Accountability. It’s a scary word – stomach-churning, adrenalin-pumping, and it makes you take stock of your current situation almost before you’ve gotten to the "ty". It recreates the nausea in the pit of your stomach that you felt when you handed your mom the report card that had that special note from your teacher.
The year in music has been a fight for what is real, what is honest, what is not disposable - most of all, it’s been a fight for accountability. No one wants to be the person who admits to pushing a contract across a big mahogany table into the Dorito-stained fingertips of the former Mr. Spears, but it happened. That, unfortunately, is one person’s point of accountability, and there are many sleepless nights that accompany that pound of liposuctioned, Botoxed pound of flesh.
Maybe we write these lists to be like little karmic prayer wheels, sending the good vibes of brilliant work out to subdue the waves of mediocrity that flow so easily into the public consciousness.
Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America
Thank God for bar-band Rock and Roll that dares to be literate! Glimpses of Springsteen, a nod to Jack Kerouac, and a solid dose of Thin Lizzy makes this Brooklyn band the next "Next Big Thing". Check out this clip from their "Chips Ahoy" video:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Ornette Coleman: Sound Grammar
You can’t mistake Ornette’s alto for anyone else – bluesy with an edge that is made to get you to sit up and take notice, made to make you decide how you feel about this music. Ornette has made his best record since the old Atlantic years, and even at 74 years old, he is the youngest lion in the pride. Here’s a great article by Fred Kaplan with some sound clips:
http://www.slate.com/...
Swan Silvertones: 1946-1951
Yeah, I know it’s old, but this is an amazing collection of one of the best Gospel groups of all time – the angelic, free falsetto of Claude Jeter is probably what you hear in St. Peter’s waiting room.
Nacao Zumbi: Futura
The best world music album of the year is also one of the hardest rocking – this band from the Recife region of Brazil blends Maracatu drums with I Zimbra-era Talking Heads to create an infectious, soulful drum-and-guitar led sound. Check out this video clip from the album:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Odyssey Band: Back in Time
An alumni from the Ornette Coleman School of Harmolodics, guitarist/singer James Blood Ulmer has been walking the crossroads between the Blues and the Avant-Guarde for a long time. This great collaboration between Ulmer, violinist Charles Burnham and drummer Warren Benbow is totally, as Duke Ellington would say, beyond category.
You can check the album out here: http://www.pirecordings.com/...
Enrique Bunbury & Nacho Vegas: Tiempo de las Cerezas
As the former lead singer with Heroes del Silencio, Enrique Bunbury has always worn his literate bent on his sleeve – after all, the name Bunbury comes from Oscar Wilde. This two-disc collaboration between Bunbury and singer-songwriter and fellow Spaniard Nacho Vegas is the best work by both of these talented artists. Expect to hear traces of everyone from Leonard Cohen to Townes Van Zandt in this exceptional work.
Even though it’s in Spanish, this very interesting documentary on the record can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/...
J Dilla: Donuts
Ever since DJ Shadow threw Endtroducing into the mix back in 1996, there have been some wonderful DJ albums that have pushed the boundaries even further. Jay Dee (aka J Dilla) left us this year with an amazing record that celebrates the rough textures and experimental sonic collages that Hip Hop worked in the beginning.
Bob Dylan: Modern Times
Who ever thought that Alicia Keys would ever get a shout-out on a Dylan record? This is just one of the many surprises on this record, one of Dylan’s best since Infidels. For me, the highlight of this record is his reworking of Muddy Waters’ Rollin’ and Tumblin’, where he takes the wheel of Muddy’s Cadillac and goes down some amazing side streets.
The Dears: Gang of Losers
Canadian Murray Lightburn’s group has released a brilliant album, loaded with themes of indifference of the world around us and celebrating the few who do step up to make change. Here’s a video for the song White People’s Party from this great record: http://www.youtube.com/...
Black Angels: Passover
This Austin band’s first full length CD is a powerful, droning contemplation of the dark side of the Sixties and it’s reflection in the present day. Reminiscent of bands like Joy Division, the Gun Club and the 13th Floor Elevators, this band takes its influences and creates a dark, ominus spell. You can see a clip of a live performance of their song The Prodigal Son here: http://www.youtube.com/...
Jean-Claude Vannier: L’Enfant Assassin Des Mouches
As Serge Gainsbourg’s producer on the Histoire de Melody Nelson album, Jean-Claude Vannier is one of the unsung geniuses of Rock. This solo album by this brilliant producer will remind you of the best of David Axelrod, Portishead, Issac Hayes, all heard through the lens of French pop.
Tom Waits: Orphans
A "typical" Tom Waits record is like a platypus – different than 99.9999% of any other animals on the planet. When Tom makes a record that is brilliant by even his lofty standards, there is no comparison. This three-CD package covers all the facets of Waits’ art – the clanging percussion, lyrics from another time and place, and that amazing voice.
Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Band: MTO, Volume 1
One of the best unsung jazz releases of last year was this great album from trumpeter and Sex Mob founder Steven Bernstein, that came out of his study of early "Territory Bands" – pre-swing bands from the south that were big before the influence of the Basie band from Kansas City. This great album features great musicians playing music as diverse as Stevie Wonder’s Signed, Sealed & Delivered and the old chestnut Pennies from Heaven.
Cat Power: The Greatest
Cat Power (Chan Marshall) has always been an honest artist – honest probably to the detriment of functioning in the real world. This emotional openness has come to full fruition on The Greatest, Cat Power’s collaboration with Teenie Hodges and other greats from Al Green’s Hi Records era. This beautiful record is Dusty In Memphis for the new Millennium. Here she is performing the title track live on Jools Holland’s Later show: http://www.youtube.com/...
Toumani Diabate: Boulevard de Independence
Toumani Diabate is a virtuoso of the kora, the harp-guitar of Mali and Senegal. This huge band is his take on the influence of the funk, jazz, and soul music on the seat of civilization, and the results made this record the biggest selling CD in Africa. You can check out a couple of tracks here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
Kaylan Kalhor: The Wind
In a society where musical traditions go back to pre-Biblical times, experimentation and inventiveness are not necessarily welcome traits. Persian musician Kaylan Kalhor has blended his kemanche (spiked fiddle) with the saz of Turkish virtuoso Erdal Erzincan. The result is one of the most engaging world music releases of the year.
Ray Charles: Ray Sings, Basie Swings
I’m not usually a fan of "ghost" recordings – I still think Kenny G needs to serve time for what he did to Louis Armstrong years ago. This wonderful record really is a labor of love – Ray has never sounded stronger, and Gregg Field’s arrangements have brought the Basie band back to full strength. This is a brilliant tribute to one of the few artists who fully deserve the mantle of genius.
The Black Keys: Magic Potion
For me, the Black Keys have always had an undercurrent of danger, where the fork in the road is the difference between seeing the group in some small dive on the outskirts of town or driving past the people from The Hills Have Eyes. This album is a great blast of low-slung, powerful blues. Here’s a video from the song Your Touch: http://www.youtube.com/...
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain
TV on the Radio is a band that could only have come from this era – there is a recognition of the history of the music with touches of soul and hip-hop, but the aural experimentation is firmly a result of the electronica era. This great album features vocal assistance from David Bowie. Here’s a clip from the song Wolf Like Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zuf_aU29Ns&mode=related&search=
Kevin Coyne & The Pine Valley Cosmonauts: One Day in Chicago
Kevin Coyne was a true original – from the experience of working in mental health facilities, he wrote his own brand of music, reflective of the pain in the universal human condition, infused with the blues, sung in his unique, Howlin’ Wolf-meets-John Martyn voice. This was his last album, recorded with Jon Langford of the Mekons in the Windy City, and it is this amazing flood of poetry, like Kevin had all of these powerful songs he needed to get out quickly. Some of Kevin’s work can be heard here: http://profile.myspace.com/...
What were your favorite albums from the past year?