Coming home from the store I listened to a story on the year's best music. I love top ten lists. Or top 5. Whatever. (heh. I still remember an island top 5 contest where Bucky misheard the topics. Our friend L, with an obsession on the pinups, had asked for top album and top poster--meaning Farrah in her bathing suit or something. Bucky had a different album, but had Bob Dylan winning the poster contest. Damn that was funny.)
So here are my top albums from this year. Some might be from last year (technically) but I discovered them this year. Hey, it is my list. But I would love all my music loving readers to post their lists.
1) Ryan Adams, Cold Roses. One of the very best double album sets in my collection. Simply has some of the best alt-country tracks I have heard since early Uncle Tupelo. Check out "Let it Ride" or "When will you come back home."
2) Wilco, Kicking Television. No new stuff here, but some kick ass versions of songs like "Via Chicago" and "Spiders and Kidsmoke." One of the best live albums I have heard.
3) Eliza Gilkyson, Paradise Hotel. I blogged about "Requiem" which may be the most haunting song in my collection. "Man of God" is very good as are several other tracks on the cd.
4) Spoon, Gimme Fiction. With a huge hat tip to Bucky the Badger, this cd was actually in the NPR story as well. Some wonderful tracks including "Sister Jack" and "I summon you." Saw them in Austin and was impressed.
5) The Arcade Fire, Funeral. As I understand it, Six Feet Under fans have heard them before. Another nod to the Badger for turning me on to them. One of the more interesting cds I have heard (this one came out in 2004, btw). Listen to "Wake Up" and "Rebellion (lies)" for a taste of this unique group.
6) Sufjan Stevens, Come on feel the Illinoise. Hmm. How to describe this guy. Well, just listen to "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." and tell me you don't feel the hair rise on your arms. Another nod to Bucky, though I heard of this one elsewhere.
7) Gemma Hayes, The Roads Don't Love You. Just got this one, but loved her first album. This one is not yet available in the US, but I ordered it as a used import. I love her voice and she has some really good tracks on it.
8) Kathleen Edwards, Back to Me. Man do I like her voice. Listen to "Copied Keys" and tell me that voice isn't great. Two albums, and two great efforts. One of my big disappointments from ACL was her canceled show.
9)Coldplay, X & Y. To be fair, I bought all of these about the same time (with great assistance from the ubiquitous Badger) and have difficulty telling the albums apart as a consequence. But this is a great album. "A Message" is one of my favorites.
10) Jayhawks, Live from the Women's Club, Vol 2. One of my favorite bands and sadly the end of their run. Oddly enough, didn't like volume 1, but love the second album (and both came from the same show, so go figure). "Tampa to Tulsa" is great live and much more compelling than the studio.
10a) Kasey Chambers, Wayward Angel. I know. From 2004 and I have blogged on her before. But what a great voice and one of my favorite albums. "Mother," "Lost and Found" and "Like a River" are all great. One of the best mandolin solos EVER on "Follow you home."
Ok, now you.
3 comments:
Oddly enough these are my favorites, too...wonder if there is any correlation. ;) ('tis the truth).
As I'm typing this "Fix You" on X&Y is playing. I love this song, brings back wonderful Austin ACL memories.
...sweet music to my soul...
Not sure that I have 10, but my wife and I have a newfound interest in jazz singer Michael Buble. Phenomenal voice, and great to listen to. And Chicago didn't put out another album, so I wouldn't have much else to add anyway! :)
Have a great holiday Streak and SOF! :)
So it looks like I may have to change my name to Ubiquitous Bucky U. Badger (UBUB).
On the poster story, it was loud, I thought he said 'poster of a band,' and I went first so there was no one to tip me off that Bob Dylan is not actually a babe.
I remember Coldplay closing out their ACL set with 'Fix You' and thinking that it was pure genius to close with any song with 'lights will guide you home.' That song will always remind me of our hot, dusty trip to ACL '05, Rita be damned.
Many of these would be on my year end best list, if only I could decide on a limited number. One complication is whether to sort by release date or recognition date(Arcade Fire came out in late 2004 but really broke in 2005, for example). I think Arcade Fire was on my Best of 2004 mix, but then can I count the re-release of their EP that came out in '05? It's a slippery slope, my friends.
Another complication is that since I have joined the iPod age, I am more of a singles listener than an album person. (That probably shocks me more than anyone). Maybe this means that I do two lists and that one mix is an mp3 of the year's best albums. Or something.
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