Okay, here’s the rest of the good stuff from the Calgary Folk Music Festival, and some little treats for you too.

Best musical discoveries:

Luluc (Australia)
I bought their album on the strength of the first song I heard them play — not a bad first impression! Luluc are a beautifully folky duo with wispy harmonies and a really understated sound; their stage banter at the festival was adorable, slightly self-conscious, and full of that fabulous Aussie accent. Their album, Dear Hamlyn, is very sparse and true to their live sound, and I can’t think of a better piece of it to offer you than the song that first grabbed my attention: One Day Soon

Good Lovelies (Canada)
A more enthusiastic trio of ladies there never was, and the Good Lovelies clearly love performing and being on stage. The three women continue the tradition laid out by the Boswell and Andrews Sisters, harmonizing like you’ve never heard and adding sly winks all over the place; they make it seem like their job is the easiest thing in the world. If you don’t crack a smile within the first thirty seconds of a Good Lovelies concert, you’re probably not listening. Check out their version of the classic folk tune Clementine.

Bellowhead (United Kingdom)
The name “Bellowhead” must be synonymous with the word “party”, given their performances at this year’s festival. I guess I will talk more about them in the next list (sorry for the overlap, but I really couldn’t leave them out!) — but for now I will simply say that nobody has made English folk songs sound quite so appealing as this sprawling 11-piece band has. Just a word of warning, though: their studio albums sound terrific, but they don’t even begin to hint at the energy the band has live. Videos come closer: check out this one of London Town at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Deep Dark Woods (Canada)
I’ve been hearing this name thrown around for ages, and I wish I had been curious enough to check them out earlier. Saskatchewan’s Deep Dark Woods deliver a brand of country/folk that fits their name perfectly: slightly dark and brooding, but also a little gritty. I can’t think of proper adjectives that fit the “woods” part. Pine-scented? Anyway, they really feel like country done the way country should be — there’s a whole post there! Have a listen to All The Money I Had Is Gone (too topical? Sorry).

And of course, no folk festival list would be complete without a rundown of the best mainstage performances of the festival, so without further ado …

The Decemberists
They came out on stage without even an introduction and immediately played their entire new album, The Hazards of Love, with barely a stop. It was dramatic, swashbuckling, theatrical, and absolutely incredible. AND THEN they came out to do a soaring encore of the one song I had been crossing my fingers all night to hear — “Sons and Daughters,” the final track from The Crane Wife — and coaxed the entire audience of 12,000 to sing the chorus with them, until it pulsed in our chests all the way home. There’s not much more I could have asked for.

Mavis Staples
Even though her set list was pretty much the same as when she played Massey Hall, it was no less impressive. I am still flabbergasted that she is seventy years old — she can still outperform nearly anybody. Her version of “The Weight” is still one of the best covers ever, and “Wade in the Water” was delectable when complemented by her backup vocalists. The cherry on top of the whole affair was the last song, the Staple Singers’ famous “I’ll Take You There” — even though it was still the afternoon, people were up, dancing, and singing along like an old style revival. Now that’s a show.

Glen Campbell
Yeah, the Rhinestone Cowboy. That guy. I was shocked when I saw his name on the folk festival lineup, but let’s face it, the prospect of hearing him play “Wichita Lineman” was enough for me to miss the entire Akron/Family set over at the Twilight stage. And wow, was it worth it: Campbell clearly loves performing, and he’s quite obviously grateful to his audience for letting him go on doing it for so long. We were rewarded with the expected hits (“Galveston,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” and the aforementioned “Wichita Lineman,” as well as a singalong finale of “Rhinestone Cowboy”), but we also heard some of the covers he did on his latest, including Tom Petty’s “Walls” and U2’s “All I Want Is You”. I have to say that a personal highlight was the blistering rendition of Rossini’s overture to William Tell — Campbell’s guitar work was blistering, and rightly so, for he was once one of the best session guitarists in the world. Live and learn. I’d go see him again in a flash.

Bellowhead
I’ve probably already said enough about these guys, but here I go again. First of all, there’s eleven of them. Second of all, their instruments range from fiddle and guitar to Sousaphone, oboe and accordion. Third, many of them are acclaimed, even award-winning, step dancers. And fourth, they play almost exclusively English folk songs (albeit with the odd disco beat). When you put all of this together and throw them on stage on a Saturday evening, you get what was undoubtedly the biggest party of the weekend. They could have played for three hours and nobody would have complained, except for potential exhaustion — it’s not often you get 12,000 people trying to imitate dancing like that. Maybe that’s a good thing, but I’ll take it!

Gomez
My dad confessed that he was expecting a Latin American band, judging by the name. This is the first clue that Gomez aren’t entirely what you expect them to be. They’re a bunch of white dudes from England, first of all — not quite what their moniker might suggest — and they fuse a surprisingly folky element into their songs, which are the perfect soundtrack for summer. They have a lot of pop sensibilities and some of the usual indie rock sounds, but they also just want to have a really good time on stage, and that translates into a fabulous time for the audience too. The general sentiment around was that we’d all have been singing along to every song if we’d just known the words. Next time they’ll have a few thousand more people to prompt them.

Honourable mentions to Alejandro Escovedo, Arrested Development, Iron & Wine, The Sojourners and Umalali. So, really, everybody.

I’d also like to mention that if anyone is in New York City this fall, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig are starring in a Broadway production of Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain. It’s not a musical (those scared off by The Boy From Oz can tiptoe back now), but rather a play — one which has already made a pretty good name for itself, selling out two different engagements in Chicago and garnering all sorts of critical attention. Although it’s Craig’s first time on Broadway, I’m sure it will be a blistering performance on the part of both men — the story is pretty fascinating and, you know, they’ve both had a bit of experience acting here and there. No big deal.

And, in other news, the Toronto garbage strike is over! YEAHHHHH

For those of you who are unaware, the festival’s all-day portions (Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 until 5:30) are made up mostly of workshops, which throw together a few different artists and make them play together for an hour or so. They are by far the most interesting, intriguing, and often surprising parts of the festival, and all of them have a theme attached to them which the musicians can draw from as much or as little as they like. To convey the theme, the clever festival staff assign them really great names. I went through them all and picked my favourites.

Best workshop names

Some Country for Bold Men
Start Making Sense
All Rebel Rockers
The Harder They Strum
and the crowning glory: Strum und Twang!

In that vein, my list of best workshops (at least out of the ones I managed to take in: the schedule is a real feat of organization!):

Some Country for Bold Men
(Danny Barnes, The Deep Dark Woods, Luluc, The Good Lovelies)
As you might expect, a whole heck of a lot of country. Danny Barnes’ blazing bluegrass was a major highlight, as was the fact that all the musicians actually joined in everything — sometimes workshops turn into awkward “you play a tune, now I’ll play a tune” sessions, and then the whole point is lost. Thankfully, none of these musicians could keep themselves from playing along, and it turned into a pretty boot-stompin’ party, tempered by the occasional downtempo folky tune in exactly the right places. The final jam tune, “I Saw The Light,” not only had everyone on stage singing but everyone in the audience too. Not bad for a Sunday morning!
(I actually bought CDs by both Luluc and The Deep Dark Woods purely on the merit of this one workshop — I hadn’t seen either before, but their measly three songs each convinced me. It was that good. I’d have bought the Good Lovelies’ CD too, but my sister beat me to it!)

Cooking With Brass
(Tarhana, Bell Orchestre, Mirah, Bellowhead)
This stage contained everything from fiddles to Sousaphone to saxophones to accordions. It was like Broken Social Scene if they had gone through high school band together or something — I think I counted twenty musicians stuffed onto that little stage. Tarhana led everybody in raucous Turkish folk jams with a ridiculous amount of groove, and Bellowhead reviewed a few of the previous night’s mainstage favourites. It was loud, brassy, and a hell of a lot of fun. The “dancing section” along the side was hopping, which is a good a sign as any that you probably picked the right stage.

The Yonge & The Restless
(Sarah Harmer, Steven Page, The Good Lovelies, Justin Rutledge)
A Toronto-centric workshop in Alberta? Potentially risky, but it just seemed to justify everybody making jokes about the garbage strike and constant rainstorms. The musical combinations of all those voices was, however, totally fantastic. Steven Page was awkwardly on edge, although not as badly as he was during his later mainstage performance — he even broke out “Jane” later in the session! Justin Rutledge led everyone in a singalong of his adorable “Don’t Be So Mean, Jellybean”, which never gets old.

Another World
(Pacifika, The Acorn, Tarhana)
Pacifika’s members come from Peru, Barbados and Canada. The Acorn is an Ottawa mainstay, and Tarhana base themselves in Amsterdam and play Balkan and Oriental folk music. The sheer number of different folk traditions included in this session is astounding, and I’m sure you can imagine the sounds that emanated from the stage once things got cooking. The afternoon was just full of infectious groove and danceability … is that even a word? To be honest, I think this session created it. That was a combination I would love to see happen again.

Guided By Voices
(Akron/Family, The Good Lovelies, Umalali, Dry Branch Fire Squad)
Again, as you might expect from the clever titling, this one was meant to be voice-guided. I don’t think they even needed to prompt them with that, though, because the voices in this combination of artists are so strong that it would have been the standout point anyway. The Good Lovelies are just, well, lovely — their Boswell Sisters cover was delightful — and Umalali are one gigantic party. Pair the latter with Akron/Family and you get something fairly out of this world. Since this one was in the festival’s final round of workshops, it was especially difficult to leave: I could have listened to that for days!

—

Coming tomorrow: List of Lists Part II, featuring the best mainstage performances and new musical discoveries of this year’s festival. Complete with tunes for your auditory enjoyment! See you tomorrow.

The Canadian Press reports that Vancouver-based artist Matthew Good “has no desire to be a part of the Junos”. He and Howie Beck go on to say that the award show is based too much on sales and that the major nominees are irrelevant.

Heard this before?

“When it’s actually a television broadcast that celebrates actual Canadian music, rather than who’s doing well internationally and has been in car commercials and iPod commercials … I’ll go,” says Good. Amen. I don’t usually agree with him anymore, but I can’t deny that statement.

Also, Elvis Costello is presenting an award. Why? He’s married to Diana Krall. Oh, how I love Costello, but oh, how many things are wrong with this show. Remember how it was supposed to be about Canadian artists? Yeah.

The Juno Awards will be broadcast on CTV this Sunday, March 28, from Vancouver.

AWESOME!

Host Hugh Jackman’s opening number. The right amount of cheese, charm, and ridiculous set pieces, the beautiful Anne Hathaway goofily playing Richard Nixon, and “The Reader, I haven’t seen The Reader” — ha ha!

Heath Ledger’s Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in The Dark Knight. I got a little emotional. I really hope he’s watching from somewhere.

Sean Penn (Best Actor) and Dustin Lance Black (Best Original Screenplay) winning big for Milk and then making rousing, heartfelt, and ass-kicking acceptance speeches.

Ben Stiller making fun of Joaquin Phoenix during his presentation with Natalie Portman. Hi-larious. “I just want to retire from being the funny guy,” he said — to which Portman replied, “You look like you work at a Hasidic meth lab.”

Kunio Kato’s acceptance speech after winning the award for Animated Feature (La Maison en petits cubes): he ended with “Domo arigato, Mr Roboto”. Way to perpetuate stereotypes, I guess … but it was mightily funny.

Viola Davis. She was absolutely gorgeous.

Hugh Jackman, again: classic tuxedo, charming host, damn is he handsome.

NOT AWESOME!

Sophia Loren looking rather unfortunate and making an incredibly awkward presentation speech to Best Supporting Actress nominee Meryl Streep. Yikes. That makeup … a little too zombie for my tastes.

The man-sized bow spilling off of Jessica Biel’s dress. Honestly, I don’t understand high fashion at the best of times, but I can’t figure out why that would ever be a good idea.

Beyoncé lip-synching during her performance with Jackman during the musical medley. What’s up, Miss Knowles? That was disappointing, especially since Hugh was singing superbly well while doing his rather strenuous dance moves.

Speaking of which, that whole musical medley was just not good. Thanks, Baz Luhrmann — you managed to make that thing interminable and full of really awkward “transitions”, which were really just abrupt cuts between songs. That could’ve been better.

Jennifer Aniston’s really awkward presentation speech … made even more awkward for us, the TV-watching audience, when the camera cut to Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in the middle of it.

The technical flubs: the voice of the stage director hissing “open the curtain!” at one point when the video started playing behind it, or the crew starting the Best Director clip too early and surprising presenter Reese Witherspoon. I guess it can’t be a live broadcast without a few muck-ups here and there.

—-

How long until next year’s?

Sloan (March 6, The Supermarket, Toronto)
review

Just by virtue of the fact that they played a host of songs I never thought I’d see them do (“Stood Up” and “Same Old Flame”, for example, from an old 7″ released around 1996), gave us a preview of some new tunes a few months before Parallel Play, and had a good time on a small stage.

The Bad Plus (May 24, Quincy’s, Calgary)
review

One of the more talented jazz groups I have had the pleasure of witnessing, and of course, they ended with their now-famous cover of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” (which the Bad Plus have released on 2007’s Prog). Incredibly talented and versatile musicians, and Quincy’s was a great venue for them.

The Weakerthans (July 24, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

I credit this show with catapulting me into becoming a Weakerthans fan. They were terrific, and just the perfect sort of music for a summer afternoon. There couldn’t have been anything better about the Weakerthans’ short folk festival set.

Be Good Tanyas (July 25, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

I’ve wanted to see the Tanyas for quite a few years, dating back to the first time I heard “The Littlest Birds” from Blue Horse. Unfortunately, they didn’t play that, but they put on a very impressive show at the Folk Festival, reminding us that their blend of bluegrass, folk and country is not going anywhere. Three of the finest voices this country has to offer.

Andrew Bird (July 25, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Definitely one of the most unique and interesting acts at the Folk Festival this year. It was hard to believe everything was being done by one man and a hard-working loop pedal; very intricate and delicately crafted music, and a great experience to see it being done live.

Blue Rodeo (July 26, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Words can’t describe how much fun I had with Blue Rodeo. It had rained most of the afternoon and evening that day and I was ready to bail, but I’m glad we stuck it out — it’s obvious to me now why Blue Rodeo have been around for such a long time. Incredible musicians, and their joy of playing radiates from everything they do.

Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet (July 27, Calgary Folk Festival)
review

Abigail Washburn: a redheaded Southern belle who can sing in fluent Mandarin, accompanied by a string band. This alone is good enough to land the Sparrow Quartet on the list, but on top of that, they are amazing (also featuring banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck). To see these musicians is a real experience.

Squeeze (August 28, Kool Haus, Toronto)
review

I’ve wanted this to happen for years, and when it finally did, nothing was a letdown. Tilbrook was on top form, his voice and guitar skills as good as they ever were, and a bonus of touring without an album to back was a setlist jam-packed with all kinds of unexpected songs. A party from start to finish.

Sigur Rós (September 22, Massey Hall, Toronto)
review

I didn’t know what to expect going into this, but everything about it was great. Ethereal and soaring and very, very musical. The encore didn’t hurt either: a huge, joyful version of “Gobbledigook” featuring all the members of opening band Parachutes, and near the end, the biggest blast of confetti I’ve ever seen inside a concert hall. We were picking up the pieces for weeks!

Martin Tielli (September 28, Hugh’s Room, Toronto)

I regret not doing a proper review for this show, since it stayed with me for quite a few weeks. Tielli is one of those musicians you can go to when you’re sick of everyone doing the same thing, because he’s never, ever conventional. An incredible performance of his solo tunes and Rheos material with a great band of supporting musicians.

David Byrne (October 29, Massey Hall, Toronto)
review

Byrne is a real legend, and deservedly so; he did all the right things on the Massey stage, and added some quirks too (like the dancers!). The new material translates exceptionally well live, and he threw in some Talking Heads favourites too. He’s a thrilling performer, and one I’d see again in a heartbeat.

Hayden (November 1, Massey Hall, Toronto)

Backed by members of Cuff the Duke, Hayden’s jamming-in-a-living-room sort of set was homey and perfect, filling the beautiful old Massey Hall with his easygoing music. I didn’t want it to end. I’d see him again quite readily, especially since I bought his album after the show and know it reasonably better now.

Robin Williams (November 22, Massey Hall, Toronto)

The funniest hour and a half I’ve spent all year. Robin Williams just does not stop talking, and flits around from subject to subject to potty joke faster than light. Much ado was made about the American election, but also the Canadian one (he did a remarkable impression of Prime Minister Harper), and his accents and miming skills are among the most hilarious things I’ve seen in a while.

Justin Rutledge (December 1, Cameron House, Toronto)

If ever there were a perfect show, this might be it. The Cameron House’s front room capacity is about 70, and there were at least that many people crammed in there to hear Justin Rutledge on night 4 of his “Incredible Shrinking Tour” (each night brought a smaller venue). Many songs from Man Descending were played, and he went over two hours before finally deciding to take a break. I had no idea that much time had passed — a testament to the captivating things happening on stage.

Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe (December 14, Massey Hall, Toronto)

I must confess: before this, I didn’t even like Stuart McLean. I would turn the radio off when the Vinyl Café started. However, there’s something about seeing the live version that makes things all the more enjoyable; ad-libs, personal anecdotes, and the really great musicians he brought along with him. I have been inducted into the world of Dave and Morley, and while I probably won’t listen to too many studio broadcasts, the live ones have a certain warmth that I really enjoyed.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS: There were two shows that I feel worthy of mentioning here, but they didn’t make the main list mostly because I was heavily involved with them (and that is probably a conflict of interest!). One of them is The Bicycles’ CD release party at Lee’s Palace on November 8, featuring a myriad of guest performers like Forest City Lovers, Henri Fabergé and the Adorables, Sloan, Hooded Fang, $100, Matt Murphy, etc. I did play in about 8 songs, but the Bicycles put on a fantastic performance in every one, including backing up all the aforementioned bands. It was a great way to bring Oh No, It’s Love into the world. (review)

The other is Entire Cities’ CD release party at the Canadian Corps Hall on April 11. This is my band, and we had planned for quite some time to get the release party in order. Everything went without a hitch; no delays, no PA problems, great sound, and a lovely time. It still stands as probably the best show I’ve ever played, and certainly the best show with Entire Cities; I think that in itself merits a mention.

Happy new year, everybody! I look forward to the news and tunes of 2009 (already shaping up to be a pretty good year). Now if only that strike would end already.

10. SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE, Sea From Shore (Thrill Jockey)

Peter Brewis of Field Music, whose Tones of Town made it to the top of my list last year, is back with a new project. School of Language’s debut album is strange and quirky (the four-part “Rockist” certainly assures that much) but also features some great poppy numbers like “Poor Boy” and “Disappointment ‘99″. Every time you listen to it, something different stands out: you have to listen to it many times over to realise everything that it has to offer, and that cements its status as one of the top albums of the year.

Review: March 2008
Listen to Disappointment ‘99

9. THE BURNING HELL, Happy Birthday (weewerk)

The Burning Hell are awesome because they simultaneously don’t take themselves too seriously and take themselves very seriously. Mathias Kom’s earnest baritone is, well, serious, but he uses it to sing about dinosaurs, zombies and other playful subjects; the closing number involves him singing about his iconic ukulele. This is a band that isn’t afraid to appear whimsical (and they do, on several occasions) but Happy Birthday is also a lesson in how to play with a giant Broken-Social-Scene-sized ensemble and still make the music sound intimate and well-rehearsed.

Review: January 2008
Listen to Municipal Monarchs

8. THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, Heretic Pride (4AD)

I’ve always admired John Darnielle’s songwriting, and Heretic Pride is no reason to quit. Of course, the album features his trademark nasal vocal style, which admittedly gets to be a bit annoying on the title track particularly, but there’s also something about that style that fits perfectly with his abstract lyrics and occasionally jerky guitar. There’s some almost ethereal work on Heretic Pride too, though: songs like “San Bernardino”, featuring strings, and “Sept 15, 1983″, songs which remind you just how talented Darnielle really is and why he deserves a place on this list. (Well — that, and he has a song called “Michael Myers Resplendent,” which should be a bye into the top 10 no matter what!)

Review: April 2008
Listen to Sax Rohmer #1

7. LONGWAVE, Secrets Are Sinister (Original Signal)

I have Adam to thank for this one. I wasn’t familiar with Longwave’s work until 2008, so Secrets Are Sinister is the only album of theirs that I’ve heard in its entirety. Really, the best adjective for this record is “tight” — very together, very well put together, and very hard-driving. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been listening to it in the season of snow, but it seems curiously to sound like a wintry album without resorting to clichés. “Sirens in the Deep Sea” is a well-chosen opening track, and the whole thing feels a bit like a film distilled into musical form: a perfect flow from start to finish.

Listen to Sirens in the Deep Sea

6. THE BICYCLES, Oh No, It’s Love (Fuzzy Logic)

Before you jump up and call bias (I was on this record as a member of the horn section), I’ll remind you that I had no part in the actual writing or creation of this album, and so I think it’s fair game! The Bicycles’ sophomore record is much more mature and varied than their bubblegum-pop debut album, and the myriad list of guests (including Basia Bulat, Bob Egan, Laura Barrett and Dan Werb) fleshes out the foursome’s collection of musical ideas. At 19 tracks, the album runs just under 38 minutes — a testament to the tight, poppy esthetic the band still maintains. Oh No, It’s Love is simultaneously a fun, playful record and a slick rock collection, and finds its niche comfortably in between; again, the only thing wrong with this record is track 16, the unfunny, awkward comedy interlude (1:03) that disrupts the flow and holds the dubious honour of being the only track that needs skipping.

Review: November 2008
Listen to End of a Good Thing

5. DAVID BYRNE & BRIAN ENO, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (self-released)

When you pair up two musical luminaries such as these, the unexpected will usually come to pass. So it is with Everything That Happens, a long (long, long)-awaited follow-up to 1981’s collaboration My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. That album was quite experimental, using “found objects”, strange samples, and other such interesting sounds; this album is quite conventional by comparison. Some songs even lean toward the singer-songwriter style, such as “My Big Nurse” — but still manages to incorporate enough inventiveness not to be dismissed outright. Curious piano riffs and odd vocal styles (“I Feel My Stuff”), understated downtempo songs (title track) and decidedly new wave influences come together in a sort of mishmash of sounds to create a slick, well-produced, and very interesting record. It’s not as weird or inaccessible as Bush of Ghosts, but this is a positive: Byrne & Eno have made a record that it is nearly impossible to dislike.

Review: October 2008
Listen to Home

4. HAYDEN, In Field & Town (Hardwood)

The best thing about Hayden is that his songs have a curious way of sounding like home, no matter where that might be or how long it has been since you were there. In Field & Town has a quiet humility about its tracks, which are unpretentious and charming to the end; when he played at Massey Hall with Cuff the Duke as his backing band, opening for Feist, the stage was set up to look like a cluttered living room, complete with rugs, a few lopsided table lamps, and even some dishes strewn on top of keyboards (just like his album cover, which is among my favourites). This album floats into your ears and waits for you to realise that it is worth keeping around; nothing is forced, and everything is perfect.

Listen to Damn This Feeling

3. SAM ROBERTS, Love at the End of the World (Secret Brain)

If Secrets Are Sinister was a winter album, then this is definitely one for summer. Sam Roberts has always had that breezy summer feel about his songs, and Love at the End of the World shows him at the top of his writing game; tunes like “Detroit ‘67″ and “Them Kids” just make you want to dance around in fields. “Lions of the Kalahari” and the title track are like the impending summer sunset, a little calmer but no less thrilling. Roberts has crafted an engaging record once again, and one that is immaculately produced to boot. It’ll be a long time before I’m tired of this.

Review: June 2008
Listen to Detroit ‘67

2. JUSTIN RUTLEDGE, Man Descending (Six Shooter)

My top two albums were a tough contest, and Man Descending sat in the number 1 spot for a long time before I finally made up my mind. That alone should tell you how good this record is! Justin Rutledge’s music is usually best listened to after dark, preferably near to midnight; it is calm and beautiful and intimate without being vacuous or boring. Everything about this album is understated, and Rutledge’s voice — smooth as honey — covers everything in a layer of softness. Although it’s by definition a country or roots record, there’s no hoedown or overt twanginess present here — instead, a very solid folk element, some nighttime campfire sounds, and a collection of beautiful lyrics. I can’t think of anything wrong with this record: maybe it should have been a tie!

Listen to Greenwich Time

1. ELLIOTT BROOD, Mountain Meadows (Six Shooter)

It’s a tough thing, choosing the best record of the year. I can’t say I have a remotely unbiased view, considering I heard a pretty small number of new albums in 2008. I can’t say that one winner really stood out at the beginning of all this, either — but out of the mess of good records, mediocre ones, and unmentionables, and out of the scrap between spots 1 and 2, a winner did emerge, and that was Mountain Meadows. This record is a mishmash of all kinds of sounds, from the Rutledge style of quiet folk to the rollicking piano-led hoedown of “Woodward Avenue,” from soaring build (“Fingers and Tongues”) to simple singable tunes (“Without Again”). There is very little that Elliott Brood has not thrown forth on this album, but it comes out as a cohesive whole instead of a collection of parts. Mark Sasso’s trademark raspy voice races through the songs, completely unrestrained (his entrance on “Woodward Avenue” is particularly striking!) and it’s unique touches like these that separate Elliott Brood from the rest of the country bands out there. They do what they want — and if what they want always sounds like this, count me in.

Listen to Fingers and Tongues and Woodward Avenue

Hope all of your holidays are going magnificently; another list or two is forthcoming and then it’s back to business as usual. Take care!

Cover songs are a subject of great debate among music fans. Are they good? bad? unthinkable? terrific? For my part, I am firmly on the “awesome” side of the fence – if, of course, the cover is done well. True to form or re-worked, it doesn’t matter, as long as the new version does justice to the original tune. In some cases they are even better, which is a great little surprise.

Here, in no particular order, is a list of some covers I can’t get enough of:

1. Marshall Crenshaw, Rave On
   (Marshall Crenshaw, 1982; remastered edition from 2000)

   I can’t get enough of Marshall Crenshaw, and I listen to this song over and over and over. It’s true that it’s a pretty form-fitting cover of the Buddy Holly (which is also really good, of course), but there’s something about it that I particularly love. Crenshaw’s voice is terrific. Even his countoff is endearing.

2. Jully Black, Seven Day Fool
   (Revival, 2007)

   A lot of people seem to have no idea that this is actually a cover; Etta James first did it on her album The Second Time Around in 1961, and now Black has brought it back to the forefront with her excellent version. Quite similar to James’ song, Black has still managed to infuse it with her fantastic sense of soul. Beware of earworms.

3. Sloan, Waterfalls
   (Listen to What the Man Said: A Tribute to Paul McCartney, 2001)

   An uptempo version of the somewhat ponderous tune from 1980’s McCartney II. This is one of those cases of “cover is better than the original”, and I’m not saying that lightly (I love Sir Paul); however, Sloan’s interpretation just seems to suit the song so much better, and Ferguson’s crooning of “polarbears” is the cherry on top.

4. The Bad Plus, Tom Sawyer
   (Prog, 2007)

   Yeah, a jazz cover of Rush. No big deal. I had the pleasure of seeing this ridiculously cool cover performed live, and it was just as great, and perhaps even better, than the Bad Plus’ recording. (Some argued it was better than Rush, but I wouldn’t go quite so far.) This trio fragments, reworks, and solos all over the Geddy Lee & Co. standard, but it is still completely recognizable. A pretty fun romp around jazzland, especially if you like the original.

5. The Golden Dogs, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
   (Big Eye Little Eye, 2006)

   I know, two Paul McCartney covers in the same post? Really, though, the Golden Dogs’ take on the Wings tune is a super good one, and I didn’t want to leave it out. It’s taken a little faster than the original, but otherwise is quite true to it; barring the little “Band on the Run” reprise at the end, it is pretty close.

* I’m having some trouble uploading “Seven Day Fool,” so check back in a little while to see if it’s back. Sorry about that.