Prefab Sprout - Let's Change the World with Music

I doubt that this album will win them many new fans and if this were my first exposure to them, I doubt I'd like it much at all. You have to be able to tolerate a lot of cheese to listen to Prefab Sprout and they are among the wussiest of wuss pop bands. If you can get past that though, Paddy McAloon is a damn fine songwriter. I'm not nearly the fan that I used to be but there are few albums I've played more in my life than "Two Wheels Good" (or "Steve McQueen" to those on the other side of the pond) and I always feel obligated to check out anything new they put out. Long time fans expecting something on the level of "Two Wheels Good" or "Jordan the Comeback," will be disappointed but we really have no right to expect something that good. I'd say that this stands up next to anything else in their catalog though. I doubt it will get many listens in a year or two but its a decent enough album if you are a fan of this sort of thing.



Joe Pernice wrote his first novel last year and this album serves as the soundtrack to the novel. Its essentially Pernice covering songs that held some imporance to his fictional lead. I saw Pernice do a show last year in which he read short excerpts from the book and then played the songs that went with the passage. I enjoyed the show enough that I bought both the book and the cd. While showing some promise, I wouldn't really recommend the book. Its an easy read and has some funny passages but on the whole, there are much better written slacker stories. I can't really recommend the album either which on the whole is just so so. Chevy Van is a great little tune though, probably one of my favorites of 2009.


Marcio Local - Marcio Local Says Don Day Don Dree Don Don -- Adventures In Samba Soul

I think this is Marcio Local's debut album. If not, its absolutely his first that made it to the states. It's pretty good samba soul and one of my most listened to albums of last summer. Anyone who is a fan of Seu Jorge would probably dig this as well.

Lhasa - S/T


Lhasa's "The Living Road" was my favorite album of 2003 and one of my favorite albums of the decade so I was highly anticipating this album. Unfortunately, it was a complete bore. I really tried with but just can't get into it. I may still give it another chance at some point but for now its one of my biggest disappointments of 2009.

I'll come back and do about 30 more as i have time...

i bought one of the early Prefab Sprout albums and really didn't care for it. maybe i'll give it a few more listens before giving up entirely, but for something to be too cheesy for me, its pretty fucking cheesy.

If you bought anything but "Two Wheels Good"/"Steve McQueen" as an introduction, you failed. And if you don't like that, definitely don't dig deeper. You do have to be able to tolerate a lot of cheese to like them. I'd imagine it would be pretty hard to hear them for the first time today and be able to like them much at all. I wish Paddy McAloon would release a solo acoustic album sometime. I bet that would be pretty great.

back to the blurbs...



I lost interest in Sonic Youth in the 90's only to re fall in love with them when "Murray Street" came out in 2002. I think "Murray Street" may even have surpassed "Daydream Nation" as my favorite Sonic Youth album. All of their subsequent albums, "The Eternal" included, have been worthy follow-ups even if not quite on the level of "Murray Street." Unfortunately, I only listened to this a few times before losing it. I'm gonna have to get around to replacing it soon.



Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane

I can be a tough critic of artists that I like with long careers. I like variety and usually find that if I don't think an album is one of an artist's 5-10 best, I probably won't listen to it much no matter how good it is on its own merits. There will simply be an album I'm not tired of that scratches the same itch better. That said, EC gets a bit of a pass here because of how varied he has been stylistically. This isn't the equal of it "My Aim is True" or "Armed Forces" but it doesn't have to be because it scratches a completely different itch. I wasn't that impressed with this album at first but i must have heard enough to continue listening. Over time, I grew to really like it. In fact, it might be the best EC album since "Blood and Chocolate." I still have to be in the right mood to listen to it, but when I am it really hits the spot.



Buckwheat Zydeco - Lay Your Burden Down

I downloaded this in anticipation for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival last year. Its pretty disappointing. Its not terrible but I have five Buckwheat Zydeco cds, all of which are very good and this is just ok at best. It was a quick delete.

You are a braver man than me, Billy. The ships been scuttled but there you are standing tall, saluting proudly as the water rises in the doomed bridge.

two wheels good is the one i picked up. don't like.

Listen to track 4. The first line, as can clearly be heard, is a tribute to me since it goes "Darrin cruises the streets for pleasure".

This is their best album since 'Sonic Nurse'. I found the previous two to be good but slightly disappointing in the wake of Murray Street/Sonic Nurse' which are two of my favourite albums of the last decade.

damn. i hope you keep trying - this was one of my favorites last year. but it did kinda have to come out of nowhere and hit me over the head when i was listening to it late one night.

unfortunately it's the last one we get from her.

Yes that is a shame. She was much too young.

Maybe I need to listen to it back to back with The Living Road to see if I can hear anything I hear in the Living Road in the last album. For whatever its worth, I never bought her first album either because I didn't really like the short clips I heard from it. It may be that the Living Road is an anomaly.



Tim Easton - Porcupine

I had to pull this out for another listen when I read Derris write that Porcupine might be his best album. While I'm a Tim Easton fan and didn't dislike Porcupine, it was a disappointment to me when I first listened to it. Seventh Wheel was the only song that I really took to immediately. Its much more of a rocker than his previous work and perhaps I had a hard time adjusting to it not being what I expected from him. I have to admit that there are good songs on here and as a collection of songs its better than I remembered. Still, I don't really like the flow of the album and well, I do still prefer his more rootsy work. It's better than I remembered but still my least favorite album by Tim Easton.




The XX - S/T

I'm still surprised by the wide appeal of this album. You'd think there'd have to be something to an album that's enjoyed by Dalen, Radcliffe and TEH MACHINE. I just don't hear it though. I have to admit that I've heard this described as a grower and I really haven't spent much time with it. I just don't care for the vocals though and I don't hear any depth in the music to expect that it would really reward a lot more listens. It reminds me a bit of Young Marble Giants (who I also never understood the appeal of) with a little dream pop and slowed down post punk guitar mixed in. I can see this being a mood record, but I think I have lots of things I'd rather listen to when I'm in that mood.

totally agree on Tim Easton

I'm a little baffled by The XX as well. Electronic equivalent of The National, as far as I'm concerned. People just love 'em, but I don't think they could be any more dull.

John Doe & the Sadies - Country Club

I'm a big fan of John Doe's solo work. I never paid attention to his first few albums but everything from 2002's "Dim Stars, Bright Sky" through 2007's "A Year in the Wilderness" is really good. Thus, this was one of my most highly anticipated albums from the first half of last year. Judged on its own artistic merit, it's a fine enough album. It's a collection of good to great songs competently performed but it's therein that lies the problem. I just can't imagine ever listening to his recordings of I Still Miss Someone, The Cold Hard Facts of Life, Help Me Make It Through the Night, and Are the Good Times Over For Good and not wishing I was listening Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Kris Kristofferson, and Merle Haggard performing those songs instead.




Levon Helm - Electric Dirt

I'm a huge fan of the Band and of Levon Helm's early solo work. Despite it getting pretty good reviews, I never checked out Dirt Farmer and it was only with low expectations that I took a flyer on Electric Dirt. This was a much better better album than it has any right to be and Levon's voice sounds much stronger than you'd expect given his battle with throat cancer. I'm not really a fan of the Tennessee Jed cover but otherwise this is a really strong album. It was borderline top ten for me last year but it wouldn't surprise me if it stays in the rotation much longer than a few others I had above it. I'm seeing him live in August and really looking forward to it.



Otto - Certa Manha Acordei De Sonhos Intranquilos

Otto is one of many young Brazilian artists making a living fusing traditional Brazilian musical styles with rock, pop, and electronica. It's odd to me that he hasn't made more of a name for himself internationally when other lesser artists have found much more success. Having begun his career as a percussionist with Mundo Livre and Nacao Zumbi, Otto's music has a much stronger rhythmic foundation. He's also added some interesting string arrangements on some of the album. If you are familiar with Céu, she sings backup vocals on one of the songs. If this sounds like something you'd like, you probably will like it.

You can find it here

Joe Bataan - King of Latin Soul

Joe Bataan was one of the most popular singers in late 60's/early 70's Spanish Harlem and is is the father of Salsoul, a musical style which fused Salsa, Latin Boogaloo, Soul and Doo Wop. In 2005, spanish label Vampisoul found Joe Bataan and convinced him to record his first album in 25 years, "Call My Name." It was my favorite album of that year and the impetus for my getting into latin soul and boogaloo. In 2009, he released a follow-up "King of Latin Soul" in which he re-recorded a bunch of his songs backed by the spanish funk band, Los Fulanos. Its damn good and unlike the Loudon Wainwright album of similar concept of 2008, the versions here stand up to the previous versions but are different enough that this feels like a worthwhile addition to his catalog.



Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women - S/T

I was glad to see Derris pimp this album in his 2009 thread. I felt like I was the only one here who liked it despite pimping it more than any other album last year. Just a really good, energetic and rollicking fun country album.

And Alvin's other 2009 project:



Man of Somebody's dreams - A Tribute to Chris Gaffney

Chris Gaffney is probably best known as co-leader of the Hacienda Brothers. He was also a solo artist, a touring member of Dave Alvin's band (and his best friend), and the kind of guy who is much better known and respected in the music industry than outside it. Last year when Chris Gaffney lost his battle at the age of 58, Dave Alvin rounded up Gaffney friends and admirers to record this tribute album of Gaffney covers with the proceeds going to Gaffney's family to help pay the medical bills.

It's an impressive lineup:

1. Joe Ely - Lift Your Leg
2. Boz Scaggs - Midnight Dreams
3. Los Lobos - Man of Somebody's Dream
4. Dave Alvin - Artesia
5. Peter Case - Six Nights A Week
6. Tom Russell - If Daddy Don't Sign Danny Boy
7. Calexico - Frank's Tavern
8. James McMurtry - Fight (Tonight's the Night)
9. Freddy Fender and the Texas Tornados - The Gardens
10. Jim Lauderdale & Ollabee - Glass House
11. The Iguanas - Get Off My Back Lucy
12. Alejandro Escovedo - 1968
13. Robbie Fulks - King of the Blues
14. John Doe - Quiet Desperation
15. Dave Gonzales (his partner in the Hacienda Brothers) - Tired of Being Me
16. Big Sandy & Los Straightjackets - Silent Partner
17. Dan Penn - I'm So Proud
18. Chris Gaffney - The Guitars of My Dead Friends (his last recording - previously unreleased)

I'm usually not a big fan of these tribute albums and didn't even know Gaffney before I bought this but the quality of artists and the good cause made me buy it. Its really a great compilation. One of these days, I'm going to have to look into Gaffney/Hacienda Brothers albums.

I sort of agree with your take on the John Doe album: sure, it's better to hear the originals, but I quite like having them all in one place performed by an artist I've grown to like quite a bit myself (thanks in no small part to you, thank you very much).

Fair enough. I can see your point of view. I think my patience with it was sapped by liking a bunch of John Doe albums more and having that Dave Alvin album turn out to be the album I was hoping the John Doe to be.

One more for today:



Macaco - Puerto Presente

Macaco is a musical band from Barcelona, Spain formed in 1997 by Dani Carbonell, who was also one of the original lead singers of the new flamenco group Ojos de Brujo. The band is rounded out by members from a variety of countries including Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, and Venezuela. Puerto Presente is their fifth and best album. Macaco serve up a similar musical stew of flamengo, hip hop, reggae, cumbia, and other styles as Manu Chao and should appeal to any of his fans. Puerto Presente is really better than anything he's released since Proxima Estacion Esperanza. I had this at 11 on my year end list but really it should have been much higher. I think someone else here is a fan. Chuck(ed), maybe?

I didn't check the link but it looks like you can find it here if you are interested.

Son Volt - American Central Dust

Son Volt is a remarkably consistent band. If you like most of the songs on any one album, you are very likely to like all of their albums. What seems to differentiate their albums is less their overall quality but the heights Farrar reaches on each album’s best couple of songs. American Central Dust is a much more toned down affair than the rocking “Okemah and the Melody of Riot” or the horn-driven “The Search,” and its best songs are far less immediate. The most immediate songs are the rocking “When the Wheels Don’t Turn” and “No Turning Back” which most closely resembles an atypical Son Volt song. Like most Farrar albums though, this album really rewards continued listening. I’ve grown to be a big fan of the accordion on the opener “Dynamite,” the pedal steel and delicate harmony vocals on “Pushed Too Far,” and the piano on “Exiles” and “Sultana.” I’m still not sure where this stands in his catalog as its still growing on me but it might be one of his best lyrically.



Steve Earle - Townes

I agree with Derris that listening to this only makes me want to listen to TVZ instead. I get the feeling that this is an album he made more for himself than for the audience. I guess he’s sold a lot more records than TVZ ever did and if more people get exposed to TVZ through this, it’s a good thing. That said, it seems hard to fathom that anyone who is a big Earle fan wouldn’t already know TVZ because they seem so inextricably linked in my mind. I can’t say I like this album but I did get to see Earle live performing these songs and a bunch of TVZ songs which aren’t on the album and it was a great show.



Trash Can Sinatras - In the Music

“In the Music” is the Trash Can Sinatras’ first album since 2004’s “Weightlifting” and only their fifth album in 20 years. Anyone hoping for a pop gem or two like “Obscurity Knocks” or “Only Tongue Will Tell” will be disappointed. The Sinatras only play slowed down, pleasant and slightly jangly wuss pop a long the lines of Aztec Camera or the Lilac Time. I’m a big fan of their first two albums and they are still are among the best at what they do. This isn’t as good as their early work but it’s a worthwhile addition to their catalog as long as you’re realistic in your expectations.

If I wrote a review on it, I'd write this almost word for word. I still probably prefer Okemah, Search, Trace and maybe Terroir Blues, but it's close. Definitely best lyrics.

loved that dave alvin cd and the john doe was a disappointment after the wonderful a year in the wilderness which was my favorite album of the year.

i never post about music and i can't think of any way to insult you at the moment so i'll just say nice thread.

Totally forgot about that Trashcan Sinatras record.

First time I'd heard 'em and I thought they were going to be some garage rock outfit by their name.

Good stuff that I don't think I really gave it's due. I was probably on some reg rock kick.

Still, I need to pull that out again.

+1 especially the part about "Dynamite" being an amazing song.

I somehow have still never heard Okemah

Os Mutantes - Haih Ou Amortecedor

There was some discussion of this album when it was announced but I don't recall seeing anyone discuss it after it actually came out. Despite being the board's biggest fan of Brazilian music, I've never really been that big a fan of Os Mutantes. I debated whether I even wanted to hear it. Given that they hadn't released anything in 35 years and that Sergio Dias was the sole original member involved, it seemed about as likely to be on a level with their original 60's work as a new Paul McCartney album being on a par with something by the Beatles. That said, I knew that they were touring and that I would likely go see them and I probably should give the album a chance. I'm not sure I'll reach for this much at all in the future but its far better than I expected. It has a similar sound to their early work with a little more polished production. I did end up going to see the band and the put on a very good show with the new members looking as excited to be playing with Sergio Dias and the guys from Baby Lemonhead seemed to be playing with Arthur Lee later in his career. I'm not a huge fan of theirs to begin so I'm not going to oversell this but given what a cult following Mutantes have and how much Todd loves Tom Ze (who co-wrote 6 of the songs), I'm surprised this didn't get more attention on obner.



Willie Nile - House of A Thousand Guitars

I somehow never discovered Willie Nile for most of his career. I only bought "Streets of New York" after finding it in Tower Records for chump change during their going out of business sale and remembering some favorable comments about it on Obner. I really grew to love that album and went and bought all of his back catalog. The songwriting on this album doesn't stand up to his best albums, and the album isn't quite as varied musically as "Streets of New York". It also suffers a bit from having the title track which can come off as a bit corny or hokey setting the mood as the first track. That said there are some good songs on here, mostly notable "Run" which is a fun reg rocker and "Now that the War Is Over" which is a nicely done piano ballad. Just fell short of my top 20 but it grew on me a bit after seeing him live.

Okay, so I just pulled the trigger on this one. I wasn't going to, due in no small part to the absence of Rita and Arnaldo. But, given Tom Zé's involvement, and the fact that even Billy didn't really have anything bad to say about it, I figured I should pick it up.

Damnit.

Hmmm...I didn't really mean that as a recommendation and hope I didn't oversell it. That said, I think there's a good chance that you'll like it.

You didn't oversell. I just hadn't thought much of it since finding out that there was only one original member. But then, reading a couple of positive reviews, thinking about Zé, and hearing you not rip it a new one... I picked it up for a couple of bucks from Amazon.

OK good. Would be interested in your thoughts after you have sometime to digest it. I think there's a good chance you'll like it



Richard Hawley - True Love's Gutter

I really like the idea of what Hawley tries to accomplish on his last several albums. Unfortunately, I think his ideas are much better than his execution of them. I don't mean to be completely negative here. There's a lot to like about his work: the orchestration is often lovely and his voice is pretty good. Frequently though, the music is just so damn sparse and bland and many of the songs are so long that fatigue can set in. I keep wondering if I'm missing something because he receives a lot of gushing reviews and I really want to like his albums more than I do. Maybe I would if I spent more time with them but it's hard for me to get past the idea though that I'd really rather be listening to Joe Williams, Johnny Hartman or Nat King Cole.

agree on your assessments of both Nile and Hawley. That Willie Nile is ok, but a pretty big step down from his last album. I have heard both of Richard Hawley's last two albums, and they are ok, but pretty much only as background listening.