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Thursday, December 13, 2001 2001: Musser's musical odyssey The year turned out to be a good one for music lovers By this time last year, I'd had the soundtrack of the Joel and Ethan Coen film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" for several weeks. I listed it in my 2000 Honorable Mentions, so I'm not including it in my 2001 Top 20.
Still, a good case could be made for it as Record Of The Year, so I've addressed it - along with other soundtracks, compilations and tributes - in my regular space inside the cover. As stated in previous year-end columns, nobody can hear everything that comes out in a given year; no one would even want to. Of the hundreds of CDs I heard this year, I came up with a master list of 85 new releases by artists/bands which I felt were worthy of consideration, then started the painful sorting.
Longtime favorites like John Hiatt, Jesse Winchester, Vince Bell, Graham Parker, Buddy & Julie Miller, Joe Price, The Morells, Nick Lowe, Robbie Fulks, The Gourds, Vigilantes of Love and Boz Scaggs (among others) made wonderful new records that didn't make my cut. While I regret their exclusion, I am well pleased with the records that are here. Eleven of these acts, by the way, have performed in Iowa City and/or Cedar Rapids in the past 12 months. In the end, Best Of lists are, by definition, subjective and personal. This here one is mine. Please feel free to e-mail your comments, gripes and picks to me at: jmussa@aol.com #1
Dave
Carter & Tracy Grammer
A wondrous, uplifting mix of original folk 'n' country rife with scintillating wit, shape-shifting mythology, crisp social commentary and spiritual exploration delivered with an abiding natural grace. Carter's focused, insightful miniatures are razor-sharp, his and Grammer's vocals are splendid and their top-flight musicianship is presented with gem-cut clarity. Like most truly great albums, "drum hat buddha" doesn't leap out and grab you; it worms its way in and begins to haunt your psyche with a lyric or melody that pops up while you're shopping vegetables or waiting in the bank drive-through. My wife or I have played this jewel nearly every day since we found it. (www.signature-sounds.com) #2
Bob Dylan
In his 60th year on the planet, The Bob has delivered his most accessible, tuneful and pillar-to-post engaged album since 1974's "Blood On The Tracks." Which is not to say he's been treading water since then, but this disc continues the artistic "second wind" he caught with 1988's "Oh Mercy" and has carried on through his cultivation of folk 'n' blues masters in the early '90s and the ruthless self-examination of '97's 'Time Out Of Mind.' Dylan was a crusty, thorny cat in his twenties; he finally seems to be comfortable with it. He's got the best rock band on earth, his utter command of the American blues/pop vernacular is unequaled, and he's rediscovered fun and humor - even at his own expense. #3
Ian Hunter
At its early-'70s peak, Hunter's Mott The Hoople combined hip-shaking rock 'n' roll, glam rock and literate folk-rock balladry at a level that made it, arguably, the World's Best Rock Band for a couple of years. That all blew up, of course, and Hunter fell into a pattern of occasionally inspired solo efforts which petered out as he and his wife Trudi nursed his best friend/guitar foil Mick Ronson until his death in 1993. "Rant," with co-producer/musician Andy York shouldering Ronson's role, peels back the years and presents Hunter's best-ever album - his voice is riveting, the lyrics deliver de shivers, and the tunes cop serious grooves. Spot-on drumming by vet Mickey Curry, honking horns, stomping keyboards and sizzling guitars add up to the rock'n'roll comeback of the last 25 years. #4
Stuart Davis
A uniquely brilliant iconoclast, the Twin Cities-based Davis remains, sadly, the best-kept secret on the American pop/rock scene. His live, acoustic solo performances rock more aggressively and effectively than most plugged-in bands, his knack for unloading memorable hooks is truly mind-boggling, and his subject matter incorporates deep digs into classical literature, history, mythology, theology, metaphysics, death, birth, family dynamics and general human behavior. "Stuart Davis," his eighth self-released disc since 1993, is both his best and most user-friendly. The textures ebb and flow from huge rock, densely-layered pop and arthroscopic intimacy. Stuart's remarkable vocals and guitar are augmented by the usual gang of T-C rockers. (www.stuartdavis.com) #5
Tom Russell
Long celebrated as a "songwriter's songwriter," Russell has displayed a feel for coast-to-coast/border-to-south-of-the-border Americana for well over two decades. Cinematic in scope and eloquent in a muscular, blue-collar Steinbeck fashion, Russell is as earthy as a spud. His voice is all of that, too, and his lanky, longtime sideman Andrew Hardin is as fine a guitarist (acoustic or electric) as you'll ever hear. Russell's records are dependably real good, but the Gurf Morlix-produced "Borderland" is, I think, a career peak. You'll find story songs that outstrip - in about four minutes - almost any rawhide video you can rent, killer highway anthems and high-steppin' rockers (hey, toss me on "The Next Thing Smokin'" ...). And if you don't connect with "What Work Is," you haven't worked. #6
Lee Roy Parnell Fredricksburg, Texas' Parnell rolled into Nashville over a decade ago with a great voice, blistering guitar chops, rugged good looks and an on-board songwriting sense to die for. In short, at least two too-many resources for Music City to be comfortable with. His eclectic discs in the '90s included enough mainstream Nash-Vegas ready-mades to keep his toe in that water, but the boy was clearly fakin' it - hey, we all gotta pay the rent. "Tell The Truth" is Parnell's breakaway. Singing like a Southern-fried Boz Scaggs, Parnell writes or co-writes all but one here. Dixie soul, boogie, hard-case blues and R&B - it all burns. #7
Lucinda Williams Although long regarded as one of America's most penetrating songwriters, the feisty daughter of poet Miller Williams languished in relative obscurity until her splashy breakthrough with 1998's "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road." Most performers would have done their best to replicate a winning formula, but Williams is hardly "most" performers. Turning her back on the drawn-out, complex production of "Car Wheels," Lucinda bunkered down for a couple of weeks in Minneapolis with a copacetic core band of Jim Keltner, Tony Garnier, Bo Ramsey, Charlie Sexton and Reese Wynans to churn out the most intimate, somber and revealing disc of her career. The textures and colors are subtle; the overall effect is breathtaking. #8
The Honeydogs Some luck. In the almost three years since one of America's finest rock 'n' roll combos began recording this, they parted company with their second guitarist, their bassist Trent Norton nearly died of a mysterious ailment, their major label deal with Mercury evaporated in a corporate takeover and they spent over a year retrieving the masters and securing another deal. The remarkable Adam Levy (songwriter, lead vocals and guitar) gets - and deserves - a lot of the attention, but this is a seamless group effort that draws its dynamic cues from the Fab Four and NRBQ, then rolls it all into something fresh, freewheeling and exhilaratingly ambitious. Endlessly tuneful with great singing and playing. #9
Kate Campbell A preacher's daughter from Sledge, Miss., Campbell possesses an ear for regional dialect, an eye for detail and a storyteller's gift which have led to her writing being regularly compared to the likes of Eudora Welty and Carson McCullers. After four wonderful discs for Compass, Kate went to Muscle Shoals to apply her gorgeous, clear-water vocal style to a gospel record with a soulful, Southern R&B spin, emerging with "Wandering Strange." Included are a great Gordon Lightfoot cover, four original collaborations, and six Cambell-arranged hybrids cobbled together from various time-worn hymns. Moving, compassionate, deeply personal and even a bit playful, it's a revelation. #10
Ray Wylie Hubbard Once part of the hard-drinkin' first wave of Texas singer/songwriters that included Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Jerry Jeff Walker, Hubbard penned "Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother" for Walker, then proceeded to drink, smoke and snort the royalties while careening from one Lone Star honky tonk to the next. At 40, R.W. traded deep drinkin' for deep thinkin', finally learned to really play the guitar, and he's been on an artistic tear ever since. His voice is barn-board 'n' barb-wire raw, but he leavens his allegorical tales with a sly sense of humor, hard-won wisdom and deep-rooted spirituality. #11
Dale Watson Lost love and tragic death were once regular entrees on country music's plate, and Dale Watson is a hard-core country traditionalist in the Buck & Merle vein. When Watson's fiancee died in a car crash last year, he wrote and recorded this amazing collection in her memory, went out on the road with his Honky Tonk Christmas Revue, then attempted suicide around New Year's Eve (he's since undergone therapy and is making his way back on the circuit). That's a lot of baggage for a record to carry, for sure, but it bears up with style, passion and aching, honest tenderness. #12
Brother Trucker Anchored by Andy Fleming's poetic gift for making epic tales and riveting parables from the marginal lives eked out on the wrong side of the tracks, Des Moines' Brother Trucker is blessed further by a close-knit lineup who share Fleming's vision. Mike Fitzpatrick, John Conlan and Lyle Kevin Hogue can play up a storm when necessary, but are mostly content to float the tunes with a welcome delicacy and spaciousness, allowing the songs to breathe and expand. Great production by Dave Zollo. #13
Dolly Parton One of the first (and best) female singer-songwriters, Dolly Parton coasted artistically for the 15 or so years she spent as a multi-media star, but when she plugged back into the music scene in earnest a few years back, her spectacular talents were clearly intact. Bluegrass has made huge gains over the past decade, and the grassroots success of "O Brother, Where Art Thou" set a new high-water mark for the music's mass appeal, but Parton's ebullient applications to the genre with "The Grass Is Blue" and this gem broke some serious ground. All-world picking, swell tunes, the voice of an angel. #14
Ron Sexsmith Toronto native Sexsmith garnered lots of critical hosannas with his first three Interscope discs, but sales were miserable, and the production team of Mitch Froom and Tchad Blake had locked him into a predictable (some would say wimpy) sound. Enter alt-god Steve Earle and his Nashville crew to add some much-needed punch to Sexsmith's rockier tunes, while still maintaining a light touch on the pretty things. The singer's (ever-improving) voice remains an acquired taste, but his gifts for melody and lyrical economy are spectacular. #15
Rodney Crowell Widely regarded as one of Nashville's most gifted citizens for almost two decades, Rodney Crowell has had his moments of brilliance, but an overview of his output betrays an awful lot of time spent on cruise-control. That said, "The Houston Kid" is so good it's not even a comeback - it's a resounding career high-watermark. Crowell's enviable voice is more expressive than ever, the clearly autobiographical writing rings true and unguarded, and the band is great. If they coulda lost that thumping, Nash-Vegas arena drum sound, it'd be perfect. #16
Grant-Lee Phillips The longtime frontman of Grant Lee Buffalo, Phillips dumped the beast, acquired a hyphen for his first two names, and officially started his solo career with a completely self-made disc of non-stop, densely-layered and thoroughly majestic rock. Much of what's here (vocals included) could be passed off as top-notch outtakes from U2's brilliant "All That You Can't Leave Behind" with random Beatle-esque touches and the occasional Bryan Ferry vocal lift. Nothing much really new here, but the boy sure knows where to "shop." #17
Jimmy LaFave Austin-based LaFave is a fine songwriter in his own right, but his extraordinary voice and technique are so overwhelmingly soulful and awe-inspiring it almost wouldn't matter if he was a flat-out hack. The true measuring stick - as with jazz saxophonists - is to hear him wrap his gospel-tinged, celebratory pipes around familiar tunes. He divides the 16 tracks on "Texoma" evenly between originals and covers, giving songs by Dylan, Jimmy Webb, Gretchen Peters and the John Phillips-penned Scott McKenzie hit "San Francisco" the rides of a lifetime. #18
Melvern Taylor One of the real "out-of-the-blue" treats of the year, this biscuit arrived unbidden from Lowell, Mass., and flattened me straight out of the box. Taylor's sweet tenor is a ringer for Glenn Tilbrook's (of Squeeze), he writes cool, hook-laden pop tunes and presents them with inventive, mostly-acoustic arrangements augmented by such sonic delights as Hawaiian guitar, banjo and roller-rink organ. His previous disc, 1999's "Handsome Bastard," is pretty neat, too. (www.brokenwhiterecords.com) #19
Alejandro Escovedo You'd be hard-pressed to find another musician who has accomplished so much, explored so many genres, influenced so many artists, maintained his credibility and creative drive for so long and still have remained largely unknown to the general public as has the unofficial mayor of Austin, Texas. "A Man ..." features a sprawling, all-encompassing sound that dips into harrowing ballads, pedal-to-the-metal garage rock, country-rock and glorious glam workouts without ever blinking. There's a lot of pain here, but the undercurrent of hope is palpable. #20
Amy Allison Her dad, Mose Allison, brought a laid-back, hick-hipster taste of the South to the jazz/blues world about 40 years ago; now NYC-raised Amy turns it about by applying urbane chic with a hint of Continental savoir-faire to the alt-country genre. Her voice is a tad bit cloying and precious in a Victoria Williams sort of way, but the deliciously melancholy songs are beautiful, varied and insightful. Sit down with this and have yourself a good cry. (www.dieselonly.com) |
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