8. Portugal. The Man - Woodstock

Portugal. The Man (I hate the punctuation!!) have been around for over a decade now, releasing a steady string of pretty great psychedelic rock records. They haven't really been on my radar before this year, when a larger number of friends have been recommending them, so I decided to give them a listen. I put on their newest album, Woodstock, and immediately loved it. Little did I know that it was quite a radical departure for the band and rather poorly received by longtime fans of the band. Here I'm just reviewing Woodstock on its own terms.

It's in your face, like much of the music, and their first album cover without any
psychey hand-drawn elements to it.  

Rock music hasn't been up to much the last ten years. The exciting diversification of indie rock was probably the most recent wave where actual new things were added to the rock music canon. Unfortunately, the great bands that emerged in this era still stand quite alone on top (and are starting to fade), and nothing new has really replaced it. In contrast, hip-hop, r'n'b and electronic music have all merged, morphed and developed into new exciting genres, with or without the help of all kinds of tropicalities, 30's-flavored jazz vibes, trip-hop chill, and other flavors that you wouldn't think should blend very well. So it's not surprising that this bunch of rockers from Wasilla, Alaska on their eighth album decided that they didn't need to play rock music any more. Woodstock is still blissed-out feelgood music like P.TM's best, but it sounds modern rather than grounded in the 60's or 70's. It's full of old r'n'b samples, guest rappers, irresistible pop hooks, funky synths, and still features plenty of lo-fi acoustic guitar with that beloved, around-the-campfire feeling. And so Woodstock was much more than I expected - an interesting, varied, progressive album that is most of all heaps of fun.

I was surprised to come to St. Louis this fall and find that "Feel it still" was absolutely ubiquitous. I guess it wasn't too unexpected that P.TM were bigger in the States than in Norway, but they still feel pretty underground to be played in a taxi or a supermarket - to the point that I was thinking "wow, this must be a really cool/indie taxi, supermarket etc.". But I quickly realized that "Feel it still" was just that big of a crossover hit, picked up by any which mainstream radio station. However, unbeknownst to these radio playlisters, there are any number of songs on Woodstock that could be just as big a hit. If I were to guess last summer "which song on Woodstock is a huge hit in the US right now?", I could just has weel have guessed "Easy tiger", "Rich friends", "Tidal wave", "Live in the moment", "Keep on" or even chillwave-contribution "So young". In other words, Woodstock is consistently catchy and radio-friendly, and in a better world it would have eight radio hits rather than just the one.

Cool cats. Are they hipster Starks?

Woodstock is only 10 songs and 38 minutes long, but it's a perfect little package of alternative rock for 2017. Where previous P.TM albums are so nostalgic they could have soundtracked "The boat that rocked", Woodstock's Richie Havens-sampling opening track reminds me most of Kanye West's "Ultralight beam". That sound of a real rock band unabashedly embracing all these other genres is so refreshing and fun. For all the danceable beats here you won't find a single drum machine, it's all live and very, very creative drumming. The vibe of each song is very different, the band never claims that one sound is better than the other, they just toss in a bunch of things they like, and the result is a colorful collage that uses its diversity as a strength rather than turning in to a mess.

Woodstock is probably the most instantly and easily likeable you'll find on this list, so without further ado - go listen, enjoy.

Hear: "Tidal wave", "Number one", "Keep on".