Memphis legend Tav Falco now lives in Vienna. This year he showed up with a new album first time after ten years. One song repeats from his earlier repertoire (Gentleman in Black), but the rest are new. To his old mix of traditional Memphis and North Mississippi genres and tango, Tav this time adds several East European motifs, obviously influenced by his life in the former capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire. These motifs are as accurate as mountains of Vinkovci where Agatha Christie’s Oriental Express once got stuck in snow, but they add to the exotic and mythic mixture of Tav Falco perfectly.
Category Archives: The Best of 2010
10. Pierced Arrows – Descending Shadows
Second album for Pierced Arrows, a band that rose out of the ashes of Dead Moon, is a new lesson in horror rock. Once again, in gorgeous monophonic sound, they explore torture, alienation and death. Song Paranoia is an album within an album, with layers of sounds and a thumping bass riff that winds down in a spiral of fear. Nobody does this more convincingly than Fred and Toody. But they also leave room this time for some simpler, almost romantic moment in song Ain’t Life Strange and This Time Around which both feature Toody on vocals.
11. The Greenhornes – ****
Cincinnati band Greenhornes takes rock’n’roll back to the golden days of The Animals, Kinks and The Who. They don’t do it mechanically. Their songwriting is the key that makes this time travel an exciting experience. It is melancholic, and moody. This excellent concentration of talent was recognized back in 2005 by Jim Jarmusch who included their collaboration with Holly Golightly in his movie Broken Flowers. The band was busy with various side projects until this year that finally saw their first full length album in eight years. Four stars is a modest title. It’s five stars in my book.
13. Luther Dickinson And The Sons Of Mudboy – Onward And Upward
Mudboy was Jim Dickinson. His band was The Neutrons and his idea was la musique v̩rit̩ Рcapture the music the way it happens in the studio. Jim died last year and his sons and friends gathered to celebrate his life with a stunning set of blues tunes and a simple two track recorder. They recorded these songs the way they were happening. Jim would be proud.
14. Glossary – Feral Fire
This album for the Murfreesboro quintet is a record is a love at first sight. It works immediately. There are no complications there at all. Straight-forward rock record with perfect melodies and harmonies, catchy songs, strong riffs and clean production. Very conservative and sober rock’n’roll sound is nothing to be ashamed though! It seems that there is so many bands these days that seem to mask their lack of ideas and lack of talent with deliberately lousy droney sound and Glossary is a complete opposite to that. This is precisely why they sound apart from the rest and why they hit straight in the center with that approach. Exciting, brutally honest stuff and I’m eager to hear more.
15. Limes – Rhinestone River
Limes are the best hiden secret of Memphis rock’n’roll scene. Brain child of Shawn Cripps, that also contained Harlan T Bobo and Jack Oblivian in the line up at one point, they have been around for 10 years now. But, if we don’t count their Internet and Australian only album Tarantula from 2005, Rhinestone River that came out on Goner this year. Dirty, muddy, lazy sound that rolls out of this record keeps in touch with the best timeless tratidions of this music that we love to call rock’n’roll. This is an album that Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Charlie Watts could have recorded on a hazy, stoned night, while Jagger and Wyman are absents, chasing girls somewhere.
16. Kate Maki – Two Song Wedding
Kate Maki is the most interesting female songwriter that emerges silently and slowly out of Canada. Her records are gentle reminder that one does not need to blast out loudly to say something, it will still get where it needs to be. She gets a lot of support from Howe Gelb, who guest stars on this record. His influence is obvious in that Kate Make perfectly delivers surreal (alt) country in her music. The record distribution is poor, but if you put an effort to find it, you will be rewarded with one of the best listening experiences of 2010.
17. Mike Watt – Hyphenated-Man
Legendary bass player of Minutemen and fIREHOSE is a busy man. He tours with several bands right now, his Stooges gig being obviously the most demanding thing. So, his solo records come out in large intervals of time. His last three solo records were all rock operas. Hyphenated-Man is a collection of over 30 short songs, which are really choppy parts of a larger single piece, which is the whole record itself. It’s a dense work that requires repeated listening. Also, Watt does not stick to a firm libretto this time, but the idea is to capture busy life of an over-the-hill punk rocker who still lives the old postulates of true a punk.
18. The Parting Gifts – Strychnine Dandelion
Greg Cartwright has grown into one of the most skilful songwriters today. This year, he put his main band Reigning Sound on a break, reunited with The Oblivians for a few shows, and formed a new band Parting Gifts with Coco Hames of The Ettes. The resulting album, Strychnine Dandelion is a rousing pile of basic rock’n’roll fury with Strange Disposition standing out as an obvious favorite.
19. Steve Wunn And The Miracle Three – Northern Aggression
Steve Wynn’s band Miracle Three has became a steady line up of four musicians who breathe together. This is the most immediate thing you get when you hear them live or when you listen to the new album Northern Aggression. Tight musicianship and solid songwriting on this album received a lot of attention this year. The idea was to return to Richmond VA studios (the same place where the great Gutterball records were made), and let the Northern sound take over the lazy atmosphere of the south. The amalgam of sound is captivating. The cover of Death of Johnny B, which appeared originally in an old 70’s anti-drug documentary, is a perfect example.