Albums of the Year: 2008

In response to the newly released Grammy nominations, here are my top 10 albums of the year.

10. Bob Dylan- Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8

9. Vampire Weekend- Vampire Weekend

8. Death Cab for Cutie- Narrow Stairs

7. Beck- Modern Guilt

6. The Black Keys- Attack & Release

5. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band- Conor Oberst

4. Cat Power- Jukebox

3. The Raconteurs- Consolers of the Lonely

2. Gnarls Barkley- The Odd Couple

1. Radiohead- In Rainbows

Top 10 Christmas Songs

I've never fancied Christmas music, but I have to admit these 10 get me in the spirit of the holidays.

10. Little Saint Nick- The Beach Boys

9. The Spirit of Christmas- Ray Charles

8. Run Rudolph Run- Chuck Berry

7. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!- Dean Martin

6. Merry Christmas Baby- Otis Redding

5. Winter Wonderland- Aretha Franklin

4. Jingle Bells (Instrumental)- Booker T. & the MG's

3. White Christmas- Bing Crosby

2. Blue Christmas- Elivs Presley

1. Happy Christmas (War Is Over)- John Lennon & Yoko Ono

TRL Dead

With the demise of TRL, MTV has vowed never to play music again. 

Christmas on Mars

The science fiction film, Christmas on Mars, directed by the Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne was released on DVD November 11th. As a Flaming Lips fan myself, I am interested in the film, but honestly the trailer looks awful.

Take a look for yourself.

Too much? Or too awesome?

As reported by Rolling Stone, a 1965 Fender Stratocaster previously owned and set ablaze by guitar god Jimi Hendrix was auctioned off for $490,000.

Now first thing that came to my head was $490,000! I could live off that for years, if he gave that money to somebody less fortunate, he could change their life.  

But then I thought, if I was some smooth millionaire, hell ya I would buy that guitar in a heart beat. A piece of music history in my house, now that's priceless. 

100 Greatest Singers: Rolling Stone

Every so often, Rolling Stone makes a list of the all-time greatest something. Guitarists, albums, songs, artists, and now 100 greatest singers. 

The top 10 goes: Aretha, Ray Charles, Elvis, Sam Cooke, Lennon, Marvin Gaye, Dylan, Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, and James Brown. 

The top ten is good but I do have some criticism. First, Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra are not on the list. Sinatra should be mentioned, but Armstrong completely revolutionized singing in the 20's and should at least be in the top 25. Two other great jazz singers, Billy Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, are not on the list either. I guess it's because Rolling Stone doesn't really cover jazz, but jazz musicians always get left out on their lists. Also Morrissey is way back at 92. Morrissey could be in my top 10 due to the way he influenced so many indie singers with his New Wave band The Smiths. Finally, Wilson Pickett at 68 should be much higher. Anybody who hears "Mustang Sally," and "Ninety-Nine and a Half (Just Won't Do)," knows exactly what I'm talking about.

All other changes I would make are to minuscule to mention. But Rolling Stone deserves credit for making a good list and I always find it interesting to see what they have to say. 

Albums Everybody Should Own

Whether or not they're yours or my favorite albums, these works have an undeniable place in music history. Only rule, no repeating the artist. 

Revolver, The Beatles

Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan

Kind of Blue, Miles Davis

King of the Delta Blues Singers, Robert Johnson

Electric Ladyland, The Jimi Hendirx Experience

Tommy, The Who

At Folsom Prison, Johnny Cash

A Love Supreme, John Coltrane

The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground

What's Going On, Marvin Gaye

Live at the Apollo, James Brown

Exile On Main Street, The Rolling Stones

Pet Sounds, The Beach Boys

Astral Weeks, Van Morrison

I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You, Aretha Franklin

The Dock of the Bay, Otis Redding

Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin

Harvest, Neil Young

The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, The Sex Pistols

The Clash, The Clash

Meat Is Murder, The Smiths

Doolittle, Pixies

Nevermind, Nirvana

(What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Oasis

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco

Elephant, The White Stripes

In Rainbows, Radiohead

Fleet Foxes

As indie rock is going through its folk movement, Fleet Foxes are capitalizing on this new fad. Their soft woozy style brings back memories of legendary folk-rockers like The Band, Nick Drake, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. 

With their self-titled debut album, Fleet Foxes mix what these acts have accomplished and created their own melodic sound that is easy on the ear. But their pleasant sound doesn't come without a price. The songs wash together without any real change of pace and their lack of intensity can cause a loss of interest after only a few songs. The songs individually are good but I would like to see them try and go outside of their comfort zone. 

I do like where the Fleet Foxes are going with this album and am interested in what they will do next. If you like The Band, you will certainly like this band.

B

Wilco: I Shall Be Voting

The new fad these days for musicians is trying different ways to get their fans to vote. Which I'm completely in favor for. Suffrage is a right that people have been fighting for throughout the history of this country, and the fact that people today have the right to vote and choose note to is incomprehensible to me.  

Wilco is another band trying out this voting tactic. They do it in a way that is at least appeasing to me, giving out a free song while "pledging" to vote. If you go to wilcoworld.net/vote and type in your name and email, you will get Wilco's cover of the Bob Dylan song "I Shall Be Released" emailed to you and ready for download. There is also a link at the bottom to register to vote for those who are not registered. 

Woody

Woody Guthrie was the original folk protest songwriter and has brought a heavy influence on later songwriters like Bob Dylan and Ramblin' Jack Elliot; by singing about fascists, unions, the Dust Bowl, and equality. His sarcastic wit in songs like "Mean Talkin' Blues," powerful voice in "Dust Bowl Blues," and day-dreaming reflections in "Ingrid Bergman," makes him one of the most diverse and creative songwriters of the 20th century.

Guthrie is from another time, making his lyrics and sound hard to relate for people in today's society. Today we're more worried about terrorists than fascists and hurricanes than dust storms. But Guthrie's ideals of freedom and love are something we should all relate to.

My advise for those who have not heard Guthrie before is to check out Wilco and Billy Bragg's collaboration called Mermaid Avenue, in which they cover many unreleased Guthrie songs with a more modern alt-country sound. There are two volumes released in 1998 and 2000. The sound is good, but what makes the album worth buying is Guthrie's words.

"Birds and Ships"

The birds are singing

In your eyes today

The flowers blooming in your smile;

The wind and sun

Are in the words you say;

Where might your lonesome lover be?

Birds may be singing

In my eyes this day;

Sweet flowers may blossom when i smile;

My soul is stormy

And my heart blows wild;

My sweet hearts rides a ship at sea.

-Woody Guthrie

10 Greatest Albums of The New Millennium

There is no real reason why I devised this list. I just like lists, and hopefully I can cause some debate (if anybody reads this).

10. Songlines, The Derek Trucks Band

9. Paparazzi Lightning, Ghostland Observatory

8. I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, Bright Eyes

7. The Big Come Up, The Black Keyes

6. The Greatest, Cat Power

5. Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips

4. A Ghost Is Born, Wilco

3. The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley

2. Elephant, The White Stripes

1. In Rainbows, Radiohead. The guitar is abstract, vocals soothing, and rhythm section simple. There is no repetition as each track sounds different from the next. The disc opens with "15 Step," which starts with a drum beat that is fast passed and intense and contrasts well with the Thom Yorke's calming voice and the jazz-rock arpeggios of the guitar. Tracks like "Reckoner," "All I Need," and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" have such intense and complex sounds that I can't even begin to fathom how they were composed. In Rainbows deserves to be the best album of the millennium. 

R&B (not rock) Is Dead

Most middle-aged men I know seem to love to ramble on about how rock is dead and how there hasn't been a decent rock record since John Bonham died. Now I'll debate them about rock, but this statement is certainly true for another genre, Rhythm and Blues. It's hard to pinpoint when R&B turned from soulful bliss to commercial gloom, so maybe a timeline will help.

1950's=great, Fats Domino, Ray Charles is starting to hit his stride 

1960's=the pinnacle of soul, Otis Redding, Aretha, and Wilson Pickett

1970's=starts out great, but the beginning of the end

1980's=irrelevant

1990's=coming back but in a bad way

present=the charts are ruled by commercial products like Chris Brown, Neo, and Brandy

Damn R&B was great back in the day with Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, and Ray Charles. But nowadays when people think R&B they think of this overproduced, shallow music that I am unfortunately exposed to everyday at my gym. All these artists seem the same, like they are produced in some factory.  

Now soul fans don't panic, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Soul birds like Sharon Jones (playing at ACL this Saturday) and Ruthie Foster have both released albums last year and have proven themselves as soul heavyweights.  

Download: Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings: "Tell Me" and "Nobody's Baby" 

Ruthie Foster: "Heal Yourself"

Wilson Pickett: "Ninety-Nine and a Half" and "Mustang Sally"

Aretha Franklin: "Son of a Preacher Man" and "Think"

Marvin Gaye: "Right On" and "Inner City Blues"

Otis Redding: "Don't Mess With Cupid" and  "Ole Man Trouble"

Ray Charles: "The Right Time" and "You Be My Baby"

                                                   

Atom Heart Mother

In tribute to the passing of Rick Wright, an original member of Pink Floyd and revolutionary keyboardist, I have been inspired to talk about what I think is a very underappreciated album. When people think of Pink Floyd they think of Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish You Were Here. Yet, Atom Heart Mother is an album has been overlooked Floydian history. The album is a mesh of classical avant-garde and progressive rock, making it particularly innovative, even for Pink Floyd.

The first track, "Atom Heart Mother,"is 23 minutes of every sound you can imagine. Starting with a strangely paced brass section, after about a minute and a half, the band enters with a sonic boom. Guitarist David Gilmour's powerful chords give a smooth feel to the song, contrasting with the horns that progressively sound darker and darker. Then enters strange noises of panicking horses, motorcycles rumbling, and bombs dropping. The next few minutes are filled with carefully orchestrated guitar, violin, keyboards, drums, and bass that all come together perfectly. The next part of the song is filled with somber singers who bring high drama and tension to the song. Various guitar, bass, organ, and vocal solos fill the song until the 18th minute. This is when Floyd takes the song to a whole new level. They somehow mix everything that happened in the prior 18 minutes and culminate it all into one big climax. This song is fantastic and undoubtedly the pinnacle of the album.

After that 23 minute marathon, the album turns to more conventional song structures. "If" is a somber and mellow track written by Roger Waters. The song is vintage Waters, talking about vulnerability, loneliness, and as always insanity. 

The next track, "Summer '68" written by Rick Wright, has an upbeat feel and is about as close as Pink Floyd gets to sounding like any other band. 

"Fat Old Sun" is the last conventional song on the album, written by David Gilmour. The song is light and easy going, Gilmour sings about lazy sunny days and finishes the song with a melodic guitar solo.

The final song is probably the strangest, even more so than the opening track, called "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast". The songs starts out with some guy rambling incoherently for about a minute. Then a sort of cheerful piano enters and leads for a few minuets. Then the music stops, and you hear somebody preparing breakfast and still talking too softly to understand. Next a guitar enters playing very richly and smoothly while you can still hear this guy prepare breakfast. The rest of the song is various mixtures of harmonious parts until the album comes to a very soothing close. 

I have never heard another album like this and probably never will. It's so out of the box and 

flawlessly composed that every time I listen to it, I appreciate it more and more. 

A

Dr. Dog: Fate

Dr. Dog is in my opinion one of the coolest and most creative bands in indie rock. If there is a band today that sounds anything like The Beatles, then it's Dr. Dog. Their light piano, catchy vocal harmonies, and imaginative lyrics makes them have one of the freshest sounds in alternative music. 

With that being said, I found their new album Fate to be fairly disappointing. Not that the album is bad, it's actually pretty decent, but the band brings nothing new to the table. 

"Breeze" starts the album and sounds like your typical Dr. Dog song. The song has a nice melodic sound but doesn't really get the album started. The album starts to move with the second track "Hang On," the song is catchy and is their respected radio hit, but again it seems like they have written this song before.

"The Old Days" is the first highlight of Fate. The piano playing arpeggios gives the song sort of a classical feel, accompanied by guitar and ragtime drums, the song has a distinctive sound. 

After a few decent but forgettable songs, the album hits again with "The Ark."  With a gloomy guitar and inventive lyrics about failure, insecurity, and "Ooh, What does it mean to be here?" this is the coolest song on the disc.

Two other worthy tracks are "From" which sounds like a modern day version of "Here, There and Everywhere." And "Uncovering The Old" which cleverly incorporates a string section, which corresponds well with Dr. Dog's always poppy sound.

B-

Dylan v. Mariah

Who is a better singer? Bob Dylan or Mariah Carey. Now the answer may seem obvious to you, but please think to yourselves, what makes a great singer? It's not just about who can hit a high C, what truly makes a great singer is his or her ability to make the listener feel exactly what the song is trying to portray. To give the song character, a life of its own.

Now if I had to pick anybody in the world to hit a high C, it would be Mariah. On top of that she has eighteen #1 singles, the most for a solo artist in the U.S. and has five Grammys under her belt. But despite all of her success and talent, Mariah is not necessarily who I want standing behind the microphone. Now I admit, I have listened to her music sparingly, but when I have heard it I only hear a voice. She sounds like a producer told her to sing this way. No edge, no real distinctiveness.

Now Dylan certainly can't hit the high C, and according to some his Achilles Heel is his voice. And maybe I'm biased being somewhat of a Dylan worshiper. But I think few can bring what Dylan brings to the microphone. Whether he his howling "HOW DOES IT FEEL!!!" in "Like A Rolling Stone," or preaching in "Gotta Serve Somebody," or reflecting in "One Too Many Mornings," Dylan forces the listener to feel love, hate, hope, disappointment, and everything else that one experiences in life.

Now I don't mean to put Mariah down, she could do things with her voice that appear impossible. But I'll take Dylan everyday of the week.

Incredible Jazz Guitar

Wes Montgomery's Incredible Jazz Guitar is exactly what the title implies, the greatest jazz guitar album of all-time. Montgomery is unconscious during these sessions, starting out with the fast passed "Airegin," Montgomery improvises throughout a constantly changing chord progression that is to complicated for myself to even fathom. Wes is backed by Tommy Flanagan on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and Albert Heath on drums. But there is no doubt that this is the Wes Montgomery show.

Wes plays in his signature octave style throughout most of the album. His unorthodox technique with his strumming hand gives him a completely original sound. "Four on Six" is a jazz standard with the most recognizable jazz guitar riff around. Montgomery explores every part of the fretboard in the song and cleverly integrates octaves within his improvisation.

I have always thought that Montgomery was underrated in the world of guitar. Maybe not jazz, but when people talk about the all-time greatest guitarists, Montgomery's name usually does not get mentioned. The most obvious example is when Rolling Stone came out with a list of the 100 greatest guitarists, Montgomery's names was not even mentioned. The almost undisputed greatest jazz guitarist of all-time. Rolling Stone even put Grant Green and John McLaughlin on the list, but no Wes.

Nonetheless Incredible Jazz Guitar is a monumental album that continues to amaze me every time I listen to it.

Freddie King Tribute

Yesterday was Freddie King's birthday. I feel obligated to pay tribute to Freddie because his name seems to have been lost in the decades since he passed away. King, in my opinion, was one of the all-time great blues guitarists. 

Freddie had a style all of his own. With silky smooth vocals and an original sounding guitar, Freddie sounded like B.B. King but with a Texas twist. "Hide Away," is considered to be the pinnacle of  Freddie's career, it is one of the most recognizable blues songs and has been covered by such greats as John Mayall and Stevie Ray Vaughn. 

Getting Ready is what I considered to be his finest recording. This is a must have album for any blues lover. Freddie covers many blues classics such as "Dust My Broom,"  "Key To The Highway," and "Worried Life Blues." Freddie's sound is fresh on the album, including a string accompaniment on the opening track "Same Old Blues." 

Unfortunately Freddie died in Dallas in 1976 of a heart attack. He toured heavily until he died and was probably took a toll on his vitality. Freddie's impact on the blues is still felt today, influencing later blues men like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and John Earl Walker.  

Cat Power Jukebox

Cat Power (Chan Marshall) is sticking with her newfound soulful sound with her 2008 release "Jukebox." "Jukebox" is an energetic album, backed by a musically gifted band containing Erik Paparazzi on bass, Jim White on drums, Gregg Forman on keyboards and piano, and Judah Bauer on guitar.

This album is mostly covers but arguably the two best songs are the two originals. "Song To Bobby," is Chan's intimate ode to Bob Dylan in the same fashion that Dylan payed tribute to Woody Guthrie with "Song To Woody." "Metal Heart" is the other original track, the song has a building structure that ends in a erie, melodic jam.

Marshall shows her first-rate taste in music in what she covers. Playing songs of greats such as James Brown, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, and Joni Mitchell. The album starts out hot with the short but groovy tune "New York." The album is structured well because "New York" flows perfectly into the next track "Ramblin' Woman." You could never tell "Ramblin' Woman" was written by country legend Hank Williams. The song has a psychedelic sound, a slide guitar off in the distance and melodic organ chords somewhat reminds the listener of a Pink Floyd jam.

Another highlight is "I Believe In You," a cover of a Bob Dylan gospel song. Marshall remains true to the song, but Marshall's raspy vocals gives the song a new dimension.

Singers with true emotion in their voices are rare to come by and Marshall is undoubtedly one of those singers. She spills her heart out when she sings, which makes her one the premiere female artists of today.

A-

Narrow Stairs

Ben Gibbard is probably the most poetic songwriter of this generation. Love lost seems to be the motif of Narrow Stairs, Death Cab For Cutie's 2008 album. This is a slight rebound from their 2005 release Plans, which was undoubltably their most commercially successful album and in my opinion a little overrated. 

The album starts out strong with two tracks that are both sturdy instrumentally and lyrically with "Bixby Canyon Bridge" and "I Will Possess Your Heart." The intro to "I Will Posses Your Heart" is to cool. With four and a half minutes of a steady bass line and random attacks from the piano and guitar. 

The rest of the album changes mood with short cute songs. "Cath..." and "Your New Twin Sized Bed" are the highlights of these. 

Death Cab seems to have a clearer focus on Narrow Stairs than they did on Plans. As I said, the songwriting is always excellent from Gibbard, and the band's sound is as full as it has ever been.

Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band

Conor Oberst's 2008 self titled release comes with a new band name, a new producer, new recording site, and somewhat of a new sound, I guess.  Following his critically acclaimed 2007 album Casadaga, Oberst keeps his indie-alt-country sound. Most of the songs are simply structured with just Oberst and his guitar accompanied by a subtle rhythm section. 

Cape Canaveral is a good start to the album. With knuckles tapping on the softly strummed guitar the song eases you into what could be next. I Don't Want To Die (In The Hospital) is possibly the strongest track on the disc. Oberst's songwriting is fantastically original and the sound contains an assault of piano accompanied by Oberst's wailing voice.

All around the album is solid, not a noticeably weak track on it. And Oberst keeps up his reputation as the best songwriter of this decade.