In late April I visited Cincinnati to attend the first ever Homecoming, a festival headlined and curated by The National that also featured Father John Misty, Feist, Alvvays, The Breeders, Julian Baker, Moses Sumney, and many other great acts. I had a really good time! When I was there, I also had the chance to sit down with Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner in their tour bus, and talk about the band's future. Lately, the band members have been involved in various activities, including writing a musical based on Cyrano de Bergerac and a collaborative album with another artist that they don't want to name yet. Matt and Aaron discussed those projects with me, as well as their feelings about their hometown, Matt's tendency to occasionally forget lyrics, and the greatness of their 2007 album Boxer. It's an essential listen for any National fan

In late April I visited Cincinnati to attend the first ever Homecoming, a festival headlined and curated by The National that also featured Father John Misty, Feist, Alvvays, The Breeders, Julian Baker, Moses Sumney, and many other great acts. I had a really good time!&nbsp;When I was there, I also had the chance to sit down with Matt Berninger and Aaron Dessner in their tour bus, and talk about the band's future. Lately, the band members have been involved in various&nbsp;activities, including writing a musical based on&nbsp;Cyrano de Bergerac&nbsp;and a collaborative album with another artist that they don't want to name yet. Matt and Aaron discussed those projects with me, as well as their feelings about their hometown, Matt's tendency to occasionally forget lyrics, and the greatness of their 2007 album&nbsp;Boxer.&nbsp;It's an essential listen for any National fan

Rock Critic Steven Hyden ("Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me", "Twilight Of The Gods") talks with rock stars and the country’s biggest music writers about what’s happening in rock. Presented by 93X (www.93X.com) and Uproxx.com (http://uproxx.com/music/)

Celebration Rock

Matt and Aaron from The National, live from the Homecoming Festival

Steve decided to take the podcast out of hibernation for this special one-off episode on the best albums of the 2010's, with special guest Ian Cohen.

Steve decided to take the podcast out of hibernation for this special one-off episode on the best albums of the 2010's, with special guest Ian Cohen.

Celebration Rock:  Best Albums of the Decade with Ian Cohen

Every year of my professional life as a music critic, I've made year-end lists. Sometimes it was because I simply had to do it, but more often (especially when I was younger) I did it because I thought it was fun. Making a year-end list was like saying, "Here I am, this is what I think, and here's why I believe you should actually care." But now that I'm a little older and wiser, list-making feels more like work. In 2018, it was practically a job. 

I don't know if that has to do with my age or the fact that, to me, 2018 felt like a "good, not great" year for music. As always, there were scores of albums that I really enjoyed. But in terms of records that felt like instant classics, or at least inspired me to get obsessed for a good week or two, 2018 seemed a little fallow. 

Nevertheless, the 10 albums on my year-end list did manage to strike a chord with me, and I was excited to talk about them with my friend Ian Cohen, who shared his own top 10 list. Surprisingly, there's not a ton of overlap on our lists –- listen to us debate the merits of the 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Boygenius, Father John Misty, and Kacey Musgraves in this special "best of 2018" episode. 

Every year of my professional life as a music critic, I've made year-end lists. Sometimes it was because I simply&nbsp;had&nbsp;to do it, but more often (especially when I was younger) I did it because I thought it was fun. Making a year-end list was like saying, "Here I am, this is what I think, and here's why I believe you should actually care." But now that I'm a little older and wiser, list-making feels more like work. In 2018, it was practically a job.&nbsp; I don't know if that has to do with my age or the fact that, to me, 2018 felt like a "good, not great" year for music. As always, there were scores of albums that I really enjoyed. But in terms of records that felt like instant classics, or at least inspired me to get obsessed for a good week or two, 2018 seemed a little fallow.&nbsp; Nevertheless, the 10 albums on my year-end list did manage to strike a chord with me, and I was excited to talk about them with my friend Ian Cohen, who shared his own top 10 list. Surprisingly, there's not a ton of overlap on our lists &ndash;- listen to us debate the merits of the 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Boygenius, Father John Misty, and Kacey Musgraves in this special "best of 2018" episode.&nbsp;

Our Favorite Albums of 2018

This week we return with another installment of Contrarian's Canon, our semi-regular series with Ryley Walker where we talk about great albums that for some reason have been maligned or forgotten about in the course of music history. This time, we explore an under-appreciated should-be classic by one of the greatest singer-songwriters ever, Joni Mitchell.

While Mitchell is rightly celebrated for landmark '70s albums like Blue, Court & Spark, and The Hissing of Summer Lawns, she continued to put out excellent albums as she entered her 40s. After a fallow period in the '80s, Mitchell forged a comeback with 1991's Night Ride Home, an album that nodded to the jazzy folk sound of 1976's masterpiece Hejira while also reflecting on the changes in her life as a middle-aged artist. 

For Walker, Night Ride Home is one of the best albums that Mitchell ever made, and for him the highlight "Come In From The Cold" is one of her best ever songs, with a sophisticated musical and lyrical structure that is communicated with simple, straight-forward grace. We both also confess our love of other early '90s albums by boomer-era rockers, including Jackson Browne's I'm Alive and Van Morrison's Hymns to the Silence. Are these late-career landmarks worth revisiting, or have Ryley and I slipped into an adult-contemporary coma? Step into the smoothness with us!

This week we return with another installment of Contrarian's Canon, our semi-regular series with Ryley Walker where we talk about great albums that for some reason have been maligned or forgotten about in the course of music history.&nbsp;This time, we explore an under-appreciated should-be classic by one of the greatest singer-songwriters ever, Joni Mitchell. While Mitchell is rightly celebrated for landmark '70s albums like&nbsp;Blue, Court &amp; Spark,&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Hissing of Summer Lawns,&nbsp;she continued to put out excellent albums as she entered her 40s. After a fallow period in the '80s, Mitchell forged a comeback with 1991's&nbsp;Night Ride Home,&nbsp;an album that nodded to the jazzy folk sound of 1976's masterpiece&nbsp;Hejira&nbsp;while also reflecting on the changes in her life as a middle-aged artist.&nbsp; For Walker,&nbsp;Night Ride Home&nbsp;is one of the best albums that Mitchell ever made, and for him the highlight "Come In From The Cold" is one of her best ever songs, with a sophisticated musical and lyrical structure that is communicated with simple, straight-forward grace. We both also confess our love of other early '90s albums by boomer-era rockers, including Jackson Browne's&nbsp;I'm Alive&nbsp;and Van Morrison's&nbsp;Hymns to the Silence.&nbsp;Are these late-career landmarks worth revisiting, or have&nbsp;Ryley and I slipped into an adult-contemporary coma?&nbsp;Step&nbsp;into the smoothness with us!

Matt and Aaron from The National, live from the Homecoming Festival

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