krj
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response 1 of 26:
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Jan 2 01:18 UTC 2002 |
In my 2000 list, I noted that I had pretty much parted company
with the US music business. With the exception of the Emmylou Harris
album and the Grateful Dead cover band -- both of which are pretty
retro projects -- that remains true this year. I'm not even sure
why I keep browsing at the local CD shops; hope springs eternal,
I guess.
Ilgi, SEJU VEJU
Latvian band doing their version of "electric folk:" traditional
songs and tunes arranged for rock instrumentation, intermixed with
traditional instrumentation. This band sounds similar to the
Swedish/Finnish band Hedninarna in their overall timbre.
I got to see Ilgi twice and it was the highlight of the concert year:
once in Detroit for an English-speaking audience, and once in Kalamazoo
for a Latvian-speaking audience. Thanks to Twila and her travelling
co-wo rker who introduced me to this band. Audio samples at
http://www.cdroots.com
Dikanda, MUSIC FROM FOUR DIRECTIONS OF THE EAST
Polish band doing folk dance tunes from all over Eastern Europe.
Fabulous rhythmic sensibility. (Band web page is at
http://www.dikanda.silesianet.pl, and the only known source for the
CD is http://merlin.pl, a Polish equivalent to Amazon.)
Runrig, THE STAMPING GROUND
LIVE AT CELTIC CONNECTIONS 2000
Two good albums from Runrig this year. The split with their long-time
lead singer and their major record label seems to have been good for
them. Runrig are a Scottish arena rock band with folk influences who
might loosely be compared with Big Country.
Emmylou Harris, RED DIRT GIRL
Usually when a performer who is renowned for interpretations of
songs written by others starts writing her own material, the results
aren't too good. I don't know how Emmylou pulled it off, but this is
about as good as her epochal album WRECKING BALL.
Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band, GOLD FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH
A Christmas album? With the corny theme of a pageant about the
Three Kings? Maddy and the Carnival Band turn it into a delightful
sonic extravaganza.
Martin Krajicek & Zdenek Kral, the K+K Band, SOULET
Teagrass, MORAVIAN LOVE SONGS
Two albums filtering American roots music through a Czech
sensibility. Martin Krajicek & Zdenek Kral are playing a fairly
smooth blend of jazz with a little acoustic rock, anchored by
piano and mandolin. Teagrass -- even their name is American --
define themselves as playing New Acoustic Music, but for this album
they invited some guest singers and set traditional Czech folk
songs. The record label for both bands has a web page with
sound samples at: http://mujweb.atlas.cz/www/gnosis_brno/Eng/
Tellu Virkkala & Liisa Matveinen, MATELI
Tellu was one of the singers in the Swedish/Finnish band
Hedningarna on their two best albums, and Liisa was singing
with the band when some of us saw them in Detroit and Seattle
in 2000. Here they tackle "runic poems" by Mateli Kuivalatar,
a Finnish poet of the early 19th century, in a very light acoustic
setting. One of the best of the Hedningarna spinoff CDs.
(Sample at http://www.cdroots.com)
WAKE THE DEAD
Collection of Grateful Dead covers interspliced with Irish dance tunes
and performed by a collection of California musicians, including Danny
Carnahan, who I haven't heard from in quite a few years.
Maybe I'm just a sucker for the harmony vocals with Carnahan
and Sylvia Herrold.
Honorable mentions: stuff which might have made the list if I'd played
it more, but there are too many albums and too little time...
singer Mercedes Peon and piper Xose Budino from Spain; Gai Saber from the
Occitan region of Italy (I didn't even realize there *was* an Occitan
region in Italyl; all the Occitan folks I ever encountered before were
from France); two albums by the Saint Nicholas Orchestra from Poland.
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brighn
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response 8 of 26:
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Jan 2 04:54 UTC 2002 |
I purchase too many albums a year to recall when I purchased which, so here's
my list of top 10 albums with 2001 copyrights. Looking at my printout of the
50 albums that qualify (yes, I inventory my albums), I notice a lot that, for
whatever reason, just didn't keep my attention. Depeche Mode's Exciter was
"there," and while I could coo about Kirsty MacColl's "The One and Only"
retrospective, Vulgar Picture retros seem like cheating. ["Vulgar picture"
being a reference to The Smiths, incidentally] I'll also freely admit that
my main reason for buying Dream Theater's "Live Scenes from New York" was
macabre (the cover shows a Ney York skyline on fire, prominently displaying
a certain landmark that's not there anymore ={ ).
Anyway, ten 2001 albums that *did* keep my interest:
1. Tool. Lateralus. I hate being 33 and still thinking a particular rock star
rules the known universe, but if I were 19 again, I'd probably have an altar
to Maynard. That altar would replace the one I'd taken down of...
2. Live. V. It's more of same, which seems to characterize much of the 2001
music, while the genres wait around for something to characterize the
Aughties. But more of same with Live is decent, at least.
3. Bjork. Vespertine. I've had a schwing on for Bjork since her Sugarcubes
days, and her ability to stay in the pop limelight despite forays farther into
the weird than even Maynard is willing to try is impressive. Of course, the
same could be said for...
4. Radiohead. Amnesiac. I'm not sure why Radiohead has grown on me, but they
have.
5. Kid Rock. Cocky. For the title track alone. Disappointing, but I'll give
the Kid a break and put him on the list.
6. Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Obi-Wan can sing! He missed his calling in life.
And to think I only saw the movie on a quirk (we met some friends while
shopping, and we were bored, so we followed them to a movie we had no
intention of seeing).
7. Rollins Band. Nice. See comments under Live: More of same, although better
then "Get Some, Go Again." He seems to be lightening up in his old age,
although for Rollins, that's still a long way from Manilow. The visual kick
at the censors is worth cool points (the "explicit" version has a naked woman
in a pile of dollar bills, with strategically placed dollar bills to keep it
legal; the "clean" version's cover is identical, except the woman is wearing
a US flag monokini).
8. Godhead. 2000 Years of Human Error. The most easily identified fin de mille
genre is whatever it is that Creed, Staind, Static X, Urban Underground, Simon
Says, Systematic, Godhead, Tantric, Dope, ... put out. It's cool enough, but
it's definitely starting to lose its crative edge. Godhead gets mentioned
because of their mucho cool cover of "Eleanor Rigby" (even though the video
for same is dorky).
9. Rob Zombie. The Sinister Urge. A not-so-guilty pleasure. He's gotten mature
enough that I can almost not feel embarassed listening to this cranked up on
the car stereo. Almost.
I gotta come up with another one? Geez, most of the rest on the list of 01
releases are so uninspired (Aerosmith, Semisonic, Shawn Colvin, Rammstein,
Saint Etienne, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Stabbing Westward, Placebo, Northern
Pikes, Jann Arden, Cake, Ruby, Megadeth, Natlie Merchant, Alice Cooper, Human
League, New Order, Ozzy Osbourne)... ranging from boring to decent, but
they've all done better stuff. I'm tempted to round this out with Incubus or
Joydrop, but their entries also paled, so I'll go with...
10. Monster Magnet. God Says No. Yeah, yeah, more of same here too. Looking
at this list, it just feels like 2001 was the year to play it safe: Play it
according to formula to sell those CDs! But they get points in my sick little
mind for the line, "Now it's time you sucked the cock of the fire god." If
you can't get me with originality, go for my dark side. ;}
In case anyone's interested, here's what my computer tells me I've purchased
with a '01 copyright:
Aerosmith, Just Push Play
Jann Arden, Blood Red Cherry
Bjork, Vespertine
Blink 182, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
Cake, Comfort Eagle
Mary Chapin Carpenter, time*sex*love
Eagle Eye Cherry, Present Future
Shawn Colvin, Whole New You
Alice Cooper, Dragontown
Depeche Mode, Exciter
Dope, Life
Dream Theater, Live Scenes from New York
D12, Devil's Night
Godhead, 2000 Years of Human Error
Human League, Secrets
Incubus, Morning View
Joydrop, Viberate
Kid Rock, Cocky
Kittie, Oracle
Christopher Lawrence, United States of Trance
Live, V
Lords of Acid, Farstucker
Kirsty MacColl, The One and Only
Megadeth, The World Needs a Hero
Natalie Merchant, Motherland
Monster Magnet, God Says No
New Order, Get Ready
The Northern Pikes, Truest Inspiration
Ozzy Osbourne, Down to Earth
Placebo, Black Market Music
Radiohead, Amnesiac
Rammstein, Mutter
Rollins Band, Nice
Ruby, Short-Staffed at the Gene Pool
Saint Etienne, Interlude
Semisonic, All About Chemistry
Simon and Garfunkel, The Columbia Studio Recordings
Simon Says, Shut Your Breath
Stabbing Westward, Stabbing Westward
Staind, Break the Cycle
Static X, Machine
Systematic, Somewhere in Between
System of a Down, Toxicity
Tantric, Tantric
Therapy?, Shameless
Tool, Lateralus
Rob Zombie, The Sinister Urge
Various, Moulin Rouge Soundtrack
Various, Valentine Soundtrack
Wings, Wingspan: Hits and History
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