As promised the album reviews of 2006, in no particular order. HAPPY NEW YEAR! The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant, 2006). “Stuck Between Stations” has the look and feel of a hit single, and knowing Craig Finn, he could care less. Hits are not what he’s about. Unlike so many other auteurs, whom emote about topics they’ve never even observed, much less experienced, Finn invites us into a world he knows first hand: a world where broken bottles and broken dreams are one in the same. His heroes – the kids, always the kids – struggle, fall and pick themselves up. Like the girl in “You Can Make Him Like You” who dumps her boyfriend when she finally gets tired of his drug use. Strangely depressing and uplifting at the same time, but what else could you expect from someone who stole the title of his album from a Jack Kerouac line? A- The Gothic Archies: The Tragic Treasury: Songs From a Series of Unfortunate Events (Nonesuch, 2006). From the sublime to the ridiculou...
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Top Albums of 2006 (1st go around) Like I really need to say this. This list will be updated at some point during the next few weeks, as is my prerogative as a critic. One change in format from last year: the A albums are in bold to separate them from the pack. As was the case last year I will follow with the long, overdue reviews of these albums over the next few weeks. 1. Bob Dylan: Modern Times (Columbia) 2. Ghostface Killah: Fishscale (Def Jam) 3. The Klezmatics: Wonder Wheel (JMG) 4. Tom Waits: Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards (Anti) 5. Rosanne Cash: Black Cadillac (Capitol) 6. The Streets: The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (Vice/Atlantic) 7. Joanna Newsom: Ys (Drag City) 8. Outkast: Idlewild (LeFace) 9. Todd Snider: The Devil You Know (New Door) 10. Maria Muldaur: Heart of Mine:...
DEVILS, BLOATS, OLD FARTS AND YIDDISH MARXISTS. NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL ECLECTIC! The following reviews are dedicated to Robert Christgau, who last week was “fired” by The Village Voice as part of a “restructuring.” For 37 years he inspired countless rock lovers and would-be critics with his wit and a painfully honest style of writing. Now he’s a free agent, a casualty of an industry that long ago stopped giving a shit about rock-n-roll. Good luck, Robert. We will never forget your contributions, commitment or your passion. Todd Snider: The Devil You Know (New Door, 2006). That Snider has become a troubadour of the underclass is a given; that he’s managed to develop into a substantial artist capable of transcending his art into a competent product and a vehicle that continues to draw new fans to him is the best damn news musically to hit the industry in years. What made East Nashville Skyline unique and great was Snider’s ability to be both funny and evoke rage at the same tim...
AND THE TOP PICKS KEEP COMING! The Go-Betweens: That Striped Sunlight Sound (Yep Roc, 2006). It portends Street Survivors if for no other reason than the timing (released four months prior to Grant’s passing). And like Lynyrd Skynyrd before them there is a cruel irony that gets played out here in that anyone who missed the boat the first time around now gets a chance to catch up and appreciate them for what they were: the wittiest and most prolific pair of popsters this side of Liverpool. The bonus DVD adds a special touch – check out the last interview with McLennan in which he comments on their future as a band. Their like will not soon be duplicated. A- Jenny Lewis With the Watson Twins: Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love, 2006). Fronting Rilo Kiley was easy for Lewis. She was the ultimate indie wet dream: hot, sexy, fearless, and with a tight band behind her. Flying solo is another thing. Her voice, not exactly her strongest asset, blossoms nicely here. It’s a cross between...
A Quiet Heart
“It doesn't matter how far you've come You've always got further to go.” - Grant McLennan Some deaths are tragic: Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Ronnie Van Zant, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Some are inevitable: Frankie Lymon, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and, later, Kurt Cobain. Then there are those deaths that seem strangely poetic in there happenstance, as though orchestrated by the gods, neither inevitable nor tragic, just matter of fact. At the age of 48 Grant McLennan was seemingly at the apex of a career that had already once been reinvented. The six albums he and his partner Robert Forster had put out in the 1980s as the leaders of The Go-Betweens had done more than just deliver some of the wittiest and most mature songwriting of the decade; they single-handedly were responsible for creating a whole new genre of music that is now referred to as adult alternative. Groups like Belle and Sebastian, Luna, and even Yo La Tengo were quick to adopt elements of their styl...
DON'T STOP ME NOW, I'M ON A ROLL! Frank London's Klezmer Brass Allstars: Carnival Conspiracy (Piranha, 2006). The difference between your basic bar mitzvah band and the truly unique world-vision eastern-European Yiddish band the Klezmatics became famous for may be a fine line, but damn if London doesn't skirt it brilliantly. While I confess to being no expert on the history of the music, its Ukrainian folk roots aided by a mix of Brazilian rhythm put this album over the top for me. In deed, I'm thinking it's this years Gogol Bordello. A little less anarchic, but still steeped in the Gypsy tradition. A Rhett Miller: The Believer (Verve Forecast, 2006). Like Paul Westerberg before him, he finds life in the solo lane to be both liberating and challenging at the same time. Unlike Westerberg, he's up for the challenge. While I still miss the Old 97's, if for no other reason that I still feel a good, tight band is both essential and rare these days, Miller...
IT'S ABOUT TIME! Taking 4 months off from a hobby that at times seemed more work than delight, I thought it was time to come back and share some insight into some new releases this year. Even hobbyists have to show up for work sometimes! Kimya Dawson: Remember That I Love You (K, 2006). Calling Dawson an acquired taste seems pointless at this stage. She is now one of the preeminent singer/songwriters of the decade. She's witty, sincere, and a champion of the minimalist school. She also has a way with words. Anyone who can put rhymes like adios, ghost, coast, host and toast in the same song and make them work has my heart. In deed she bares a strange resemblance to another square peg: Stephin Merritt. The cross she bares is the reason she's so beloved, and, while the human in me hopes she finally finds the peace that's been missing from her life, the critic is pulling for more of the same misery. Selfish perhaps, but then I also thought Amy Rigby was better when she ...