2016 According to .. Jeffrey Lewis

One of my gig regrets of the year was undoubtedly not getting to see the show Jeffrey Lewis did for the Cool Cat Club in August. I did at least get a hold of Jeffrey’s excellent ‘Manhattan’ LP from last year and have enjoyed it a lot as some form of compensation.

Also by way of compensation was Andy’s terrific interview with JL ahead of that Dundee show and he’s repeated the trick by getting Mr Lewis to look back on 2016 for us. And it wasn’t just us on this side of the pond who suffered …

Your Own Music

Your own musical highlight of the year?

USA cross-country tour with my band!  My car didn’t survive the trip but overall it was great.

Favourite performance of the year?

Of my own?  Off the top of my head some particularly memorable gigs were Aalborg, Denmark, and York UK, and Austin, Texas… also had a really good show in Seattle on my birthday… there’s probably others I’m forgetting at the moment.

What’s the one thing that went wrong in 2016 you’d like to fix?

Do you really have to ask?  Oh, you mean musically?  Uh, that one time I broke a string, what a bummer…

What you gonna be doing next year?

I don’t know.

Jeffrey Lewis & Los Bolts

Others’ Music

Album of the year?

I can’t remember if I heard any new albums this year.

Song of the year?

I can’t remember if I heard any new songs this year.

Best gig attended?

Jake McKelvie & The Countertops, at Shea in Bushwick Brooklyn, Jonathan Richman at Bell House in Brooklyn, also enjoyed Cate Le Bon at Doune the Rabbit Hole festival in Scotland.

Best discovery in 2016?

Either “Reachin” by Arcesia, or “Twice Upon a Rhyme” by Paul Levinson With Ed Fox And Peter Rosenthal.

Who should we be looking out for in 2017?

Mayya & the Revolutionary Hell Yeah, up-and-comers from San Francisco.

Anything and Everything

Hero of 2016

Mama Lips, transgender comic book artist from Newcastle UK, quietly making some very moving and inspirational little minicomix.

Villain of 2016

Time for my daily test to see whether I can say his name without puking, here goes, Donald TruBLEAAGHURGGGHHH oh well, I’ll try again tomorrow.

High point of 2016

Getting to tour with my brother Jack again, he hadn’t been on the road with my band for about four years but he joined us on a couple tours over the summer and again for a bit of the November tour.

Lowpoint of 2016

The USA election of course, though Brexit takes second place.

Favourite book of 2016

Did I read any new books this year?  I guess “Patience” by Daniel Clowes might be one of the few 2016 books that I read, it’s not his best but it was the best thing he’s put out in about 15 years so that’s good.

Favourite film of 2016

Did “The Big Short” come out in 2016?  I thought that was great.

Best piece of advice you gave or were given in 2016

Write more songs.

What place will you most associate with 2016

I guess my apartment.

Something to look forward to in 2017

Hitler had Reichstag, Bush had 9/11, Trump would doubtlessly love to have an event that will “rally the country” behind him.

At least maybe there’ll be a new album by the Fall too.  Things to look forward to!

Here’s a track from ‘Manhattan’:

Previously on MPT

The Daily Human Challenge – Jeffrey Lewis interview (August 2016)