Best of 2009 So Far ...

There is no better way to return and get things kicked up again than with a best of list. But a little healthy debate never hurt anything. I actually have fun doing it but the truth is rankings can change with moods or the weather. Plus the music industry is so prolific these days with all of the new media it is difficult to choose. So I just assembled the necessary tools and started ranking. In case you are wondering the essential tool needed for such an endeavor as this are, Shiner Bock Beer, Blanton's Bourbon, a dartboard, little pieces of paper in a hat, Corn Nuts, and a Moon Pie for energy. The results of this combination are below for you to read and then tell me what the hell I missed:

1) Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses - Roadhouse Sun
2) Buddy & Julie Miller - Written in Chalk
3) M. Ward - Hold Time
4) Wilco - The Album
5) Roman Candle - Oh Tall Tree in the Ear
6) Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies
7) Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane
8) Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles - The Stars are Out
9) Charlie Robison - Beautiful Day
10) The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
11) Slaid Cleaves - Everything You Love Will be Taken Away
12) Bob Dylan - Together Through Life
13) Deer Tick - Born on Flag Day
14) Scot Miller & the Commonwealth - For Cryin' Out Loud
15) Hill Country Review - Self Titled
16) Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
17) Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band - Outer South
18) Donna Ulisse - Walk this Mountain Down
19) Gina Villalobos - Days on Their Side
20) The Gourds - Haymaker!
21) Derek Trucks - Already Free
22) The Flatlanders - Hills and Valleys
23) Dallas Wayne - I'll Take the Fifth
24) Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit - Self Titled
25) Son Volt - American Central Dust
26) Chuck Mead - Journeyman's Wager
27) Todd Snider - Excitement Plan
28) Red Stick Ramblers - My Suitcase is Always Packed
29) Sarah Jarosz - Song Up in Her Head
30) Old Californio - Westering Again
31) Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
32) Sara Watkins - Self Titled
33) Pter Holsapple and Chris Stamey - Here and Now
34) Kendal Carson - Alright Dynamite
35) Cracker - Sunshine in the Land of Milk and Honey
36) Mark Olson & Gary Louris - Ready for the Flood
37) Sam Roberts - Love at the End of the World
38) The Greencards - Fascination
39) U2 - No Line on the Horizon
40) Dierks Bentley - Feel that Fire
41) Wayne Hancock - Viper of Melody
42) Otis Gibbs - Grandpa Walked a Picket Line
43) Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey and the Gru Grux King
44) Fiction Family - Self Titled
45) The Damnwells - One Last Century
46) Romi Mayes - Achin' in Yer Bones
47) Webb Wilder - More Like Me
48) Michelle Malone - Debris
49) Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
50) Patteron Hood - Mudering Oscar

The Decmberists Cancel Remainder of Tour.

The Decemberists have canceled the remainder of their current North American tour. A total of 27 dates have been canceled! Accouring the band's website:

"One of our band members has been ill for a while but we thought all would be well in time for these tour dates. After a couple shows, though, it has become clear that the illness is much worse than we had initially realized. We need to return home so our friend can mend.

It saddens us to disappoint our fans. We hope everybody understands it is only because of an extreme situation that we had to cancel a tour we've all been excited about doing since the idea was originally hatched."

I hope all turns out well for their freind whatever his illness. They certainly put on a good live show.

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter

The amazing atmospherics of “Like Love Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul” are apparent from the outset of the album. The ambience of the album is due as much to the subdued jazzy vocals of Jesse Sykes as it is to the instrumentation. At times, Sykes sounds like a more throaty Billie Holiday. At other times, her voice has a Grace Slick tone. The album's first three songs set the tone. It starts with the slow acoustic melody and eerie harmonica of “Eisenhower Moon.” “LLL” is a more upbeat tune that has Sykes smoky Blues vocals layered with psychedelic overdubs. “You Might Walk Away” has catchy hooks and is great pop tune with Jazzy keyboards in the backgrounds.

Sykes aforementioned Grace Slick on a mellow trip sound is most apparent on a couple of songs that take on the feel of Jefferson Airplane. The Sixties era Haight-Ashbury scene is explored most notably on “How Will We Know” and “I Like the Sound.” These are not banal tributes. The band never loses its originality as it crosses genres. To be sure, the atmospherics are overdone at times. For example, on “Spectral Beings” a droning melody is trying too hard to create the ambiance. However, the best songs on this album are truly memorable. The production team of Tucker Martine (The Decemberists and Long Winters) and Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan and Kings of Leon) also deserve kudos for the way they created the album’s rich textures without masking the music at its core.

Link to this free MP3

*Posted with Permission from Barsuk Records

http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/JesseSykes_LLL.mp3

This review also appears on: http://twangville.com