Souljourney
Gillian Welch
2003
I can't believe it's been 2003 since a new Welch solo album. She tours (is going to be with Rawlings in support of his new album), but I guess just hasn't sat down to make something happen. It's a damn shame, too, because this stuff if fucking gold. Best true 'folk' artist in the game. This one, though, is more rockin' than her previous albums. There's actually drums here! The additional instruments and production don't overshadow those pipes, though, as evidenced when she belts out Oh me oh my oh/would you look at Ms Ohio/she's runnin' around with the rag top down in the opening track. Her No One Knows My Name is a great reworking of her Orphan Girl, from her fucking amazing debut, 'Revival'. Those two songs are so incredibly sad, but somehow they overshadow their sadness with hope. That, in a nutshell is what makes Welch so special of an artist. She somehow blends a traditional aesthetic with a modern sensibility, but I'll be damned if you couldn't take her back to 1930, drop her in, and she'd rule it. Hell, she's as homely as a depression era dirt farmer. You couldn't have cast her any better. She makes M Ward seem like a total poseur.
#79
Get Lonely
The Mountain Goats
2006
Jesus, who pissed in Darnielle's cornflakes? I love it when this guy goes thematic. You could put this one up in the sad song Pantheon, for sure. Every song is about loneliness, making the title perfectly literal. Why beat around the bush? Is it sadder than the previous record, about his abusive stepfather? Fuck, I don't know. I'm thinking this is the kind of stuff a great artist pumps out to either stave off, or bring on suicide. I guess he's in a better place, though, since his stuff has moved on to other lyrical territory, since then. This album is like an existential study on sadness. His girlfriend must have filmed one of those 'Fuck 500 Guys in 30 Minutes' videos, or something. Really dig the sad piano line on Song For Lonely Giants. If you ever get dumped, here's your album to revel in your loneliness to.
#78
The Tyranny of Distance
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
2001
Holy fuck, I used to listen to this album a lot. I think what gets lost in the shuffle about Ted Leo, who was the poster boy for the punk infused indie rock period that seemed to fizzle about halfway through the decade, is how awesome of a lyricist he is. He's funny as hell, and it shines through in this material. Snarky would be a good descriptor, but not pretentious. Listen to Squeaky Fingers, for instance. Brilliant song, brilliant lyrics. Ted Leo has largely disappeared. Remember when Hearts of Oak had all that crazy hype? Yeah, we'll talk about that in a little bit, but if you wanted to introduce yourself to Leo, this would be a the right album to start with.
#77
The Stage Names
Okerrvil River
2007
I whiffed on these guys, initially. Thought they were an Arcade Fire cover band. Shows that ignorance can get best of even my great ear. I don't think I really gave them any due until my friend Andrew saw them out West, and I forced myself to go back and listen to some stuff. This album is just fantastic. Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe does not disappoint. Love the 'whoo-hoos' in that one towards the end. They have a flair for the dramatic, and almost, I think, see themselves as writing storyboards, rather than just crafting songs. This comes across in their live shows, at least what I saw on the recent ACL...I could see these guys kicking out a true Rock Opera one day. Maybe I'm buying into their aesthetic a little too hard, but it feels like the best is yet to come with these guys. Chick guitar player, too. That's always a bonus.
#76
Como Te Llama?
Albert Hammond, Jr
2008
Who knew the rhythm guitarist from the Strokes was actually good? Not me. I have still not heard that other album he did, back in 2006, and probably would have missed this one, had it not been for my friend Andrew bringing it over last year. Damn, what a good pop album this is, though. These songs are catchy as hell. GFC was one of the better songs from last year, and I'd put it in a list of singles from the Decade in a heartbeat. I smell some Costello-cum-Police in him, though, like on the quasi-reggae song Borrowed Time. You just don't hear a lot of stuff like this in today's indie rock scene. I have no idea if he'll continue doing solo stuff. Lord knows, the Strokes are done. That solo stuff from the lead singer is atrocious, so if Albert wants to keep kicking out the jams, I think he could make a good career of it.
#75
Pneumonia
Whiskeytown
2001
Technically recorded in 1999, this one didn't see the light of day until 2001. Record label issues and band troubles (they were basically broken up, minus Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary by this point) kept this one on the shelf until after Ryan Adams had actually had two solo albums out (and at least one other solo album recorded, but also shelved). This one gets lost in the lexicon, thanks to the fact that everyone is jumping over themselves to anoint 'Stranger's Almanac' as Whiskeytown's opus. So why did this one fall out of favor, after once being considered a 'lost classic'? I have no idea. Maybe the fans missed some of that old school twang, or maybe by the time it was released, Adams had found his voice as a solo artist, so it was no longer vital.
What we have, though, is a damn fine example of great country twinged rock n roll. Jacksonville Skyline shines as well as 95% of their previous output, while songs like Sit and Listen, To The Rain basically foreshadowed Ryan Adams from 2002-2004. I'd love to hear a hardcore Beatles fan's take on Mirror, Mirror, which I think is Ryan Adams most obvious mimic of a 'British Invasion' style song in his catalog. The songwriting was handled mostly by Adams/Daly (who rocks out the awesome pedal steel on this one), with Caitlin Cary only popping up twice. She was marginalized, to the point where many call this a Ryan Adams solo project. All that is so far in the past now, though, that it's getting fuzzier around the edges, and what we're left with is a great album, from a great band. Better than 'Stranger's Almanac'? Maybe not. But just as vital, and we're better off having this one out there.
One last notable about this one; there is a collaboration with James Iha, of Smashing Pumpkins fame...Don't Be Sad. I have long been puzzled about how Adams came to work with Iha, who at the time was in the biggest rock band in the world. Go figure. Good song, too.
#74
Destroyer's Rubies
Destroyer
2006
I will admit to being a bit ignorant on this guy. Saw him live, as my main introduction to his sound, and enjoyed the shit out of it. This is the only album of his that cracked my Ipod, for whatever reason, and I enjoy the shit out of it, as well, pretty regularly. FWIW, I seem to like that Swan Lake stuff more than his other material, outside of this album. I don't know what to make of that. Anyway, he's a genre bender. I have no idea how to tell someone what he sounds like, much less figure out if someone would like it. His voice is an acquired taste, to say the least, and there are so many key changes and disjointed melodies, you'd think the man was mainlining heroin mid-song. The epic opener, Rubies would be a great litmus test for someone trying to give this guy a shot. Like it? Keep listening. Don't like it? Go listen to your fucking Lady Ga-Ga, and get the fuck away from me.
#73
The Shepherd's Dog
Iron & Wine
2007
If you don't like the tinkly, quiet, laid back Iron & Wine sound, this is your album. It's got world beats, crazy rhythms, and even ELECTRIC GUITAR. Wow. Seriously, though, Sam Beam only sounded like he was recording in his basement on the first two I&W albums because...that's where he was recording those albums. I believe his vision was always larger, though he:
1. Lacked the chops or the backing band.
and
2. Was a film professor moonlighting as a musician, not the other way around.
Now? He's got some backing. He's learned to play well with others. The songwriting is still freaking outstanding. Heavy imagery, great metaphors, and catch as fuck choruses. But what he's mixed in is a bunch of new ideas about percussion, and some loopy electronic elements. I spoiled myself on this album, initially, by listening to a live show he did of a lot of the material in a stripped down, acoustic setting. It sounded like what I had expected I&W to sound like. I wasn't expecting him to take the Woman King EP and extrapolate off of that even further out of his original territory. So when I heard the release, officially, it took me a long time to get into the groove.
I think it's safe to say, though, that his evolving sound is good for all of us (including M&M candy, and movie soundtracks). Resurrection Fern, House by the Sea, and Lovesong of the Buzzard are all just freaking amazing. This one fits neatly into his catalog, and now two years later, is making me thirst for even more creativity and growth in future albums.
#72
Magnolia Electric Co
Songs:Ohia
2003
Molina has eschewed some of the pallor that hung over the previous Songs:Ohia albums, and really sounds more like his band-to-be, Magnolia Electric Co, than ever before. I'm in love with the man's tone on the guitar. You can call it Neil Young-esque, and you'd be right, but that doesn't really give Molina the credit he deserves. It's more than just mimicking Young's licks, it's adding on to them. I wish I knew more about the chick who sings on Peoria Lunch Box Blues. That is a haunting tune. The two bookends on this disc are both epic rockers, and would probably appeal to anyone who likes to tune in to the Classic Rock station on their local dial. I could see my Dad digging some Molina stuff. Hold On Magnolia actually reminds me a little bit of Radiohead, for some reason. Who knows. This is also the first of three albums that Steve Albini produced for Molina.
#71
Gather, Form and Fly
Megafaun
2009
Maybe I've fallen too hard, too fast on this one, but damn it sounds good. I really regret not getting to see these live with the boys earlier in the year. Kicking myself over that one...They lack a real good singer, which is why I think they went for that harmonized 'campfire sing-a-long' style, as AMG puts it. The musicianship and production, however, is dynamite, and there are few albums that have hit me right out of the gate like this one. Maybe it's my rural lean in my musical tastes these days, or maybe I've just got them wrapped up in the Bon Iver afterglow. Darkest Hour, with it's rainfall segment, that slowly morphs into the song, is stunning, and maybe the best song of 2009. It's kind of bluegrassy, and there's all kinds of instruments all over this one. Will it stand the test of time, and hang around all these other great albums over the next decade? Who knows, but my Ipod thinks it's one of the best albums of all time, if you sort by listens. And my Ipod is rarely wrong.
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