There’s a double anniversary this December that I want to start out by no
ting. First off is the release of “London Calling” by The Clash 30 years ago. This record is arguably one of the most important albums released during that time period by one of the most vital bands. The second is the 7th anniversary of Joe Strummer’s death. He died in 2002 at the age of 50. For those of you who don’t know, Joe Strummer was one of the main singers and songwriters for The Clash—and also a hero of mine. My featured article talks all about Joe and The Clash and what they mean to me.
Monthly Archive for December, 2009
As promised, this week I’m presenting my favorite albums and songs of 2009. And as in years past, no ranking, just favorites. As always it’s very tough to narrow it down, because as I started to look back, there was some really great music that came out this year.
BLK JKS, After Robots
Hailing from South Africa, this is likely my favorite new band of the year. “After Robots” is filled with amazing rhythms, shimmering, distorted guitars, and soaring vocals. It is kind of hard to describe, but so easy to love. I was listening again this afternoon. So if I had to pick today, this might be my favorite record of the year.
Hubcap, Silencer
Of all the really good bands in the Ithaca music scene, one really stands out for me as my favorite—Hubcap. To me it’s the best of the local bands. Every time I listen to the band, I think to myself, “Why aren’t these guys huge?” And their brand new album, “Silencer,” has only solidified this belief in my mind. This was my favorite local (Ithaca, NY) release of the year.
Linda Oh, Entry
Linda Oh is a young bass player living in New York City. And this year she released her debut recording. And she followed the cordless trio format, utilizing trumpet, bass, and drums. From the first notes of “Entry” I noticed she has a huge sound on the bass and that a major new voice in the jazz world was her first, of hopefully many, statements.
The Bad Plus, For All I Care
Prior to this year’s release, The Bad Plus had been an instrumental trio. “For All I Care,” is a departure from this tradition. For this recording the band added Wendy Lewis. Or in the bands lingo, “The Bad Plus Joined by Wendy Lewis.” Wendy Lewis is a well-known fixture on the Minneapolis music scene and, by design, not a jazz vocalist. The result is stunning. The addition of vocals to this band, has taken its music to another level. The combination of the way The Bad Plus interprets tunes added, now, with the singer’s beautiful vocals creates a sound that reminds me some contemporary classical composers.
Mike Doughty, Sad Man Happy Man
Mike Doughty’s new recording perfectly melds the acoustic approach he has been following in recent years with his much beloved early Soul Coughing work and has therefore put forth the strongest album of his career. In the end, the one element of major importance in the greatness of “Sad Man Happy Man,” is that Mike Doughty is making powerful music on his own terms. Music that is lovely, funky, and meaningful. And with every listen this depth is becoming more and more apparent.
Leonard Cohen, Live In London
Leonard Cohen is a master lyricist. He also had not toured in about 15 years. So his 2008 tour was an incredible opportunity for fans to see him. Or for most of us, not see him. But listening to him sing lines such as “There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in” sends chills up my spine every time I hear it. And if you are new to his music, this is the ideal introduction.
Nirvana, Live At Reading
There was a time in the 1990s when there was no bigger band than Nirvana. Period. This live recording from 1992 captures the band in its musical and creative high point. And being able to hear the tunes recorded live really shows the greatness of the band was not overrated.
Neko Case, Middle Cyclone
In 2006, Neko Case released the album that has defined her career so far—“Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.” This album was critically acclaimed (it landed on almost every year end best of list), was adored by her current fans, and turned a whole lot more people onto her music. In 2009, however, Ms. Case had the very difficult task of releasing a follow-up album. This was no easy task. The result of this work is “Middle Cyclone.” And lucky for all of us, she was up to the task and delivered another great record.
Samantha Crain, Songs In The Night
One of the bands I’ve been really excited with over the past couple of years is Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers. In 2008, the band released a very, very good EP, “The River.” This got the buzz going for them and they made a lot of best of year end lists. This April they released “Songs In The Night.” This truly excellent album got a huge amount of play on my iPod this year.
Works Progress Administration, Works Progress Administration
This indie super group is made up of former members of Toad The Wet Sprocket and Nickel Creek. They released a really great record of rocked out blue grass. Having released this release completely without a label or distribution, this gets my award for independent release of the year.
Brandi Carlile, Give Up The Ghost
I’ve loved every Brandi Carlile record and “Give Up The Ghost” is no exception. She’s an extraordinary talent. Deep. lovely tunes. “That Year,” from this album, might be the most lovely, and heartbreaking, of 2009.
Wilco, Wilco
What can I say, I totally dig Wilco. So any new album is good news to me. They continue to record great albums full of really compelling tunes. THis album produced one of my favorite songs of the year with the Feist duet, “You and I.”
My website of the year award goes to National Public Radio’s Music site. If you haven’t explored www.npr.org/music, you really must. The site has a vast archive of interviews and concerts. Many of the shows can be downloaded. This site has greatly expanded the web for the music lover.
Returning to Ithaca for the second time in 2009, Mike Doughty returns to Castaways on November 20. For those unfamiliar with his work, He emerged in the early to mid 1990s as the singer and songwriter for the band Soul Coughing. After the band broke up he began his solo career without a label and touring by himself in a rental car. He’s a fantastic performer, especially in the duo setting he is currently touring with his friend and cellist Andrew “Scrap” Livingston. Prior to his last performance at Castaways this past January, I interview Mike Doughty as well. That interview covers much more of his background and can be read online here.
Dynamic Meter: You recently released Sad Man Happy Man. The sounds and songs on this record seem to really meld your solo work with your earlier work with Soul Coughing. Can you talk about your approach to the record?
Mike Doughty: I wanted it to be acoustic, because my crowd has been kind of demanding that for a while now. But I’ve been working a lot with drum machines and such, and samples, and so there’s some of that stuff in there, too—I guess that makes for the melding of the solo stuff with the old stuff.
DM: On “Golden Delicious,” your song, “Fort Hood” got a lot of attention. Do you think this changed how people perceived the whole album and/or you as an artist?
MD: I don’t think so. I heard from a lot of Iraq and Afghanistan vets, that was really gratifying. Certainly I’ve written more political songs in my solo stuff—well, “Fort Hood,” and another one, “Move On,” that I wrote during the 2004 election.
DM: One of the songs I especially like on “Sad Man” is Lorna Zaubeberg. Can you talk about writing that song?
MD: I started with the second line, “On the wheels my hands are burning from the cold.” The rest of it was sort of sculpted out of there. It’s a fun way to work, starting with an inkling and then sort of teasing the story out.
DM: Also, I love your approach to language and lyrics. You even use the word “soothsayer,” which I can’t believe has been used in too many rock songs before. Can you talk about your approach to writing and language?
MD: I just have a love of words, and when I find good ones I want to deploy ‘em. I keep a notebook on me at all times and write down things I overhear.
DM: You have a very distinctive guitar style, which is really apparent on the new album. Can you tell me how you developed that?
MD: My style (well, one of my handful of styles) is called the Gangadank, it’s sort of a lopsided take on an old break-beat rhythm. I kept trying to perfect it
DM: Please talk about your question jar tour?
MD: It’s a pretty simple concept; the audience puts questions in a jar and I answer them. It’s usually weird questions, along the lines of, “Who would win in a fight, the Lucky Charms leprechaun or Count Chocula?”
DM: Also, you played Ithaca last year. Is it fun to return to the same towns while touring?
Only when it’s fun towns like Ithaca. I love Ithaca.
DM: Are you going to be incorporating the sounds from the record into your live performances?
MD: Well, just essentially the guitar and the cello. The samples and the drum machines and stuff, no.
DM: There seems to be a spiritual component to your work, such as His Truth is Marching On. On the new album, “Lord Lord Help Me Just To Rock Rock On” seems to have this spiritual element as well as what you have described as the song being your, “walk On The Wild Side.”
MD: “Walk on the Wild Side” is a celebration of transvestites, and yet it’s all over the radio. I don’t know if “Lord Lord” will make it onto the radio, but it’s all stealthy drug references: “Tango and Cash” and “Dr. Nova” are brands of heroin, and “works, bundles, and jumbo rocks,” are, respectively, syringes, ten bags of heroin with a rubber band around them, and crack cocaine.
It’s true, I’m a spiritual guy, though I don’t mean “Lord” in a Christian sense. I’m not sure that I believe in God as an individual, as a human is an individual—somebody that lives somewhere. It’s hard to believe in God, though, without personifying him to some extent.
DM: You’re also a photographer, traveler, and writer, blogger. Can you talk about how these things influence your music?
MD: They’re mainly outlets, and ways of keeping myself distracted. I find that when I’m focused on something else, the lyrics just come to me.
DM: Who are your influences, musical or otherwise?
MD: For the solo stuff, Billy Bragg and John Lee Hooker.
DM: Who are you digging now?
MD: Jose Gonzales and Bon Iver.
