Greetings
and welcome to another journey through my discovery of this year’s
music trials, tribulations, struggles, and triumphs. I hope the
pleasure you received from new music this year was more enjoyable
that years gone by. Finding new music has become a full time job.
And finding free time has been almost as challenging as finding good
new music. The more music I heard that I liked; the more I realized
that there were actually identifiable pockets where great music is
being made. I guess it reminded me of a time when you knew a band
was good based on where it came from, the cover art or its label.
That said, here’s a look at this year’s music and their
respective hot spots. Who knows, maybe the future of the music
business will be smaller collectives and not these behemoth, faceless
monsters we have come to accept. Oh yeah, and a special shout out to
God’s greatest musical gift to mankind, Rhapsody. From now on
we will refer to years in the form of BR or AR, as in Before Rhapsody
and After Rhapsody:
Cheers,
hugs, smiles, and all the love I can muster go to my personal editor
and wife, for putting up with my travels, cranky moods, and downright
overall sour attitude. I have a feeling that even better things are
to come in the future. Trust Me.
Eric Fine New York/Kansas/Virginia
BROOKLYN, NY
For
great Thai food there is Joya on Court St. and for great American
cuisine there is Blue Ribbon on 5th Avenue. For great
music, don’t forget the new venues like Galapagos, Pete’s
Candy Story, Northsix or Southpaw. There you could find any member
of these great new bands hanging out: Clap Your Hands Say
Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (David Byrne
for the new millennium), Hold Steady – Separation
Sunday (man, he sure knows how to cram a lot of
words into a small space),or Nada Surf – The
Weight Is A Gift (most mature sound yet).
PHILADELPHIA, PA
A
bit further south on the turnpike we have the classic Philly
Cheesesteak. Dripping cheese wiz, or an abundance of heartburn
inducing onions and peppers are worth the trek alone, but when you
can hear great pop music oozing out of the clubs from the likes of
Dr. Dog – Easy Beat (if Daniel
Johnston fronted Sloan) or Marah
– If You Didn’t Laugh You’d Cry (solid
rock), it makes the drive through New Jersey that much more
tolerable.
DETROIT, MI
Yes,
there is music in Detroit that is not Eminem. I can’t deny
grooving to The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan,
their most diverse LP to date or
Brendan Benson – The Alternative To Love.
It’s no Lapalco, but it’s solid and cleaner sounding.
LOUISVILLE, KY
Unfortunately,
all too often these days I do find myself in the middle of the
country with nothing to do but watch the blue grass grow. My only
salvation when landlocked is My Morning Jacket – Z,
sort of a Pink Floyd for the new generation.
CHICAGO, IL
As
a pizza lovin’ guy, I have to admit that the Chicago pan pizza
is as good as promised. So is Kayne West – Late
Registration. Smooth hooks,
great beats. And on the other side of town we have my little buddy
from The Sea & Cake, Sam Prekop – Who’s
Your New Professor playing
sincere pop music with his friends.
AUSTIN, TX
Until
I can make the SXSW trek, I’ll continue to live vicariously
through television and Austin City Limits. Unfortunately, some of my
favorite music to come from there I do not expect to be seeing on
that show anytime soon. And You Will Know Us By The Trail
Of The Dead - Worlds Apart, their most
rockin’ album to date and Spoon –
Gimme Fiction, of which I was never really a big
fan, that is, until now.
WEST COAST
Is
this east coast centric? Or maybe I just could not find enough good
scenes to speak of. Either way, there were a few good west coast
releases that require mentioning: DJ Z-Trip –
Shifting Gears (turntablist master); Death
Cab For Cutie – Plans (if Built To Spill
played short, pop songs), Sun Kil Moon – Tiny
Cities (classic cover album, better than the
originals?), and Jack Johnson – In Between
Dreams (call him soft, I prefer to see him as laid
back as they come, and his music takes on a hypnotic feel).
AND BEYOND…
Let
us not forget that there are a few good bands outside of our glorious
country that deserve props: The New Pornographers –
Twin Cinemas from Canada (another
pop gem), Monade – Wash And Dance
from France who gave me my new Stereolab fix, and from across the
pond there are: Super Furry Animals – Love Kraft,
and The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers
(bothers and sisters playing nice together).
Box Sets, Reissues, Live Recordings
…or as they sung on the Island in the early episodes… And the rest …
Gotta love
everything they do. Nels Cline was a great
addition to this band. He can really deconstruct and recreate
Jeff’s masterpieces.
Not
only is the unreleased material excellent, but
getting all of the “hits” in one place is a lazy man’s
dream come true.
Besides including
the title track, the greatest song of all time (wink, wink, my
love), the DVD proves that Bruce was a great entertainer.
Always good to hear
unreleased Bob. It may not be my favorite of his phases, but it
paints a good picture of the early years.
An overlooked pop gem, which will
probably be overlooked again.
Remastered with bonus tracks, I
forgot how solid their major label debut was the first time around.
All The Band anyone
could ever want in one neat package.
Two
geniuses at work. It’s amazing and a crime that this went
undiscovered for so long.
Excellent
collection of Lennon’s greatest hits.
Great cover of the Jawbox classic Savory.