Spitball Army

List time!  Here are my favored music releases for the year so far, with a proviso: though these records have been introduced to me during the first half of 2009, they were not necessarily released in 2009.  As always, please share your lists and thoughts in the comments below, as I (and other readers here) am always on the lookout for something new and good to tickle my eardrums.

Great Lake Swimmers  Lost Channels
This is the strongest contender for my favorite album of the year.  I never tire from listening to it.  Here is what I said about Lost Channels in my post of 7 April 2009:

Every Great Lake Swimmers album – and there are four of them now – has seemed to show growth, despite the fact that they still sound just like the same band from Album #1.  The signs of a sonic break-out from the lo-fi, acoustic, dreamy somnolence of Great Lake Swimmers and Bodies and Minds were apparent on 2007’s Ongiara, where the lo-fi was turned down and the drums and bass were turned up (ever so slightly).  Lost Channels begins with “Palmistry,” sounding like a cousin to REM’s “Losing My Religion” with its chimy guitars and gentle backbeat.  The album flows gracefully from these pop-flavored moments to the more familiar quiet ones, such as “Stealing Tomorrow” and “Concrete Heart,” in which vocalist Tony Dekker sings a chorus of conversational poetry:

This is the place where I felt
Like the world’s tallest self-supporting tower
Or maybe number two
At least for a little while, anyway.

It is a joy to listen to a band grow steadily while they keep a firm hold onto their musical identity; I’ve been doing so in my truck for almost an entire week now.

[audio:Great_Lake_Swimmers___Palmistry.mp3]
“Palmistry” by Great Lake Swimmers, from Lost Channels (2009)

[audio:Great_Lake_Swimmers___Concrete_Heart.mp3]
“Concrete Heart” by Great Lake Swimmers, from Lost Channels (2009)

Blitzen Trapper  Furr
This was recommended to me via the Amazon robot and, after listening to the online samples, I was in complete agreement (as much as one can be in agreement with a computer program).  Furr reminds me of an earthier version of Supergrass: some hippie twirling, some balladry, some psychedelic touches, and a great pop sensibility.

[audio:Blitzen_Trapper___Sleepytime_In_The_Western_World.mp3]
“Sleepytime in the Western World” by Blitzen Trapper, from Furr (2008)

The Damnwells  One Last Century
While the rough edges have worn off the Damnwells’ sound somewhat over the last few years, their later recordings have only gotten better, more polished, and infinitely more rewarding with every listen.  Frontman and songwriter Alex Dezen has put his soul into these lyrics, which approach Dylanesque at their best moments.  While there is not likely to ever be a contender to “I will feed you fries with steak sauce” (from 2004’s “I Will Keep the Bad Things From You”), this album’s phrases and images are resonant and its melodies infectious.

Some samples from the lyrics of One Last Century:
•  “You crawl to me and I crawl to you / And in the middle we meet / You drink from me and I swallow you / Cause in my heart the rent is cheap” from “Come to Me”
•  “You’re so high-strung, baby, you could wind up the world” from “Jesus Could Be Right”
•  “Destination’s never known but I’m always there on time / Money’s on the heartbreak / My hands are on the wheel” from “Dandelion”

The last time I checked, this album was only available as a download through the band’s website.  And it was free. 

[audio:Damnwells___Bastard_of_Midnight.mp3]
“Bastard of Midnight” by The Damnwells, from One Last Century (2009)

Pat Metheny & Anna Maria Jopek  Upojenie
This is a fascinating collaboration between jazz guitarist Metheny (known to most) and Polish singer-songwriter Jopek (known to few, at least in these parts).  They cover his songs, they cover her songs.  As Metheny is an instrumentalist, and has written no lyrics that I am aware of, Jopek used his melodies and song titles to pen words in her native language.  Those are sung here in what I can most easily describe as a modern-day Getz/Gilberto style collaboration without the bossa nova.  The music is airy and seamless, and floats above the ground, often above the clouds.

[audio:Pat_Metheny_and_Anna_Maria_Jopek___Zupelnie_Inna_Ja.mp3]
“Zupelnie Inna Ja (Always and Forever)” by Pat Metheny & Anna Maria Jopek, from Upojenie (2008)

Phoenix  Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
A terrifically fun record, great in the car and perfect for a party.  With its electronics and jerky rhythms, Phoenix seems to have embraced the 1980s spirit of Devo, and imbued it with 21st Century production values.

[audio:Phoenix___Lasso.mp3]
“Lasso” by Phoenix, from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (2009)

Jeffrey Foucault  Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes
The mission of this album is summed up simply by its subtitle, “Jeffrey Foucault Sings the Songs of John Prine.”  Foucault’s rustic Wisconsin soul is perfectly suited to the folksy portraits penned by Prine.  The interpretations are different from Prine’s in that Foucault rarely delivers the stories with the wry humor that is one of Prine’s trademarks; instead, his musical vignettes are sung with a soberness that tends to emphasize the poignancy of the characters’ situations.  The album is available on CD or as a download at the website of Signature Sounds, a fierce independent label if there ever was one (and the career launching pad for one Mr. Josh Ritter).

[audio:Jeffrey_Foucault___One_Red_Rose.mp3]
“One Red Rose” by Jeffrey Foucault, from Shoot the Moon Right Between the Eyes (2009)

Neal Casal  Leaving Traces 1994-2004
I found this CD almost by mistake.   It was inside of a paper sleeve in the bottom of a box of paperwork.  I almost threw it away.  Thankfully, it sparked a memory of one of my best former customers, who raved insistently that Neal Casal had written some of the best songs he’d recently heard.  And, believe me, this guy’s several-hundred-dollar-a-week music buying habit indicated that he’d heard far more than I could ever fit into my schedule.  So, years later, I listened to it.  And I found that his assessment had great merit.

I know little about Casal, aside from his involvement in Ryan Adams’ band since about 2005.  Listening to this collection, I am reminded of Ken Stringfellow’s voice, and the 1970s California country-pop stylings that have captivated me since my youth.

[audio:Neal_Casal___Just_Getting_By.mp3]
“Just Getting By” (2000) by Neal Casal, from Leaving Traces: Songs 1994-2004

Bob Dylan  New Morning
The re-issue arm of the music business sometimes seems that it practices toward needless excess but, in this case, I am glad to have one of my favorite Dylan albums (and, hence, one of my favorite albums, period) sounding better than ever.  I scribbled these notes about New Morning on 31 March 2009:

Several years back, Columbia Records remixed and re-issued 15 essential Bob Dylan albums, or what they felt were the 15 essential Dylan albums.  Sadly, they left untouched a few that are true classics, including The Basement Tapes and this, my personal “second favorite” Dylan record.  It has languished on barely-listenable compact discs for decades, but this new incarnation – released this week – will truly open your ears.  The sound improvements are subtle until the fourth song, “Went to See the Gypsy,” kicks into gear with a shuffling boogie spotlighting Al Kooper’s organ, David Bromberg’s electric guitar, some inspired syncopated comping on the piano by Dylan, and a rough-but-honeyed vocal that is one of this album’s sonic trademarks.  New Morning’s lyrics seem to be bathed in a mulled brew of American myth that is steeped in simple living and simple values, typified by these closing lines from “Sign on the Window:”

Build me a cabin in Utah,
Marry me a wife,
Catch rainbow trout,
Have a bunch of kids who call me Pa –
That must be what it’s all about.

[audio:Bob_Dylan___Went_to_See_the_Gypsy.mp3]
“Went to See the Gypsy” by Bob Dylan, from New Morning (1970)

[audio:Bob_Dylan___Sign_on_the_Window.mp3]
“Sign on the Window” by Bob Dylan, from New Morning (1970)

I am also looking forward to hearing, upon their release:

Wilco  Wilco (the album)
This was released yesterday, and I am expecting great things.

Hem  Twelfth Night
Band member Dan Messé has been tossing out occasional tweets (@hemmusic) about Hem’s score for the current production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night in Central Park.  Then, earlier this week, the New York Times gave a rave review to the production, calling it the best Shakespeare-in-the-Park in a decade, and giving special mention to the music.  The band proceeded into the studio and recorded the whole thing, with cast members Audra McDonald, Raul Esparza, Anne Hathaway (and others, I presume) reprising their parts.  Apparently, a healthy batch of compositions that didn’t make the cut for the play have made the cut for the album, which is due in late July or early August.

Yim Yames  Tribute To
An EP in which Jim James of My Morning Jacket pays tribute to George Harrison by playing acoustic versions of six of his songs, four of them from the classic album All Things Must Pass.

Gil Shaham plays Sarasate
Some of the material for this recording was premiered on public television last Fall in an intimate chamber-style setting and was lively and engaging.

The Beatles remasters
I have mixed feelings about this project at the moment, as I am made keenly aware by every media outlet that part of the purchase price of every Beatles recording goes directly to the Michael Jackson estate.  On the other hand, the entire Beatles catalog has languished with the same sub-standard sound quality on CD since the 1980s.  This roll-out of remastered versions of every single Beatles album can only be a revelation.  The real question is: how much of a revelation will it be?