It’s the end of the 2012 and it’s time to sum things up. As usual, at this time of the year we reflect on the past months and put together a list of our favorite records. Today we will review the year by listing the best albums this year, or at least those that I think were the most exciting and that we featured in detail here at the Little Lighthouse. Those that followed our playlists and reviews will probably not be surprised with the top five. I will follow up with reviews for most of these albums in the days to come, and you can tell us what you think. This year, the title of the greatest album goes to the young Canadian singer songwriter Eamon McGrath who put together a deep, personal and fun album about his life in the wonderful land of Canada and his generation of young people living over there. The list is closely followed by Dan Stuart’s return The Deliverance of Marlowe Billings. Here’s the rest of the list.
01 Eamon McGrath – Young Canadians
02 Dan Stuart – The Deliverance of Marlowe Billings
03 Redd Kross – Researching the Blues
04 Natural Child – For the Love of the Game
05 Rich Hopkins and Luminarios – Buried Treasures
06 Ray Wylie Hubbard – The Grifter’s Hymnal
07 The Wandering – Go On Now, You Can’t Stay Here
08 Golden Boys – Dirty Fingernails
09 Gentleman Jesse – Leaving Atlanta
10 Kevn Kinney – A Good Country Mile
11 Neil Young – Psychedelic Pill
12 Holly Golightly And The Brokeoffs – Sunday Run Me Over
13 Nude Beach – II
14 Forty Nineteens – No Expiration Date
15 Kevin Gordon – Gloryland
16 Ian Hunter And the Rant Band – When I’m President
17 Cheap Wine – Based On Lies
18 Jay Gonzalez – Mess of Happiness
19 Happy Thoughts
20 Smrts Have Friends and Visit Them at Night
Smrts – Traumeinsatz;
Happy Thoughts – Sweet Dirty Love;
Jay Gonzalez – Tension;
Cheap Wine – The Big Blow;
Ian Hunter and The Rant Band – Just The Way You Look Tonight;
Kevin Gordon – The One I Love;
Forty Nineteens – I’m The One;
Nude Beach – Some Kinda Love;
Holly Golightly And The Brokeoffs – Tank;
Neil Young And The Crazy Horse – Ramada Inn;
Kevn Kinney – Wild Dog Moon Pt. 2;
Gentleman Jesse – Word Gets Around;
The Golden Boys – Run Away;
The Wandering – Love Life And Money;
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Train Yard;
Rich Hopkins And Luminarius – Buried Treasure (It’s Not Out There);
Natural Child – Baby;
Redd Kross – Choose To Play;
Dan Stuart – Love So Rare;
Eamon McGrath – Signals;
Eamon McGrath – Great Lakes.
Eamon McGrath comes from Canada. He grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canadian Western province, North of the US state of Montana, with lots of prairies. This is where he started to come up with his first songs, recording them in his house and distributing them around on cd-rs to friends and fans. There is about 15 to 20 of those proto albums that he made in very small amount of copies and it is unclear what exactly is contained in those releases. Perhaps some songs repeated in multiple versions, but what we can tell for sure, they were all recorded relatively cheaply in lo-fi technology.
Some really exceptional new records today. First, we have Tommy Womack, a new singer songwriter from Nashville. Then Kevin Gordon. This native of Monroe LA, now living also in Nashville, made a new record Gloryland which is a true masterpiece and it got a lot of very nice attention in the music press these days. Canadian rocker Eamon McGrath also has a new record out Young Canadians. The concept is loosely all things Canadian, but it also mentions a ghost of Bob Stinson. I will go out on the limb and say that with this record McGrath establishes himself as the greatest young songwriter of today and finishes the race for the best record in 2012 already. It’s hard for me to imagine that it’s even possible to make a record as good as this one by the end of the calendar year. And then there’s also Jack White with his new album Blunderbuss. Swedish paisley poppers Plastic Pals are also represented today with their new single.
Every year about this time, The Little Lighthouse puts together a list of best albums that we rocked out at the show in the past year. This year is no exception. 2010 was quite exciting as far as the new albums go. I’d say that at least top 10 of the albums are modern classics, with all ingredients that a really big rock’n’roll record should have. I think it’s not so surprising that Sweet Apple with Love And Desperation took the number one. I was fortunate enough to see this album coming out of John’s sketches and forming into a full blown LP. But, even without that part, this record reminds us what a true rock record should be, without twists and frills. The real thing. The we also have Eamon McGrath as a surprising new songwriting talent and also Harlan T Bobo establishing himself as probably the greatest on in past 10 years. The rest of the list follows here:
In four years, Eamon McGrath changed two cities – he moved from Edmonton Alberta to Toronto and produced over 20 “albums” that he recorded in his bedroom and distributed on his gigs around the town. Legend of McGrath slowly started to happen – people started to talk about his incredibly strong songwriting skills with influences anywhere from Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Warren Zevon to Darby Crash and Greg Ginn. The way out of his bedroom into the ears of thirsty rock’n’roll enthusiasts all over the world happened last year when he put out a compilation of his best work from the bedroom years on Canadian White Whale label. This is precisely what 13 Songs of Whiskey and Light is. The story reached The Little Lighthouse only in 2010, when he also published a new record Peace Maker. Although this is also a wonderful record, it falls a bit short from the compilation which we’re discussing here. Absolutely every song on it is a perfection. We will definitely keep an eye on this guy in the years to come.
Here we are again after a summer long hiatus. Students are back to school, cold days are here and hot rock’n’roll selections too. This show is filled with some of the most exciting music that came out while we were gone. We have Eamon McGrath from Canada for the first time in our show. Interesting character who recorded tons of music alone in his bedroom for years until last year when his album 13 Songs of Whiskey and Light broke out internationally. Eamon is unusually talented songwriter that has a great future. We hope that his new album Peace Maker is just as good as 13 Songs. Another new songwriting name in today’s show is Pat Hull. He also wrote a number of songs back in his old hometown of Chico in California, until he moved to New York City recently. He has a new album called Fable Names. Spampinato brothers, Joey of NRBQ and Johnny of The Incredible Casuals recorded a new solo album called Pie In The Sky together with another Incredible Casual Aaron Spade. They are touring USA and keep your eye on the events in your town. Their shows are outstanding. Endless Boogie, blues gods from Brooklyn are also here with a new album Full House Head. Limes, Memphis band fronted by Shawn Cripps is also back with the new album Rhinestone River, which comes a few years after their Internet-only album Tarantula, which we loved five years ago. We love the new one too. One of the most exciting album this summer was the new album for Peter Case, who teamed with DJ Bonebreak from X to record Wig!. Case reinvented himself as a hot rocking bluesman and it totally works. Come tune in next week after you hear this one and don’t forget our bonuses!