KEN D
For me this was a great year for albums by
singer/songwriters. My list is eight records I went back to again and
again this year and all have a single name attached. Maybe it's a
coincidence or maybe bands are in decline (though I have no idea why
this might be so). I don't feel
that I hear enough albums to declare anything a "best," so I'll just say
these are my favorites and highly recommended to anyone with
country/rootsy/NoDepression-y leanings:
A list:
Steve Earle - The Low Highway
Brandy Clark - 12 Stories (kudos to you Sal for being way ahead on this one)
Robbie Fulks - Gone Away Backward
Josh Ritter - The Beast in Its Tracks
Sam Phillips - Push Any Button
A+ list:
Jason Isbell - Southeastern (and his show—opening for Nick Lowe—at Lincoln Center was a 2013 highlight)
Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park (for
some I guess CMA nominations would be the kiss of death, but this album
is miles above the typical country radio fare)
and the last is a plug for a guy I know—an ex-New
Yorker, now living in Wisconsin—who made a superb album on his own
(Indiegogo funded) with a bad title, worse cover art, and great, great
music:
Matthew Grimm - Songs in the Key of Your Face
I highly encourage you to check him out: www.grimmreality.net/
7 comments:
News Flash!
Latest favorite of 2013:
Keith Jarrett "No End" on which he plays all the instruments. Recorded at his home studio in 1986.
top 10 of 2013:
1. The Grapes of Wrath--High Road
2. Brendan Benson--You Were Right
3. Vegas With Randolph--Rings Around the Sun
4. Sam Phillips--Push Any Button
5. Chris Stamey--Lovesick Blues
6. Electric Soft Parade--Idiots
7. Mark Mulcahy--Dear Mark, I Love You
8. The Nines--s/t
9. Corin Ashley--New Lion Terraces
10. Orange Peels--Sun Moon
Special Mention: I Was a King "You Love It Here" released in 2012 but I first heard it in 2013. This album would have been at or near the top of my list if I ranked it this year.
Cheers, Matt C.
I'm not a big country fan, but dang, that Brandy Clark song is awesome. I will check that one out for sure.
And I hope to chip in soon with some best of 2013 comments - don't have it together yet. But my fave LP of 2013 has to be Elvis Costello & The Roots, Wise Up Ghost.
Matt C -- thanks for the list! Sounds like many of those would be things I should check out...
People are listing to Jason Isbell, so I tried him out. After four + listenings I've come away with a real fondness for "Stockholm" because this city is like what Jason sings.
Call me wrong but the more I listen to the songs, the more I think I'm listening to this year's David Gray "White Ladders".
Ken D:
Very canny of you to single out Matthew Grimm. That guy has been an unsung national treasure for years! Check out his "Dawn's Early Apocalypse" album if you haven't already...
I didn't know about this record when I posted my top 10, but a late addition would definitely be in my top 5 is "Our Postmortem" by And the Professors.
MC
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