Albums of the Decade - 56. Lambchop -Flotus (2016)

56. LAMBCHOP - FLOTUS (2016)

Lambchop's Flotus was a joie de vivre of vocodered folk. Like a reinvention, a rebirth, a calming come-uppeth though; not the kind of makeover like in a salon or on a TV show.

Kurt Wagner soothes in this outing. He's a kindred spirit who sounds crisp and fuzzy at the same time. His own autotuned vocals sound as backing vocals to which there is no real lead.

As I lay on the sofa typing this on the phone, which is rare please, as I don't want to sit at the  desk, I melt into a scuzzer of an LP, the kind that Uncut Magazine gave 5 stars back in 2016.

Those five stars alerted me to a band that truly changed genre - not direction - not style - but genre - who does that? Tell me? I can tell you: Lambchop did it in 2016, with their twelfth (!!!!!!!) LP. Boom. 

Albums of 2016 - 48. HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER - HEART LIKE A LEVEE

48. HISS GOLDEN MESSENGER - HEART LIKE A LEVEE

There's a time and place, maybe even an era for every album and this sixth effort for this special little band sounds like it's shooting for all that and more. For example the title track:

Sing me a river
Go easy on me, I'm not doing too well
Do you hate me, honey
As much as I hate myself?...

...Standing in the wake with the sky still changing
What's it going to take to keep you missing the rambling rake with a heart of obsidian?
Standing in the wake with the sky still changing

These lyrics add up to a time of change and a sinking feeling happening in ones heart. I'm experiencing it myself as I'm about to move abroad yet again elsewhere. But what's exquisite is the roaring euphoria when M.C. Taylor sings the title lyric to the title track on the title album and everything comes together in the middle of the vena cava.