Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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And the countdown is as follows...
10) Weezer - Maladroit
At one time, Weezer seemed too precocious for me to
appreciate them properly. Well, either they've grown up or I've grown immature. No matter, because this album has something for everybody, not to mention some of the best distorted guitar tones this side of death metal.
9) Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The album sounds like the soundtrack to a nervous breakdown. It is disjointed, plodding, occasionally tedious, but ultimately brilliant. Jeff Tweedy ignores linear thought and writes an album using his
subsconscious mind. It's too bad more arrtists can not (or will not) turn their dream visions into something as creative and fascinating as this...
8) Hank Williams III - Lonesome, Broke and Driftin'
Hank III picks up where Hank 1 left off. As for Hank Jr.,
there's no explaining what went wrong there, but Hank 3 makes up for the sins of his father by writing an album that would've made his grandpa proud. As a
bonus, it has a way-cool cover of Springsteen's "Atlantic City", making the song sound as if it were written about Dodge City instead of Atlantic City. For best effect, listen while swigging whiskey straight outta the bottle.
7) Tom Waits - Alice
Tom and his wife/writing partner, Kathleen Brennan, provided us with two great albums this year. For my money, "Alice" gets the edge because the songwriting is both profound and intoxicating. Waits can be
brilliant when he lets his romantic side surface, especially when it is offset with his tales of sideshow lunacy. Here, he basks in the sadness of losers who cannot quell their dreams. It's a fascinating, engaging piece of work from one of the few songwriters left who is willing to wear his battered heart on his sleave.
6) Los Lobos - Good Morning Aztlan
Just when I thought it was safe to dismiss Los Lobos as a band that let their quest for capital 'A' Art get the best of them, they release their most direct and compelling albums in years, maybe decades.
'Good Morning Aztlan' rocks in all the right places, dabbles in slinky funk, and then brings it all back home, with the elan of a band that has seen hell but is still willing to party smart.
5) Linda Thompson - Fashionably Late
There isn't a singer alive today who can sing a heartbreaker as well as Linda. We had to wait nearly two decades for this; I for one was sure that she was long gone from the music business. This is the most welcome comeback album I've heard in ages, and best of all, it rises to the same level of quality as her brilliant work with ex-husband Richard. Get this album, and maybe we'll convince her to stay around for a while!
4) David Bowie - Heathen
Is there another artist around today who can claim the same level of artistic consistency as David Bowie? Do not confuse artistic consistency with stylistic consistency, though - Bowie still changes as often
as a chameleon getting ready for a Saturday night out, but whatever he decides to wear, it usually befits him. On 'Heathen', he mixes and matches from various styles culled from his 35+ year career and ends up creating his most fulfilling album since "Scary Monsters".
3) Norah Jones - Come Away With Me
This is one of the most emotionally compelling debut albums I've ever heard, bar none. Subtle arrangements drift on a cloud while Jones whispers her way through the album, without getting distracted from the
song's context or her point of view. This is some of the most sublime music I've heard since Louis teamed up with Ella - not bad for what Jones calls her 'simple little record'.
2) Gomez - In Our Gun
This needs to be heard to be believed, and even then, you'll probably need to listen to it more than once before it sinks in. This band can lay claim to some of the best musicianship in contemporary pop music, but
they don't waste it trying to be slick. Instead, they write fantastic songs, arrange them to a brilliant luster, and then unleash their rather awesome musical talents to service the material. The guys in Gomez have their
priorities straight. Oh, and they are one hell of a live act, too.
1) Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head
What usually happens when a band finds itself in the position of releasing the most anticipated album of the year? Usually, the pressure causes the fragile shell to crack. And, what if it's their second album? They
don't call it the sophomore slump for nothing. Well, Coldplay blew any signs of uncertainty clear off of the map with this album, not simply meeting but
surpassing expectations, compiling a collection of songs that reveal more breadth and depth than the first album which caused so much furor in the first place. And they did it without acting like jerks, or antagonizing the press! Meet this year's best band. It's a bonus that they are also one of the best live acts around.
 
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