The kids are back in school and fall is right around the corner, but first, let's take a look at what our WDIY listeners and members celebrated the end of summer with in our Top 10 Albums of August list! Want to hear your favorite songs on WDIY this fall? Feel free to call WDIY's studio line with a request at 610-694-8100 x1 or leave your picks on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram pages.
#10
Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder
Get On Board: The Songs of Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
Nonesuch
April 22, 2022
This newest album is the duo’s first collaboration in more than a half-century. The 11 songs feature Mahal on vocals, harmonica, guitar, and piano, and Cooder on vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo, drums, and bass. The songs for the LP are drawn from recordings and live performances by Terry and McGhee, who Mahal and Cooder first heard as teenagers. Mahal and Cooder originally joined forces in 1965, forming The Rising Sons when Cooder was just seventeen. The band was signed to Columbia Records but an album was not released and the group disbanded a year later. The 1960s recording sessions, widely bootlegged, were finally issued officially in 1992.
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#9
Aoife O’Donovan
Age of Apathy
Yep Roc Records
January 21, 2022
Aofie O’Donovan recorded her third feature album titled Age of Apathy through a unique arrangement with Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. While in the studio she shares with her producer Joe Henry, she logged daily hours online with GRAMMY-nominated engineer Darren Schneider to get the album done. Her previous albums were composed and recorded in the rush between tours, but Age Of Apathy was more deliberate and methodical as it was made entirely amid the stillness of COVID.
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#8
Sarah Shook & The Disarmers
Nightroamer
Thirty Tigers
February 18, 2022
A lot has happened in the four-year gap since Sarah Shook and the Disarmers put out their second studio album titled Years; a global pandemic that the band narrowly missed in terms of a recording schedule, a record label change, and Sarah publicly coming out as non-binary (they/them pronouns). The new album focuses more on hope and change and new habits, and definitely blends their hard country sound with more genres this time, like Britpop, disco, and of course, more punk. Shook has also been working on songs for a solo album set to come out later in 2022.
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#7
Keb’ Mo’
Good to Be
Rounder Records
January 21, 2022
Five-time GRAMMY winner Keb’ Mo’ recently released his newest full-length, Good To Be, in the beginning of 2022 from a very personal place. The album was written between Nashville and his childhood home in Compton, California, which Keb’ recently purchased and renovated. The album release was accompanied by an official video for the title track single, “Good to Be (Home Again),” which was filmed in Mo’s hometown and features the Compton Cowboys.
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#6
Father John Misty
Chloë and the Next 20th Century
Sub Pop Records
April 8, 2022
Father John Misty returns with Chloë and the Next 20th Century, his fifth album and first new material since the release of God’s Favorite Customer in 2018. The new edition to his collection was written and recorded August through December 2020. His latest album is another collection of story-song vignettes; it feels and plays like an elaborate character study in the life of a hopeless romantic and his doomed romances with a whole series of women, starting with Chloë.
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#5
Buffalo Nichols
Buffalo Nichols
Fat Possum Records
October 15th, 2021
Buffalo Nichols holds a special place at Fat Possum Records as the label’s first solo blues signing in nearly 20 years, and his first solo album proves what he has to offer to the blues music scene. Nichols finds himself drawn to black people’s influence on music, specifically within his genre, and the idea of keeping the origins of a genre alive while continuing to create a modern sound is something that stuck with Nichols.
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#4
Trombone Shorty
Lifted
Blue Note Records
April 29, 2022
Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews returns to the stage with his first album in 5 years and the follow-up to his Blue Note Records debut album Parking Lot Symphony. His newest album features special guest vocalist Lauren Daigle & guitarist Gary Clark Jr. Shorty wanted to capture the energy of his legendary live shows in this album. Lifted combines classic New Orleans sounds with modern lyrics, melody, and beats to create something fresh & unique. On top of making music, he runs the The Trombone Shorty Foundation, which has helped schools across New Orleans receive quality instruments donated by Andrews personally.
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#3
Bonnie Raitt
Just Like That…
Redwing
February 25, 2022
Six years since her last studio album, this veteran singer-songwriter and slide guitarist returns with a collection of robust rock that feels like deep dives into her older work. She started off the 1970s working in a folk-inspired blues style, changing ever so slightly with the times, and now she returns to her roots with her 18th studio album. On Raitt’s resume is a list of successful albums, political activism, eight Grammy Awards, her 2000 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, her Lifetime Achievement Grammy, and her being the first female musician ever honored by Fender with a signature series of guitars.
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#2
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Endless Rooms
Sub Pop
May 6, 2022
Written amid the pandemic and the devastating Australian wildfires, this band’s newest album fixates on class disparities, environmental destruction, and other political statements. However, their musicality has not changed since their origins, so the statements are paired with the usual 1980’s college rock vibes. Most of the album was written in quarantine, but they quickly isolated themselves in a house in Melbourne and started recording as soon as it was deemed safe. While they may not step on the soapbox with this newest work, they do make a well-appreciated effort to make a statement while maintaining their sound.
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#1
Lyle Lovett
12th of June
Verve Records
May 13, 2022
12th of June is this Texas singer-songwriter’s first album in a decade, after the 2012 album Release Me. The 11-track album features a mix of Lovett’s originals as well as interpretations of songs by Nat King Cole and Dave Frishberg. Lovett co-produced the project with Chuck Ainlay, bringing together his usual mix of country, jazz, folk, and more. The name of the album is actually the birthday of this 60-year-old first-time father’s son. He took time off after his last contract with Curb Records ended to stockpile songs and craft something he was truly proud of. Most of the album was recorded in Nashville in 2019, but like most artists, the pandemic delayed it by two years and gave him more time to spend with his family before release.
