LIST: Best of the Decade: 2000-09

The awkwardly addressed twenty-aught-something years are fading behind us with the teen years taunting us just ahead. So what music will I remember from Y2K to now? Here are my picks, and happy listening in the brave new adolescent future.

1. Radiohead Kid A 2000
2. Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot 2002
3. Arcade Fire Funeral 2004
4. Sufjan Stevens Come on Feel the Illinoise! 2005
5. Gillian Welch Time (The Revelator) 2001
6. The Hold Steady Separation Sunday 2005
7. The National Boxer 2007
8. Liars Drum's Not Dead 2006
9. Neko Case Fox the Confessor 2006
10. Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago 2008

11. Ryan Adams Heartbreaker 2000
12. LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver 2007
13. The White Stripes White Blood Cells 2002
14. The National The Alligator 2005
15. The Strokes Is This It 2001
16. Franz Ferdinand s/t 2004
17. Jay-Z The Blueprint 2001
18. TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain 2006
19. Spoon Kill the Moonlight 2002
20. Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica 2000
21. Fleet Foxes s/t 2008
22. Iron & Wine Creek Drank the Cradle 2002
23. The Shins Chutes Too Narrow 2003
24. New Pornographers Mass Romantic 2003
25. Grizzly Bear Veckatimest 2009
26. Band of Horses Everything All the Time 2006
27. The Microphones The Glow Pt. 2 2001
28. TV on the Radio Dear Science 2008
29. Flaming Lips Embryonic 2009
30. Volcano Choir Unmap 2009
31. Dizzee Rascal Boy In Da Corner 2003
32. My Morning Jacket Z 2005
33. Blitzen Trapper Furr 2008
34. Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 2007
35. New Pornographers Twin Cinema 2005
36. Radiohead In Rainbows 2007
37. The Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America 2004
38. M.I.A. Kala 2007
39. The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 2002
40. Grizzly Bear Yellow House 2006
41. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Master and Everyone 2003
42. The Avett Brothers I and Love and You 2009
43. The Knife Silent Shout 2006
44. Dan Deacon Spiderman of the Rings 2007
45. Queens of the Stone Age Songs for the Deaf 2002
46. My Morning Jacket It Still Moves 2003
47. Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights 2002
48. Sleater-Kinney The Woods 2005
49. Girl Talk Night Ripper 2006
50. Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds 2006

LIST: 20 Best of 2009

Another year has wound its way to an end and with it we have all grown that much older. A few critically lauded acts like Animal Collective, Girls and Wavves made albums that might have aged this indiephile out of a genre or two but the albums listed here kept me young all year long.

1. Grizzly Bear Veckatimest This album strikes a near perfect balance between the nostalgic pop tunefulness and excessive high wire atmospherics of its peers, looking in for content and direction while staying relevant by reaching out for a larger, more complex and rewarding sound. A coming of age album that manages to both capture and transcend the zeitgeist.


2. Flaming Lips Embryonic Like Radiohead's In Rainbows Wayne Coyne and his Flips once again sound like a band of mortals rather than, in their case, an inflatable atomic circus sideshow. Totally fucking insane and damaged, but incredibly talented mortals.


3. Volcano Choir Unmap Bon Iver's Justin Vernon teams with fellow Wisconsinites and math-folk-rockers Collections of Colonies of Bees for a textured avante-beardcore take on Vernon's soulful minimalism.


4. Califone All My Friends Are Funeral Singers Deep and twitchy album pushes the "alt" in alt-country to the limits to find subtle rewards as dark and enticing as the title suggests.


5. The Avett Brothers I and Love and You Redefining rather than rewarming folk harmonies for the twenty-first century. If it aint broke make it better.


6. Elvis Perkins in Dearland s/t A little bit Neutral Milk Hotel and a little bit Buddy Holly, EPiD warble and clatter their way into even the hardest of hearts. Rootsy Americana with a trombone and an accordion for Pete's sake, what's not to love!


7. Bon Iver Blood Bank ep Delivers and builds on the promise of Justin Vernon's wintry debut while hinting at exciting new directions (see #3) as any good ep should do.


8. Neko Case Middle Cyclone Focused and familiar, Case's swooning wail takes on Mother Nature's more destructive tendencies with animal conviction and geologic force.


9. Various artists Dark Was the Night Unlikely among compilations, the brothers Dessner (The National) curate and produce a consistently stunning document of today's indie scene including The Arcade Fire, Feist, Spoon, Grizzly Bear, The Books, Sufjan Stevens, Iron & Wine, My Morning Jacket, and Yo La Tango among many others - introducing revealing new pairings (Dirty Projectors + David Byrne) and keeping alive a thematic and sonic thread throughout.


10. Blakroc s/t Much anticipated Black Keys hip hop project delivers the goods, balancing their own low slung rust belt soul with the punch and swagger of well matched MCs including Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, ODB, and stand-out Noe.


11. Dan Deacon Bromst Deacon retains the title King of Freaktronica with an ever so slightly reigned-in extension of his uniquely manic cartoon dancescapes, leaning more on live performance which this royal subject calls a good thing.


12. Modest Mouse No One's First, And You're Next Brief but brilliant reminder that this is a band who used to be more comfortable Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset than allowing life to simply Float On.


13. Steve Earle Townes Earle is at his best when he's growling through a good story and no one tells a good story like Townes. This faithful tribute to a mentor and teacher graciously avoids reverence in favor of insight.


14. Wilco Wilco (the album) With friends like Colbert and Obama Wilco are as much cultural institution as band - but songs like "One Wing", "You and I" and "You Never Know" remind even jaded listeners that Tweedy can still write songs with the best of them.


15. Dizzee Rascal Tongue N' Cheek As the title implies Diz finally lets loose and has some fun, and it's contagious. However like bangers and mash Diz still proves to be too British for most of the US. Also however, bangers and mash is just sausage and potatoes which is pretty good anywhere. Now can I please get a proper pint?


16. Iron & Wine Around the Well This two disc collection of b-sides and out takes charts Sam Beam's trajectory from bedside folkie to indie mainstay, featuring a few highlights (his cover of The Flaming Lips "Waitin' for a Superman") and adding considerable breadth if little depth to his already impressive pool.


17. Them Crooked Vultures s/t Big kids in the candy store indulging in the things they love and do best. No surprises and nothing you wouldn't expect - Josh Homme keeps it libidinous and druggy, John Paul Jones would like to remind you that he used to be in that other band, and Dave Grohl is irrepressible. I think Thor just crapped his pants.


18. Built To Spill There Is No Enemy I never noticed how much Doug Martsch sounds like Roger Waters. B2S maintain focus on simplicity with a renewed interest in psych rock and politics.


19. Cymbals Eat Guitars Why There Are Mountains Smartish upstart indie rock that plays like Pavement by way of Modest Mouse for the post-ironic Arcade Fire generation.


20. Brendan Benson My Old, Familiar Friend The sound of one man trying to throw back the large White blanket he borrowed from an old, very familiar friend.

REVIEW: Animal Collective "Merriweather Post Pavilion"

Rating: 5

As an artist I always know I'm onto something when I'm not sure if what I'm doing is really art.  Not that what I'm doing is something entirely new, invented, or essentially unique but it is somehow "other."

And so I find myself drawn to music which is not easily identified as belonging to one genre or another.  Artists like The Books, Liars, Microphones, Dizzee Rascal, Will Oldham and, until recently, Animal Collective practice a brand of stand-alone artfulness that stretches ideas about one genre or, at times, invents a new one.  This separation from an establish code can create a sense of gravity, allowing artists to slowly draw other like bodies into ever shrinking orbits around them until they are part of the same system.  They radiate heat and energy while absorbing matter, growing in mass and weight.  If the artful "other" gets me then the gravity keeps me there.

Animal Collective have, in indie terms, gone supernova, spinning off loose electrons and repelling all matter in a conscious effort to become the emptiness of cold, bright light itself - less than zero, never there.  Songs swirl, chant and keen to themselves with directionless energy, moving ever outside the bounds of gravity or meaning.  And therefore away from me.  Sure, other bands are following suit and the kids seem to dig it, but I'm done. 

Merriweather Post Pavilion finally gives a name to the generational chasm I have until now been reluctant to acknowledge and across which I cannot easily reach.  More importantly I don't really want to.  I'm quite happy on my side obeying the laws of gravity and time with some earth beneath my feet.

LIST: Kyle's Totally Shameless Twelve Days of Music Wish List, 2009

If you couldn't make it to the record store or your computer came down with the swine flu just send cash.  Here's what I missed but will be keeping an eye out for in 2010...

1. Bear in Heaven Beast Rest Forth Mouth
2. The Antlers Hospice
3. Mt. Eerie Wind's Poem
4. Califone All My Friends Are Funeral Singers
5. Bonnie Prince Billy Beware
6. John Doe & The Sadies Country Club
7. Monsters of Folk s/t
8. Elvis Costello Secret, Profane and Sugarcane
9. Wolfmother Cosmic Egg
10. Sufjan Stevens The BQE
11. Elvis Perkins in Dearland The Doomsday EP
12. The Hold Steady A Positive Rage box set

LIST: Most Memorable Concerts

I'm a huge fan of the album - as a private listening experience, artistic object, time capsule - the whole idea appeals to me. But there is no replacement for a good live show and here are my favorites, and also here are the rest.

Top Ten

1. Wilco and The Jayhawks at the Kentucky Theater in Lexington, KY 1995
Wilco opened the show and both bands ripped through their new releases nearly cover to cover with some Uncle Tupelo and a fair amount of Hollywood Town Hall for good measure. Mark Olsen's wife Victoria Williams joined The Jayhawks for several songs including "Miss Williams' Guitar" and their raucous closer "Ten Little Kids," then both bands took the stage for a crazy Golden Smog encore of "Red Headed Stepchild." 1995 was the year alt-country seemed to coalesce and emerge under the larger rock-n-roll umbrella. It was the year No Depression Magazine formed to document the movement and it was the year I saw two of its pioneering and most enduring icons generate the electricity that powered the movement through its heyday and well beyond.

2. Jon Langford with Sally Timms and the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, CA 2008
After seeing Langford's Waco Brothers on Saturday afternoon the idea of catching the bright eyed Welshman and some of his friends first thing Sunday morning was supposed to be like warmed up and welcome leftovers. What we got was Christmas dinner in October. The line-up was essentially the Wacos and they played with as much energy and swagger as they had twenty hours earlier. Oh, and did I mention the thirty-or-so full grown Canadian men singing behind them? They played Jon's songs, sea chanteys, mining and labor songs but to be honest they could have been singing Row Row Row Your Boat and I would have marched out and bought a boat to row that very day. Never underestimate the power of the human voice, especially when amplified and backed by a kick-ass band. It's the sort of thing I'll never forget or likely see again.

3. The Knitters at The Palms Playhouse in Winters, CA 2008
First of all The Palms looks and feels like the kind of place you might go for a wedding reception. You have to walk up a flight of stairs slightly wider than the ones in most apartment buildings, tickets are checked by a guy with a little wicker basket who will absolutely remember your face if you have to go back to your car for something and the bar sells as much coffee as beer. It seats 220 people. My friends and I sat up front and were treated to a rockabilly show that might as well have been in my driveway. There's no such thing as security there so I was able to tell Dave Alvin thanks in person after the set and John Doe's brother sold Amy a t-shirt. The highlight was an extended Obama-dedicated romp through "The New World" with a verse of the Beatles "Revolution" nicely covered in the middle. The Knitters clearly love what they're doing and it's easy to see why. Hearing them play so close to home and with such good friends made the love that much easier to feel.

4. Wilco w/ Preston School of Industry, Bogarts, Cincy 2002
We caught this show during our last pre-child visit to Kentucky (though Amy was pregnant). Dave Mikkelsen met us there. We missed most of the Preston School of Industry set but we were there for one thing and one thing only... Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The ink was still drying on its reviews which we all remember raving about its groundbreaking experimentation, trashing its departure from traditional roots music or avoiding the issue altogether to focus on the band's label and line-up changes. YHF created a rare sort of excitement and the band captured and amplified it that night. To my delight Tweedy and Co. drew heavily from Being There, leading off the set with "Misunderstood" and its tightrope-taught coda which had Tweedy shouting "nothing" in the closing line for a full minute. This was a bigger, bolder, smarter Wilco - a Wilco that would soon take over the world. They played all the new songs and interpretations of favorites plus a few surprises including the then unreleased "Handshake Drugs" and "Kicking Television." For me and many others YHF was a watershed moment in a genre we already loved and respected. Catching Wilco live in that moment was as rare and special a thing as I could have hoped.

5. Vic Chesnutt at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco, CA 1998
So the evening started dubiously with scheduled opener David Gray sitting in the front pew with a cold that kept him off stage while Maria McKee writhed on the piano bench and sang opera-bar interpretations of her own songs. In contrast Chesnutt was a pinned butterfly, a beautiful tragedy who forced the salvation of his own music through a badly patched vessel. His hands struggled with his instrument and he forgot the words of songs that were either too new and unrehearsed or too old and infrequently remembered. His stories were frank and sweet and ached with gallows humor so we ached with him. When the pieces came together, notes and phrases that could only be his, it was like discovering cut crystal in a dusty room. Hard, fragile, and perfect - glimmering shards reflecting the mess all around.

6. Phish at Red Rocks Ampitheater in Colorado 1995
The morning of the show I woke up with the intense memory of a dream in which I knew what it was like to be bald. Before the rest of the house was awake I walked down The Hill to a barber and had her shave my head. That night we bought some huge brownies in the parking lot and ate them like we were actually hungry. Everyone took turns rubbing my stupid bald head while the band played tons of stuff from Rift, an amazing version of "Run Like an Antelope" and stretched "Tweezer" for about fifteen minutes. All was virtuoso jam band bliss then the entire audience was abducted by aliens while walking to their cars. No kidding.

7. Lyle Lovett and his Large Band at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA 1998
Lovett is the Texas definition of classy, and the beautiful Art-deco interior of the Paramount allowed him to woo the crowd with just the right amount of aw-shucks respect to share in a certain sense of wonder. His large band easily expanded and contracted to showcase the best, most nuanced elements of the man's songs while his sideways smile lightly leavened his always achingly honest singing voice. I for one walked away a little more humble and very happy.

8. Okkervil River at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco, CA 2009
Will Sheff and mates have developed a tight and exciting stage show with some pat but rewarding routines - enciting the crowd to clap in double-time during "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" from The Stage Names - but it all came off as genuine and enthralling. When the show ended I felt as if I somehow had a hand in the set list and understood the gravitas, humor and irony of songs like "John Allyn Smith Sails" more completely. Sheff announced that this was their last show of a long tour and that they would really miss all of us, then, as if to squeeze every last bit fun from their journey, launched into a barn burning, string breaking "Unless It's Kicks" to close. What gives this mess some grace unless it's fiction? The songs, the stories, even the show is a work of fiction, a messy rock-n-roll act intended to illicit all the right feelings - but for an hour in October I felt its grace and believed every word.

9. Modest Mouse at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco, CA 2000 or 01
The Moon and Antarctica had been playing in my house and car and head for the better part of the year so it was great to finally hear all the hopeless cosmic pathos of "Third Planet" and "Paper Thin Walls" explode among lighthearted gems "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine" and "Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset." The best part might have been hearing Isaac Brock call some guy an asshole for shouting out "COWBOY DAN!!" in between every song. And yes, they played "Cowboy Dan."

10. Peter Gabriel headlining the WOMAD festival in Boston, MA 1994
However you may feel about his post-So output there is no arguing the man's ability to put on an up-to-the-minute high tech show. He made the favorites bigger than life and he highlighted new material from Us with guest performers and dazzling effects, but most of all he used the massive venue and hand-held digital video technology to make the audience feel like it was both on stage and out of our minds, using his formidable show to bring the audience closer to the experience rather than set himself farther apart.

The Full List
In the spirit of full disclosure I'm putting it all out there, my autobiography in live shows attended excluding bands I only caught snippets of at festivals and most of what I saw at Bottom of the Hill, The Elbow Room or a bunch of other places in Boston and San Francisco from 1994-1998 because I simply can't remember them all.
764-HERO (w/ Aislers Set, Track Star, Bottom of the Hill, SF 1998)
A Minor Forest (w/ Physics, Storm & Stress, Bottom of the Hill, SF 1998)
Allman Brothers Band (HORDE, Boston 1994)
Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women (HSB 2009; Davis 4th of July 2012)
America (free concert, Boston 1994 - the "Horse with No Name" guys)
Arrested Development (WOMAD, Boston 1994)
Col. Bruce Hampton's Aquarium Rescue Unit (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Augie March (Hardly Strictly Bluegrass 2007)
Austin Lounge Lizards (Lynaugh's, Lexington, KY 1996)
Avett Brothers (HSB 2010; The Grove, Sacramento 2012)
Bad Company (w/ Damn Yankees Cincy 1990)
Bad Livers (HSB 2008)
The Bad Plus (Mondavi Center, Davis 2012)
Barenaked Ladies (Fox Theater, Boulder 1998; The Warfield, SF 1999)
Juliana Barwick (w/ Titus Andronicus and Okkervil River, The Fox, Oakland 2011)
The Beach Boys (Riverfront Stadium, Cincy 1984 - first concert, thanks Mom!)
Beck (at a taping of Letterman 2003)
Big Head Todd and the Monsters (HORDE, Boston 1994)
Bim Skala Bim (Boston 1994)
Ryan Bingham & the Dead Horses (HSB 2011)
Black Crowes (w/ ZZ Top, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY 1990; w/ The Jayhawks, Louisville, KY 1993 - they played "No Speak No Slave" then left to deal with plain clothes narcs backstage; HORDE, Boston 1995)
Blame Sally (HSB 2011)
The Blank Tapes (Davis Music Fest, 2011)
Blitzen Trapper (Harlow's, Sacramento, CA 2009; 2012)
Luka Bloom (Copley Square, Boston 1994)
The Blueberries (Lexington, KY 1991-95)
Blues Traveller (HORDE, Boston 1994; w/ Sheryl Crow, Palace Theater, Louisville, KY 1994; HORDE, Boston 1995; HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Bon Iver (Freeborn Hall, Davis 2012)
Billy Bragg (HSB 2006; HSB 2009)
The Brodies (G Street Pub, Davis, CA 2000)
Richard Buckner (w/ Crooked Jades, Old Joe Clarks, Bottom of the Hill, SF 1997)
Jimmy Buffett (Riverbend, Cincy 1990)
T Bone Burnett (w/ John Melloncamp and Neko Case, HSB 2007)
Califone (Bottom of the Hill, SF 2010)
California Honeydrops (DMF 2012)
Camper Van Beethoven (Harlow's, Sacramento 2/10/2012)
Catawumpus (Lynaugh's, Lexington, KY 1991-95)
Jimmy Cliff (HORDE, Boston 1994)
Vic Chesnutt (w/ Maria McKee, Noe Valley Ministry, SF 1998 - David Gray was on the bill but was too sick to perform so he sat in the front row and nodded along)
Guy Clark (HSB 2006)
George Clinton and his P-funk Allstars (Tufts Spring Fling, Boston 1996)
Holly Cole Trio (NYC 1994)
Elvis Costello (w/ the Sugarcanes, HSB 2010)
Sheryl Crow ( HORDE, Boston 1994; w/ Blues Traveler, Palace Theater, Louisville, KY 1994)
Damn Yankees (w/ Bad Company Cincy 1990)
Dave Matthews Band (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Iris DeMent (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Hazel Dickens (HSB 2006)
Jerry Douglas (HSB 2010)
Drive By Truckers (HSB 2006)
Drivin' 'n' Cryin' (Wrocklage, Lexington, KY 1993)
Dry Branch Fire Squad (HSB 2005)
Lucky Dube (WOMAD, Boston 1994)
Justin Townes Earle (Great American Music Hall, SF 2011; HSB 2011)
Steve Earle (HSB 2004, 05, 07, 08, 11; Crest Theater, Sacramento 2009)
Elephant Revival (w/ Ben Sollee; DLMC 2012)
Exene (HSB 2010)
Expanding Man (Mama Kin, Boston, 1995 or 96 - room mate's band, toured with Alice in Chains)
Fairport Convention (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Dana Falconberry (Davis house concert, 2012)
Felice Brothers (HSB 2010)
Fishbone (Tufts Spring Fling, Boston 1994)
The Flatlanders (HSB 2007)
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (w/ Lilypons - a local Lexington jazz-funk ensemble- Kentucky Theater, Lexington, KY 1994)
Freakwater (HSB 2006)
Freddy Jones Band (HORDE, Boston 1994; w/ The Jono Manson Band, Boston 1995 or 96; HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Fuck (w/ Libba Getty, Virginia Dare, Bottom of the Hill, SF 1997)
G. Love and Special Sauce (HORDE, Boston 1995)
Peter Gabriel (WOMAD, Boston 1994)
Ganglians (w/ A Classic Education, Luigi's Davis, 3/3/2012)
God Street Wine (HORDE, Boston 1995; w/ Fun Lovin' Criminals, Boston 1995 or 96; HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Jackie Greene (HSB 2010)
Patty Griffin (w/ Buddy Miller, HSB 2010)
David Grisman (The Warfield, SF 1997)
Groovesaurus (Boston 1995-96)
Arlo Gurthrie (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Ben Harper (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Emmylou Harris (HSB 2006-08)
Juliana Hatfield (Hatch Shell, Boston 1995)
Richie Havens (HSB 2009)
Kristin Hersh (Noe Valley Ministry, SF 1998)
John Hiatt (w/ Lyle Lovett acoustic storytellers show, Mondavi Center, Davis, CA 2009)
Kelly Hogan (DLMC house concert, 2012)
Jolie Holland (w/ Sea of Bees, Camila Ortiz, DLMC, Odd Fellows Hall, Davis, 2/21/2012)
Rita Hosking (Davis Music Fest, 2011)
Hothouse Flowers (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Indigo Girls (Newport Folk Festival 1994; somewhere in Denver with my sister 1995)
Iron & Wine (HSB 2008)
Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit (HSB 2011)
Jackopierce (w/ Gus & From Good Homes, Avalon, Boston 1995)
The Jayhawks (w/ The Black Crowes in Louisville, KY; w/ Wilco, Kentucky theater, Lexington, KY 1995 - Victoria Williams joined in for several songs including "Miss Williams' Guitar" and "Ten Little Kids" then they all joined Wilco for a crazy Golden Smog encore of "Red Headed Stepchild"; Gary Louris and Mark Olsen duo at HSB 2008; Slim's, SF 2011; HSB 2011)
Jenny & Jonnny (HSB 2010)
Jesus Jones (w/ Ned's Atomic Dustbin, UK Student Union, Lexington, KY 1991)
Billy Joel (Riverfront Colosseum, Cincy 1990)
Elton John (Riverbend, Cincy 1993)
Milla Jovovich (Hatch Shell, Boston 1995)
Keb Mo (w/ Alvin Youngblood Hart, Borders Books, Boston 1995)
Robert Earl Keen (HSB 2006; HSB 2009 - he was drunk)
King Crimson (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
The Knitters (HSB 2005; The Palms, Winters, CA 2008; HSB 2009)
Lenny Kravitz (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Ladysmith Black Mambaso (Mondavi Center, Davis, CA 2009)
Dawn Landes (w/ Justin Townes Earle, 2011)
Jon Langford's Skull Orchard feat. Sally Timms & the Burlington Welsh Male Chorus (HSB 2008; w/ Sadies & Sally Timms, HSB 2009; w/ Skull Orchard, HSB 2010; House Concert, Davis, 2010)
Lee Press On and the Nails (Cafe du Norde, SF 1997 or 98; Aces, Sacramento 1999 or 2000)
Letters to Cleo (Tufts, Boston 1995)
Live (WOMAD, Boston 1994)
Lyle Lovett (Paramount Theater, Oakland 1998; HSB 2009; w/ John Hiatt, Mondavi Center 2009)
Machinery Hall (Hatch Shell, Boston 1995)
Mad Cow String Band (Luigi's Davis, 2/15/2012)
Taj Mahal (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Barry Manilow (Riverbend, Cincy 1985 - Mom and Dad took us, I remember my sister sleeping through the whole thing)
Aimee Mann (HSB 2009)
Marchfourth Marching Band (HSB 2010)
Ziggy Marley (HORDE, Boston 1995)
MC Hammer (HSB 2010)
Del McCourey (w/ David Grisman at the Warfield, SF 1996; HSB 2005)
Cass McCombs (HSB 2011)
Sarah McLachlan (Newport Folk Festival, 1994)
The Mekons (HSB 2011)
Natalie Merchant (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Tift Merritt (HSB 2008)
Metropolitan Blues Allstars (Lexington, KY 1991-95)
Midnight Oil (WOMAD, Boston 1994)
The Mighty Clouds of Joy (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Buddy Miller (w/ Julie Miller, HSB 2004; solo, HSB 2005; w/ Emmylou Harris & Robert Plant, HSB 2009, 11)
Milwaukee (Old Ironsides, Sacramento, CA 2001)
Misner & Smith (Davis, 2011)
Miss Lonely Hearts (DMF 2012)
Modest Mouse (Bimbo's 365, SF 2000 or 01)
Thurston Moore (HSB 2011)
Allison Moorer (HSB 2007; w/ Shelby Lynne, HSB 2010)
Morphine (Central Square, Boston 1995)
Bob Mould (HSB 2011)
Me'Shell Ndegeocello (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
New Kids on the Block (w/ Dino and Oaktown 357, Riverfront Colosseum, Cincy 1989 - I was the cool big brother who drove his sister and her friends so that Mom and Dad didn't have to go.)
Randy Newman (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
The Nickel Slots (DMF 2012)
The Nields (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
O Mighty Isis (Club Illusions, Palo Alto, CA 2009)
Conor Oberst (w/ Felice Brothers, HSB 2010)
Odetta (HSB 2008)
Okkervil River (HSB 2009; The Fox, Oakland 2011)
Old 97's (HSB 2009, Harlow's 2011)
Old Crow Medicine Show (HSB 2009)
Will Oldham (as Palace Brothers, Bimbo's 365, SF 1996; as Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, HSB 2008; HSB 2010)
Ollabelle (HSB 2011)
Joan Osborne (HORDE, Boston 1995)
Opus Orange (DMF 2012)
Camila Ortiz (DMF 2012)
Elvis Perkins in Dearland (HSB 2009)
Phish (Foxborough, Boston 1994; Red Rocks, CO 1995; Cow Palace, SF 1997)
Poor Man's Whiskey (HSB 2010)
John Prine (HSB 2009)
Queen Latifah (Tufts Spring Fling, Boston 1994)
Rabby Feeber (Lexington, KY 1991-92)
Red Planet (G Street Pub, Davis, CA 2000)
Fionn Regan (HSB 2007)
The Robot Ate Me (Delta of Venus, Davis, CA 2006)
David Lee Roth (w/ Extreme and Cinderella, Riverbend, Cincy 1991)
Rusted Root (HORDE, Boston 1994; HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Sands (w/ Two Sheds, Luigi's Davis, 1/28/2012)
Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies (HORDE, Boston 1994)
Martin Sexton (HSB 2010)
Shayna & the Bulldog (Davis Music Fest, 2011)
The Shins (Mondavi Center, Davis 2012)
Michelle Shocked (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder (HSB 2007-08)
The Skirts (G St Pub, Davis, CA 2000)
Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers (Cafe du Norde, SF 1997)
Smoke Shovelers (DMF 2012)
Jill Sobule (Hatch Shell, Boston 1995)
Ben Sollee (DLMC 2012)
Son Volt (side stage at HORDE in Nashville 1996; w/ Varnaline and Jude,The Fillmore, SF 1997; w/ Andrew Duplantis, The Fillmore, SF 1998; Jay Farrar solo, The Fillmore 2001; w/ Brian Henneman of the Bottle Rockets, The Fillmore, SF 2002)
Southern Culture on the Skids (HSB 2011)
The Snowmen (w/ Oranger, Fiver, Bottom of the Hill, SF 1998)
Spearhead (Catalyst, Santa Cruz, CA 2001 or 02)
Ralph Stanley (HSB 05-08)
Mavis Staples (HSB 2009)
The Story (Newport Folk Festival 1994)
Stranglmartin (Lexington, KY 1991-92)
Swell (w/ That Dog, Bottom of the Hill, SF 1997)
Tarnation (w/ Turpentine, Wandering Stars, Bottom of the Hill, SF 1997)
James Taylor (King's Island, Cincy 1991)
They Might Be Giants (Tufts Spring Fling, Boston 1994)
Thistle (w/ El Gigante, Top Cats, Cincy 2000)
Throwing Muses (Hatch Shell, Boston 1995)
311 (HORDE, Nashville 1996)
Titus Andronicus (The Fox 2011)
Toad the Wet Sprocket (w/ The Grays, Avalon, Boston 1994)
The Tragically Hip (The Fillmore, SF 1998)
Trombone Shorty (HSB 2010)
Trouble Makers (Sacramento, 2002-ish)
Truth & Salvage Co. (Davis Music Fest, 2011)
Kurt Vile & the Violators (HSB 2011)
Violent Femmes (Tufts Spring Fling, Boston 1996)
Waco Brothers (HSB 2008)
Abigail Washburn (w/ Bela Fleck, HSB 2011)
Gillian Welch (w/ Noe Venable, Great American Music Hall, SF 1997 or 98; HSB 2005, 06, 07, 11)
West Nile Ramblers (Davis Music Fest, 2011, 2012; Our House 2012)
Whiskey Avengers (DMF 2012)
Wilco (w/ The Jayhawks at the Kentucky Theater, Lexington, KY 1995; w/ Bettie Serveert, The Fillmore, SF 1997; w/ Preston School of Industry, Bogarts, Cincy 2002; Jeff Tweedy solo, HSB 2007; Mondavi Center, Davis 2/1/2012)
Jonathan Wilson (HSB 2011)
Yonder Mountain String Band (HSB 2010)
The Yonders (Cheapside, Lexington, KY 1994-95)
Dan Zanes (Herbst Theater, SF 2006; Mondavi Center, Davis, CA 2008 - you know, for kids)
ZZ Top (w/ The Black Crowes, Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY 1990)

REVIEW: Wavves "Wavves"

Rating: 5.5

Critics have accurately identified a few musical archetypes over the relatively brief course of contemporary pop music.  The Tortured Poet (Townes Van Zandt - Elliot Smith) The Rock-n-Roll Bad Boy (take your pick) and so on.  Allow me to add The Incorruptible Garage Band.  Blame Nirvana, the Ramones, whoever, but a formula has developed wherein energetic young people of varying skill levels gather in the home, exercise their first amendment rights to rock the fuck out and eventually land a record deal which includes a lifetime of opportunities to sell out.  It's the American dream, really.

For this particular archetype talent is no substitute for playing loud and fast on a self-financed collection of beat up instruments, blown amps and fried wires.  But even if it's about the sizzle and not the steak you still have to have a fire.  And a steak.    The Incorruptible Garage Band can't afford steak, they're on a popcorn budget, but rather than pop it up nice and salty over a roaring fire Wavves put the jiffy-pop in the microwave - all stupid sparks and loud noises.  It's a little bit of masochistic fun but in the end you're left with a sputtering mess and nothing to chew on, just a ruined microwave and the smell of burnt popcorn.

REVIEW: Girls "Album"

Rating: 5.5

To paraphrase Girls' growing mythology, frontman Christopher Owens was raised in a cult that scared away his father, pimped out his mother, and allowed his brother to die as a baby.  Owens teen-tramped his way to a cozy spot under the wing of a Texas millionaire then ended up in San Francisco where he and band-mate Chet White recorded Album under the influence of an entire pharmacy.  It's the soundtrack to a movie I would never watch.

Let me walk that back a few steps.  Album is not bad.  It is not distasteful or poorly executed, unoriginal or listless.  It's a decent rock record full of moody little DIY tunes including stand-out single "Hellhole Ratrace."  It's believable and at times charming, never over-reaching in concept or execution.  Their sound is something like Elvis Costello singing Beach Boys songs through the lens of Hardcore-era Pulp.  But Costello is best when he's howling for the cheap seats, Pulp played real perversion like a bawdy joke and The Beach Boys - now over-referenced icons of sun-emo* jangle-pop - were ultimately 1960's snapshot storytellers and merchants of Americana just like Warhol and his silk-screened soup cans.  Girls choose to moan when they might howl, leer when they might wink and blur their captured images in favor of form over subject.  Album fails to provide the ecstatic release or profound realization needed to either overcome or earn its own icky origins or set them apart from their heroes and peers.

Sadly I won't be surprised to hear one day that Owens died prematurely of his own instability, and that would be too bad.  Everyone deserves a second chance and this seems to be his so I really hope it works out.  Also sadly, I am all but certain that Girls and Album will evaporate into pop culture's easily erased digital memory before you can say Arctic Monkeys.

* sunny + emotive = sun-emo.  I just made that up.

NEWS: Jay Bennett, Rest in Peace

In a bit of very sad news Jay Bennett died in his sleep Sunday morning, May 24. Most fans will remember Bennett as the dread-locked multi-instrumentalist central to Wilco's success from 1994 - 2001. He helped the band craft some of its most memorable music with "Being There," "Summerteeth" and "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot," as well as the "Mermaid Avenue" sessions with Billy Bragg.

Unfortunately his career with the band will forever be tagged by a few heavy footnotes including his acrimonious dismissal immediately following "YHF," his vilification in the Wilco documentary "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" and the breach of contract lawsuit he filed against the band this month over royalties owed to him from the film.

Bennett continued recording after Wilco, releasing four solo albums including "The Palace at 4am" with fellow Chicagoan Edward Burch and "Bigger Than Blue," both excellent examples of the heartfelt and pop-soaked Americana Bennett did so well, and both fine additions to the genre on their own merits.

Bennett was a true hidden talent, an often under appreciated performer, producer and artist whose greatest contributions lie just beneath the surface of things you know and love so well.

My thoughts go out to his family and friends.

LIST: The Integrity List

Twenty-five Artists Who Matter to Me

Maybe it's all the lists I've been reading on Facebook or my recession-era spending down-turn, but lately I've been going back to the the artists who matter most to me. After an album or two some artists are cemented into the architecture of my personal pop culture while others will forever hang on the walls like cherished but interchangeable decorations. Some have earned my unyielding devotion without an album I'd put in the top ten and some will get a second listen no matter how much I disliked their last performance. Absent are the acclaimed luminaries who simply don't resonate the way they probably should, the artists whose importance I understand and respect intellectually but who never really took hold.

Ranging from blindly reverent to heavily qualified, these are the artists whose personae, politics, mythology and - most importantly - music have established an artistic integrity that will keep me coming back in good times and bad.

Can Do No Wrong I will likely enjoy and defend these artists no matter what.
Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) If I were twenty years older it might be Dylan, but I'm not so it's Tweedy. I get what he's doing and what he's doing gets to me every time.
Steve Earle An easy fit in the next category as well, Earle's willingness to speak truth to power earned my respect but his peerless songwriting places him in the bedrock of my musical landscape.
Will Oldham (Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Palace...) Keeping Americana wonderfully weird with music rooted equally in the heart, soul and loins of a wickedly protestant South.
Radiohead Well before pioneering the zero-carbon-footprint tour and pay-what-you-want pricing, Radiohead had my devoted attention. It's the consistency of their trajectory as well as the height of its peak (Kid A) that I continue to admire and trust.
Neko Case She could sing the phone book and it would suddenly be full of intrigue and beauty. She's not just a singer she's a major weather event, a force of nature.

Yeah, What He Said! Artists whose music and politics are all but impossible to separate, and that's a good thing.
Billy Bragg He carries a torch once held by Woodie Guthrie, lighting the way for the disadvantaged and oppressed and killing fascists one song at a time.
Chuck D Fighting the power with a voice like a bomb, his message and music are far bigger than hip hop.
Neil Young Also a living legend (see below), he achieved his status with a haunting voice, his enduring skill as a songwriter and, beyond all, for being an immovable protester in the face of war.
Jon Langford Welshman, musician, artist and rabble-rouser, Langford's Pine Valley Cosmonauts raised money and awareness to assist in his adopted home state of Illinois' successful Moratorium on the Death Penalty Project. Plus there are those other bands he's in; The Mekons and The Waco Brothers.
Ted Leo New Jersey native and outspoken lefty vegetarian strikes just the right balance of piss, pop and punk.

Always Interesting, Always Interested These artists seem to thrive on the fringe of one genre or another, testing barriers of weirdness, volume or both - and always come out sounding a step ahead of the pack.
The Flaming Lips It's totally the drugs, but it's not just the drugs. Psychedelics can make the music weird but the band's dedication to honest exploration and a big good time is what makes it so good.
Liars From arty punk firebrands to space stalker noise rock monolith, Liars make a mess of boundaries and defy expectations like a ball peen hammer through sliced bread. More importantly, what they're doing remains intensely interesting.
Phil Elvrum (Microphones, Mt. Eerie) Atmosphere is the meaningful space around things, the tone being set for the things being said. Elvrum is making a career out of crafting perfect atmospheres in which to say impossible things.
Fugazi ...should also be filed in the previous category. Enduring post-hardcore punks remain consistent without being repetitious, keeping me coming back whenever I need to yell at somebody.
Jon Spencer ...cuz sometimes when I'm yelling at people I also want to shake it. Nobody does plugged in white boy blues rock as big and dirty as the JSBX, but listen again and you'll hear plenty of soul, funk and even folk.

That One Album Was So Good I'm Willing to Forgive (insert disappointment here) How do Cubs fans stay loyal with so little to show for it? It just takes one breathtaking record - no matter how long ago - and the rest is forgiven.
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) In the Aeroplane Over the Sea One of the greatest albums of modern times, then... well, the fact is there aren't any subsequent albums to forgive, but Aeroplane earned many willing and forgiving ears should Mangum choose to one day come out of hibernation. Please?
Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) Creek Drank the Cradle His output since Creek, while very good, has become increasingly broad in its scope and appeal. My daughters still request "Bird Stealing Bread" at bedtime and for that I will always owe Mr. Beam my thanks and appreciation.
Jay Farrar (Son Volt) Trace Farrar and Tweedy both had a free pass after Uncle Tupelo. Trace picks up that band's steam train country line and forces it dangerously around familiar curves. It's been bumpy since, but I'll buy a ticket for one more ride until he's run it completely out of steam.
Ryan Adams Heartbreaker No one tests this category the way Ryan Adams does. Rock-n-Roll was nearly unforgivable and 29 was beyond bad, but then I hear Heartbreaker again and I'm willing to believe. It must be like seeing baby pictures of the teenager who is suddenly skidding out of control. He used to be so beautiful. He'll be beautiful again.
Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) For Emma, Forever Ago Speaking of beauty, Bon Iver's debut earned my long term interest which has so far been rewarded by the intriguing Blood Bank ep. I eagerly await whatever comes next, prepared to forgive and return to Emma.

The Living Legends These artists have been doing something special, something hard to explain or repeat, for a very long time.
Emmylou Harris Everything she touches turns to gold.
Elvis Costello The only thing he seems unable to do is compromise. Whether he's teaming up and branching out - chamber pop with the Brodsky Quartet, piano lounge with Bacherach, Americana folk with T Bone Burnett, comedy with Steven Colbert - or expanding the politically minded punk-pop genre he helped pioneer Costello remains engaged and remarkable.
Buddy Miller No Depression's Artist of the Decade and Emmylou's right hand axe man might be the most universally respected man in Nashville. He's worked with or been covered by Dolly Parton, Brookes & Dunn, the Dixie Chicks, Shawn Colvin, Steve Earle and countless others. He's also a wildly underrated guitar player, second only to Dave Alvin in my book.
Lyle Lovett Statesman of the understated, the thin man with the big hair, dark suit and sideways smile somehow walks on a higher plane, placing his own indelible brand on Texas swing, Memphis soul and dust bowl folk.
The Pixies Without the Pixies there would be no alternative music in the 90s or thereafter. Long live the Pixies!

* Like any list, there are more things missing than not. Dead or defunct artists were deemed ineligible for consideration no matter how worshiped they may be (Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Beach Boys, Townes Van Zandt, Woody Guthrie, Zeppelin...)