In what has become an annual tradition, I join with my friend, Willy Snook, in offering our opinions on the best musical recordings of 2007. Its not as easy as it used to be. The music industry is a mess. CD's are dying as a delivery format. Download services like iTunes are in a state of uncertain transition. Its harder for independent artists to achieve a wide audience as record companies and radio stations play it safe with
Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Jay-Z and the like. At the same time, if you're willing to hunt around a bit, there are relatively undiscovered gems out there, waiting to be unearthed on
MySpace or streaming internet radio stations like
Radio Paradise.
DON'S ALBUM OF THE YEAR -Wilco ~ "Sky Blue Sky" 
By a nose, my winner for 2007. I've been keeping my eye on this band for past decade or so. While I've usually liked what I heard from them, there was work to be done to achieve an elite review. In the past, I felt they were a bit too sloppy and quirky. This record, their sixth studio album, changes that. They deliver a California-smooth sound with beautiful melodies and interesting lyrics of both hope and desperation. A varied mix of acoustic and electric textures, Wilco recalls the influence of John Lennon, Jerry Garcia, Ray Davies and The Allman Brothers. Frontman Jeff Tweedy is in fine vocal and songwriting form, and new lead guitarist Nels Cline adds a valuable punch to the arrangements. These songs hooked me, and I found myself appreciating them more with each listen. I somewhat consider Wilco to be the American "Radiohead". They are one-of-a-kind, and this time, they deliver their best work to date.
Honorable Mention -
My runners-up are certainly well-worth your attention, as really, either of them could have been the winner for 2007. It sort of depended on which recording I had listened to most recently.
Iron & Wine ~ "The Shepherds Dog"
Samuel Beam delivers his third and best album yet. More produced than his earlier folky efforts, it has the sound of a talented musician and songwriter coming of age. You've heard Iron & Wine on movie and TV show soundtracks, but they deserve a closer listen.
Radiohead ~ "In Rainbows"
Radiohead receives brownie points for their novel "pay-what-you-want-to" approach on the album's release, but the music lives up to the hype. This band is arguably the leading alt/rock band around these days, and this recording serves to enhance that reputation. Creative with a capital "C"... in a good way.
– Don WoodwardWILLY'S ALBUM OF THE YEAR -Bruce Springsteen ~ "Magic"
These are tumultuous times. Times for expressive, creative thinkers to focus. Magic, Bruce Springsteen's most recent release, masterfully shines a light that helps us all see a little more clearly. Victoria Segal of the
Times Online reviewed it beautifully: "A new Bruce Springsteen album is always an event, and Magic, his first with the E Street Band since The Rising, is no exception. It’s not, of course, the kind of event that you would dress up for: best instead you pull on something checked and work-worn and listen to songs that ring with a hard-earned truth.
After
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions and
The Rising’s meditations on 9/11, if Springsteen was any more elder statesmanlike he would be off signing the Treaty of Versailles. Admittedly, Magic can be a little obvious: diner waitresses, long journeys home by the glow of the radio’s dial and men called Sal all appear. Yet there is a grandeur and intensity here that strikes home immediately, Springsteen’s lyrics carried along by the tidal instincts of musicians who have worked together for decades. Springsteen could make a drive to the dry cleaners sound like the Great American Road Trip. Sure enough, Magic begins with
Radio Nowhere and a man lost in the dark of the “American night”. “Driving through the misty rain/ Searchin’ for a mystery train/ Tryin’ to make a connection to you,” he sings, and Magic is all about these missed connections and missed chances, the sense of dislocation that comes when love and morality spin out of control.
His manager, Jon Landau, has said that this is not a political record – aside from
Devil’s Arcade, a lament from a soldier’s wife – but Springsteen is drawn to express the heart’s turmoil in terms of global chaos.
Last to Die uses the fiery language of regime change to discuss domestic meltdown;
Long Walk Home, fueled by Clarence Clemons’s saxophone, sounds like classic small-town angst, but there is an odd ambiguity to the courthouse flag and the neighbors on the street. Elsewhere,
Girls in Their Summer Clothes is a masterpiece of regret, while
I’ll Work For Your Love mixes the sacred and profane like a whiskey sour.
You could bite these songs as though you were testing a coin – not one feels counterfeit. As he sings on
Radio Nowhere, he is “spinning round a dead dial, just searching for a world with some soul”. It is a lot to ask but once again, Springsteen does his best to fill that void."
It's my Album of the Year 2007. It's Boss.
Honorable Mentions -
Herbie Hancock ~ "River - The Joni Letters"
A very special, unique record in the contemporary jazz genre, this recording received the Grammy album of the year award. Deservedly so. If you enjoy this genre, and like me, you recognize the work of Joni Mitchell as genius, you will be challenged and moved by this collection. Check it out.
Original Soundtrack ~ "Once"
I went to see the movie. No clue about its storyline, just strong credible urgings from musical friends. At the movie's end, I was stunned, shaken, unprepared for the impact of the film "
Once". A breath of fresh air in the world of predictable Hollywood crank-it-outs, "
Once" is a fabulous movie. The heart of the film is the spare, earnest, original music. Glen Hansard, lead singer and writer for the Irish band
The Frames, stars in the movie. Through his music, he lets us into his intimate, fragile world. Rent the movie, buy the soundtrack.
Eddie Vedder ~ Original Soundtrack ~ "Into The Wild"
Sean Penn asked Eddie Vedder to compose an original musical score to his film
Into The Wild. Boy, did he. It is a very moving collection of acoustic songs together with a visually powerful film. Creative stuff from Eddie who played all of the many instruments on the project. Vedder gets bedder and bedder.
– Willy Snook
This, the last night of their American tour, found them pitch-perfect and razor-sharp. The full-house crowd, clearly big Jennys fans, were hugely supportive of every song. There was kinetic energy in the room, as the band picked up on the fact that this was destined to be a very special performance. Yet during the songs, you could hear a pin drop as we all hung on every word and perfect note. They invited us to sing along a few times, which we all did enthusiastically. The big smiles on their faces reflected their joy at hearing us sing back to them. The sound, the lights, the energy, the moment... everything was just right. And we all knew it.
Let me tell you something. This band is really really good. I can't say that I've ever heard better live-performance singing, anywhere. They keep their songs simple, rooted in folk and gospel traditions. I found myself dazzled by the clarity of their delivery. Within the context of their simplicity, they displayed true virtuosity. In addition to their vocal miracles, each woman is a solid instrumental performer as well... bass, drums, guitar, accordian, harmonica, hand drums, they played everything well. They spent extra time on tuning between songs and between sets. It was important to them that each note was dead-on perfect. Their sideman, Jeremy Penner ("the boy jenny") added a beautiful textural element to the songs with his violin.
Maybe its something about Canada, where Bruce Cockburn comes from. Or more specifically, something about the Canadian prairies, where Neil Young and Joni Mitchell began their musical journeys. Whatever it is, these ladies have some of the same mojo going for them. Remember these names. Nicky Mehta, Ruth Moody, and Heather Masse. Each is a strong performer in their own right, but the combination of the three is much greater than the sum of their parts. If you have not seen them, I highly recommend them to you, preferably at a small indoor venue so you can hear every perfect note. They announced that they will be playing at the Sisters Folk Festival in September, so you fellow Oregonians might want to consider making that trip. In the meantime, their most recent recording, "Firecracker", may be the best new recording I've heard since the turn of the new century. Give it a listen.
