You’ve just put away the Phil Spector Christmas CD with all
the decorations, so it’s time to fill the house with the new sounds from the year just concluded. Banish thoughts of meltdown,
Madoff and the Mid-East and feed your head with music, “the food of love.” Herewith, a “best of 2008” selection to
get you started, from your opinionated friend and aspiring music critic. Play
on.
Albums
1. For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver, – Bon Iver is Justin Vernon and he sets
a magical wintery mood (“bon hiver,” get it?) that’s irresistible. Ignore the nonsensical lyrics (“Only
love is all maroon/gluey feathers on a flume”); this is the way indie folk
sounds right now. A bit of musical
alchemy, “For Emma” will make you feel like you did at 17, forever ago.
2. Just a Little Lovin’, Shelby Lynn - You there by the stereo: put down the
Nora Jones right now! Dusty
Springfield, you will recall, was the blue-eyed soul singer from the sixties
who killed “Son of a Preacher Man.”
Lynn has the Alabama roots that Springfield would have died for and
here, covering Dusty’s signature songs, she bests her, hands down. If there is a sexier song than her
version of “I Only Wanna Be With You,” I haven’t heard it.
3. The Way I See It , Raphael Saadiq - This is the real deal, new soul music (with
big debts to Marvin, the Delphonics, and Curtis and the Impressions) that will
make you dance in the kitchen with your sugar momma or daddy when there’s no
one else home. Ooh ooh, baby baby.
4. That Lonesome Song , Jamey Johnson - When you put this on, people will stop
what they are doing. “Country? What are you listening to this for?” Ignore them. Johnson is a bad boy with a broken marriage and bad habits
(“The Southern Baptist parking lot/was where I’d go to smoke my pot”). Savor
how different this sounds from all your other tunes and how much fun it can
still be to piss people off with your music.
5. Sugar Mountain, Neil Young – Released in ’08, this is Young bootlegging his own live
recording from Ann Arbor in 1968.
He was 23, had just left Buffalo Springfield and wouldn’t join Crosby
et. al. for another year. With
these spare but carefully wrought songs, it’s clearly time to add him to “The
List” with Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder. (Thanks Rob Burt for this one).
6. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes – In a world
where rap-influenced rhythm seeps from every pore, here’s an interesting idea –
harmony. With an undeniable debt
to the Beach Boys and My Morning Jacket, the best of these songs have the
quality of “American Beauty” or “Music from Big Pink” – they sound old even as
they are brand new.
7. People Gonna Talk,
James Hunter – A bit of a cheat,
this was released in 2006 but it was new to me this year and I wore it out. I
hear whiskey and heartbreak, Van Morrison and Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. Sweet.
Singles
1. Kanye West, Flashing Lights – Impress your children;
savor his genius.
2. Radiohead, House of Cards – They gave this away?
3. Raconteurs, Salute Your Solution – Your really loud
song for 2009.
4. MGMT, Time to Pretend – “Let’s make some
money/find some models for wives”
5. Vampire
Weekend, Oxford Comma – They drop the
f-bomb in a song about fussy rules.
6. Duffy, Mercy – This girl can sing.
7. Mike
Doughty, Fort Hood – Another war,
another protest song. Let the sun shine in.
8. Say Hi, Zero to Love – I dare you not to sing
this in the car.
9. She &
Him, I Should Have Known Better –
Beatles, channeled by Zooey Deschanel
10. Raphael
Saadiq, 100 Yard Dash – Push “Play”.
Move hips.
