happy new year!!!

sky blue sky

my two current favorite american bands are my morning jacket and wilco, and although my morning jacket have been silent this year, wilco have made another masterpiece. sky blue sky was a complete collaborative effort by the seven members of the band creating quite a different sound. it's still very much wilco, just not so tweedy driven i guess. the band says the record was very improvisational, and was actually recorded in "the round". we don't hear the weird noises like we did on yankee hotel foxtrot. in fact, it's quite a mellow album. tweedy says he was inspired by the byrds and fairport convention, but songs like hate it here and walken sound straight off of abby road. the haunting lead guitar part on you are my face is one of the greatest moments in wilco's history. impossible germany has a wonderful jam moment, and please be patient with me is one of the years most beautiful songs. wilco have made an eclectic collection of albums, and sky blue sky fits in perfectly.

new found loves for 2008

wincing the night away

it's the final four!

the shins - wincing the night away

you know that feeling when a band you love finally finds a bigger audience? after the all too hip garden state, the shins became indie darlings to hoards of 15 year old girls. wincing the night away is the first release since than, and i am happy to say that they have in no way catered to anyone. it's a mature record with what sounds like a bigger budget. my favorite thing about this album are the truly poetic lyrics. way to many rock lyrics are thrown away these days, but james russell mercer hits you line after line with clever and poignant words. it is most apparent in the song a comet appears. musically it's mostly light and fun. songs like australia, turn on me, & sleeping lessons are total sing alongs, while phantom limb, sea legs & spilt needles are filled with tasty musical nuggets of goodness. the shins are a consistently great band, and wincing the night away is going to be tough to top....but i hope the do it!



three more albums to go. any guesses?

ryan adams - easy tiger

this incredibly prolific artist has made one of his best albums. ryan adams is absolutely one of my favorite artists, and easy tiger proves that he is one of america's greatest song writers. 2005 was a good year for adams fans. we got 3 albums (one being a double album). 2006 saw nothing from him, but my first listen to easy tiger filled that void very quickly. good night rose is almost epic sounding, and is one of those perfect album openers. two (which is the second track) the sun also sets and everybody knows, shows what adams is capable of. with all the songs he has written, he is still able to create these gems. halloweenhead is the rocker on this album, and brings to mind his aptly titled rock n roll album. on tears of gold, adams shows us his country chops. i taught myself how to grow old ends the album perfectly. easy tiger is an album that impressed critics this year, but i feel it will never be completely appreciated. could adams be this generations neil young? easy tiger thinks so.