Lifetime”. Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, known as Angélique Kidjo (born July 14, 1960), is a Grammy Award-winning Beninese singer-songwriter, actress and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time magazine has called her “Africa’s premier diva”. The BBC included Kidjo in its list of the African continent’s 50 most iconic figures. The Guardian has listed her as one of its Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World and Kidjo is the first woman to be listed among “The 40 Most Powerful Celebrities In Africa” by Forbes magazine. The Daily Telegraph in London described her as “The undisputed queen of African music” during the 2012 Olympic Games River of Music Festival. In March 2013, NPR, National Public Radio in America, called her “Africa’s greatest living diva”. Kidjo is listed among the “2014 Most Influential Africans” by New African magazine and Jeune Afrique. Forbes Afrique put Kidjo on the cover of their “100 most influential women” issue in 2015. On June 6, 2013, Kidjo was elected vice-president of the Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d´Auteurs et Compositeurs (CISAC). She now resides in New York City, where she is an occasional contributor to the New York Times. Kidjo has received Honorary Doctorates from Yale University, Berklee College of Music and Middlebury College. She is the 2018 Harvard University Jazz Master In Residence. Her musical influences include the Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, jazz, gospel, and Latin styles; as well as her childhood idols Bella Bellow, James Brown, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Miriam Makeba and Carlos Santana. She has recorded George Gershwin’s “Summertime”, Ravel’s Boléro, Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” and the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”, and has collaborated with Dave Matthews and the Dave Matthews Band, Kelly Price, Alicia Keys, Branford Marsalis, Ziggy Marley, Philip Glass, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Carlos Santana, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Josh Groban, Dr John, the Kronos Quartet and Cassandra Wilson. Kidjo’s hit songs include “Agolo”, “We We”, “Adouma”, “Wombo Lombo”, “Afirika”, “Batonga”, and her version of “Malaika”. Her album Logozo is ranked number 37 in the Greatest Dance Albums of All Time list compiled by Vice Magazine’s Thump web site. Kidjo is fluent in 5 languages: Fon, French, Yorùbá, Gen (Mina), and English. She sings in all of them, and she also has her own personal language, which includes words that serve as song titles such as “Batonga.” “Malaika” is a song sung in the Swahili language. Kidjo often utilizes Benin’s traditional Zilin vocal technique and jazz vocalese. Kidjo is the recipient of the 2015 Crystal Award given by the World Economic Forum of Davos in Switzerland and has received the Ambassador Of Conscience Award from Amnesty International in 2016 She also is included in the exhibits at the National Museum of African American History that officially opened on Sept. 24, 2016 on the National Mall.]

9. (52) Second Hand King – “The King of Broken Hearts”
from: Frankie / Second Hand King / June 9, 2018
[KC based Joe Stanziola records as Second Hand King. His name was derived from a 1966 Doo Wop song known as, “The Joker Went Wild” by Brian Hyland. Joe has released five previous albums: All My Fears (2012), The Lower Depths (2013), Chuck (2014), Before The Bomb Drops (2015), and Almost Blue (2016).]

10:30 – Underwriting

10. (#51) Scruffy & the Janitors – “You Got Hit”
from: Modeling Is Hard / This Tall Records / March 2, 2018
[Saint Joseph, MO based trio formed by Steven Foster on vocals & bass, Teriq Newton on guitar & vocals, and Trevin Newton on drums. Scruffy & The Janitors have been described as creating working-class punk and catchy alt-rock. Scruffy & The Janitors have played at: SXSW, Middle Of the Map Fest, NXNE, and Lawrence Field Day Fest. They have also opened for:KONGOS, Kitten, J. Roddy Walston & the Business, Brick + Mortar, Radkey, Cheap Girls, Skaters, Bass Drum Of Death, Your Friend, Rev Gusto, and Dreamgirl.]

11. (#50) Fantastic Negrito – “The Duffler”
from: Please Don’t Be Dead / Blackball Universe – Cooking Vinyl / June 15, 2018
[Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Fantastic Negrito was raised in an orthodox Muslim household. His father was a Somali-Caribbean immigrant who mostly played traditional African music. When, at the age of 12, Negrito’s family moved from Massachusetts to Oakland, California. Oakland in 1970s was a million miles from Negrito’s conservative childhood. He went from Arab chants to Funkadelic in one day. By the time he was 20, Negrito had taught himself to play every instrument he could get his hands on. He was recording music, and after some difficulties on the streets he packed his bags and headed to LA, armed with a demo on cassette. Negrito signed with a million dollar deal at Interscope. The record deal was a disaster. Gangsta rap was ruling the airwaves and Negrito was in the wrong place at the wrong era. Negrito came out of the deal with a failed album and his confidence gutted. In 2000, Negrito was in a near fatal car accident that put him in a coma. For four weeks it was touch and go. Because his muscles atrophied while bedridden, he had to go through months of frustrating physical therapy to regain use of his legs. Rods were placed throughout his body. And worst of all, his playing hand was mutilated. Back in Oakland, Negrito forgot about life as a musician. He got married, he planted vegetables, raised his own chickens, and made money growing weed. He also settled into being a man, on his own, clear of the distractions of wanting to be a star. And then his son Kyu was born. He began recording without the hindrances that come with chasing trends. Negrito turned to the original DNA of all American music, the Blues. The beating life had given him primed him to channel his literal and musical forefathers: the Blues musicians of the Delta]

12. (#49) First Aid Kit – “Ruins”
from: Ruins / Columbia / January 19, 2018
[4th full length album from Swedish folk duo of sisters: Klara (vocals/guitar) and Johanna Söderberg (vocals/keyboards/Autoharp/bass guitar). When performing live, the duo are accompanied by a drummer, a pedal steel guitarist and recently a keyboard player. They have now released four albums, two EPs and a handful of singles. In 2015 they were nominated for a Brit Award as one of the 5 best international groups. Sisters Johanna & Klara Söderberg are from Enskede, in the outskirts of Stockholm. Johanna was born Oct 31, 1990 and Klara on Jan 8, 1993. Their father was a member of the Swedish rock band Lolita Pop but he quit before Johanna was born and later became a teacher of history & religion. Their mother is a teacher of cinematography. From childhood, Klara & Johanna were eager singers by giving concerts using a jump rope as a pretend microphone. Klara’s first favorite songs were Judy Garland’s songs from The Wizard of Oz and Billie Holiday’s version of Gloomy Sunday, that she sang without much understanding of the English lyrics. Klara wrote her first song “Femton mil i min Barbiebil” when she was six. They both attended the International English school of Enskede. Klara applied for admission to a music school but she was not accepted. In 2005 when Klara was 12, a friend introduced her to the band Bright Eyes. This led her to country music stars such as Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Carter family, Louvin Brothers, Townes Van Zandt, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. The same year she received a guitar as a Christmas present and quickly learned to play it. Johanna enjoyed a wide range of music from Britney Spears to German Techno. However, it wasn’t until watching the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and listening to the film’s soundtrack that she was inspired to sing “Down to the River to Pray” with sister, Klara. Fascinated by the result they started to sing together at home and then as street singers, in the Stockholm metro and in front of liquor stores. They came up with the name for their band simply by randomly opening a dictionary.Klara and Johanna also started to write and compose their own country-folk songs inspired by Devendra Banhart and CocoRosie, among others, without much influence from their parents who were more fond of Patti Smith, Velvet Underground and Pixies. Their father confessed later in a Swedish radio program that he was astonished and actually a little jealous of the ease his daughters had in producing top-notch music. The most important advice their father gave to them was to sing so loud that even somebody behind the wall could hear it.]

13. (#48) Amanda Fish – “2020”
from: Free / VizzTone / September 14, 2018
[Amanda Fish began as a singer songwriter in late 2012, refining her original material as a solo act for 2 years before she formed her band in early 2014, a Roots Rock and Soul project featuring Amanda’s signature ‘from-the-gut’ vocals locked into a sturdy groove. In 2015, she released her first LP, “Down In The Dirt”, on VizzTone Label Group, for which she was awarded the 2016 “Sean Costello Rising Star” Blues Blast Music Award. Amanda and her band set Beale Street on fire in the 2017 International Blues Challenge Semi Finals, playing new material slated for her next release.]

14. (#47) The Get Up Kids – “Better This Way”
from: Kicker EP / Polyvinyl Record Co / June 8, 2018
[Matt Pryor on vocals & guitars, Jim Suptic on guitar, Rob Pope on bass, James Dewees on keyboards, Ryan Pope on drums. On March 29, 2018, Polyvinyl Records announced on their Instagram account that they had signed the band and that new music will be coming soon. The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s emo scene, otherwise known as the “second wave” of emo music. As they gained prominence, they began touring with bands such as Green Day and Weezer before becoming headliners themselves, eventually embarking on international tours of Japan and Europe. They founded Heroes & Villains Records, an imprint of the successful indie rock label Vagrant Records. While the imprint was started to release albums by The Get Up Kids, it served as a launching pad for several side-projects such as The New Amsterdams and Reggie and the Full Effect. The Get Up Kids were viewed throughout their existence as a prototypical emo band, having been major players in the Midwest emo movement of the mid-1990s. Their second album Something to Write Home About remains their most widely acclaimed album, and is considered to be one of the quintessential albums of the second-wave emo movement. However, like many early emo bands, The Get Up Kids sought to dissociate themselves with the term, as it was considered dismissive to be seen as an “emo band.”[8] The band departed heavily from their established style with the release of their 2002 album On a Wire, which saw the band take on a much more layered, alternative rock sound. Years later, guitarist Jim Suptic even apologized for having the influence they did on many of the modern third-wave emo bands, commenting that “[t]he punk scene we came out of and the punk scene now are completely different. It’s like glam rock now … If this is the world we helped create, then I apologize.” Due to internal conflicts, the band broke up in 2005. Three years later, the band reunited to support the tenth anniversary re-release of Something to Write Home About, and soon afterward entered the studio to write new material. In early 2010, the band released Simple Science, their first release in six years, followed in 2011 by the full-length There Are Rules. The Get Up Kids Members Rob Pope is also in the band Spoon; Jim Suptic is in the bands: Blackpool Lights, and Radar State; James Dewees is in the band Reggie and the Full Effect; and Matt Pryor performs often as a solo artists, and in the bands: Radar State, and The New Amsterdams.]

15. (#46) Vigil and Thieves – “Ladylike”
from: Make Sure They Hear You / Vigil and Thieves / August 24, 2018
[Kansas City based 4-piece band with Sarah Storm on vocals, guitar, & keyboards; Steph Castor on guitar; Matthew Muckenthaler on bass, and Andrew Flaherty on drums.]

16. (#45) Soccer Mommy – “Last Girl”
from: Clean / Fat Possum Records / March 2, 2018
[Soccer Mommy is the stage name of bedroom pop and indie rock musician Sophie Allison. Allison was born in Switzerland and grew up in Nashville, TN. She attended Nashville School of the Arts, a speciality high school where she studied guitar and played in the swing band. She first picked up a guitar at age 6, which prompted her to start making music. She began posting home-recorded songs to Bandcamp as Soccer Mommy in 2015, during the summer when she was about to leave for college at New York University, where she studied music business. While in college, she played her first show as Soccer Mommy at the community art space Silent Barn in Bushwick, Brooklyn, and shortly after landed a record deal with Fat Possum.She dropped out after a year in 2017 to return to Nashville and pursue her music career. Since beginning her career as Soccer Mommy, Allison has released two full-length albums. Her first, For Young Hearts, was released in 2016 on Orchid Tapes. Her second album, Collection, was released in 2017 on Fat Possum Records. Her debut album proper, titled Clean, was released on March 2, 2018. She has toured with Mitski, Jay Som, Slowdive, Frankie Cosmos, Phoebe Bridgers and others]

17. (#44) FACEFACE – “We Awesome (radio edit)”
from: MMmm / FACEFACE / February 15, 2018
[KC based experimental electronic hiphop musical collaboration with.Ryan Lee Toms is a Kansas City based multi-instrumentalist, composer and artist who has recorded original experimental dance electronic music as RLT with John Bersuch. Ryan also plays guitar with the math rock band HMPH! and he plays drums for the Kansas City based, 5-piece post-punk deathrock band Beelzebabes. All the while Ryan has also been nurturing a fourth collaboration called FACEFACE, an experimental electronic hiphop musical collaboration with Paul S. Nyakatura, is a Kansas City based award winning voiceover artist, stand up comedian, commercial producer, and rapper and hip hop artist. Paul is the voice of FACEFACE and featured in the FACEFACE video for their new song, “We Awesome,” all shot in one take from Celestial Pictures.]

11:00 – Station ID

18. (#43) Lucy Dacus – “Addictions”
from: Historian / Matador / March 2, 2018
[Lucy Dacus was born 1995 and grew up in Richmond, Virginia . She is an indie rock singer-songwriter who has has released two albums, both on Matador Records: 2016’s No Burden and 2018’s Historian. She started studying film at Virginia Commonwealth University but left to pursue her music career. She first performed in New York in March 2015. Sasha Gessen in Pitchfork wrote about Historian: ” It’s not an easy album to wear out. It lasts, and it should, given that so many of its lyrics pick at time, and the way time condenses around deep emotional attachments to other people.”

19. (#42) Dragon Inn 3 – “What Kind Of World Are You Living In”
from: Double Line / American Laundromat Records / August 17, 2018
[Kansas City based band formed in 2012 with Grace Bentley, Sharon Bowie, Philip K. Dickey, E.P. Marcus. Dragon Inn 3’s debut LP clocks in at 28 minutes, but the band spent six years whittling away on the songs that would eventually become Double Line. Combining sugary pop hooks, hypnotic beats, and huge MOOG synths, Dragon Inn 3’s playful take on 80s pop could double as the soundtrack to a John Hughes movie (if John Hughes directed Blade Runner). The cinematic origins of Dragon Inn 3 can be traced back to 2012, when Philip Dickey (leader of the indie-pop group Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin) wrote a theme song for the award-winning short film Ghoul School. “If you watch the trailer you can tell it’s the same premise and look as Stranger Things–we just accidentally made it three years before them,” Dickey says. “I had so much fun making the soundtrack with the director (E.P. Marcus) that we decided to start a band.” Dickey recruited his sister, Sharon Bowie, an occupational therapist, and his wife, children’s librarian Grace Bentley, to help with songwriting and vocal duties. The group self-released the Ghoul School Soundtrack EP in late 2012, receiving high praise from Consequence of Sound, Philadelphia’s WXPN, and The Riverfront Times, before climbing to #1 on Bandcamp’s cassette charts. Then it was back to the studio (i.e. the bedrooms, kitchens, garages, and hotel rooms that doubled as makeshift recording studios). In between full-time jobs, parenthood, graduate school classes, and cross country moves, the members of Dragon Inn 3 put Double Line to tape. “I’m a stay-at-home dad now, so I would work on song arrangements and rough mixes when our toddler was taking his naps,” explains Dickey. “Grace would come home from work and record all her parts after his bedtime. We recorded all the breathy vocals in the living room and all the yelly parts in the garage so we wouldn’t wake him up.” The result is a highly addictive album that creates “a soundtrack for the more introspective moments on and off the dance floor,” according to critic David Greenwald. Opening track “What Kind Of World Are You Living In” plays like Blondie if the band hired Hall and Oates to record guitars. The album takes an intimate turn with “Bad Boy,” Bowie’s dreamy “Rocket Launcher,” and Bentley’s introspective cover of Robin Gibb’s “Juliet.” “3 Minute Mile” swoons with arpeggios and a hypnotic MOOG bass, while Bentley softly repeats the phrase “desperation/bad desire.” Then there are Italo-disco tinged tracks “Backstabber” and “Club Sauce,” with sing-songy pop hooks that harken back to Madonna and Whitney Houston’s greatest hits. “Double Line Theme” and “Murder In The Third” show off DI3’s soundtrack aspirations, and sound like lost Tangerine Dream and Giorgio Moroder B-sides. “Up In The Business” provides indelible synth hooks and a triumphant ending to Double Line. With members spread out over the country (KC, LA, and Springfield, MO), the group signed to American Laundromat Records in early 2018. A demo of “Bad Boy” (co-written with Free Energy’s Paul Sprangers) landed in a commercial for Ryan Adams’ Beats 1 Radio show before the song was even completed.]

20. (#41) Sara Morgan – “Average Jane”
from: Average Jane / River Delta Records / January 26, 2018
[KC based Singer/Songwriter, originally from McGehee, Arkansas. Sara Morgan plays saxophone, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and piano. Sara has opened for BJ Thomas, John Michael Montgomery, John Corbett, Sean Rowe, Chuck Mead, Ben Taylor, and was the preshow before Loretta Lynn at The Uptown, November 2014. Ms. Lynn hosted Sara on her tour bus after Sara’s set and prior to Ms. Lynn’s performance.]

21. (#40) Of Tree – “How Does It Feel”
from: How Does It Feel / Of Tree / October 12, 2018
[Of Tree is Benjamin Parks on guitar & vocals, Laurel Morgan Parks on violin & fiddle & vocals and John Bersuch on percussion & sub-bass. The band explains “we like to build layers, loop strings, bow guitars and mix sampled beats with real ones as a backdrop for melodies on voice and traditional instruments. Emotional and expressive, our music draws inspiration from loss and triumph, failure and hope.” Of Tree began in 2009 and has taken many forms as it has evolved over time, including a full 5 piece folk band and, at one time, a classical trio backing Parks’ voice and guitar. Of Tree launched a Kickstarter Campaign to help record their new album and release their music on vinyl. Of Tree have been actively writing music for this project since the summer of 2016. Laurel writes “As a married couple its been quite a road for us to be able work through music together without taking things too personally (as people in relationships tend to do), but the magic happened last summer when music started pouring out of us and we were able just allow it to happen. Both of us come from fairly strict religious backgrounds and a lot of our lyrics have to do with healing from those experiences. We also deal with themes of finding new footing in life, moving beyond the past and letting go. Really this album is all about healing on a very personal level.” Laurel writes that she is, “very interested in pushing the boundaries of what instrumentation I can marry to my classical violin training. I have been cross pollinating between electronic music I write on the computer using midi inputs with melodies I write on my violin. I enjoy putting a techno beat behind a folk instrument such as the Kalimba or chime and then morphing that into a journey of layered strings and melodic hooks. I am always interested in melody over lyrics. A lot of the music I wrote for this album is inspired from studying folk traditions such as Celtic fiddling, thematic movie music and Peruvian icaros. ” John Bersuch, has been playing with Of Tree since November of 2016. He adds tasteful beats and enjoys thinking outside the box. He once brought a tree to an “Of Tree” show and played it as a percussive instrument. Ben Parks is a visual artist who also plays in the band Slights with Matthew Dunehoo. Laurel Parks also plays in The Wires, John Bersuch is in Bacon Shoe, RLT, and many others.]

22. (#39) Eems – “Make Up On Your Scars”
from: Dreems / Independent / June 26, 2018
[Eems is Phillip Jackson, a KC based ukulele loop artist, singer songwriter, rapper, pianist, drummer, The resonance of his bright musical sounds, and lyrical calls, are woven through genres of folk, hip hop, pop, and dance influences. He has shared the stage with notable hop hop artists, and KC Folk Music Fest, Middle of The Map Fest.]

23. (#38) Hi-Lux – “Dance With My Baby”
from: Hi-Lux – EP / Hi-Lux / February 1, 2018
[Originally released as a single on August 15, 2017. Now included in this 6 song EP. HI-LÜX is Julia Haile on vocals, Nick Howell on keyboards & organ, Kian Byrne on drums and vocals, Pete Leibert on bass, Tim Braun on guitar. Hi-Lux is based in KC. The band brings together elements of soul, reggae and funk for a unique and dance inspiring sound. More info at: http://www.hi-lux.bandcamp.com]

[Julia Haile Trio with Tim Braun on guitar and Kian Byrne on drums play Ça Va, 4149 Pennsylvania, KCMO, Thursday, December 20, at 9:00 PM]

24. (#37) My Oh My! – “The War Outside”
from: The War Outside / My Oh My! / May 19, 2018
[My Oh My! is: Stephen Berry on guitars; Grant Buell on pianos, Organ, & Wurlitzer; Sarah Dolt, Stephanie Gaumé & Melissa Geffert on vocals; Jason Harper on bass guitar & tenor saxophone; Jacob Horpinjuk on drums & percussion; and A.M. Merker on lead vocals, guitar, and songwriting. Produced by My Oh My! and Joel Nanos, and recorded, engineered, and mixed by Joel Nanos at Element Recording Studios, and mastered by David Gaumé at Forest Sounds, North Hollywood, CA. More info at: http://www.myohmykc.com]

[My Oh My! play Californos, 4124 Pennsylvania, KCMO, Thursday, December 20, at 7:00 PM with Good Morning Bedlam, Sky Smeed, and Center State.]

25. (#36) Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 – “The Basement Beat (Part 2)”
from: The Basement Beat / Sunflower Soul / July 20, 2018
[Hammond organist Chris Hazelton and his large-group Boogaloo 7 pay homage to greats such as Lonnie Smith, Jimmy McGriff, Grant Green, and Lou Donaldson with their groove-centered brand of jazz, all the while pushing the genre forward with exciting new and original music. More info at: http://www.chrishazelton.com. Chris Hazelton on Hammond B-3 organ; Nick Howell on trumpet & tambourine; Nick Rowland on alto & tenor sax (tracks 1, 2, & 4); Zak Pischnotte on alto & tenor sax (tracks 3, 5, & 6); Brett Jackson on baritone sax; Matt Hopper on guitar; Danny Rojas on drums; and Pat Conway on congas (tracks 1-4, 6), bongos & cowbell (Track 5); Juan-Carlos Chaurand on congas (Track 5); John Kizilarmut on timbales & güiro (Track 5). Recorded live to 8-track analog tape, mixed, and produced by Chris Hazelton at the FORTRESS OF SOULITUDE. Mastered by Adam Boose at Cauliflower Audio. Pressed by Gotta Groove Records. Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 will be releasing a single 7″ called “100 Days, 100 Nights” also on July 20, but released on Lugnut Records as part of a tribute to Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings.]

[Chris Hazelton’s Boogaloo 7 play A Funky New Years Eve at Black Dolphin, 1813 Grand, KCMO, Monday, December 31, at 9:00 PM to 1:00 am.]

11:29 – Underwriting

26. (#35) David Byrne – “Everybody’s Coming To My House”
from: American Utopia / Todomundo – Nonesuch / March 9, 2018
[Co written with Brian Eno. David Byrne’s first solo studio album since 2004’s Grown Backwards. Even though since then he has released albums with Brian Eno, Fat Boy Slim, and St. Vincent. The album is his 11th outside of his work with talking Heads. The new album is one part of a larger multimedia project entitled Reasons to Be Cheerful which aims to give reasons for being happy and optimistic in spite of political strife and environmental problems. The project was entitled after the Ian Dury song “Reasons to Be Cheerful (Part 3)”. David Byrne writes: “Is this meant ironically? Is it a joke? Do I mean this seriously? In what way? Am I referring to the past or the future? Is it personal or political? These songs don’t describe an imaginary or possibly impossible place but rather attempt to depict the world we live in now. Many of us, I suspect, are not satisfied with that world—the world we have made for ourselves. We look around and we ask ourselves—well, does it have to be like this? Is there another way? These songs are about that looking and that asking. This album is indirectly about those aspirational impulses. Sometimes to describe is to reveal, to see other possibilities. To ask a question is to begin the process of looking for an answer. To be descriptive is also to be prescriptive, in a way. The act of asking is a big step. The songs are sincere—the title is not ironic. The title refers not to a specific utopia, but rather to our longing, frustration, aspirations, fears, and hopes regarding what could be possible, what else is possible. The description, the discontent and the desire—I have a feeling that is what these songs touch on. I have no prescriptions or surefire answers, but I sense that I am not the only one looking and asking, wondering and still holding onto some tiny bit of hope, unwilling to succumb entirely to despair or cynicism.”]

[David Byrne played The Kauffman Center for The Performing Arts, June 7.]

27. (#34) The Phantastics – “Heartbreaker”
from: Life of the Party – EP / Kemet Creative / August 24, 2018
[Eight member band from Kansas City formed in December 0f 2010 made up of: Kemet the Phantom -lead vocals; Kim “Phirst Lady” Newsome on lead vocals; JJ Cantrell on lead guitar & vocals; Danny Florez on electric bass; Ashley Thompson on drums, Ernest Melton on saxophone; Ryan Davis on Trombone and rap vocals; Austin Quick on keyboards. The Phantastics specialize in genre-blending dance floor activators. In 2015, the music group was crowned “Kansas City’s best party band” by the Kansas City Star. Musicianship and diversity are at the core of their success. Rock, Rap, Dance, Funk, Jazz and Soul are all incorporated into their music. “The band that can do it all”, according to I Heart Local Music, has shared the stage with some of music’s most legendary acts including George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic.]

28. (#33) Kadesh Flow – “Glassy Eyes”
from: Room Service EP / Ryan Davis / March 30, 2018
[Kadesh Flow is Ryan Davis is a rapper with an MBA. At age 11, he began rapping and playing trombone within two weeks of one another. His music has been featured on network television in multiple countries and territories across Southeast Asia. Locally, Kadesh can be found rocking solo hip hop sets, laying down bone bars with KC funk juggernaut The Phantastics, or jamming with various bands throughout the city. The Room Service EP was conceived between shows at MAGfest 2018, when Kadesh Flow, Atlas, and Bill Beats began creating in their hotel room. Producers/Writers include: Kadesh Flow, Atlas, Bill Beats, Shubzilla, Eye-Q, O.Super. Mixed By: Kadesh Flow. Mastered By: Out D Park Productions.]

29. (#32) Carswell & Hope – “The Other Side”
from: Exit Plan EP / Silly Goose Records / May 22, 2018
[Music by Carswell & Hope. Lyrics by Nick Carswell. Produced & mixed by Jason Slote & Nick Carswell. Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper @ TurtleTone Studio NYC. Lawrence KS based 5-piece band formed June 25, 2012. The band is: Nick Carswell, Jason Slote, Austin Quick, Chris Handley, and Jordan Tucker. Songwriter Nick Carswell is originally from Ireland and has found a new home on the plains of Kansas.]

30. (#31) Grand Marquis – “Another Lover”
from: Britgher Days / King Forward Records / April 28, 2018
[KC based American Roots, Blues, & Prohibition Jazz band, formed in 1998 have released 7 albums, including a 7” 45 rpm vinyl recorded at legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, TN. The band is: Ben Ruth on upright bass, sousaphone, backing vocals; Chad Boydston on trumpet, backing vocals; Ryan Wurtz on electric and acoustic guitars; Trevor Turla on trombone, backing vocals; Fritz Hutchison on drums, backing vocals; Bryan Redmond on lead vocals, soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxophones.]

[Grand Marquis play The Westport Saloon with Knock Kneed Sally on Friday, Dec. 21, at 8:00 PM]

31. (#30) Danielle Nicole – “Cry No More”
from: Cry No More / Concord Records / February 23, 2018
[Nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Danielle Nicole sings and plays bass on all tracks, with special guest musicians like Sonny Landreth on slide guitar, Walter Trout on guitar, Kenny Wayne Shepherd on guitar, Johnny Lee Schell on guitar, Monster Mike Welsh on guitar, Brandon Miller on guitar, Luther Dickinson on guitar. Danielle Nicole was born Danielle Nicole Schnebelen. Her self-titled solo debut EP was released March 10, 2015 on Concord Records. The self-titled EP features Grammy Award-winning producer-guitarist Anders Osborne, Galactic’s co-founding drummer Stanton Moore and keyboardist Mike Sedovic. On February 25, 2015, American Blues Scene premiered the track “Didn’t Do You No Good” off the new EP. Danielle Nicole was previously in the band Trampled Under Foot with her brothers Kris and Nick Schnebelen. At the 2014 Blues Music Awards, Trampled Under Foot’s album, Badlands, won the ‘Contemporary Blues Album of the Year’ category. At the same ceremony, Danielle Nicole, under the name of Danielle Schnebelen, triumphed in the ‘Best Instrumentalist – Bass’ category. The band was also nominated in the ‘Band of the Year’ category. In September 2015, her debut album, Wolf Den, was released on Concord Records. It reached number 2 in the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart in October that year. Danielle Nicole’s second solo album, Cry No More, peaked at # 1 in the Billboard Top Blues Albums chart. Bill Withers wrote one of the teacks on the new album.]

[Danielle Nicole plays the Gospel Lounge at Knuckleheads on December 20, 21, & 22 Thursday, Friday, & Saturday}

31. Noel Coward – “The Party’s Over Now”
from: Noel Coward in New York / drg / 2003 [orig. 1957]
[WMM Closing Theme]

Next week on Wednesday December 26, we present the finale – part four of our four week series The 118 Best Recordings of 2018. We’ll count down #29 to #1 with representative tracks from: Emmaline Twist, Bob & Una Walkenhorst, Slights, Calvin Arsenia, Shy Boys, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, Mikal Shapiro, Amy Farrand and The Like, Janelle Monae, Monta At Odds, Howard Iceberg & The Titanics, Ssion, Jametatone, Mysterious Clouds, CS Luxem, Marcus Lewis Big Band, Under The Big Oak Tree, Other Americans, Broken Arrows, The War and Treaty, Cowboy Junkies, Meshell Ndegeocello, Blood Orange, U.S. Girls, Cat Power, Superchunk, Amen Dunes, Dirty Projectors, and Parquet Courts.

Tune into 90.1 FM, Wednesdays in December, as we present our 4-week series: The 118 Best Recordings of 2018. We’re packing 8-hours of radio with music that represent: The 118 of Best Recordings of 2018!

Our Script/Playlist is a “cut and paste” of information.
Sources for notes: artist’s websites, bios, wikipedia.org

Wednesday MidDay Medley in on the web:
http://www.kkfi.org,
http://www.WednesdayMidDayMedley.org,
http://www.facebook.com/WednesdayMidDayMedleyon90.1FM

Show #765