Duo plans CD, envisions European tour
December 5, 2014
‘Dirty Dancing’ romps into Saenger Theatre
December 5, 2014
Another year, another year-end list. I have several reasons why I love lists, but I won’t list them here.
2014 was another year of innovation and change. The upper echelon of pop royalty (led by Taylor Swift, pretty much a one-woman “1 percent”) could afford to thumb its pixie noses at the now-dominant music distribution system, aka Spotify, while most of the rest of the artists had to accept lower royalties and tour their butts off to sustain whatever lifestyles their ticket price schemes could support.
But the music remained accessible and plentiful, and we should be thankful for that. Let’s hope that the artistic urge to create the music we love trumps the shrinking compensation the creators are getting. Also, buy some damn music from time-to-time, people – give Pandora and all the other streaming services (not to mention the damnable pirate websites) a rest. Think of it as feeding our starving artists. Also, go out and see some live music – that money goes right into their pockets. Lastly, change your A/C filter for crissakes, the thing is filthy.
As always, this list is well-thought out, meticulously made, and only valid the day I wrote it. (My favorites change more often than November weather.) After each album, I also mention one of its choice cuts, making one righteous playlist if you’re so inclined.
• ST. VINCENT –
(SELF-TITLED)
Annie Clark is whip-smart, voluptuously talented and boldly theatrical. She’s finally made a record that keeps her avant garde bona fides balanced with accessibility. Paired with the indie world’s go-to producer, John Congleton, she emotes in alternately icy and blood-warm arrangements. Her words bite through the usual membrane separating artist from listener, jarring and soothing as she sees fit. Her guitar sounds like a futurist orchestra.
Choice cut: “Digital Witness.”
• ROSEANNE CASH –
“THE RIVER & THE THREAD”
Comfortable in her middle age, Cash was roused by the call to take a musical journey tracing her and her dad’s histories. The result is a stunning and beautiful travelogue. Her show at Lafayette’s Hyman Auditorium was a sublime experience, each song prefaced by its backstory and accompanied by visual background slides. Every song on the album is a polished gem, her poetry encased in sweet hammocks of sound stitched together by her and her guitarist/producer husband, John Leventhal.
Try: “Etta’s Tune.”
• SHARON JONES and the DAP-KINGS –
“GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT”
The indomitable dynamo of soul was a brave trouper when seen at her February House of Blues show, having just finished grueling cancer treatment. She delivered the goods, as her crack band had her back. This album would have made this list based on those factors alone, except it’s also probably her finest effort to date. She’s retro all right, but when you pay homage this well to the greatest party and spine-tingling music of the 20th century (southern black soul), you deserve modern adoration.
Download: “We Get Along.”
• LUCINDA WILLIAMS –
“DOWN WHERE THE SPIRIT MEETS THE BONE”
Lucinda’s dad was a peripatetic college English professor, and she used to send her lyrics to him for his thoughts before she made records. Now that he’s gone, she’s set one of his poems to music and it’s the lead cut, “Compassion.” It’s a song that’s too morose (in melody only, the words are heartwarming) to hear every time I want to listen to this sprawling double album, which is a lot. The rest of the album is prime Lucinda, with badass twin lead guitars on most cuts. Blues and soul are the main musical themes, while heartache and protest are her dominant lyrical tropes. Folk, country, love and redemption get their due also.
Hear: “Foolishness.”
• SEAN ROWE –
“MADMAN”
The barrel-chested baritone wielded by Rowe blew me away, especially when used in the employ of celebrating his new-found love of soul and ragged blues. But the songs that have resonated over time are the quieter, more reflective ones that break and then mend your heart.
Play: “The Game.”
• LAKE STREET DIVE –
“BAD SELF PORTRAITS”
These college buddies have a background in jazz education, but their sound is nothing but guileless R&B fronted by the force of nature that is Rachael Price’s voice. Impossible to hate, they might need to inject some more vinegar into their mix in the future. But for now, their fresh-faced soul is more than good enough.
Dig: the title cut.
• LYDIA LOVELESS –
“SOMEWHERE ELSE”
When fronting her rough-and-ready road band at One-Eyed Jacks, she hid her face behind her red bangs for large chunks of time. (She reportedly has a touch of stage fright still.) But there’s nothing timid about that voice, a ripe yearning plea for love one minute and a terse kiss-off the next. She’s got a great thing going, a potent mix of punk, rock and country that shoots straight through to the pleasure centers.
Get right with: “To Love Somebody.”
• REIGNING SOUND –
“SHATTERED”
Memphis’ Greg Cartwright moved to North Carolina and hooked up somehow with a New York R&B band to comprise the current edition of Reigning Sound. His voice is a sly honeyed instrument that is perfectly matched with his material, a garage soul mélange that grooves the body and refreshes the mind. White boy rockin’ soul has never sounded so good.
Hit on: “If You Gotta Leave.”
• ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES –
“HALF THE CITY”
Speaking of soul, these guys are immersed in it. Their Birmingham base put them in the heart of southern soul, and Muscle Shoals’ Fame Studios was the site of this record’s creation. Lead singer Paul Janeway looks like an accountant and sings like a chitlin’ circuit veteran. They wisely stay away from barn burners and stick mainly with the slower simmering variety of this already incendiary music.
Get down with: the title cut.
• SPOON –
“THEY WANT MY SOUL”
These Austin icons aren’t known for their slavish devotion to soul, but they do incorporate some sly references. Mainly you get off-kilter rock, obtuse lyrics, vaguely faux-British accents and an uncanny ear for pop done so coolly that hipsters get left behind. This one came after a five-year silence, and their batteries sound charged and ready.
The title cut is a good place to start.
• JIMBO MATHUS –
“DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL”
Whole lotta soul references going on here, but it’s all coincidental(?). Mathus is from Oxford, Mississippi, and was a member of the disbanded swing revival group, Squirrel Nut Zippers. He’s moved back home and records with the Tri-State Coalition. This one is anything but a downer, title cut notwithstanding. It’s some loose yet focused honky-tonk rock, sprinkled liberally with some stoner soul.
You can’t go wrong with: “Shine Like a Diamond.”
• HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF –
“SMALL TOWN HEROES”
Alynda Lee Segarra, the Puerto Rican-descended, Bronx-born leader of this now New Orleans-based outfit is an unassuming stage presence initially. Her strength and power grow with each song, and sometimes within a single tune. Her singular voice bends notes like taffy, and the rustic folk backing of her band gives off a campfire or street corner vibe. Her mostly gentle-sounding arrangements are misleading when close attention is paid to the flying bullets and anti-murder ballad subject matter contained within.
Swoon to: “St. Roch Blues.”
• THE BOTH –
(SELF-TITLED)
Aimee Mann and Ted Leo are now middle-aged rockers. She excels at brainy wordplay and loopy melodies while he sticks mainly with politically-charged Thin Lizzy-style rock. Together, they’re The Both, and it’s a wonderful pairing. They split the difference between their styles and it never feels like watered-down compromise, but rather a revved-up synthesis.
You could do worse than download: “Milwaukee.”
• THE DELINES –
“COLFAX”
Willy Vlautin is a writer of prose as well as song, and he’s fronted the band Richmond Fontaine for years as well as this outfit. Amy Boone of the Damnations handles most of the vocals here, but its Vlautin’s songs and arrangements that are the stars. They are stately timeless tales of small town inhabitants whose dramas are written in fine detail rather than broad brush strokes. Pedal steel, cellos, subltle drums and Vlautin’s tasty guitar fills keep the music on a par with the storytelling.
Load and listen to: “Colfax Avenue.”
• DAMIEN JURADO –
“BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF THE ETERNAL SON”
The singer-songwriter has been around for two decades, and this is his most experimental effort to date. Although I listened to no small amount of psych-rock this year, this is the only one that stuck with me enough to call a favorite. Producer Richard Swift adds much color and enhancements to Jurado’s already strong tunes, and the results are mildly hallucinatory but still compelling.
Take a little trip with: “Silver Timothy.”
• PARKER MILLSAP –
(SELF-TITLED)
The 21-year-old Oklahoman’s debut is full of wry sketches of Bible belt characters and their doings. They are irreverent without being disrespectful or mean-spirited. He’s confident and sure-footed, and his hickory-smoked voice never gets old.
Kneel down and listen to: “Truck Stop Gospel.”
• THE HOLD STEADY –
“TEETH DREAMS”
This Minnesota-based band sounds like New York wiseguys roar back after a lengthy hiatus. Tales of young lust and inebriation are here again, but so are some more mature themes. Twin guitars stab and slam over and around Craig Finn’s talk-singing, and the arrangements show attempts at diversity while hewing to their signature rocking. They killed at this year’s Hogs for the Cause, with Finn holding the audience spellbound with his conversational storytelling antics, gestating like a much cooler Woody Allen.
Light up to: “Big Cig.”
• CURTIS HARDING –
“SOUL POWER”
Harding is impossible to pigeonhole into a tidy description. He’s had collaborations with Cee Lo Green and garage rockers the Black Lips. This album’s a bumpy but thrilling ride, making stops at soul stations, swamp cabins, dive bars and disco floors. His gruff voice can pull off a professional falsetto and his guitar can sting or caress. The restless imagination of Shuggie Otis is called to mind.
Take a trip with: “Beautiful People.”
• HARDWORKING AMERICANS –
(SELF –TITLED)
A super-group of sorts fronted by Todd Snider, with Neal Casals on guitar, Widespread Panic’s bassist and Duane Trucks, Derek’s little brother, on drums. This is an entire album of covers, well chosen and having a central theme of economic justice while rocking out – which turns out to be a really good fit.
Mellow out to: “The Mountain Song.”
• COURTNEY BARNETT –
“THE DOUBLE EP – A SEA OF SPLIT PEAS”
Ms. Barnett is an Aussie who’s got a mesmerizing way of telling a story in deadpan tones while spouting head-turning lines. She draws you in to listen more closely, then claps you on the ears for your trouble. Although released in limited form in 2013, its more general distribution in 2014 allows me to trumpet its virtues here.
Get spellbound to “Don’t Apply Compression Gently.”
Honorable mentions go to 2014 records by Sylvan Esso, Nikki Lane, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Angel Olsen, Jonny Two Bags, Liam Bailey, Quilt, Shovels & Rope, Amy Ray, Mac Demarco, Joe Henry and Ty Segall. And, of course, I look forward to combing over the glut of other year-end lists to see what I may have overlooked.
– Dave Norman is a local attorney who has been smitten with music since he could hear his first transistor radio turned to WTIX, and is thankful for his ability to share his love with you.
Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, paired with indie world’s go-to producer, John Congleton, on her self-titled fourth solo release.
