Sunday, January 22, 2012

Top 10 Albums of 2011

It's December and I'm driving around Texas in my brother's (other) car. From Dallas to Austin, then west. Then east, and south to Houston. Back to Austin, back to Dallas. Great for reflection and creating an annual Top 10 list that exceeds the nominal ten.

ARTIST / ALBUM

Various Artists / Downtown 81 Original Soundtrack (Recall Records 2001)
Allmusic page
 













The story, set in 1981, follows painter Jean-Michel Basquiat around the East Village. He wanders in and out of clubs and through alleys in a surrealist stream of dialogue and music that includes Latin dance pop, spoken word, hip hop and art-rock at a time when the East Village was a truly weird and dangerous place.

Some of the music I wouldn't put on if there was another person in the room, or even recommend as a listen. It's sort of a bad trip but there's something about dissonance that, from time to time, warms my soul.




Solomon Burke (1940 - 2010) / Solomon Burke: The Definitive Soul Collection (Rhino 2006)
Wikipedia artist page
Allmusic page
 













Jesse and I have an ongoing joke where we run a venue in the 1960's that promotes soul bands. The joke is that we grow to despise them because we do so many. "Ahhhh another FUCKING soul band," we loathe as we put on a fake smile and high five them as they show up for soundcheck. The truth is, the music is so good we can hardly stand it.

Solomon Burke,
a southern black preacher backed by a rock and roll band and gospel singers with a tinge of country, was the "King of Rock and Soul" and refused to be branded "R&B" for reasons of the church. He coined the term "soul music" when asked what kind of singer he wanted to be.

This 30-song compilation spans four record labels from 1961 to 1974, his formative years, and the golden age of soul.




Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828) / Schubert: Symphonies Vol II (EMI Classics 2005)
Wikipedia page
Amazon music page
 













For $9.49 I downloaded five symphonies. So easy and disposable in fact, that I never listened to four of them -- only the 5th Symphony. I heard it during the closing credits of The Cruise, a documentary about an NYC tour bus guide I stumbled across on Netflix's Watch Instantly.

Schubert (1797-1828) wrote close to 1000 pieces in his short life, including 9 symphonies. The 5th Symphony was around his 500th, and he composed it at the age of 19. It is light and comes in under twenty-five minutes.




'The Quintet' / Jazz at Massey Hall (Debut 1953)
Wikipedia page
Allmusic page
 













If Bop were basketball, "The Quintet" would be the '92 Dream Team. Dizzy Gillespie (trumpet), Charlie Parker (saxaphone), Bud Powell (piano), Charles Mingus (bass) and Max Roach (drums) on stage for one and only time, at Toronto's Massey Hall. Recorded in May of '53. Parker played a Grafton -- AKA plastic -- sax on Jazz at Massey Hall because he had pawned his.

The concert was infamously scheduled the same night as a televised World Heavyweight title fight between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott (in Chicago), and ticket sales were at 25%. The musicians were reportedly never paid except for Parker; ironic, for what has been called "the greatest jazz concert ever."

The liner notes tell a story of five musicians showing up at LaGuardia airport in NY with five plane tickets. A wife and a friend swelled the group to seven. So Parker and Gillespie stayed behind to catch the next flight while the group waited in Toronto wondering if they would actually show.

In 1953, this was progressive. In 2011, it's background music at a late-night trattoria, or as any jazz student might put it, "fucking ridiculous."




Snooks Eaglin (1936 - 2009) / New Orleans Street Singer (Smithsonian Folkways 1959)
Allmusic page
Smithsonian Folkways page
 













Snooks Eaglin (1936 - 2009) was born, bred, based out of, and buried in New Orleans. He was 23 when New Orleans Street Singer was recorded, and while his later work spans genres, this one finds him in a stripped down busker fashion.

From the Smithsonian Folkways website:

"Folkways Records released New Orleans Street Singer in 1959 and the album set the world of folk and acoustic blues fans on fire. Snooks Eaglin was in the early stages of his long R&B career when folklorist Harry Oster heard him playing solo on the streets of the French Quarter. That very recording, presented here with 7 previously unreleased tracks, captured Eaglin's genius and elevated him to the pantheon of eccentric, uncategorizable guitar virtuosos."
 



Os Mutantes / Os Mutantes (Omplatten / Polydor 1968)
Wikipedia page
Allmusic page
 













Brazil's Os Mutantes recorded their eponymous debut in 1968 at the height of the Tropicália movement. It's psychedelic pop with both an edge and a sense of humor.



The Sonics / Boom (Etiquette Records 1966)
Wikipedia page 
Allmusic page
 













Two terms sure to pop up if you google the Sonics (band) are 'garage rock' & 'protopunk'. Terms used to describe all that music that lead to the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. There's always something before and after something bigger. The Sonics didn't invent garage rock, and they didn't take it as far as others. They never had a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but they did make some noise.

Movements in history have had things like manifestoes and philosophies, but garage rock is not one of them. A band drinking beer and playing rock in their garage. They record a couple albums, but then some of the members go to college, or start working at their pop's shop, or get their girlfriend pregnant, and, in general, slowly have the innocence taken from them. Before that, though, they were on to something. And like those that came before, they helped build something bigger.




Dustin O'Halloran (b. 1971) / Piano Solos Vol. 2 (Filter Recordings 2006)
Wikipedia artist page 
Allmusic page














An elusive balance between cerebral and accessible. Dustin O'Halloran makes playing and composing for piano seem easy. Like watching Tony Hawk skateboard.

Composers have written collections of solo works for pedagogy or as a rite of passage throughout history. Dustin O'Halloran may or may not have been following convention by writing Piano Solos Volumes 1 & 2 -- 12 and 11 pieces respectively. But he has come up with something worthy of the shoulders he stands on.
 



 The War on Drugs / Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian 2011)
Wikipedia page
Allmusic page 


 












More than once this year I heard the War on Drugs mentioned in the same sentence as Kurt Vile. 

 

Ben E. King / The Very Best of Ben E. King (Atlantic and Atco 1995)
Wikipedia artist page
Allmusic page














Ben E. King's song Stand By Me went to #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart following its release in 1961, and then to #9, twenty-five years later when the movie of the same name used it.

From the cover of the album: "The silky-smooth baritone's top original Atlantic recordings both with the Drifters and as a Solo Artist". Includes singles from 1959 when he was fronting the Drifters, through 1975 with his solo work.




Caveman / CoCo Beware (Magic Man! 2011)
Artist page 
Allmusic page

 













On an early Thursday afternoon during SXSW, I dragged four girls into east Austin to see Caveman at a place called Club 1808. It was in the "are you sure this right?" part of east Austin. No stench of irony, no sense of urgency (yet.) No stage or schedule or anyone in charge. We stood around for a while and scoured for a stage we might have missed. Out back, we found people rolling cigarettes and a grill with hot dogs.

Luckily there was Lonestar and Tecate, so began the only real SXSW tradition, which is to drink as much as possible, for as long as possible, for as many days in a row as possible.

Eventually the smoke machine started and Caveman began their tribal drumming and ambient keyboards.




Various Artists / The Secret Museum of Mankind Vol 1: Ethnic Music Classics 1925-48 (Yazoo 1995)
Yazoo Records page

Amazon page














I heard The Secret Museum of Mankind Vol 1 on Jeff Mangum's mixtape podcast, and I imagine if Mangum were alive between 1925 and 1948, and lived in another country, he would have written songs for this recording.



Jay McShann Orchestra / Blues from Kansas City (GRP 1992 -- comprised of every commercial side made by McShann during 1941-1943)
Wikipedia artist page 
Allmusic page














Tom Pendergast was a political boss who controlled Kansas City during the Great Depression. He helped politicians get elected and he created jobs. Picture "Nucky" Thompson from Boardwalk Empire but in Kansas City. 

From the Visit Kansas City website:

"While jazz began in the 1920s with a bang, it flourished in the 1930s, mainly as a result of political boss Tom Pendergast. During prohibition, he allowed alcohol to flow in Kansas City. As an entertainment center, Kansas City had no equal during these dry times.

This "wide-open" town image attracted displaced musicians from everywhere in mid-America. Throughout the Depression, Kansas City bands continued to play while other bands across the nation folded.

Only in Kansas City did jazz continue to flourish. At one time, there were more than 100 night clubs, dance halls and vaudeville houses. Legends like Count Basie, Andy Kirk, Joe Turner, Hot Lips Page and Jay McShann all played in Kansas City. A saxophone player named Charlie Parker began his ascent to fame here in his hometown in the 1930s.

Kansas City’s 12th Street became nationally known for its jazz clubs, gambling parlors and brothels, earning the city the moniker, “The Paris of the Plains.” At its height, 12th Street was home to more than 50 jazz clubs. Just six blocks to the north, jazz also flourished at 18th & Vine, which became nationally respected as the epicenter of the city’s African-American community."


Jay McShann (1916 - 2006) moved to Kansas City in 1936 to be a part of the flourishing scene. He formed a group that would grow to 12-15 musicians. From 1941-43, he recorded hits for Decca with this group -- his 'Orchestra'. During this time, he nurtured a young Charlie Parker. In 1944, he was drafted into the war, and upon return found the big band era, as well as political bossism in KC, to be over.

Jay McShann's legacy is the time he spent in Kansas City before the war. He wrote music for, and managed an orchestra.




Justin Hinds & the Dominoes / Carry Go Bring Come: Anthology '64-'74 (Trojan 2005)
Wikipedia artist page 
Allmusic page

 













Justin Hinds recorded 70+ singles in Kingston between '63 and '72 at a time when the popular music style in Jamaica transitioned from ska (developed in the late 50's) to rocksteady (mid 60's) to reggae (late 60's.) He was a country boy at heart and disappeared from the scene in the early 70's only to return in 1976 to record his first proper LP, Jezebel.

Carry Go Bring Come: The Anthology captures the early years before his initial departure -- 46 tracks altogether -- of tune after sweet tune.




Igor Stravinsky - J. S. Bach / Stravinsky - Bach (ECM 2005)
Igor Stravinsky Wikipedia artist page 
ECM Records album page
 













Igor Stravinsky's (1882 - 1971) "neo-Classical" period is considered to be from circa 1919 to 1954. He moved to France in 1920 (from Russia) and began a new life that lasted until 1939 when he moved to Los Angeles.

During this time he transitioned from using Russian pagan themes to
re-examining Bach and Mozart. I opened one of my college textbooks for insight:

"The essence of Stravinskyn 'neo-Classicism' lies in the thorough rebuilding of tonal practice independent of the traditional functions. 

In Classical usage there is a network of contrapuntal motion away from and back towards goals that are defined partly culturally, and partly by the nature of this motion itself. In Stravinsky, tonality is represented by the emphasis, the repetition, or the sustaining of chords or chordal patterns. There is nothing inevitable about the tonal centers; they are present and effective because they are stated and asserted to be so." -- Eric Salzman, Twentieth-Century Music

He was writing tonal music, but making up his own rules.

Both Stravinsky pieces here, the Suite Italienne (1932), and the the Duo concertant (1932) are considered to be examples of Stravinsky's "neo-Classical" period, and the Bach pieces are a thought-provoking juxtaposition.




Luke Temple / Don't Act Like You Don't Care (Western Vinyl 2011)
Wikipedia artist page 

Allmusic page














Luke once said: "we will use what we have." The sort of Eastern logic that abandons frenetic desire to want more in order to produce something new.

Charles Bukowski wrote:

"you’re going to create whether you work
16 hours a day in a coal mine
or
with part of your mind and your body blown
away,

air and light and time and space
have nothing to do with it
and don’t create anything"


Luke strikes me as the character writing in a coal mine if necessary. Hopefully not, but if necessary, he'd be down there.

3 comments:

  1. The pool...

    Downtown 81 - Soundtrack
    Suicide - Suicide
    Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
    Paul Weller - As Is Now
    Justin Hinds - Jezebel
    Prince - 1985-04-07 Miami, FL
    Das Racist - Sit down, Man
    White Denim - Last Day of Summer
    Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
    Ives, Charles - Concord Sonota and Songs
    jj - Kills
    Gorilla vs Bear - December 2010 mixtape
    Adele - 19
    Meg Friess - JOoWaOM Mix tape
    Caveman - Rough Mix
    Cage, John - Sonatas and Interludes
    Cage, John - Indeterminacy: New Aspect of Form...
    Reich, Steve - Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards
    Jimmy Eat World - Static Prevails
    Arcade Fire - Funeral
    Frank Zappa - Weasels ripped my flesh
    Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I
    Schubert, Franz - Symphonies Vol. II - V-IX
    Chet Baker - Chet Baker Sings
    Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts
    Lead Belly - Legacy Volumes I, II, & III
    Dismemberment Plan - Change
    Deftones - Adrenaline
    Deftones - Around the Fur
    Deftones - White Pony
    Radiohead - The King of Limbs
    Mos Def - Black Star
    Mos Def - Black on Both Sides
    James Blake - CMYK EP
    James Blake - Klavierwerke EP
    James Blake - James Blake
    El Guincho - Pop Negro
    Glassser - Ring
    Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
    The Clash - Sandinista!
    The Jam - All Mod Cons
    Ella Fitzgerald - At the Opera House
    The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs
    The Cave Singers - Welcome Joy
    Skip James - The Complete Early Recordings of Skip James - 1930
    Various Artists - Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalista Psychedelic Masterpieces, 1967-1976
    Paul Simon - The Rhythm of the Saints
    Paul Simon - Paul Simon
    Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years
    Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife: The Best of Bobby Darin, Vol. 2
    Monster Rally - Coral LP
    JS Bach - Bach: The 4 Lute Suites
    Tom Petty - Wildflowers
    Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Hard Promises
    The Fugees - The Score
    Snooks Eaglin - New Orleans Street Singer
    Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
    Chales Mingus - Pithecanthropus Erectus

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Anthology Disks 1 & 2
    The Dead - Live at the Gramercy Theatre 2009-03-30
    Michael Jackson - Off the Wall
    Michael Jackson - Thriller
    Michael Jackson - Bad
    Michael Jackson - Dangerous
    Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
    Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What
    The Strokes - Angles
    Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Vol. 4
    Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Vol. 8
    Ben E. King - The Very Best of Ben E. King
    Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
    Trombone Shorty - 2010-01-03 Jam Cruise 8, US
    Donuts 'N' Glory - Demo
    Ryan Petersen - Pre-Summer Mix
    Radiohead - Supercollider / The Butcher SINGLE
    Solomon Burke - The Definitive Soul Collection
    Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Scandalous
    The Killers - Hot Fuss
    Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
    2Pac - 2Pacalypse Now
    Paul Banks & the Carousels - Yelling at the Sun
    Schubert, Franz - Schubert: Piano Music For 4 Hands, Vol 1 (Disc 1 & 2)
    Nice Nice - Extra Wow
    Deep Pockets - Demo Tape
    The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
    Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse
    Bob Marley & the Wailers - Burnin'
    Bob Marley & the Wailers - African Herbsman
    Justin Hinds & the Dominoes - Carry Go Bring Come: Anthology '64-'74
    The Octopus Project - Hexadecagon
    Bon Iver - Bon Iver
    The Beach Boys - Wild Honey
    Clem Snide - The Meat of Life
    Bob Marley & the Wailers - Soul Rebels
    Gomez - A New Tide
    Gomez - In Our Gun
    Paul Simon - Hearts and Bones
    The Beatles - Let It Be
    The Octopus Project - Golden Beds EP
    Theophilus London - This Charming Mixtape
    Theophilus London - Lovers Holiday
    Phish - 2011/07/01 Super Ball IX, NY (Set 1)
    Phish - 2011/07/01 Super Ball IX, NY (Set 2)
    Phish - 2011/07/02 Super Ball IX, NY (Set 1)
    Phish - 2011/07/02 Super Ball IX, NY (Set 2)
    Phish - 2011/07/02 Super Ball IX, NY (Set 3)
    Phish - 2011/07/03 Super Ball IX, NY (Set 1)
    Phish - 2011/07/03 Super Ball IX, NY (Set 2)

    ReplyDelete
  3. NOFX - The Decline
    The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
    The Beatles - Revolver
    The Beatles - White Album
    Screeching Weasel - Boogadaboogadaboogada!
    Screeching Weasel - My Brain Hurts
    Face to Face - Big Choice
    Face to Face - Face to Face
    Face to Face - Don't Turn Away
    Bob Marley & the Wailers - Simmer Down at Studio One
    Gameface - Cupcakes EP
    Vic Chesnutt - At the Cut
    Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie
    Ryuichi Sakamoto - Chasm
    Sonic Youth - Sister
    Bob Marley & the Wailers - The Best of the Wailers
    Screeching Weasel - Anthem For a New Tomorrow
    Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring For My Halo
    Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
    Oasis - Definitely Maybe
    Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
    Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
    Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
    Bill Callahan - Apocalypse
    Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
    Alkaline Trio - Maybe I'll Catch Fire
    Smog - Red Apple Falls
    NOFX - So Long and Thanks For All the Shoes
    NOFX - I Heard They Suck Live
    NOFX - Heavy Petting Zoo
    Horace Andy - Dance Hall Style
    Horace Andy - Feel Good All Over: Anthology 1970 - 1976
    Horace Andy - In The Light / In The Dub
    Pennywise - About Time
    The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient
    The 13th Floor Elevators - The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators
    Jay McShann Orchestra - Blues from Kansas City
    Silkworm - Lifestyle
    Arvo Part - The Very Best of Arvo Part
    Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Vol. 5
    The Antlers - Burst Apart
    The Antlers - In the Attic of the Universe
    Dustin O'Halloran - Piano Solos Vol. 2
    Dustin O'Halloran - Piano Solos
    Dustin O'Halloran - Lumiere
    William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops 1
    Stravinsky, Igor - Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky - The Mono Years 1952-1955
    Stravinsky, Igor - Pulcinella, L'Historie Du Soldat, Octet For Wind Instruments
    Various Artists - The Secret Museum of Mankind Vol 1: Ethnic Music Classics (1925-48)
    A Winged Victory For the Sullen - A Winged Victory For the Sullen
    Stravinsky / Bach - Stravinsky / Bach
    Stravinsky / Prokofiev / Shostakovich - Mischa Maisky & Martha Argerich in Concert
    Wild Nothing - Gemini
    Twin Shadow - Forget
    Nurses - Dracula
    Wilco - The Whole Love
    The Spinners - Pick of the Litter
    Cheap Trick - Cheap Trick
    Thelonious Monk - Solo Monk
    Dub Trio - Exploring the Dangers of
    DeVotchka - A Mad and Faithful Telling
    The Quintet - Jazz at Massey Hall
    The Abyssinians - Satta Massagana
    Various Artists - Down Yonder (New Orleans Blues)
    The Shins - Chutes too Narrow
    Earthy Babes - The Struggle Remains
    The Black Keys - El Camino
    The Impressions - Definitive Impressions
    Luke Temple - Don't Act Like You Don't Care

    (177)

    ReplyDelete