The Music Corner
Some people also wondered about my piece last year about music on my iPod and my “Best of” selections in Reality Bytes 5.0 (See What's in Your Playlist below). No long rebuttal here, just a follow-up. I picked two recordings as a tie for No. 1 on my list: In Rainbows by Radiohead and Raising Sand by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. In Rainbows won the 2009 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album of the Year. And, Raising Sand ? Wikipedia reports:
On February 8, 2009, the album [Raising Sand] won all five awards for which it was nominated at the 51st Grammy Awards: Album of the Year; Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album; Record of the Year (for "Please Read the Letter"); Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals (for "Rich Woman"); and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals (for "Killing the Blues").
So, coming up next in the Music Corner (here in Reality Bytes or, maybe, online, or both) will be a discussion of the question: “What is your list of the five greatest rock ‘n roll bands of all time?” Charles Abell posed this question to me recently. After giving it some thought and taking a very random and unscientific survey, I have concluded that this is probably an impossible question, as everyone has their preferences, which can vary widely with age, etc. The number five is far too limiting as well.
That said, I am working on a reasoned reply. If you want to contribute your thoughts, e-mail me at rcyoung149@gmail.com with your selections. To focus this effort somewhat, here is my interpretation of the question:
· “Band” means just that, a group, as opposed to a single “performer.” So, there are many great individual performers, but the question limits you to a group. For example, Bruce Springsteen, a supreme performer with many different back-up musicians, does not qualify, but you could name “Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band.” Same goes for Jimi Hendrix and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
· “Greatest/All Time” means that the band has to have made some enduring contribution to the music. This may eliminate many bands that made one or two recordings that may rank up there with best, but did not have sustained careers.
· “Rock ‘n Roll” means, well, what you want it to mean, but I would suggest that we stick with “Rock and/or Roll.”
If you care, you can also send me your thoughts on your favorite “records” of all-time, no particular type of music, but limit the answers to ten. I mean “records” literally, so the answers have to be music originally released on vinyl. For contemporary groups that came after the advent of CDs, I will accept music released on vinyl as well as CD. For example, Radiohead has released In Rainbows on vinyl and Wilco has released its recordings on vinyl as well.
What’s in Your Playlist?
I started my ACTEC presentation in January by going to Radiohead’s website and playing some of In Rainbows from my iPod. Somewhere along the way, past Section Chair, A. Shepherdson (Shep) Abell commented that he would like to know what was on my playlist.
I have written before about my iPod, a now ancient iPod Mini that I inherited from my daughter when she moved up to a new model several years ago. Old as it is, it still works and, when I printed off a list recently, it had 1,429 songs on it, four days worth of music and podcasts.
I cannot write about all of this music, so I decide to make a pick my favorite music from last year and a few things that seems to be permanent favorites. When this reaches you, it will be nearly mid-2008, so I apologize that the whole “Best of 2007" thing is a bit dated.
1. (Tie) In Rainbows - Radiohead
Raising Sand - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. In Rainbows and Raising Sand seem to be radically different. In Rainbows became famous as much for the fact that the iconoclastic British band marketed their collection of songs online, allowing buyers to decided how much, if anything, they would pay. Some say they gave it away. (The download ended in 2007 and In Rainbows now is available a conventional CD package.) Raising Sand seems to be its own unique marketing gimmick, pairing the lead singer of Led Zeppelin with one of the premier singer/musicians in modern bluegrass and country. But then you listen to these albums and what you hear transcends everything else.
What unite these two collections are a sense of dedication to the music presented and the production quality to match the dedication. Radiohead did it their way so that they could make the album that the wanted to make, crafting the sound to their own unique vision. Radiohead succeed in every way in presenting a nearly seamless, wide-ranging work. Radiohead are now letting fans have it their way, offering a download of a song that can be remixed to the listener’s taste. Radiohead will play the Nissan Pavilion on May 11.
Even more astounding is the ensemble work on Raising Sand. Producer T-Bone Burnett brought Plant and Krauss together, picked a band that included himself, Norman Blake and the idiosyncratic guitarist Marc Ribot, and picked most of the songs. The result is unbelievable chemistry. Plant and Krauss sing together with a skill that would seem to have required years to achieve. Plant rises to the challenge of being placed in a genre so seemingly alien to his background and he clearly meets that challenge. Krauss too exhibits unexpected and brilliant moments. The selections are startling when one listens to the lyrics and finds that Krauss and Plant occasionally swap the traditional gender roles of the song narratives. As with In Rainbows, the production quality stands out, with voices and instruments beautifully matched and proportioned. Plant & Krauss stop at Merriweather Post Pavilion June 13.
2. Once Soundtrack - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. Yes, the Academy Award winning song is here, and much, much more. Unlike most movie soundtracks, these songs are integral part of the movie and its story line. Hansard, the lead singer of the Irish band, The Frames, and Irglova play the main characters in the movie and the movie is as much about their songs and their musical chemistry as it is about their personal chemistry. With exception of Sweeney Todd (which, of course, was a musical), I cannot remember a movie last year (or any year recently) that so integrated the music into the drama and in which the music was so stunning.
3. Sky Blue Sky - Wilco. Wilco produced another wonderful album last year. A gentler, more accessible work when compared to the jarringly brilliant Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco’s In Rainbows from several years back) and 2004's A Ghost is Born. Sky Blue Sky grows with each listening. Gone is the frustratingly uneven production of A Ghost is Born, which made it madding difficult to listen to the album’s brilliant songs. Here, the songs are crystal clear and bright. And, Jeff Tweedy seems content with his band and life is indeed good. Catch Wilco live and all of the recent work and older material comes alive in new and exciting ways. (If you are too old to stay up late at night to the sweet end of a Wilco show, you can catch live feeds or podcasts of Wilco performances from time to time, through the band’s website or other sources, like NPR’s All Songs Considered website. Wilco will play the Virgin Music Festival in Baltimore August 9.
4. Songbird - Emmylou Harris (Box Set). OK, this is a box set (4 CDs and 1 DVD) and it will cost you about a tank and a half of gas at today’s prices, but it is one of the best works from 2007. Spanning her career, Harris handpicked a wide range of songs to showcase here, not greatest hits (of which there are many), but beautiful gems. There will always be something by Emmylou on my iPod, current selections being At the Ryman and Western Wall: Tucson Sessions with Linda Ronstadt and All the Roadrunning with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame.
5. Live at Massey Hall 1971 - Neil Young. Cheating again here, as this music should have been released in 1971 or 1972. This is one of the most moving Neil Young albums in a long time. I think it is mostly because it is just Neil, his guitar and piano. It captures some of Neil’s finest songs around the time of their creation.
6. Armchair Apocrypha - Andrew Bird. One of our associates gave loaned me this CD and I love it. I had never really heard anything of Andrew Bird before and I really do not know much about him now, but this is a wonderful, surprising work, filled with interesting arrangements and orchestrations. My favorite tracks are “Fiery Crash” and “Scythian Empires”. Bird recently came to my attention again as one of the contributors to a new blog from the New York Times about songwriting, Measure for Measure (measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com ) and contributing his thoughts on songs are written. Here is his squib from that site:
Andrew Bird is a Chicago‑based singer, songwriter, violinist, guitarist and whistler. He has released 10 albums, including "Weather Systems" (2003), "The Mysterious Production of Eggs" (2005) and most recently, "Armchair Apocrypha" (2007). In March, he won the Plug Independent Music Award for Male Artist of the Year and is currently at work on his next album. His Web site is andrewbird.net.
7. Come Back Home; October 29th - Caleb Stine (with the Brakeman on October 29th). I guess I am cheating again. October 29th was actually made in 2006, but I did not “discover” this wonderful Baltimore-based artist until September of 2007, when he played a set at a local community event. Caleb is a wonderful singer, songwriter in folk and old-time country/bluegrass mode. He is a mainstay in the local arts community in Baltimore, performing regularly at the Creative Alliance in Baltimore and many other venues. Check out the band’s MySpace page: , where you can hear songs, including Come Back Home. There next album, I’ll Head West Again, came out May 17th. Caleb’s website is . Caleb also does shape-note singing ( see ) on the side.
8. Magic - Bruce Springsteen. This is not as powerful a collection as Bruce’s last outing with the E-Street Band, The Rising, or his last solo effort, Devils & Dust, but I think it might be hard to find an album of his that is less than excellent. Bruce may be trying to take over the title of the hardest working man in show business. In the last several years, he has turned out the three albums listed above, plus his Seeger Sessions tribute to Pete Seeger and the Live in Dublin release with the Seeger Session Band. My iPod currently holds Magic, Live in Dublin and the 30th anniversary release of Born to Run. There are few artists at this stage in their career who continue to push the envelope the way Springsteen does and Magic is more proof of that.
Honorable Mention:
Into the Wild Soundtrack. Apart from a few folks like John Williams and Randy Newman, modern soundtracks are difficult works to assess critically. First, they are rarely works of a single artist, but merely a collection of songs or pieces from various artists, often previously recorded. Second, when such collections have any independent artistic impact, it usually derives from the power of association with the film itself. There are soundtracks of this modern genre that I love (American Graffiti, Forest Gump, and, more eclectically, Rushmore).
The soundtrack to Once stands on its own because it is the work primarily crafted by two artists, but undeniable it gains greater power and force if you actually see the movie. The soundtrack to Sean Penn’s powerful film adaptation of the book Into the Wild is a similar effort. While it contains music from a number of artists, the core of the soundtrack is made up of songs from Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. Vedder is a dynamic and emotional component of Pearl Jam. For Penn’s film, he has crafted a set of personal lyrics, set in quieter, more direct arrangements. The Vedder’s songs are integrated into the movie, more so than some of other music on the soundtrack. They also stand on the their own. I recommend both the movie and the soundtrack.
Emotionalism - Avett Brothers. I have not listen to this entire album, but I saw the Avett Brothers at Artscape last year, and they were passionate performers with a vision.
Icky Thump - The White Stripes. I have Jack White and his various musical incarnations have intrigued me since he produced and performed on Loretta Lynn’s Grammy winning record Van Lear Rose several years ago. Here, with “sister” Meg, Jack struts some of his best Detroit inflected Led Zeppelin funk rock. If Robert Plant had not figured out how to out-maneuver him by going toward the country spectrum himself, the Stripes may have made it higher in my rankings.
Modern Times -Bob Dylan. Speaking of the hardest working man in show business, take a look at Mr. Zimmerman. Love him or hate him, he is still going (“Not Dark Yet”). He has morphed yet again, into some wizened southern countrified blues man, with his pencil-thin mustache and cowboy hats. He tours endlessly, putting on shows that showcase other artists on the bill, and re-arranging some of his greatest hits into nearly unrecognizable new incarnations. And, he puts out albums, a solid string of which now form this latest era of his career Time Out of Mind, Love & Theft and last year’s Modern Times. Not to mention that Amy Winehouse’s producer, Mark Ronson turned out one of the year’s funkiest remakes, when he produced his “reversion” of Dylan’s “Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)”. Also check out the all-star soundtrack of the movie I’m Not There (a soundtrack that is probably better than the movie (which I have not seen), but the movie may be worth seeing just to watch Kate Blanchet do her take on the late 1960's version of Bob). Mr. Dylan will stop by the Virgin Musical Festival in Baltimore on August 10.
Washington Square Serenade - Steve Earle. Steve Earle seems to have had nearly as many career turns as Bob Dylan, going from country bad boy, to post-incarceration rebel, to rocker, to bluegrass and Irish music, to activist, and now to Greenwich Village maven (with new wife Alison Moorer). Through it all, there really has not been a bad recording, with many being exceptional ( El Corazon, The Mountain (with the Del McCoury Band), Transcendental Blues). This one from last year is another fine effort.
Some favorites that probably will not leave my iPod for a long time:
Bach: Long installed favorites: Glenn Gould - Goldberg Variations; Yo-Yo Mama- Cello Suites.
Brian Eno: All from the ‘60's and ‘70's: Another Green World, Here Come the Warm Jets and Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy.
Bob Dylan: See albums mentioned above, plus Bootleg Series Volumes #6 (Live - Philharmonic Hall) and #7 (No Direction Home soundtrack/collection)
Bruce Springsteen: See above.
Cassandra Wilson: Belly of the Sun and New Moon Daughter.
Earl Hines: Earl Hines Plays Duke Ellington.
Emmylou Harris: At the Ryman.
Jack Johnson: Brushfire Fairytales, In Between Dreams, and On & On.
John Prine: Fair & Square.
Los Lobos: Just Another Band from East L.A.
Richard Thompson: Action Packed.
Tom Waits: Beautiful Maladies, Mule Variations, Real Gone and Used Songs (1973-1980).
And surprisingly, there is much, much more on my iPod, which is the real wonder for 5.5GB of space.
