Broken Bells is AWESOME!! |
Tony Harnell & The Mercury Train-Round Trip(acoustic rock)
Accept-Blood of the Nations(hard rock) |
1 more to add here, I think thats 3 on the list from me....
Deer Tick "The Black Dirt Sessions" (Partisan Records)
More Rootsy, Americana, Alt Country with heart, soul and swag. If you aren't drawn in and moved by track 3 please check your pulse! John McCauley is one of my favorite young songwriters. If you have not heard him, please give him a go. The first track on "War Elephant", Ashamed (2007 Partisan Records) is a classic, a great place to start. |
I am really enjoying the album I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers !! |
"Watch the Grammys and let the pros decide ......."
Ha! Too funny... |
Watch the Grammys and let the pros decide ....... |
Adding Junip "Fields" to this list. Can't get this one off my system these days. Fans of Jose Gonzalez "Veneer" + "In Our Nature" may enjoy this more elaborate side of him. Still sparse and unmistakable...adding and organ player, bass and drums, evolves his stuff and adds intensity. Love this record. |
Second the Laura Mauling album. Great soundstage and recording sonics. One of the absolute best. Also like Florence + The Machine. |
Soldersplatter...That Lara Marling is a great album. She is quite the talent and a perfect match for Mumford and Sons. I think it is a special one that many folks missed. |
Sleigh Bells: Treats
Titus Andronicus: The Monitor
James Blakes' EPs
Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest (even better than Microcastle)
Tame Impalas: Innerspeaker
Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can (rockin' folk music)
There were some decent releases by older rockers, but I prefer to listen to classical music rather than dad rock these days. And I'm old. |
I've been enjoying Justin Townes Earle's "Harlem River Blues" of late as well. |
I have really been diggin Avalon by Sully Erna. Laid back, unlike what you might expect |
Listened thru the whole Ron Wood on the way in to work, today. Even the first few tracks are starting to grow on me - maybe like fungus.
This is one of those loose, relaxed, bloosy things where the songs just meander for a while before they heat up - usually due to some smoking leads.
Again, not for every taste, and it might take more than one listen, but rewarding for those who dig this kind of thing.
Marty |
The Elton John/Leon Russell is a major bummer. I had HIGH hopes, but....
As to Wood's new one , think of the boozy "Exile" vibe. Less polished than Petty's "Mojo" (Wood doesn't really have that pop instinct) but similarly evocative of that specific era in R'n'R - for me, anyway. The first several tracks are just too lazy, but the record gains momentum as it moves along. By the end, there's some GITAR pickin' goin' on!
Probably not for every taste, but I find myself going back for more.
Marty |
Marty, perhaps you're right. My reaction on first pass was the same as with Elton John on the Leon Russell duet album. Through aging or booze, both are so down in vocal range as to be unrecognizable and drained of energy. Maybe the compression on Napster has something to do with it, or my expectations being frozen in the past. |
Dgarretson,
I really like the second half of Wood's "I Feel Like Playing" - a lot! The first handful of tunes almost put me off, but on repeat visits the last 7 tracks are very good - IMHO. You might want to spin it up one more time. If it still doesn't move you, we'll chalk it up to "different strokes".
Marty |
Martykl, thanks I wasn't aware of Ron Wood soloing again. However notwithstanding nostalgia "I Feel Like Playing" is lackluster. Nothing from him really hits the mark since "I've Got My Own Album to Do" and "Now Look"-- IMO both of which surpass the Stones during those years.
Yep, Mumford & Arcade Fire are among the best of 2010. The Arcade Fire LP doesn't sound compressed, though there is a bit of wall of sound going on there. |
Holy crap! I can't believe I haven't mentioned Tame Impala earlier. Innerspeaker is one incredible album and may end up as my pick for the year. You guys who think "they don't make good music anymore" might actually even like this one. Sounds like Lennon, Harrison, Dungen and the production style of The Flaming Lips in a blender. |
Another fan of The Suburbs. As Keithr and Bongofury suggest, it's really an amazing album. As for the compression issue, it really opened up for me when I changed my speakers (from Dynaudio X12s to Snell K/IIs). |
I love how the Suburbs just unfolds, with each song informing the next. All the great albums have this quality, the Beatles: White Album, Rolling Stone's Exile.
While not in their direct stature, I think the Suburbs will be viewed as one of the masterpieces of this decade. |
I keep coming back to The Arcade Fire---Suburbs. Just a superb piece of music (wish it wasn't so compressed though). |
Energizer,
What era are you stuck in to write, "there are no great rock bands anymore"? Do you shopping at Best Buy? Maybe one of those mall stores? |
The more I listen to it the more I think Widespread Panic - Dirty Side Down, is the best I have heard. Great album. |
From the "Good Things Come In 3s" Dep't:
For those who liked the 60s blues rock feel of Tom Petty's latest and Los Lobos "Tin Can Trust", here comes....
Ronnie Wood "I Feel Like Playing". It sounds like he does feel like playing, too, as the second half of the CD (it starts off a bit rough) features some great guitar work.
Honestly, I think "Mumford and Sons" takes the best of 2010 in a walk, but this one has a lot going for it, too - in a very different way. Call it "Top Ten"
Marty |
Les Paul and Friends
excellent recording |
Ryan Bingham's Junky Star is FANTASTIC!!
If you like the album Nebraska by the Boss, I think you will love this album. |
Aloe Blacc: one of the great nu soul voices to emerge. On heavy rotation |
Steve Miller
great guitar work |
Sorry, meant to say DMM vinyl. |
"John Cale & Band Live" MIG/WDR limited edition DDM vinyl of Rockpalast concert recorded 1984 at 3AM in Essen Germany. Fierce, corruscating performance that's much better than the mostly bland commercial release that year of "Cale Comes Alive." |
The last few Robyn Hitchcock with The Venus 3 have been good, but "Propeller Time" is special. Less cuteness and more like channeling the spidery trippy spirit of Syd Barrett. Assisted by John Paul Jones, Nick Lowe, Johnny Marr, and some cool mellotron. Excellent LP. |
Superchunk: Majesty Shredding. It is both. |
Just received Ray LaMontagne - "God Willin and the Creek Don't Rise", Peter Wolf- "Midnight Souvenirs", and Neil Young- "Les Noise" yesterday.
Great stuff.
Crazy good guitar work by Neil Young. How long can he keep this up? |
Todd and Dgarret,
Bought Mumford "Sigh No More" today on your recommendation. Flat out stunning. Reminds me a bit of 16 Horsepower, but doesn't feel at all derivative. Probably the most startling thing I've heard this year.
Marty |
Garreth Liddiard - Strange Tourist
!!!! |
If Michael MacDonald sits this one out, who sings "Ya-mo b-there"?
I loved the 40 yr Old Virgin. Classic bad cinema. |
Footnote:
Mickey does sing back up on one song. Maybe he paid them to make an appearance.
But it is not hardly anywhere near enough to muck up the entire album.
IMO |
I'll also recommend giving the new Doobie Brothers and Kings of Leon releases a listen.
Thank goodness the Doobs chose to let Michael McDonald sit this one out.
IMO |
I second Audiofeil's recommendation of the new John Mellencamp. The tracks recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis are artistic and sonic standouts.
Just got the new Shelby Lynne and Los Lobos vinyl and both are excellent.
I like the Bad Plus LP but the pressing is awful. |
Yes, produced by T Bone Burnett using a single microphone.
It has a wonderful feel.
IMO |
Is that the one recorded in Mono ? |
The new John Mellencamp album, "No Better Than This", is terrific.
IMO |
Peter Wolf "Midnight Souvenires" |
Agree with Dgarretson: Add Deerhunter's Halcyon Digest to you list. |
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (will be a record people talk about for years)
Broken Bells - Interesting The Shins meets Danger Mouse
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
No Age - Everything In Between
No Age comes out with their third effort but it comes up short to their last one 'Nouns' but there is something I just love about this band and they're my guilty pleasure for sure.
Check out the link to give you an idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7_SolIcIY&feature=related |
Just listened to it last night
Neil's rocking. |
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Deerhunter "Halcyon Digest". Digest is correct as it's stylistically slipperier than Microcastle, ranging from anticipated alt. psychedelia to Conner Oberst-style crooning(but with less angst and a better sense to melody) to only slightly bent surprisingly strong pop and R&B song structures with just a halo of trippiness. Probably the most fertile imaginations of all of the newer bands. Excellent SQ with production values suggested by an illustration of a RTR tape hub on the LP label. Add to that the supplicant transvestite dwarf in a communion dress on the cover and we've got a big winner.
And OH YEAH, Neil Young "Le Noise" is his best in decades. Excellent if expensive Reprise vinyl. |
Check out the excellent " Lisbon" by The Walkmen and Menomena's Mines1 |
Blonde Redhead Penny Sparkle, aptly subtitled "your OTHER WORLD (DREAM) IS INSIDE HERE----> Here sometimes, not getting there, will there be stars, my plants are dead, Cove or prison, Oslo, penny sparkle, everthing is wrong, black guitar, spain." As hypnotic & original dream pop as has been heard in a long while. A few minor defects on the 4AD pressing, but otherwise a demo-quality LP. |
