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After listening to
hundreds and hundreds of CDs this year, I have narrowed my list down to a manageable
forty, just like Casey! 2001
provided lots of fine moments as I twisted between alt.country,
confessional singer/songwriters, AAA, 21st century power-pop,
and the various "billy" forms.
Essentially I guess I just tried to keep with Ryan Adams' ever
changing moods. In the end, Ryan
put two CDs in my top ten with only the more elusive Bernstein, er Dan
Bern, finally nailing down my top spot.
And, thanks to Gillian Welch, I have thoroughly enjoyed my first
album since Deep Purple's "Made in Japan" that includes a song in
excess of fourteen minutes.
The
List:
- Dan Bern - NEW AMERICAN LANGUAGE (Messenger) -
Bernstein's new one is a consistent mix of both heartfelt and
observational poetry, hook-laden unforgettable melodies, humor, wit,
satire, and undeniable charm.
Easily as good as his debut, "New American Language"
could be the best release of 2001 based solely on "God Said
No" alone.
- Lucinda
Williams
- ESSENCE (Lost Highway) -
"Essence" is not a simple retread of the phenomenal
"Car Wheels on a Gravel Road." Instead, Lucinda works her magic with a sensually
throbbing musically trip. Her words are mantras this time out instead
of stories.
"Essence" is a slow burning classic that takes plenty
of listens to finally reach a boil.
- Dave
Carter & Tracy Grammer
- DRUM HAT BUDDHA (Signature
Sounds) - Another cerebral collection of Americana poésie for
the new millennium, "Drum Hat Buddah" could be mistaken for
a vintage collection of old-timey originals. Tracy's voice and Dave's songs however, create instead a
collection of well-worn sounds with a distinctly modern bend of motifs
and delivery.
- Ryan
Adams - GOLD (Lost Highway) - Ryan Adams is
easily rock's renaissance man of the hour. Hot on the heels of last year's somewhat lo-fi
"Heartbreaker," "Gold" now finds Ryan completely
at home with luscious pop motifs and hooks galore. When Ryan eventually finds
superstardom, and he should, he deserves it.
- Gillian
Welch - TIME (THE REVELATOR) (Acony) - Just as
Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer have distilled bluegrass and mountain
music down to a modern elixir, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
continue to age their music cellars.
"My First Lover" combines an ageless musical ambiance
with a hook last successfully navigated by Squeeze.
- Whiskeytown - PNEUMONIA (Lost Highway) - In the age of
reissues, box sets, rarities, internet releases, and Napster, it is
amazing that "missing" releases ever matter. "Pneumonia" presages Ryan
Adams' "Gold" and transcends the early ragged-but-right
Whiskeytown of several years back.
- Buddy & Julie Miller - BUDDY & JULIE MILLER (Hightone) - Buddy and Julie have
been all over one another's records for so long. This one finally sets the record
straight. It's best described
as putting their last five solo records in the five-tray player and
hitting shuffle.
- John
Hiatt - THE TIKI BAR IS OPEN (Vanguard) - Another
"missing link" CD, recorded before "Crossing Muddy
Waters" with Sonny Landreth and the Goners. Personally, I know prefer the
mandolin and foot-stomping Hiatt records to this kind. His songs and voice though are
worth the time in any setting.
- Ray
Wylie Hubbard
- ETERNAL AND LOWDOWN (Philo) -
Following in a long-line of Texas singer/songwriters who craft deep,
earthy music seemingly at will, comes "Eternal and
Lowdown." The defining
moment for me is when Ray Wylie rhymes greasy guitar licks with Gurf
Morlix. Enough said.
- Rodney
Crowell -
THE HOUSTON KID (Sugar Hill) - An
autobiographical going home from a multi-platinum genre changing
hit-maker. Rodney reinvents
"I Walk the Line" to become a tale of boyhood memory and
musical inspiration. He then
has the good sense to enlist the Man in Black himself to bring home
the point. Things only get
better from there.
- The
Actual Tigers
- GRAVELLED & GREEN (Nettwerk)
- A band seemingly inspired by countless hooks originally heard on
1960s and early 1970s AM radio.
Or maybe it was an older sibling's record collection. In either case, the Actual Tigers
encapsulated pop music in a way that sounded timelessly original.
- Honeydogs - HERE'S LUCK (Palm) - Gone is the
alt.country leanings of the earlier releases. The focus has definitely shifted
toward the Beatles and that's not a bad thing. Adam Levy still speaks to me as a
Midwesterner. I think it is
the random "saw you in your k car t-bond by the road star"
humor.
- Ron Sexsmith - BLUE BOY (Spin Art) - Ron Sexsmith and
Steve Earle? Ok, Steve did
produce the Bible years ago and sonically understood Boo
Hewerdine. Ron is still
cranking out lovely songs and flying under the radar. My favorite buzz phrase of 2001 was
"I'm not too big on that" thanks entirely to Ron.
- Pawtuckets - DOGSBODY FACTOTUM (Madjack) - Initially I
thought Pawtuckets were a Son Volt knock-off á la Richmond Fontaine on
the first listening. Vocal
comparisons between the three bands aside, Pawtuckets have a gift for
melodies that only can only hopes expands past this excellent debut.
- John
Train - LOOKS LIKE UP (Record Cellar) - An
amalgamation of Americana and jangle-pop, John Train rides the bummer
rails. How can you resist a
title like, "Did You Come By Bitterness Honestly" anyway?
- Continental Drifters - BETTER DAY (Razor & Tie) - The CD opens
with "Na Na," a song that could have been a hit for the
Bangles. Continental Drifters are
definitely a band of talents.
Their rousing live show kept me reaching for this CD throughout
the year.
- The Cash
Brothers
- HOW WAS TOMORROW (Zoe) - I was
flat out hooked on "Nebraska" when I stumbled on it on an Uncut
compilation last year. Amazingly,
the rest of the collection rises to that song at least three or four
other times. Anyone of these
songs could find themselves pleasantly at home on UPN or WB teenie
bopper shows and that is meant as a compliment.
- Old 97s - SATELLITE RIDES (Elektra) - Old 97s are
one of the best live acts out there today. They also keep churning out music that updates some of
the best of the American
underground circa 1979-1980.
The skinny ties have been replaced by dot.com t-shirts and the
whole thing seems to be fueled by some double-shot lattes.
- Lloyd Cole - THE NEGATIVES (March) - I always thought
of Lloyd Cole as the quintessential graduate student of English Lit
who started a band as a lark.
He most have worked too damned hard on his dissertation because
his solo albums where, to me, too dense--musically and lyrically. "The Negatives" can
easily sit next to "Rattlesnakes" or "Easy
Pieces." So much so, in
fact, that Lloyd felts comfortable enough to lyrically revisit them.
- Graham
Parker - DEEPCUT TO NOWHERE (Razor & Tie) - Graham's
career has included moments of brilliance every few albums. This is neither "The Mona
Lisa's Sister" nor "Squeezing Out Sparks." It is, however, an excellent
collection of middle-aged rumination, angst, and occasional
anger. Just like old times.
- Shaver - THE EARTH ROLLS ON (New West) - The last
collaboration between Billy Joe and Eddie Shaver, "The Earth
Rolls On" finds a band hitting it's stride--a generational mixing
of well-traveled wisdom and harnessing guitar pyrotechnics. "Blood is Thicker Than
Water" casts an eerie shadow over Eddie's untimely death. A
sad, sad record.
- Greg
Trooper -
ONCE AND FOR ALL (Eminent) - One of
Nashville's many outstanding outsider songwriters, Greg finds a
balance of earthy songs drawing equally on folk, rock'n'roll, r'n'b,
and roadhouse blues.
- Electric
Light Orchestra
- ZOOM (Epic) - Technology has
finally caught up to Jeff Lynne's art. I hated his excursions into Dave Edmund's otherwise
excellent and varied discography.
ELO always had their stellar moments but "Discovery"
was almost disco at a time when people burned records for less. I digress, Jeff Lynne has a
rockabilly heart, George Martin's ear, and apparently Todd Rundgren's
garage. Bravo.
- Minibar - ROAD MOVIES (Universal)
- Tim
Easton - THE TRUTH ABOUT US (New West)
- Joe
Flood - CRIPPLIN' CRUTCH (Diesel Only)
- Freedy Johnston - RIGHT BETWEEN THE PROMISES (Elektra)
- Swag - CATCH ALL (Yep Roc)
- Steve
Almaas - KINGO A WILD ONE (Parasol)
- Chris
Knight - PRETTY GOOD GUY (Dualtone)
- Mark
Insley - TUCSON (Rustic)
- Eddi Reader
- SIMPLE SOUL (Compass)
- Clem Snide - THE GHOST OF FASHION (Spin Art)
- Frog
Holler - IDIOTS (Record Cellar)
- Los
Straitjackets
- SING ALONG WITH… (Yep Roc)
- Robbie Fulks - 13 HILLBILLY GIANTS (Bloodshot)
- Natalie
Merchant
- MOTHERLAND (Elektra)
- Nick
Lowe - THE CONVINCER (Yep Roc)
- The Morells - THE MORELLS (Slewfoot)
- Blue
Mountain
- ROOTS (Blue Mountain)
Apologies
to Bob Dylan, Jay Farrar, and Loudon Wainwright III.
My
Top 10 Favorite Concerts of 2001
1.
May 26 - The Flatlanders - Mystic
Theater, Petaluma, CA
2.
March 9 - Jeff Tweedy, The Great
American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA
3.
July 2 - Emmylou Harris & Joe Henry
- Mountain Winery - Saratoga, CA
4.
January 19 - The Jayhawks & Neko Case &
Her Boyfriends, The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA
5. July 28 - Fat Fry - Lucinda Williams, Dave Alvin, Jim Lauderdale
et al. - Aptos, CA
6.
July 15 - Kevin Welch & Kieran Kane
- The Palms - Davis, CA
7. September 25 - Clive Gregson - The Palms -
Davis, CA
8. January 5 - Van
Morrison - Reno Hilton - Reno, NV
9. June 8 - Continental Drifters
- The Palms - Davis, CA
10. March 13 - Merle
Haggard - Luther Burbank Center - Santa Rosa, CA
Best
Tribute Collection
Various
- SHOE FETISH (Parasol)
Various
- POET: A TRIBUTE TO TOWNES VAN ZANDT
(FreeFalls)
Various
- AVALON BLUES (Vanguard)
Best
Unintentional Tribute Collection
Hayseed Dixie
- A
HILLBILLY TRIBUTE TO AC/DC (Dualtone)
Best
Catalogue Reissue Program
Paul Brady
(Compass)
Best
Catalogue Reissue
The Soft Boys
- UNDERWATER MOONLIGHT (Matador)
Shuggie Otis -
INSPIRATION INFORMATION (Luaka Bop)
Best
Soundtrack
Various
- SONGCATCHER (Vanguard)
Best
Live Collection
Fred Eaglesmith
- RALPH'S LAST SHOW (Signature Sounds)
Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart - MUST BE LIVE
(Gearle)
Steve Earle/Townes Van Zandt/Guy Clark - LIVE
AT THE BLUEBIRD CAFÉ (American Originals)
Steve Forbert
- LIVE AT THE BOTTOM LINE (Koch)
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