It’s just an annual ritual – like having the chimney cleaned. And, though it doesn’t keep the house from burning down, writing down a musical Top 10 gives me a record of the evolution of my own taste (I was going to say that it also gives me a snapshot of the evolution of trends in popular music, but I don’t think that is the case). I’ve got a pile of these lists, going back decades, and it’s sometimes an unwelcome jolt to see the music I was championing back then. Other times, it’s the trigger that forces out a barely audible “Aw,” then a scramble to find that recording I haven’t heard in ten years. Anyway (SNAPSHOT!!), here’s the 2007 list:
1. Nick Lowe At My Age
– I was fortunate enough to see his solo acoustic show at the Somerville Theater in Massachusetts this past September, and it was magnificent (didn’t hurt that the opener was Ron Sexsmith).
2. Vulture Whale Vulture Whale
– Rock & Roll as it should be: loud, unrefined, with a sense of humor. And they’re from Birmingham.
3. Josh Ritter The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter
– Josh Ritter merely breathes and beautiful music comes out. My other favorite concert of the year was JR at both Workplay and Laser’s Edge on Halloween night. Transcendent.
4. Ryan Adams Easy Tiger
– Pure poetry by our most troubled bard. God help him (and keep him).
5. Laura Veirs Saltbreakers
– This and the Ry Cooder title (below) are the most “album”-like on the list, containing songs that flow together thematically or, in the case of Buddy, tell an engaging story.
6. Ry Cooder My Name Is Buddy
– Rumor has it that one of Ry Cooder’s new projects is based somehow in Alabama. But it’s just a rumor.
7. Band Of Horses Cease To Begin
– My instant access to this album was the sonic similarity to The Shins, but Band Of Horses don’t seem enamored of their own quirkiness. “Detlef Schrempf” is one of the most touching moments that I heard on a rock album this year.
8. The Avett Brothers Emotionalism
– The first Avetts album to approach the energy and spontaneity of their explosive live show, beautifully balanced between the convulsive and the tender.
9. Lewis Taylor The Lost Album
– The history of this recording is somewhat mangled, but THANK GOD it got released. The Lost Album is Taylor’s painstakingly crafted homage/pastiche to Brian Wilson and Todd Rundgren, injected with enough neo-soul vibe to keep it from being a tribute retread.
10. Daniel Lanois Here Is What Is
– This soundtrack to a documentary about Lanois and his music has moments of jaw-dropping beauty.
What were your favorites last year?…Feel free to post them as a comment.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Brentski // Jan 2, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Great list! The Lanois is the only record I haven’t heard. (Having only heard what you posted on the site… but it sounded nice.) So I of course will have to search it out…
2 Vince // Jan 3, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Great list! Our lists share Nick Lowe and the Avett Brothers in common.
3 Blair Cox // Jan 4, 2008 at 11:46 AM
1. Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals – Lifeline
2. The Subdudes – Street Symphony
Both albums offer genre-crossing music. Ben Harper’s performance at the Alabama Theatre was outstanding in late 2007. If you haven’t listened to The Subdudes before or it you haven’t heard them in a while, give this album a shot. They’re a Louisiana swamp band and so much more.
3. Kim Richey – Chinese Boxes
4. Lucinda Williams – West
Great song writing is offered from two of country music’s not-so-mainstream female singers. Williams’ lyrics are very dark but the music is beautiful.
5. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – 100 Days 100 Nights
This is great retro-soul. It was recorded in Brooklyn but could just have easily come out of Muscle Shoals or Memphis in the mid-1960’s. For some original soul try Aretha Franklin’s Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul (2007).
6. Nick Lowe – At My Age
Nick Lowe is only a couple of months older than I am, so I have a great affinity for the artist and the title. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the music is great. There were some other offerings from the old men of rock and roll worth considering:
Paul McCartney – Memory Almost Full
Bruce Springsteen – Magic
Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II
Mark Knopfler – Kill to Get Crimson
Marc Cohn – Join the Parade
And now for the new young lions of singing and song writing
7. Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquest of Josh Ritter
8. Josh Rouse – Country Mouse City House
9. Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Also worth a listen are:
Lewis Taylor – The Lost Album
Emerson Hart – Cigarettes and Gasoline
John Doe – A Year in the Wilderness
James Morrison – Undiscovered
10. Sophie Milman – Make Someone Happy
Milman offers some sultry, sexy and jazzy renditions of the standards. If you’re a Diana Krall fan, you’ll find a great alternative in Milman. If you’re interested in Milman’s musical roots try Ella Fitzgerald’s Sweet & Hot (2007 re-issue)
An honorable mention goes to Thad Jones for The Magnificent Thad Jones. This is a newly remastered version of a 1956 jazz session. The quintet includes Thad Jones (trumpet), Billy Mitchell (tenor sax), Barry Harris (piano), Percy Heath (bass) and Max roach (drums). Rudy Van Gelder was the sound engineer for the original session and the remaster. Van Gelder was to jazz recording, particularly from the mid-1950’s to the late 1960’s, what Tom Dowd was to rock and roll and soul in the late 1960’s and into the 1970’s. Dowd was engineer/producer for such musicians as Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin and The Allman Brothers. Although Van Gelder and Dowd were not professional musicians, they both had tremendous rapport with the musicians they recorded. As Clapton said of Dowd, he “got it”. There is an excellent DVD available on Tom Dowd, Tom Dowd & the Language of Music. A whole series of jazz recordings that have been remastered by Rudy Van Gelder are now available and are worth seeking out.
4 spitballarmy // Jan 4, 2008 at 12:08 PM
WOW! Blair. Thanks for the detail and tips. You and I have lots of overlap on our lists…I guess we’ve been getting our music from the same place.
5 david // Jan 8, 2008 at 10:34 PM
1. billy strayhorn –lush life / with dianne reeves, bill charlap, and hank jones this cd was destined for uncompromised beauty
2. herbie hancock – river / herbie doing joni mitchell pieces? subtle power and rhythm
3. neil young – live at massey hall / young neil sitting in your living room playing you his “new” songs from 1971
4. lucinda williams – west / love the atmosphere created by this woman on her records
5. wilco – sky blue sky / yay they are accessible again with MUSIC
6. norah jones – not too late / thought it would suck but loved it instead
7. andrew bird – armchair apocrypha / spooky good music
8. josh ritter – the historical conquests of josh ritter / absolute break out album from what i hear is a fine young man
9. dolorean – you cant win /great arrangement from the indie scene
10. over the rhine – the trumpet child / so much talent and passion mixed into a cocktail of joy
-not sure what most critics thought about ’em, but i will be enjoying these for awhile. march on spitball army
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