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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Jenny Tatone writes: Throughout the year, dozens of records magically appeared at my doorstep each week, quickly jumping from their brown bubbly packages to join one another in unsteady towering stacks on my dusty hardwoods.
Climbing out of the old orange milk crate and onto the floor next to my kitchen table, they all got together and stared at me each day, for 365 days. Forming themselves into uneven piles in and around the crate, they taunted me, chanting over and over: "Listen to us. Listen to all of us."
I covered my ears and begged them to stop. "There's just too many of you!," I'd cry, running out the front door of my apartment. "Leave me alone. Please, can't you just leave me alone?" Really, how much can one person take?
When I did listen to music, it was to the quiet guys in the corner that didn't demand so much; the old standbys, the easy loves. Maybe I was just feeling nostalgic for better times — and if there was any year to feel this way, 2004 was it.
Feeling unloved and neglected, my army of CDs turned against me. When I finally did play them, many of them blared ugly sounds of revolt. Trying to battle the old classics in the corner, they sounded sad and pathetic in comparison. But would they get away with it? I think not. Off to the record store and into the used bin they went.
Only 10 survived.
1. Devendra Banhart, Rejoicing in the Hands (Young God): This is the album that wouldn't let me get out of the car this year. Even after I'd park, I just couldn't bring myself to kill the engine, 'cause that would mean this music, so human and unfettered, would stop. And when music like this touches you like it does, meaning it shoves its fist down your throat and squeezes your heart so hard you remember why you're alive, you never want it to stop.
2. !!!!, Louden Up Now (Touch and Go): This one took awhile to grow on me. It wasn't until I caught myself dancing to their live performance one night that I realized: a) I'm dancing in public (the last live show that got me to do that was George Michael's in '85), and b) I'm dancing to — gasp! — rave music. That's what I would've called it back in the day, anyway, when I laughed at electronic music like a bad joke. But !!! got soul; there's so much human element in those pumping, irate electro-thrash cuts of theirs, you're reminded good music is good music, no matter what category it falls in.
3. The Fiery Furnaces, Blueberry Boat (Rough Trade/Sanctuary):
Seems to be those times you played in the sand or the dirt or the grass with
your siblings that you got the wildest ideas. Youthful imagination can't be beat
in adulthood, but the brother-and-sister pair at the core of the Fiery Furnaces
come damn close. No doubt they borrowed from childhood fantasies and the
feisty bond only siblings know to beef up Blueberry Boat with quirky storylines,
colorful invention and real emotion.
4. Deerhoof, Milkman (5RC): One of the few experimental experiments I not only understand but really like, Deerhoof are a wonderful group who offered 2004 another wonderful album. Though a bit disorienting at times, Deerhoof manage to pair adorable innocence with jolting chaos to come up with emotionally charged arrangements that show they're as interested in toying with notes as with expectations.
5. The Arcade Fire, Funeral (Merge): Though there's been too much talk of death about this Montreal sextet already, it's worth mentioning that there's no bigger experience in life than death and, since big life experience translates into powerful artistic expression, it's no wonder Arcade Fire's debut album is so full of touching moments and striking emotion. Revealing a yearning to understand and a need to release through lush string arrangements and bittersweet indie rocking, the band recently faced the loss of three different family members and came out with an amazing set, in part, because of it.
6. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (Sony): While Franz's sound
might be too commercial for the finicky music fan's taste, their success is important
to today's pop music culture. Though they've got a sound all their own, at once
spastic and perfected dance-pop, the Glasgow quartet's success wouldn't
be possible had bands like The Strokes and the White Stripes never broken a few
years back, and it's pleasing to see interesting music continuing its march into
the mainstream and into the ears of today's impressionable youth.
7. The Hunches, Hobo Sunrise (In the Red): Portland, Ore.'s best punk-rock band released their best album this year. Here, the band stripped away just enough noise and fuzz to see the heart and soul at the core of their riotous garage sound, but left enough that you still feel like you need a bath after listening. While continuing in their fascination with noisemakers and creating music with a Stooges-influenced open mind, The Hunches use this new release as an opportunity to reveal a relatively sadder, more soulful side, proving they're not limited to crazed, uninhibited thrashing alone.
8. Death From Above 1979, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine (Vice): On this one, it boils down to one thing for me: the bass. I love that Deep Purple-y bass, especially when it feels like it's coming to get me. The drum/bass duo's ferocious and heavy guitar-less sound is so mighty and power-wielding, even a concept album about lost romance comes off as dangerous. And you can thank this menacing strong-enough-to-stand-on-its-own rhythm section for that.
9. Willy Mason, Where the Humans Eat (Team Love): Having garnered favorable attention for his rare knack for being at once young and prolific, subsequently earning an opening slot with Bright Eyes, who also first got notice for his youth and proficiency, Mason is an incredible singer/songwriter with a knack for simplistic, heartfelt honesty listeners can't help but connect to. Driven by a Delta blues influence, Mason crafts raw, tell-it-like-it-is songs that — regardless of the mere 19 years under the maker's belt — feel timeless.
10. Nirvana, With the Lights Out (Geffen): A lot of fussy critics
are giving this box set mixed reviews, and I think it's all a load of snobbery-induced
bull. Poor recording, multiple versions, revealing covers or no — if you
care about Nirvana, you want this set.
The InsiderOne Daily Report appears on occasion.
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