Top Ten, Part 1

My top priority this morning was to make a preliminary list of artists that could possibly comprise my top ten. Admittedly, it is hard for me to narrow down, because what I listen to repeatedly and what I love to hear are two very different things. There are albums that I can listen to every day of the week and never tire of, and there are the ones that I only listen to every few months, but feel that amazement each time. A whopping two albums were easy for me to come up with, mostly because one has never left my turntable, and the other is in constant rotation as well. So while I keep whittling down the list of 38 artists that made the first cut, I'll let you see the first few that are entirely obvious to me.

1. Elvis Costello, The Clarksdale Sessions

I found this at Pastor Paul's Acoustic Garage Sale at First Ave. a few years back, and really haven't let it out of my sight since. It was a limited release edition of seven songs that were on The Delivery Man. In all honesty, The Delivery Man would be here in place of The Clarksdale Sessions, but the novelty of finding an album I'd never heard of by one of my all-time favorite artists makes it seem pretty special. The standout on the album is The Monkey, which is a poem by Mutabaruka, the dub poet. Check it out if you haven't!

2. The Detroit Cobras, Mink Rat or Rabbit

I'm going to preface this by saying my long-standing crush on Rachel Nagy has absolutely nothing to do with the rating of this album. It does effect my enthusiasm for their live shows though! But really, Rachel can belt it out with the best of them, and the band (with their ever-evolving line-up) can rock hard. There really isn't a weak spot in the album, and if you like one song, you like them all. I think this could probably be classified as easy listening for the rockabilly crowd.

3. Nosfell, Pomaie Klokochazia Balek

Ah Nosfell. Its not for everyone, and really, its more of a performance art than something to sit and listen to. Nosfell is a one-man band originally brought to my attention when my roommate's sister booked him at a few clubs around town after seeing him in Paris. The performances are what initially sold me, but also I have an affinity towards music in other languages, mostly because it keeps me from the temptation of singing (i.e. ruining whatever I'm listening to) or overanalyzing the lyrics. Fortunately, Nosfell makes up his own language (Klokobetz) and sings in that. His voice is great, and he does amazing things with his guitar. Kind of tribal-y, and really fun to listen to his pronunciation of the occasional English word. Any way you shake it, his magical made-up world of Klokochazia, that I really understand nothing about, is facsinating!

4. Old Crow Medicine Show, O.C.M.S.

I don't care much for acronyms, but I like this album anyway. I love that old-time, clean sound. The seriousness of some of the songs hardly comes through with how playful they are, and I appreciate that. Sometimes you want to listen to music with an interesting story, but not have it bring you down, and thats really what this album does for me.

5. Iron & Wine, The Creek Drank the Cradle

For some reason, the mellow vibe of this album just puts me in a nice mental place. It has the same effect on me as a warm breeze on a boat--insta-calm. Folky singers have a special place in my heart, and Sam Beam is no exception. I suppose something about a slide guitar makes it climb the ranks pretty quickly in my book!

Well, those are the first half. I can imagine the second half is going to be twice as hard!

Top albums sound off, Steve, part 2

Ok, so the first half was easy, but now I'm taking the musical bull by his horns and I'm going to fight this beast into submission (yeah right).

6. Beck, Guerolito


So, I love Beck. My favorite Beck moment was when he was on SNL and performed the song, Clap Hands, and the rest of the band backed him up by playing a dinner table. Oh, the puppets, can't forget them! If you can find the video, watch it. So onto the album. Trying to figure out which Beck album I liked best was hard, really hard. He reinvents himself so so much that it is hard to find just one. Each album stands on it's own. I picked Guerolito because it is not easy to take your own album and then remix it into something completely different. I don't think i could do that and then have it come out as good as Guerolito did. Oh, Beck.

7. John Denver, The Wildlife Concert


For those who do not have the pleasure of knowing me (I'm adorable), I'm kinda a hippie. Like only 5% of me is a hippie. OK, fine you caught me lying. I'm damn near a full blown hippie, if you read this book by the cover you wouldn't guess this. But, I'm old fashioned, my beliefs and the way I try to conduct myself is very hippie-esque. Being a student of Buddhism also helps this. So this is one of the reasons that I love John Denver. Plus, my mom listened to him all the time when I was a child (still one at heart). But out of all of the John Denver that I know and love, the Wild Life Concert stands out the most to me. It does have a lot of the perennial Denver classics, but it also has some of the rarer gems, and there is what the concert itself stood for. Thanks John for doing what you did for the world, you are missed by at least this music blogger.

8. Jurassic 5, Jurassic 5


Jurassic 5 gives me hope for rap. Don't get me wrong, I like some rap, but not all. I can see that it has it's place, but I just can't dig into most of it. But Jurassic 5 on the other hand I'm ecstatic about. The music that they come up with is fantastic! It has a good strong beat and under beat. They also tend to stay away from being negative. Yes there are other rap acts that I like, but as of now and as of an album as a whole this is where it is at. So "rap" your head around some J5 and they'll give you your Lesson 6: The Lecture.

Almost there, I know that I am missing something, and yes there are a lot of other bands I love, but we're looking at albums here man.

9. The Nightwatchman, One Man Revolution


Rage Against the Machine was/is/will be amazing. They were revolutionary and volitile. We needed that, we also needed them when the Iraq war broke out. But they were not around. Tom Morello was. His solo act, The Nightwatchman is as politically charged as RATM, but with the grassroots appeal. He feels more like the everyman instead of a guitar god. His voice also grounds him. We needed this. RATM was huge, but their size was their down fall. People looked past the messages and listened to the wizardry of Morello. But now that Tom has stripped away the amp and killswitch we find the gritty message. A message that needs to be heard, we need something to hope for, something to get us fired up, to inspire us, and for us to rally behind!

10. Raidohead, Kid A or Ok Computer or Hail to the Theif or In Rainbows

Come on, come on. This is a no brainer, yes. I love the rest of the discography, but these are my top! I don't know what else to say.

Sorry that this had a terrible ending. I'm getting tired and I just couldn't bring it down to one album. This is not as easy as you would think. I listen to A LOT of music, and a lot of different music too. Just to put it out there, I WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN A TOP 10 SONGS POST. No way. I think I would have a brain aneurism if I had to subject myself to that. Well, hopefully we start to see the other writers throw down their top tens. If you are interested in joining us for this adventure just e-mail me and we'll talk. As for now, Peace be with you and may you spread peace where ever you go.

Top albums sound off, Steve, Part 1

Top albums, eh. You know that this is going to be painful. I have a very hard time nailing down a top ten. I can guarantee that what I will put down now WILL change with the slightest breeze. One thing that I can say is that if you have not watched the new Sigur Ros DVD Heima you should. I realize that their music is not for everyone, but this DVD is filled with the beautiful scenery of Iceland. Also (if you have watched this movie you'll get this), I have two words, Stone Marimba. Yes, Stone Marimba. But all in all I love this DVD, it has brought me new respect for their work. Now I'll attack the gauntlet that was thrown down, and I'll make a sad attempt not to digress.

In no order, except the order of what my little brain comes up with.

1. Devendra Banhart, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon


At first many die-hard Devendra fans were not sold on this album. I will agree that it is not like Cripple Crow, but if you look at the over all arc of his musical career this should not come as a surprise. Smokey's sound is according with Devendra's style, eclectic. But, unlike really anything before, this album is very busy. Not sloppy busy, or over produced, but very well layered. I love how, to make this album, they rented out a cabin and invited all their friends over. You hear the layers, you hear the interconnections and the love. Yes, this sounds like a bunch of hippie babble about the perfect way to live, our utopia. But, this album holds all this. Smokey has so much to offer. There is dub, tropicalia, do-wop, and in the case of Seahorse, a damn near full orchestral suite. Damn! OK, on to more.

2. Beirut, The Flying Club Cup



Oh, Beirut. To fully appreciate Beirut I feel you also have to know the back story. Zach Condon, the man behind the band, dropped out of school when he was 16 and toured Eastern Europe. There he fell in love with Balkin music. If you can't hear this influence in Beirut's first major release Gulag Orkestar, well, then I don't have much to say to you. What surprised me though was in Beirut's second release, Zach did not, like I would of assumed, follow up with another Balkin inspired album, but he was influenced more by French pop. I'm not saying that he totally switched gears, but he just sampled a different part of Europe. For someone so young this was a brilliant move, yes I'm young too, but I have an old soul and so does Zach. Flying Club is a treat, it's robust and energetic, but not without emotion. It does start to lean towards dark and heavy, both not bad things. I think the best word would be contemplative.

3. George Harrison, All Things Must Pass


I have a hard time talking about this album. Is simply amazing. It's a classic. The most constructive statement that I have for All Things is that every time I listen to it, I feel as if I am finding it for the first time again. Out of all the solo work that all the Beatles did, I feel that All Things Must Pass, stands alone at the top.

4. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Worlds Apart


*Nerd Alert* As Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons would say, "Best Album Ever!" Yes, as a whole album from start to finish. Trail of Dead's Worlds Apart, would hold that spot. The album flows ever so gracefully from beginning to end. They transport you to a netherworld, where you're out at sea, moving to the ebb and flow of the sea of rock. With Trail of Dead's previous albums, you had very driven and hard songs, that had little connection at all. Like most "popular" artist (I will not drop names), their albums felt like a mass of singles. But, it all changed (for the better) with Worlds Apart. The songs, still have a very driven beat, but they artfully move in and out of this and contrast full tilt guitars and drums with quiet strings and minimal drums. The ornimentation of the music is perfect, it never is to far over the top. If you listen to this album you (in my opinion) MUST dedicate the time to listen to the whole thing straight through. You will be treated to a complete thought. I'm glad that there still are artists out there that make FULL ALBUMS and not a bunch of singles. Thanks boys!

5. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife


To be completely honest, the first time I heard The Crane Wife, it did not jump out to me. But then I forced myself to listen to it, start to finish. You ever had one of those moments that felt like you just got hit over the head, not literally (been there, did that, now I'm dyslexic), but figuratively? Well after listening to the album straight through, the realization that I had was as big as the 1000ft Lakers that I see out on Superior. What a truly wonderful album. The pictures that are painted in my dysfunctional mind are brilliant. I have always loved how The Decemberists almost go out of their way to tell a full story with every one of their songs. Yeah, an artist is supposed to, but few do with such a mastery and dexterity. The second song on The Crain Wife, The Island:Come And See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel The Drowning, is especially not worthy. What a tale, what a story, what a song! I'm hoping that the next project that they take on is a collaboration where they perform Beowulf or some other epic! I know that they did do the Irish folk tale, but I feel like they could take on one of the classics and turn it into a masterpiece. If this does happen, I hope you all attend my funeral, for I will die from sheer joy!

Well that will do it for know, I need a nap. I'll finish this off at a later date (tonight?), and then you, the reader, might, just maybe will have a better idea of who I am. Peace

Getting things rolling...

Anyone who reads this blog, in the opinion of this humble writer, should have some pretty diverse, open, and eclectic music tastes. With that being said, I'm not going to try to make this a place where we tell you what you should listen to or what music you should like or dislike. I'll leave that to the pop culture media, because they're good at that stuff and know how to defecate squarely into the minds of our nation's youth. It is a sad state of things, but I have a sliver of hope that I could maybe help to do something about that and help people out when it comes to music, which is something I am quite passionate about. There is a lot of stuff out there, old and new, that you the reader may not have heard but would perhaps be better off if you did. This is not genre exclusive, and all will be covered. From folk to blues to jazz to rock to metal (did somebody say Dragonforce?) to hip-hop, no stone is left unturned.

I hope you come back often and enjoy this little blog, because it is going to be a riot. Some upcoming reviews include The Raconteurs new album Consolers of the Lonely, the Black Crowes latest release entitled Warpaint, plus a personal list of top all time albums, which is something that I hope the other writers chime in on as well to get some heated discussion going. I'm going to call it a night, so make sure to subscribe to the blog for further updates...

And in the beggining...

It has been decided that The Communez will not only be used as a space to attempt to explain what we are attempting to accomplish on our radio show, (still in the works, but it looks like the first airing will be next week) but, we will use this blog as a place to post reviews of new albums, old albums, shows, and general music related chit-chat. So let the communezal madness commencez.