Best of 2008

This is my Finaa list of the year. The Truckers are #1 and went wire to wire in the top spot. No small accomplishment. Give me your thoughts and your top picks:

1) Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
2) The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
3) Kaey Chambers & Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones
4) Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
5) Tift Merrit - Another Country
6) Hayes Carll - Trouble in Mind
7) Reckless Kelly - Bulletproof
8) Old 97's - Blame it on Gravity
9) Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal
10) Chris Knight - Heart of Stone
11) Kaiser Chiefs - Off with Their Heads
12) The Steeldrivers - The Steeldrivers
13) Ryan Adams & the Cardinals - Cardinology
14) Old Crow Medicine Show - Tennessee Pusher
15) My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
16) The Waybacks - Loaded
17) Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
18) Band of Heathens - Self-Titled
19) Shawn Mullins - Honeydew
20) The Whigs - Mission Control
21) Ashton Shepherd - Sounds so Good
22) Jaon Boland & the Straggler - Comal County Blue
23) J. J. Grey & Mofro - Orange Blossoms
24) Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
25) Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
26) The Beautiful Loser Society - Aim Low
27) Yarn - Empty Pockets
28) Griffin House - Flying Upside Down
29) The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
30) John D. Hale - Lost
31) Drew Emmitt - Long Road
32) Infamous Stringdusters - Self-Titled
33) Wild Sweet Orange - We Have Cause to be Uneasy
34) Cherryholmes - III
35) R.E.M. - Accelerate
36) Justin Townes Earle - The Good Life
37) Joey & Rory - The Life of a Song
38) Ray Lamontagne - Gossip in the Grain
39) B. B. King - One Kind of Favor
40) British Columbians - Self-Titled
41) Teddy Thompson - A Piece of What You Need
42) The Waifs - Sundirtwater
43) The Bridge - Blind Mam's Hill
44) Brett Dennen - Hope for the Hopeless
45) Donna The Buffalo - Silverlined
46) Heybale - The Last Country Album
47) Tejas Brothers - Self - Titled
48) Railroad Earth - Amen Corner
49) Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers
50) Sierra Hull - Secrets
51) South Austin Jug Band - Strange Invitation
52) Eleven Hundred Springs - Country Jam
53) Jim Lauderdale - Honey Songs
54) Dr. Dog - Fate
55) The Stills - Oceans Will Rise
56) Hank Williams III - Damn Right Rebel Proud
57) Chatham County Line - IV
58) Sonny Landreth - From the Reach
59) Graham Lindsey - We are All Alone in This Together
60) Have Gun Will Travel - Casting Shadows Tall as Giants

Settin' The Woods on Fire - This Week's Charts

After a few requests I am bringing this feature back. I will post every 2 weeks on AWT the top albums and debuts in the airplay charts from Americana Music Assoc. and the FMQB Non-Commercial Adult Alternative chart. I have dropped the XM Cross Country Chart because it is a reporting station to the Americana chart. The links to these charts are included on my Blogroll at the right.

Americana Music Association - Airplay Week of 10-13
1) Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson – Rattlin’ Bones
2) Todd Snider - Peace Queer
3) Rodney Crowell - Sex & Gasoline
4) Lucinda Williams – Little Honey
5) Little Feat and Friends – Join the Band
6) OCMS – Tennessee Pusher
7) Chris Knight – Heart of Stone
8) Carrie Rodriguez – She Ain’t Me
9) Darrell Scott – Modern Hymns
10)Band of Heathens – Self Titled

Debuts:
25) Bob Dylan - Telltale Signs
28) Charlie Haden - Ramblin' Boy

FMQB Non Commercial AAA Chart - Airplay Week of 10-13
1) Calexico - Carried to Dust
2) The Pretenders - Break Up the Concrete
3) Michael Franti - All Rebel Rockers
4) Lucinda Williams - Little Honey
5) Bob Dylan - Telltale Signs
6) Taj Majal - Maestro
7) Dar Williams - Promised Land
8) Coldplay - Viva La Vida
9) Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst
10) Ben Folds _ Way to Normal

Debuts:
28) Snow Patrol - Hundred Million Suns
29) Joseph Arthur - Temporary People

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson - Rattlin' Bones

There is no doubt the “Royal Couple” of Americana is Buddy and Julie Miller. With the release of Rattlin’ Bones, Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson should at least be considered a member of the Royal Court. Perhaps they could be known as the Duke and Duchess of Overseas Americana. That might be an appropriate title for an Australian couple. I must admit Kasey Chambers has always been at the top of my list, and Rattlin’ Bones is one of the most emotionally moving albums I have ever heard. It is at once chilling, moving, and spiritual. It is at times dark and at other times beautiful. In short it is a manifestation of how human relationships really play out. The relationships we encounter in life leave us with regret, sadness, love, hope and happiness. They are complicated but meaningful and absolutely inseparable from whom we are individually.

The style of music on the album is steeped in the Post-Depression Folk and Americana tradition. It was a time when musicians wrote about life and love as it really occurs. To the people of that era relationships were full of hardship but they were also your lifeline and the only source of support and hope. Relationships for the rural poor were always on a tightrope walk between falling into despair or life-sustaining beauty. Sometimes they seemed to be doing both at once. When times are hard people cling to each other, seduce each other, and hurt each other. We build people up and tear them down. We love them and push them away. That is the reality of being human. Rattlin Bones’ captures the dichotomy of relationships in a way that you will feel deep in your gut. If you haven’t listened to this album yet, please do. You will be better off for the effort.

Check out Their Website

This review also appears on Twangville

New Video: Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson

The New Buddy and Julie Miller.



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