Originally posted on Riffs & Rhymes on 1.13.21. Thanks for asking me to talk about all of my favorite records, Roberto; and teaching me about some new ones! Last month, Beachwood Sparks officially reissued their self-titled debut album in light of its 20th anniversary. The reissue, out via Brent Rademaker’s L.A. imprint Curation Records, includes an exquisitely packaged vinyl remaster, new merch, and a Beachwood Deluxe CD comprised of alternate versions of classic songs and eight live tracks from a concert in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 2000 – a dandy of a collector’s item from one of the early aughts most celebrated indie bands. At…

Another banner year for music. I have grown to dislike ranking albums, as if art was mere sports. Ugh! I’ll get right the point. Please buy these albums and support the artists! It’s more essential than ever to pay the folks who are likely sustaining you culturally this year. I won’t tell you which I liked most but I will tell you which new releases I listened to most, in alphabetical order. With one exception, it’s Homegrown. Not sure if a record recorded in 1974 can qualify as the official album of the year in 2020 but it’s certainly the…

Here’s a list of 60 of our favorite songs from this year, some of them from our favorite albums, some not, all fantastic. We wrote about fifteen of them, too, because we usually look at albums holistically and don’t get to spend a lot of time normally examining a song at a time. It was fun! Talking about music is fun. Music is great, you should buy it! On a City Night – Brigid Mae PowerI sadly only came to know Brigid Mae Power just this year… Dan from Adeline Hotel put “Wedding of a Friend” on the playlist he…

On Saturday, December 5th, TOF Productions will host a livestream benefit for the Neal Casal Music Foundation. Eric Krasno, Jaime Wyatt, Brent Rademaker, Kenny Roby, Ross James, and Aaron Lee Tasjan will all perform. In addition, Dave Schools will give a status update on the Highway Butterfly tribute record, Joe Russo and George Sluppick will chat about drums, and Jay Blakesberg will talk photography. Neal played a Swope guitar during the 2019 Circles Around the Sun tour. The luthier will join to kick off the auction of that very guitar. Michelle Petty will share her process of making guitar string jewelry…

“When you look back at the body of your work you see everything, to express a full life, and not just one part of a life. That’s the goal…” n.c., 2004 or 2005? unknown Thank you to everyone who has generously agreed to tell stories and share memories about their time with Neal. Everyone of his friends and colleagues have been just as warm and friendly as Neal was. This was a dream of an undertaking and I’m a little sad it’s finished – but there’s always so much more music that Neal was a part of, whether it’s band…