It's That Time of Year: My Favorite CDs of 2004
1Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream (ATO)
Only a few seconds into "Florida," Griffin sings a simple
"la la la la la la la" and
Highway A1A -- with all the promise and uncertainty waiting at its end -- unfurls before your mind's eye. And that's the least of the magic
she works on Impossible Dream. As much as I've loved every moment of
Impossible Dream since its release, my initial tendency was to view much
of the album's first half as inferior to the second half, but time has taught me
that songs like "Cold as it Gets," "Standing," and "Kite" build to a measured emotional
intensity that masterworks like "Top of the World," "Florida," and "Mother of God"
spin into heartbreaking vignettes of incredible power. Impossible Dream finds
Griffin at the height of her powers, which is saying something when it comes to
an artist of her caliber.
2TV
on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes (Touch & Go)
My constant struggle to describe this band's sound always ends with the rather weak
"Imagine Peter Gabriel singing over Pretty Hate Machine-era Nine Inch Nails
beats." TV on the Radio are obviously more than that, though, cobbling together
a blend of post-punk rock, doo wop vocals, electronica, and art-funk. Some folks
might know them from their associations with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a link that does
nothing to shed light on what TV on the Radio are accomplishing. True, a falsetto-fond
vocalist can be a trial in the best of times, but from the saxophone-skronk-laden
electric fuzz momentum of "The Wrong Way" to the pulsing beat and swirling vocals of "Staring at the Sun" to the straightforward glower of "Don't Love You," TV on
the Radio feel like a band that, at any given time, can launch off in six fascinating
directions at once.
3Drive-by
Truckers - The Dirty South (New South)
The Dirty South is probably the most uneven disc
the Truckers have given us since before Southern Rock Opera, but it also
finds their three-songwriter core maturing at a rapid clip. Jason Isbell is apparently
incapable of writing a bad song, Mike Cooley continues to divine truths from tales
of desperation, and Patterson Hood plows ahead with the faith of a true rock n'
roll believer. The Dirty South has its share of beauty (most notably in "Danko/Manuel"
and "Goddamn Lonely Love"), but its ugly heart resides in the mean-as-hell Southern
voices in songs like "Where the Devil Don't Stay," "The Buford Stick," "Cottonseed,"
and "The Boys from Alabama," men who made their choices
long ago and who won't be
eligible for redemption for another six or seven lifetimes.
It's impossible to hear half of these songs as anything
but suicide notes, but when you have lyrics like "I can't prepare for death anymore
than I already have" (from "King's Crossing," a song as densely packed with drug
references as any five Lou Reed songs combined), it's hard to hear anything else.
From a Basement on the Hill was released after Smith's brutal suicide, after
family members and associates culled out the less accessible portions of the work
he'd left behind. What's left, lo-fi and rough-edged though some of it may be, is
vintage Smith: Beatles-obsessed, prone to stretches of depressed beauty, and teeming
with blunt admissions of an addictive personality. It's a fitting sendoff.
5Leonard Cohen - Dear Heather (Columbia)
Like a sage descending from the mountaintop (in this case,
literally, given his recent years in a Zen monastery), the 70-year-old Cohen proves
that his autumn years fit him quite well, and that his inner satyr still has a few
springs and summers left. Still possessed of a sepulchral voice that makes every
utterance sound like a profound meditation, Cohen continues to plumb the depths
of his favorite subjects: the cruel jokes of age, the Mystery of women, romance
as a spiritual endeavor, the need for the artist's soul in everyone to rage against the corruptions of the world. Cohen's newfound balance in portraying these things,
though, is Dear Heather's greatest strength, and when Cohen's time finally comes to shuffle off his mortal coil, you get the sense that he'll steal a few extra
hours playfully discussing everything he's seen and done with an utterly charmed
Reaper.6Tom Waits - Real Gone (Anti)
Waits' blues-mule incarnation hauls some gold out of the
hills, as he takes a few small risks with his established persona. You'd think he
didn't have any tricks left after more than twenty years, but Waits ends up pulling
out mouth percussion, hip-hop scratches, and political lyrics to add new wrinkles
to his sound. Credit also goes to the return of Mark Ribot's guitar heroics, which
course through half of Real Gone like pure inspiration. Amidst the Cuban
rhythms of "Hoist that Rag," Ribot goes off like a man possessed, sounding like
he's playing in Earth's last cabaret as the apocalypse rains fire down around him,
Waits, and the rest of Real Gone's rag-tag crew.7Todd Snider - East Nashville Skyline (Oh Boy)
Todd Snider's often been touted as John Prine's protege,
but some uneven records have made that label a bit hard to see sometimes.
With East
Nashville Skyline, Snider gets back on track with wry songs of life on the
road, battles with depression, and the pitfalls of the troubadour's life. When he
quotes Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On" as he wraps up "The Ballad of the Kingsmen,"
you'll think you've died and gone to heaven on the wings of a perfect songwriting
moment.8Old Crow Medicine Show - O.C.M.S. (Nettwerk)
Emerging from beneath the nurturing wings of Gillian Welch
and David Rawlings, this fresh-faced group plays with an allegiance to old-time
sentiment, but they still have the stones to adapt obscure Dylan lyrics into their
own song ("Wagon Wheel"). OCMS are still a little derivative, but you can
tell they
have the chops to grow out of that -- for now, just enjoy the ride.9Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Epic)
One day I woke up and realized that a rift in the space/time
continuum had occurred -- Modest Mouse were getting heavy airplay -- and I didn't
feel like it needed to be fixed. It still seems kind of inconceivable, although
this firm believer that nothing will ever top The Lonesome Crowded West has
to admit that Good News is a strong record that finds Isaac Brock and company
trading in some precious quirks for accessibility, and being better off for it.
The Waits-inspired "The Devil's Workday," the banjo-flecked irreverence of "Bukowski,"
and the ramshackle stomp of "Satin in a Coffin" stack up with anything the band's
done.10Tift Merritt - Tambourine (Lost Highway)
Merritt's 2002 debut, Bramble Rose, firmly established
her as a fringe-of-Nashville talent to watch, showcasing strong songwriting and
an incredible voice. Tambourine proves that Bramble Rose was no fluke,
but that it also barely hinted at her stylistic ambition -- and that a soul diva/rocker
chick was dying to bust out. Tracks like "Good Hearted Man," "Your Love Made a U
Turn," "Tambourine," and "Still Pretending" owe more to Aretha Franklin (and maybe Joan Osborne's recent album of soul covers) than to anyone in country. "Laid a Highway"
is a smart death-of-a-small-town ballad, while Sheryl Crow would kill to write "Stray
Paper." It all points to an artist well worth following, especially if she continues
to juggle multiple styles with this much ease and success.