Well's 2006 Picks
First and 10:
Album of the year: THE KNUCKLEBALL SUITE - Peter Mulvey. Another one for the ages and better, if at all possible, than his last KITCHEN RADIO. Soft and spare, startlingly introspective folk, bouncy pop, at least one waltz, one stroll, you name the style and it's on here, executed with such skill and restraint that the mind boggles. All this woven through a lyric about the poignancy and unpredictability of life - or as the album titles it, THE KNUCKLEBALL SUITE. It's rather ineffable stuff to try and address directly, and Peter manages to outline and sketch it in before occasionally going head on with a turn of phrase that can make you weep outright. And it's all done with insidiously catchy music and a sense of humor in full flower. Unreservedly recommended, and an album I will happily enjoy for the rest of my life.
1. STRANGE CONVERSATION - Kris Delmhorst. You know that one girl you heard sing, about ten years ago, in a smoky, slightly country nightclub with
decent drinks, you know the one with the voice that made you fall in love all over again? Yeah, her. She just put out a new album. Technically I suppose this is some famous poetry put to music, though it's hard to see past Kris' ethereal tones and the top-notch musicianship. No secret in Americana circles, she has been opening gigs for Richard Thompson of late which means it'll all go national by this time next year.
2. THE LIFE PURSUIT - Belle and Sebastian. The best pure pop album since.well, MARSHMALLOW last year. Another shimmering pop album for summer:
wonderful, almost too-pure harmonies, tasty arrangements, earworms and sing-alongs galore. The background production touches are delightful, and give much joy in repeats. For awhile there I listened to it nearly every day.
3. OLE TARANTULA - Robyn Hitchcock. 10 out of 10 armadillos agree, Robyn is energized and rocking at his best for the first time in ages. R.E.M acts the
rent-a-backing-band, and the news that they already have another album in the can is beyond cool. It's ultra-supermarine-double-dog-dare-cool.
4. TEN SILVER DROPS - Secret Machines. Monster rock songs that build layers of guitar on propulsive drums to thundering climaxes, spacey psych, catchy
4-minute power-pop, sneaky lyrics - these guys bring it, and hard. If your rock has killer backbeat, this is for you. When I was their age I was worried about college homework and getting stoned, and they're opening for U2. There's a reason for that.
5. A CASE FOR CASE (a tribute to the songs of Peter Case) - Various Artists. If you're like me, then you think that Peter is one of the four or five best
pop/country/folk songwriters this country has ever produced. but then you also hate his voice. Enter this 3-disc collection, where anyone who could angle their way onto the project got in their take on a classic. Here the lyrics can really shine, interpreted by new vocal cords and in ways that manage to point up how good the source material is without overcoming it. Might be the best "tribute" album I have ever bought, and that's saying something.
6. NASHVILLE - Solomon Burke. Serious soul voice on classic lyrics, recorded in a week with the Nashville A-list in Buddy Miller's living room. Great sound and a couple of goose bumps along the way.
7. THE ANIMAL YEARS - Josh Ritter. The best review I read of this likened it to a circus train winding slowly through a rural town. There's a heavy story
to tell here, instrumentation and lyrics aplenty.but never done in a hurry, at times a rusty squeezebox and others like momentum building in a revival tent. Excellent continuity and production.
8. HOPE AND OTHER CASUALTIES / INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM - Mark Erelli. Two albums in one year, both pretty intensely personal stuff.one a pointed call for peace, the other a collection of lullabies and quiet songs, including some surprisingly tender covers. Overall not my favorites by this artist, but a vote here for quality done in quantity.
9. BLOOD MOUNTAIN - Mastodon. Do you like music made by guys raised on speed metal and core? I sure do. Maybe not the equal of their staggering Moby
Dick-inspired opus LEVIATHON (2004), but brutal and insane nonetheless. Really too much to deal with at one sitting.
10. THE FLOW OF TIME - Shivkumar Sharma. How can one suggest ragas on a pop list? By being extremely mellow of course! Masterful stuff, just right for
pulling your personal thing together in the half-light hours. Berries and mat sold separately.
Others that hover nearby:
9th WARD PICKIN' PARLOR - Shawn Mullins. The first half is Album of the Year. The second half is from some burned-out basement, circa 1975. Seriously, I can't recall such a glorious record going off the tracks so completely. Still mad props for the opening four or five tracks.
BANG BANG ROCK & ROLL - Art Brut. What is this, gloriously ridiculous Brit post-punk? To me kind of the same quadrant Nic Armstrong works in, but with
more far more banging and less melody, if that makes any sense. Fun for background party rock, but I don't expect a lot of staying power.
UNTIL WE FELT RED - Kaki King. Noted lesbian fretboard freak trades experimental acoustic guitar music for experimental electric guitar music plus vocals, drums, keys and strange squiggly noises. No wonder the label dropped her like a bad habit, but still a lovely, weird album from someone who clearly doesn't give a shit what people like Sony think.
AGE OF WINTERS - The Sword. A decidedly Sabbath-like angle instead of the thrash of Mastodon. Occasionally a bit sludgy, but for fans of a more traditional metal sound this is the best thing in years.
POST-WAR - M. Ward. More offbeat, partially obscured fuzzpop with the occasional breakout melody. In other words, just like any other M. Ward
album.
RETURN TO THE SEA - Islands. It's to the point where you have to use indie bands to not describe other indie bands. Is this like P:ano with some Quasi
and a little general rhythmic weirdness thrown in, or not? Bonus points for using Friedrich's 'Sea of Ice' on the cover.
AND THE GLASS HANDED KITES - Mew. Mew, mew, mew, mew, mew, mew.mew.
GHOST REPEATER - Jeffrey Foucault. Midwestern folkie moves east, yet does a deceptively busy album with multi-instrumentalist producer Bo Ramsey in
Iowa. Go figure, but it's darn good.
ORPHANS (Disc 3) - Tom Waits. Eddie was right about this. On other lists, they will wonder about that comment, and I will smile.
SLOW NEW YORK - Richard Julian. A little too much slow in the New York, but a couple of dynamite songs.
FUTURE WOMEN - The M's. Local boys. Like 'em.
UNDER THE IRON SEA - Keane. Evidently it was the booze.
SKUNKMELLO - Guy Davis. This is a tough one, initial read was not positive but it's growing on me. I was hoping to like it a lot more though.
Single of the year, non-Snow Patrol division: "Little Red Radio" by Pas/Cal, from their EP debut DEAR SIR.
Release that everyone was on about but that I give a hearty "ehh" to: THE GREATEST - Cat Power
Best album title: IMPEACH MY BUSH - Peaches.
2005 reissues worthy of a couple shekels and which I'm just getting around to now: STAGES - Count Basie and FOOL'S MATE - Peter Hammill
Album of the year: THE KNUCKLEBALL SUITE - Peter Mulvey. Another one for the ages and better, if at all possible, than his last KITCHEN RADIO. Soft and spare, startlingly introspective folk, bouncy pop, at least one waltz, one stroll, you name the style and it's on here, executed with such skill and restraint that the mind boggles. All this woven through a lyric about the poignancy and unpredictability of life - or as the album titles it, THE KNUCKLEBALL SUITE. It's rather ineffable stuff to try and address directly, and Peter manages to outline and sketch it in before occasionally going head on with a turn of phrase that can make you weep outright. And it's all done with insidiously catchy music and a sense of humor in full flower. Unreservedly recommended, and an album I will happily enjoy for the rest of my life.
1. STRANGE CONVERSATION - Kris Delmhorst. You know that one girl you heard sing, about ten years ago, in a smoky, slightly country nightclub with
decent drinks, you know the one with the voice that made you fall in love all over again? Yeah, her. She just put out a new album. Technically I suppose this is some famous poetry put to music, though it's hard to see past Kris' ethereal tones and the top-notch musicianship. No secret in Americana circles, she has been opening gigs for Richard Thompson of late which means it'll all go national by this time next year.
2. THE LIFE PURSUIT - Belle and Sebastian. The best pure pop album since.well, MARSHMALLOW last year. Another shimmering pop album for summer:
wonderful, almost too-pure harmonies, tasty arrangements, earworms and sing-alongs galore. The background production touches are delightful, and give much joy in repeats. For awhile there I listened to it nearly every day.
3. OLE TARANTULA - Robyn Hitchcock. 10 out of 10 armadillos agree, Robyn is energized and rocking at his best for the first time in ages. R.E.M acts the
rent-a-backing-band, and the news that they already have another album in the can is beyond cool. It's ultra-supermarine-double-dog-dare-cool.
4. TEN SILVER DROPS - Secret Machines. Monster rock songs that build layers of guitar on propulsive drums to thundering climaxes, spacey psych, catchy
4-minute power-pop, sneaky lyrics - these guys bring it, and hard. If your rock has killer backbeat, this is for you. When I was their age I was worried about college homework and getting stoned, and they're opening for U2. There's a reason for that.
5. A CASE FOR CASE (a tribute to the songs of Peter Case) - Various Artists. If you're like me, then you think that Peter is one of the four or five best
pop/country/folk songwriters this country has ever produced. but then you also hate his voice. Enter this 3-disc collection, where anyone who could angle their way onto the project got in their take on a classic. Here the lyrics can really shine, interpreted by new vocal cords and in ways that manage to point up how good the source material is without overcoming it. Might be the best "tribute" album I have ever bought, and that's saying something.
6. NASHVILLE - Solomon Burke. Serious soul voice on classic lyrics, recorded in a week with the Nashville A-list in Buddy Miller's living room. Great sound and a couple of goose bumps along the way.
7. THE ANIMAL YEARS - Josh Ritter. The best review I read of this likened it to a circus train winding slowly through a rural town. There's a heavy story
to tell here, instrumentation and lyrics aplenty.but never done in a hurry, at times a rusty squeezebox and others like momentum building in a revival tent. Excellent continuity and production.
8. HOPE AND OTHER CASUALTIES / INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM - Mark Erelli. Two albums in one year, both pretty intensely personal stuff.one a pointed call for peace, the other a collection of lullabies and quiet songs, including some surprisingly tender covers. Overall not my favorites by this artist, but a vote here for quality done in quantity.
9. BLOOD MOUNTAIN - Mastodon. Do you like music made by guys raised on speed metal and core? I sure do. Maybe not the equal of their staggering Moby
Dick-inspired opus LEVIATHON (2004), but brutal and insane nonetheless. Really too much to deal with at one sitting.
10. THE FLOW OF TIME - Shivkumar Sharma. How can one suggest ragas on a pop list? By being extremely mellow of course! Masterful stuff, just right for
pulling your personal thing together in the half-light hours. Berries and mat sold separately.
Others that hover nearby:
9th WARD PICKIN' PARLOR - Shawn Mullins. The first half is Album of the Year. The second half is from some burned-out basement, circa 1975. Seriously, I can't recall such a glorious record going off the tracks so completely. Still mad props for the opening four or five tracks.
BANG BANG ROCK & ROLL - Art Brut. What is this, gloriously ridiculous Brit post-punk? To me kind of the same quadrant Nic Armstrong works in, but with
more far more banging and less melody, if that makes any sense. Fun for background party rock, but I don't expect a lot of staying power.
UNTIL WE FELT RED - Kaki King. Noted lesbian fretboard freak trades experimental acoustic guitar music for experimental electric guitar music plus vocals, drums, keys and strange squiggly noises. No wonder the label dropped her like a bad habit, but still a lovely, weird album from someone who clearly doesn't give a shit what people like Sony think.
AGE OF WINTERS - The Sword. A decidedly Sabbath-like angle instead of the thrash of Mastodon. Occasionally a bit sludgy, but for fans of a more traditional metal sound this is the best thing in years.
POST-WAR - M. Ward. More offbeat, partially obscured fuzzpop with the occasional breakout melody. In other words, just like any other M. Ward
album.
RETURN TO THE SEA - Islands. It's to the point where you have to use indie bands to not describe other indie bands. Is this like P:ano with some Quasi
and a little general rhythmic weirdness thrown in, or not? Bonus points for using Friedrich's 'Sea of Ice' on the cover.
AND THE GLASS HANDED KITES - Mew. Mew, mew, mew, mew, mew, mew.mew.
GHOST REPEATER - Jeffrey Foucault. Midwestern folkie moves east, yet does a deceptively busy album with multi-instrumentalist producer Bo Ramsey in
Iowa. Go figure, but it's darn good.
ORPHANS (Disc 3) - Tom Waits. Eddie was right about this. On other lists, they will wonder about that comment, and I will smile.
SLOW NEW YORK - Richard Julian. A little too much slow in the New York, but a couple of dynamite songs.
FUTURE WOMEN - The M's. Local boys. Like 'em.
UNDER THE IRON SEA - Keane. Evidently it was the booze.
SKUNKMELLO - Guy Davis. This is a tough one, initial read was not positive but it's growing on me. I was hoping to like it a lot more though.
Single of the year, non-Snow Patrol division: "Little Red Radio" by Pas/Cal, from their EP debut DEAR SIR.
Release that everyone was on about but that I give a hearty "ehh" to: THE GREATEST - Cat Power
Best album title: IMPEACH MY BUSH - Peaches.
2005 reissues worthy of a couple shekels and which I'm just getting around to now: STAGES - Count Basie and FOOL'S MATE - Peter Hammill
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