Bob Wire Has a Point (It's Under His Cowboy Hat)
My Ten Best Musical Acquisitions of 2009
As modern country continues its natural decline...By Bob Wire, 11-29-09
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| These are the CDs that Jack White-fronted bands released this year alone. (Flickr photo: itsstillfriday) | |
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This list used to be called “Top Ten Albums Of the Year.” But there are so many ways to buy, borrow, copy, steal and find new music that the purchase of a physical album is becoming as rare as a Libertarian at a food bank.
While I download some music, I remain loyal to the CD as my main medium for maximum music manifestation. Like a lot of you, I miss the romance and the ritual of the vinyl LP. Sometimes it was even a double album, complete with a gatefold cover, a poster, and in the case of Cheech and Chong, and giant rolling paper. The miniscule size of the CD has diminished that part of the music buying experience, and downloads have eliminated it altogether. But being a tactile person who’s a bit late to the iPod table, I still loves me a CD.
I find them at yard sales, pawn shops, department stores, thrift stores, and of course music stores. I also find them at the library, which is an incredible source for classic albums and obscure crap alike, with new releases being added every day. What a bonanza! And get this: they also have books! Whoa.
So, between finding music at all these places and receiving gifts from friends and family, I’ve acquired 62 new albums this year, and that doesn’t include my #1 music acquisition, which I’ll get to in a bit. I’ve also downloaded dozens of singles from iTunes, for a variety of reasons. Songs for the grade school sock hop. Songs to play during a hockey fund raiser. Songs to fill a black hole of emotional need. No, wait—I use alcohol for that. Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” to be blasted at maximum volume on the first day of summer vacation. The fact that any song I want is instantly available for a buck still blows my mind. And it’s cool.
Several CDs I’ve bought were needed to fill spaces in my collection, replace long lost beloved albums, or to provide the digital version of the LP. So I’ll keep this list to new music only (released in the last two years or so). It’s in no particular order, but I’m saving the best for last.
Let’s start with KISS. I covered their WalMart deal in a recent blog, so here it’s all about the rock. After 20 years of misguided, watered-down flailing, Paul Stanley worked up his most insistent pout and whipped the band into shape. They wrote all the songs, and recorded the album on analog equipment to enhance the classic 70’s vibe. Stanley produced the disc himself, and from “Modern Day Delilah” to “Say Yeah,” it’s a satisfying dose of big, dumb hard rock from a band I spent most of my high school years defending. Throw in the rerecorded “KISS Klassics” and a DVD of some concert footage, and you’re talking drool-worthiness for any KISS Army vet.
Another great rock album is the Bottle Rockets’ latest, Lean Forward. More rock and less alt-country than their last few releases, this one carries on the singular, sometimes quirky songwriting vision of chief Rocket Brian Henneman. Guitars twang and rage, and his harmonies with drummer Mark Ortmann define the band’s sound, thanks to the muscular-but-clean production of the great Eric “Roscoe” Ambel. (Side note: Roscoe has finished recording the second album for Missoula favorite son Nate “Tuba Dance” Schweber and his band, the New Heathens. It should hit the streets any day.)
U2’s No Line On the Horizon is worth the price of admission simply for the opening groove on “Magnificent.” I’m still absorbing this one.
In the late 1980’s I went to see Chuck Berry in Seattle. It was a typical, boilerplate CB show: local backup band, a rented Cadillac, and a suitcase stuffed with cash in exchange for 45 minutes of the King of Rock and Roll (including exactly one duck walk). But the other artist on the bill, Jerry Lee Lewis, performed like a septuagenarian sorehead, limping his way through a few medleys and ignoring requests from the crowd. I was grateful to see him, though, because he looked like he wouldn’t last the weekend. Now, 20 years later, he surprised everyone with Last Man Standing, a collection of collaborations with A-list artists from Jimmy Page to Toby Keith. Shockingly, the Killer rocks out with his orthopaedic socks out. I don’t know what kind of magic juice his current wife is feeding him, but he’d better not murder this one.
Speaking of comebacks, Elton John reclaimed his mid-70’s form with 2006’s Captain and the Kid, a sequel to Capt. Fantastic, his last great chart-topper written with Bernie Taupin. (I know, 2006 is not exactly a new release, but hey, who’s telling this story?) Autobiographical tales set to Elton’s uncanny pop confections are hugely entertaining to this longtime fan.
Some of you may have seen Bill Kirchen play the Folk Festival in Butte this summer. He’s a Telecaster master, having played with Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, among others. The title song of his album Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods contains this line that immortalizes the no-frills Fender guitar: “It was born and the junction of form and function.” Killer!
Some other treasures added to the Wire family soundtrack: The Beat Farmers Live at the Spring Valley Inn (Country Dick and the boys recorded on a cheap 4-track in the band’s beer-soaked infancy); Vagabonds, by Gary Louris (a somewhat sleepy set by the most distinctive voice of the Jayhawks); The Future Is Unknown, by Unknown Hinson (if you spent any time at the Top Hat or ESP, you probably heard this guy, thanks to Richie Reinholdt, who laid a copy of the disc on everyone he knows); Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown (actually bought by my boy Rusty, on the strength of “21 Guns.” My favorite cut is “Peacemaker.” Bring it on, Green Day haters. I can take it).
Local stalwarts Tom Catmull and Andrea Harsell released CDs that represent high water marks in their musical careers. I exerted my influence as a local purveyor of sonic culture to score those two for free. Nyuk nyuk.
But my most important musical acquisition of this year immediately became the cornerstone of my entire collection. It’s the gold standard upon which much of the rest of this music, from Abba to ZZ Top, was built. It’s a set of songs that deserves a thorough discussion, which will require a whole ‘nother blog. So I’ll save that for next time.
Till then, crank up those iPods, give that car stereo a workout, and support live music. And don’t bother with Springsteen’s Working On a Dream. It’s a one-way ticket to Dullsville.
[Feel free to pass this column along. And bookmark NewWest.net/BobWire so you don’t have to type in all those pesky letters.]
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Comments
BFers Spring Valley... I've listened to that about a thousand times since you gave it to me.
The Unknown Hinson, a little rough around the edges but that guy can really write and play. Good call.
And lets not forget Buffaload, one of my favorite new releases from the kid with a point and a cowboy hat. Thanks for the great songs Bob!
I saw him as the warmup band for the Reverend Horton Heat a number of years ago. The Reverend is no slouch... but I don't know if he kept up with Hinson. He might be unknown, but he can sure rock the house!! (And he's hilarious, in a black sort of way.)
Is "modern country" still declining? I thought it had hit rock-bottom a few years back. (But Taylor Swift is sure cute!)
Taylor Swift is one of the few bright spots, for sure.
As for Unknown, if you saw the infamous video of Billy Bob Thornton's contentious interview with a Canadian radio host earlier this year, you saw Mr. Hinson at the table with Billy Bob's other bandmates, watching Mr. Thornton act like a total dick.
Thanks for the comments.