01.03.19

PW OPINION PW NEWS PW LIFE PW ARTS
•INTO THE NIGHT•
BY BLISS BOWEN
2018: A Year of Musical
Statement Making
2018 was a year of statement making. Inflamed
and exhausted by political scandals and
economic uncertainties, anxious listeners
connected with music that mirrored their anxiety
and upheld virtues that often seemed endangered
— essentials like compassion, kindness, and hope.
Kacey Musgraves, Golden
Hour — Brimming with pop hooks
and keen observations, the country
artist’s luminous “Golden Hour”
was hard to beat for sheer melodic
buoyancy and lyrical uplift, with
reverb-polished gems like “Slow
Burn,” “Butterflies” and “Oh, What a World” exerting a
magnetic pull. The last of our freedoms is to choose our
response to circumstances, as Viktor Frankl once wrote;
“Golden Hour” beautifully reminded us to choose to
respond to chaos with love and hope.
Janelle Monáe, Dirty Computer
— Kicking off with the Brian
Wilson-boosted title track, the pop
chameleon delivered a thoughtfully
arranged bouquet of hooks,
melodies, and lyrical zingers. Even
fun moments like the femmeaffirming
“Screwed” (with Zoë
Kravitz) packed a thematically relevant punch: “You know
power is just sex/ Now ask yourself who’s screwing you.”
Courtney Marie Andrews, May
Your Kindness Remain — Six
albums into a respected career, the
peripatetic singer-songwriter hit with
a soulful, balm-like collection that
spoke of and for its needy cultural
moment. From the gospel-ish organ
strains that open the title track, it
swells with resilient heart and honesty.
Rosalía, El Mal Querer — The
Catalan dynamo cleverly bent
flamenco’s florid romanticism to
her own original purposes, using
it to intensify the dramatic tale she
spun across 11 passionate tracks
whose traditional handclapping was
electrified by bass, synths and street
energy. History, as always, informs the present.
Dead Can Dance, Dionysus
— Lisa Gerrard and Brendan
Perry conjured their own language
for this venture connecting wildly
varied rhythms and tongues. Tracks
suggested diverse global traditions,
from communal desert rituals to
Celtic paganism, and upheld music
as a spiritual and natural force.
Kevin Gordon, Tilt and Shine —
A songwriting master, the Louisiana
native is criminally undersung outside
Americana circles. His swampy rock
‘n’ roll pulsed with wisdom and soul,
and “Saint on a Chain” haunted with
a novel’s worth of insightfully honed
narrative.
Artists across the spectrum shared stories illuminating
searches for truth and affirmation; women,
perhaps emboldened by the #MeToo movement,
delivered some of the most musically potent and
personally relatable albums of the year.
Pistol Annies, Interstate Gospel
— Sassy single “Got My Name
Changed Back” grabbed headlines,
but Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe
and Angaleena Presley — all in peak
songwriting and vocal form — also
tapped mainstream veins with
story songs (“Masterpiece,” “Best Years of My Life”) as
emotionally rich as they were relatable. Sisterhood is real.
Mary Gauthier, Rifles & Rosary
Beads — The acclaimed singersongwriter
delivered one of the
most potent albums of her career,
co-writing with combat veterans of
the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. In
placing her bracing honesty and literate
songcraft at their service, Gauthier simultaneously honored
them and gave voice to stories of sacrifice and trauma that
need to be heard.
Fantastic Negrito, Please Don’t
Be Dead — Nodding to revered
elders — Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Plant,
Prince — the streetwise Oakland artist
championed humanity in all its flaws
and forms throughout this searing,
blues-rooted indictment of bigotry,
environmental pillage, and hypocrisy.
Anderson East, Encore — A
muscular fusion of Southern soul and
gospel that showcased East’s toughand-tender
rasp and, more essentially,
his search for what endures with showstopping
songs like “This Too Shall
Last,” the Chris Stapleton co-write
“If You Keep Leaving Me,” and the
confessional “Cabinet Door.”
Fatoumata Diawara, Fenjo — The
soulful Malian vocalist/songwriter
nimbly wove Wassoulou folk traditions,
Afropop, rock and R&B together with
socially conscious themes. If there was
any doubt Diawara was world-class
after her 2015 “At Home” collaboration
with Roberto Fonseca, “Fenjo”
decisively settled the matter.
Tracy Thorn, Record — A welcome
return from the witty Everything But
the Girl frontwoman and author/
columnist. Gleaming with ’80s-evoking
synths, Thorn’s feminist dance-pop
anthems were grounded by her innate
warmth and matter-of-fact attitude
— most notably grooving setpiece
“Sister,” with Corinne Bailey Rae and
Warpaint.
–CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
•NITELIFE•
Thursday Jan. 03 through Wednesday Jan. 09
PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for Calendar submissions
is noon. Wednesday of the week before
the issue publishes.
PASADENA, SOUTH
PASADENA & ALTADENA
1881 Bar
1881 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena
(626) 314-2077
facebook.com/1881bar
Fridays—Live jazz
Saturdays—Gypsie jazz
Wednesdays—Reggae
The Blue Guitar
Arroyo Seco Golf Course
1055 Lohman Lane, South Pasadena
(323) 769-3500
blueguitar.club
Thursday—Hank Mehren Trio
The Boulevard Bar
3199 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena
(626) 356-9304
blvdbar.com
Fridays—Drag performances hosted by Tia
Wanna every Friday
Cabrera’s Mexican Cuisine
655 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena
(626) 795-0230
cabreras.com
Thursdays—Live jazz
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays—Karaoke
Coffee Gallery Backstage
2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena
(626) 798-6236
coffeegallery.com
Friday—Dave Stamey
Saturday—The Beatunes
Der Wolfskopf
72 N. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena
(626) 219-6054
derwolfskopf.com
Fridays—“Night Court” features Deejay Kind
Cromang spinning vinyl soul, funk, disco and
boogie
Edwin Mills by Equator
22 Mills Place, Pasadena
(626) 564-8656
edwinmills.com
Friday—Jonathon Alvarez
Saturday—Jack’s Cats Trio
Tuesday—Ed Romero
Wednesday—Nick Gomez
El Portal Restaurant
695 E. Green St., Pasadena
(626) 795-8553
elportalrestaurant.com
Fridays—Mariachi México
Saturdays—Alanniz
Sundays—Mariachi Bella
Ice House
24 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena
(626) 577-1894
icehousecomedy.com
Thursday—Stand-Up All-Stars
–CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
The Beatles Live
THE BEATUNES PAY TRIBUTE TO ICONIC BRITS AT
COFFEE GALLERY BACKSTAGE
The Beatunes re-visit the Fab Four with music from the band’s earliest days all the
way to the final recordings at Coffee Galley Backstage in Altadena Saturday.
The act’s goal is to honor and play The Beatles’ tunes as accurately as possible.
Given the Beatunes repeat performances at this venue, the band has succeeded in the
effort. They continuously strive to bring more realism to the live performances, accomplishing
the feat without using any studio-produced backing tracks or gimmicks.
The Beatunes have pleased audiences ranging in age from 5 to 105, transcending
generations.
Visit thebeatunes.com. — John Sollenberger
Music starts at 7 p.m. Saturday at Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N. Lake Ave., Altadena.
Tickets are $20. Call (626) 798-6236 for reservations and visit coffeegallery.com for
information.
01.03.19 | PASADENA WEEKLY 19