speed of dark

My brother and our frequent contributor, Uncle T, once again offers his own perspective on the year's best.


1. Let’s Just Be - Joseph Arthur & The Lonely Astronauts
Diamond Ring
Joseph Arthur moves from modern-studio folk-pop solo artist to a harder rocking, organic sound fronting this new band that includes Kraig Jarret Johnson (Jayhawks, Golden Smog) and guitarist Jennifer Turner (Fur Slide, Natalie Merchant). This includes collaborative songs and some great numbers from Joe. And this band pushes the limits with some brilliant rock-n-roll anarchy. A very pleasant surprise from Mr. Arthur. This CD has got it all. Can’t wait for the next one.

2. Under The Blacklight - Rilo Kiley
The Angels Hung Around
Jenny Lewis and the band follow their breakout CD More Adventurous with an even more adventurous CD of bass-heavy 1970s-style vapid pop songs they elevate to utter coolness. That pretty much puts this band at the top of the pops.

3. Easy Tiger - Ryan Adams
Clean and sober Ryan cranks out a very consistent and listenable CD, again with his alt-country backing band the Cardinals. This one sounds similar to his last with the
Cardinals (Jacksonville City Nights), with less emphasis on the Gram Parsons trip.
(Concert review)

4. Neon Bible - The Arcade Fire
Very nice operatic and lush rock augmented with strings, horns, church organ, and hurdy-gurdy. The themes are both modern and dark gothic, but there’s always a positive and hopeful spirit that shines through. This is probably destined to be a classic.

5. Sky Blue Sky - Wilco
Jeff Tweedy reconvenes yet another version of Wilco for this CD, some of whose songs harken back to the alt-country style of their first CD (AM). This is a very consistent and nice sounding CD, where Mr. Tweedy finally finds the proper balance between his experimental and listenable sides. This is now my favorite Wilco CD.

6. Dylanesque - Bryan Ferry
Baby Let Me Follow You Down
A CD of all Bob Dylan covers done in very cool Roxy-esque arrangements. Great stuff.

7. In Rainbows - Radiohead
It may not have songs rivaling the highlights of their last three CDs, but this is their most fully listenable effort since OK Computer. Nice operatic vocals by Thom Yorke throughout. Officially, this will be released January 1, 2007, but it was released as a download from the band's Website in October, a rather ballsy move that seems to have paid off.

8. Grinderman - Grinderman
Love Bomb
This Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds side project (with Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, Jim Scavunos) is way-out-there rock-n-roll anarchy. This is the Nick Cave CD we always knew he was capable of. It’s smart, vile, obscene, in your face, and pretty damn good.

9. Twelve - Patti Smith
Gimme Shelter
Extremely good CD of cover songs from artists as diverse as Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Nirvana, and the Allman Brothers Band. Smith approaches each song with reverence, originality, and purpose. She’s backed by her great band augmented by bassist Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), guitarist Tom Verlaine (Television), and others.

10. Challengers - The New Pornographers
Challengers
Not as good as their last, the stellar Twin Cinema, but good enough. They go for a more organic pop sound.


Related posts:
Alt-gramma's Top 10 Albums of 2007
Uncle T's Favorites of 2006