Summer is just about here, and that really is the best season for determining music quality. Whether done on the long car ride, or through headphones, music gets a heavier workout in summer and by the time fall comes, the discs that I bonded most heavily too over the months tend to be those that become my year-end favorites.
For whatever reason, the month of May has seen the release of a handful of new discs I can honestly say are among the best cluster of releases to come out in a long time. Getting one or two good ones here and there is easy, but having 4 or 5 super-tight albums come out in the span of a a week or two is uncommon. Lucky me.
Indeed, it may be too soon to say for sure how the year-in-review will shake out, but I think a few in this batch are destined for the 2009 top 10. Just a hunch y'all:
Bob Dylan - Together Through Life: Modern Times is nice enough. Some of the last Bootleg Series disc is ok. Love & Theft is half excellent. Time Out Of Mind is as good as it is generally described. Usually Mister Zimmerman has a big platter, followed by a pretty good one, a nice enough one, then a just ok one. This last stretch is no diff really. However, instead of following the downward trajectory, the ol' boy pulls another half-excellent disc out of his hat, defying my much-lowered expectations. No, it isn't as good as his prime pre-80s material, but it is way better than anyone else of that generation is doing anymore. As the songs go, it is a less reverb-heavy, less-Daniel Lanois ethereal-a-thon than is Time Out Of Mind, but the songs remind me a little bit more of that disc than the other recent ones. That Dylan wrote the lyrics with the dude who did the Dead's lyrics seems to have been a good call since I haven't heard anything to make me wince (a la the Alicia Keys line on Modern Times, or the all-time worst: "baby's heads" line from Lenny Bruce.) To the contrary - some of the lyrics are pretty good (the "wife's home town is hell" thing comes to mind.) Yes, this is late-period Dylan voice. Yes, this is warmed over 40s-50s swing-boogie influenced somewhat (not to the degree Modern Times was, thankfully.) No, he isn't blowing away every other written lyric on earth. Yes, I am biased in his favor. Even so, I think this disc is going to prove one people come back to more than it may seem from where we are now. I certainly expect it to be for me. (B)
various artists - Some Bizzare Album: One of the great original compilations of the Eighties, I finally got around to picking this bad boy up. It really is very heavy on early UK synth stuff, but that is its virtue. If you look at the track list and know even one or two of the cuts, you can't go wrong. If you like the first Depeche Mode album more than anything which followed, this might be for you. Same if you like the Revenge Of The Nerds soundtrack, but totally without irony. (B-)
St Vincent - Actor: What I know of her past work is that some of it is exceptional for its thoughtfulness, inspired arrangements, and originality. At times it has seemed a little precious for my taste, but not like some of the alt.girly stuff can be. Yeah, there is a Kate Bush comparison to be made, but that does her a dis-service. She clearly is not just doing the warmed over girly bedroom album, or some female Sufjan Stevens thing. She draws strength from too many different styles and forms of musical language to get pegged that easy. There is a beat here. There is a groove in much of it. There are whole air-guitar worthy power chord and riff workouts liberally peppered in with the more hushed, choral moments; and most importantly, the shift in gear between them is not forced in the slightest. I think this is what the ideas sounded like in her head - this wasn't collage building after the fact. I had high hopes for this disc on hearing the first MP3 (The Strangers), and I am not at all disappointed. It works end-to-end, yet also comes with enough big tunes that I also go to it just to pull out the highlights. It is going to have to be an exceptional year for this to not end up in my top 5. (B+)
Wooden Shjips - Dos: What this band does seems really simple, but I suspect you have to be exceptional to make it seem so. What I have from them already sounds very much like this, but the other stuff is compilation or EP length; this is the first full album I know of from them. This band uses repetition a little bit like late Spacemen 3 or Spiritualized does, but it ain't even a little bit wispy. Moreover, this never really spaces off other than as a release from the last bubbling over or build. It seems a bit jam band in its construction, but to say so leaves the wrong impression. This stuff is wound tight as hell, builds tension around a groove, simmers at a low boil, but never ever lets it loose ("cause its a motha!") This album is excellent end-to-end and hits one of my sweet spots (I like the drones, but especially when it also builds and goes to 11.) It certainly is a bit alt, but I can't imagine anyone who really enjoys the alt.rawk not finding this proper. May not be everyday listening or party music, but there are some itches that only this can scratch. (B+)
Cuong Vu - Come Play With Me: This is kinda freaky jazz I guess, but it really is more along the lines of the stuff I love to have on while I am reading, like a Fennesz, Durutti Column, or even Six Organs Of Admittance. It is moody, atmospheric, and slightly dark, but not at all the usual one gets in that mix. We aren't talking goth-jazz or anything, but we are talking about stuff that veers into the aural soundscape territory, but it is saved by the fact it is also informed by out jazz. Not for everyone, but a nice surprise for me. (B-)
Clifford Jordan & John Gilmore - Blowin In From Chicago: To my ear, John Gilmore can do little wrong. There are a few versions of the John Coltrane story I have read in which it was at the feet of Mister Gilmore that Mr. Coltrane found a clear path forward into the free stuff (what was once called "anti-jazz".) John Glimore himself seemed to have too much loyalty to Sun Ra to ever leave the Arkestra for good, so rather than become the Coltrane-caliber star I think he could have been, he mostly toiled in obscurity for the loony man from Birmingham. The CD era saved him from the real injustice which would have been having the documents of his career be limited to the anemic printings of original Sun Ra vinyl (were I a millionaire, I would collect original El Saturn Records discs.) Thankfully, his amazing playing is now more accessible (as product anyway) than it ever was. Here he joins another sax player - one I don't really know - for a much tamer session, but for me, that is half the pleasure. I already know that John Gilmore can play his horn up down and backwards, but in a more traditional arrangement, I am interested to see how he uses the sax. He definitely can hold his own, and while what he plays here refers to the more traditional signposts within jazz, I can pick his horn out of the duet/duel. This album is not something I think I would have labored over if I didn't know it had John Gilmore on it. I am not sure it could be said to be exceptional and must-hear for someone with passing interest, however, I can't imagine someone liking Sun Ra releases without liking John Gilmore in particular, and for that group of people, this makes sense. It is excellent listening for me on occasion, but I can't say I pull it out all the time. I think you have to care about John Gilmore to get the most from this even if he doesn't dominate the album. (C+)
various artists - CD86: 48 Tracks From The Birth Of Indie Pop: It's a pisser when you find some old record which proves that someone had the ideas you like WAY before your favorite bands did. I know Nuggets is there to make sure punks don't get too smug and overstate exactly what they did before anyone else. The Fall's catalog acts as a good counter-weight to getting too fawning over Pavement. And so on. This disc is no Nuggets, but for the kiddies today who think that the indie stuff of today has no distinct provenance (and I am pretty sure no one really believes that), this collection of UK Indie of the mid-80s would be most instructive. I myself can't say I loved all of this stuff the first time around, but some of these bands were big favorites of mine, and in many cases - especially with Close Lobsters - they were criminally overlooked. In fact, one of the big disappointments of the CD & MP3 era is how little of this stuff is in print or locatable in any form. There is tons of - um - nuggets here for the student of the indie stuff, but even if that ain't you, it might be fun to hear what Primal Scream sounded like when they were good! Or the Primitives before they were turned into glossy 120 Minutes fodder. Or what the J&M Chain sounded like the first time anyone heard them. In any event, if you have any inclination towards the modern incarnation of indie rock, or were a fan of the UK first indie post new-wave stuff of the 80s, this comp is about as good as I have seen. My hope is that its existence is just the first of a ton of releases reviewing that era. So much good music was skipped when the retro stuff jumped from New Wave to Shoegaze, it would be a damn shame if it all doesn't get the re-hearing much of it deserves. (B-)
Au Revoir Simone - Still night, Still Light: A trio of girlie girls is easy to pigeon hole, especially when they's is alt.girlies. BROOKLYN alt.girlies no less. Indeed, they might have a few wispy moments here and there, but unlike the image often created for alt.girlies, this is actually as much a music-lover's album as anything. There is real songwriting, a real edge, and some real chances taken here even though I have no doubt they could have (more?) easily prospered without such things. There is an electronic bent to the arrangements, but it wouldn't be fair to call it electronica, even when there is a dance element to it. I think electronics are pretty well established at this point as the bedrock of the new bedroom record, and if I had to label this, that might be where I put it. While they likely could go with a major label or major indie at this point, this is self-released. Perhaps that is so they could take the chances they have. At my age, I must confess, some of this screams out their age, but how do you hold that against someone? Especially when most of it doesn't? This isn't album of the year material perhaps, but neither is it more Brooklyn cool-kid generica. They are too good for that. This format may not be able to hold the interest of all 3 ladies forever, but if they one day head out on their own, this could prove one of the highlights of their (mostly rather interesting, and usually tasteful - especially with their choice in cover tunes) career. I expect it to be a summer fave for me. (B-)
Posted by rudayday at May 28, 2009 11:15 AM