Merry Christmas

Ryan Adams live tracks

It's no secret I'm a big Ryan Adams fan, and it's been a good year to be one, with the release of Easy Tiger and a U.S. tour. Even though his newfound sobriety apparently hasn't made him much more of a pleasant person to be around, I thoroughly enjoyed his 3 1/2-hour show here in Columbus other than some self-indulgent jams.

I recently got my hands on a copy of the Cardinals' set from the Fillmore at the TLA in Philadelphia in June, and there's some killer tracks from that night as well. As a little holiday treat, here's a rocking version of "Bartering Lines" (Heartbreaker) from the show, as well as "Please Do Not Let Me Go" (Love is Hell).

mp3: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Bartering Lines
mp3: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - Please Do Not Let Me Go

Okkervil River - Free EP

I've become a big fan of Okkervil River in the past year, mostly because of this year's The Stage Names, which ended up as No. 2 on my best of 2007 list. Earlier in the year, Daytrotter made its session with band available for complimentary download (which is still available), and now the band is giving us more free tunes in the form of Golden Opportunities, a mixtape of mostly live covers recorded on the band's 2006-07 tour. There are tunes by Joni Mitchell, John Cale and an original called "Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas." Download the entire EP for free here.

Silverchair - Newport, 12-7

Silverchair comes from the land down under, and the band has pretty much stayed there the past 10 years. In 1995 its grunge debut, Frogstomp, was released when singer/guitarist Daniel Johns, bassist Chris Joannou and drummer Ben Gillies were only 15. Epic signed Silverchair after the band won some studio time from a radio station contest. Little did they know that studio time would spawn a multiplatinum album and a number-one single--“Tomorrow,” that flannel anthem about a fat boy who for some reason must wait till tomorrow.

“Pure Massacre,” the second single, did reasonably well, and singles from releases in ’97 and ’99 made small splashes here and there throughout the U.S. But for the most part, Silverchair fell off most people’s radars as grunge did the same. In Australia, it’s a different story. The band is the most successful rock band the country has ever seen, garnering five number-one albums. The boys continued making music and each album showed a new facet of Silverchair, improving on the previous release. This year’s Young Modern is getting rave reviews.

As it turns out, the radio contest wasn’t a fluke. The band really is talented. Who knew? (Well, I guess Australia did.)

It became apparent quickly on Friday night that Johns is used to being a rock sensation. He treated the Newport as if it were a giant arena that could only be filled by his rock-star posturing in a tuxedo vest (he shed his sport coat only three songs into the set). Luckily for him, he has an incredible voice and a fair amount of good songs to go with it. Gone is the Stone Temple Pilots, pickle-in-the-mouth grunge voice. Johns has a clean, powerful rock voice with quite an impressive range, as well as a pleasant if not overused falsetto. He puts Eddie Vedder and even Chris Cornell to shame. Johns is the pretty-boy theatrical type, which can get annoying, but he frequently put it aside to establish a good rapport with the crowd.

Lyrically, Silverchair has come a long way, but there’s still some tunes that are slightly cringe-worthy. “The Greatest View” stood out as an example of cheeseball lyrics, with the repeated line, “I’m watching you watch over me.” It didn’t help that the song itself is fairly weak, and would probably work well in a dentist office playlist. A couple of other songs conjured up corny arena rock--I’m not a fan of the new Journey-meets-Coldplay single, “Straight Lines,” but the crowd evidently was.

Just as many of the tunes were shout-along anthems with lofty melodies and nicely altered arrangements. “If You Keep Losing Sleep,” “Ana’s Song (Open Fire)” and “Tuna in the Brine” worked well, all swinging between arty and radio-ready. And, I admit, hearing older tunes from Frogstomp such as “Israel’s Son” brought back memories of trying to learn the songs on my first acoustic guitar in middle school. The Aussies didn’t play the old stuff grudgingly, either, looking as if they truly enjoyed getting all mid-’90s on us. Silverchair never did play “Pure Massacre” or “Tomorrow,” but I can’t really fault the band for it. I mean, the guys hit it big in their early teens, and number-one hit or not, no one should be forced to re-enact their teenage years on a nightly basis. Or ever, for that matter.

As Tall as Lions shares Silverchair’s penchant for anthemic choruses, playing pop rock suited for an opening act. It was pretty good for about 30 minutes, but any more than that would have been too long. The band has been lumped in with emo acts because of its label, Triple Crown, but vocalist Daniel Ligro isn’t a whiner, and he can pull off some tunes in a fairly high register. The minor harmonies were nice and atypical, although it felt like all these guys just discovered falsetto and don’t realize it can be overused. Also, the bass player’s awkwardly bombastic stage moves were way overdone, and I started to get embarrassed for him, like a guy at a party who thinks he can really dance and no one has the heart to tell him he sucks. One of his bandmates needs to have a heart-to-heart with him, look him in the eye, and say, “Dude, you’re a bassist.”

Radiohead - New York Times

Now that most of the hoopla about Radiohead's pay-what-you-want digital In Rainbows release (No. 3 on my Best of 2007 list) has passed, The New York Times ran an article Sunday about the album, and it's Radiohead's first extensive interview since the release. It's an interesting read. I liked picturing Thom Yorke at his local Oxford pub, scribbling down lyrics for the next Radiohead album over a pint. Although after this article, I'm thinking he won't be able to get away with that anymore now that the Rose and Crown has been outed at his favorite writing spot.

Best albums of 2007

After all my fawning over The National, I was excited to see the band on the cover of Paste’s December issue. (The magazine voted Boxer as the best album of 2007.) But, I have to admit, I was selfishly a little disappointed because, well, I felt like I couldn’t pick Boxer as my album of the year anymore. Gotta be original, right? So I whittled down my list, reordered it, then reordered it some more, and grudgingly put Okkervil River as No. 1 (though I do love The Stage Names). Then I realized how completely stupid that was. What’s the point of being original if it’s not true? So Boxer is back on top. After listening to my top five picks again, it truly is my favorite album of 2007.

So here’s my top 25 with a quick comment about each, along with my five biggest disappointments and five overhyped (or overblogged, or overrated--you get it) albums of the year.

Top 25 Albums of 2007
1. The National - Boxer
Matt Berninger has the best baritone in rock, and he’s just as good at singing about white-collar malaise as he is about love, and often in the same song.
2. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
A close second. “Love to a Monster” is one of the best breakup songs I’ve ever heard, with lyrics that shiver uncomfortably with honesty. Sample lyric: “I hope you get angry and hurt and have the hardest of landings. And I hope your new man thinks of me when he sees what a number I did on you.”
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows
I was utterly shocked by this album. I really didn’t expect to like it, but it’s the best Radiohead album since Ok Computer in my book.
4. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
I think I’m one of the few people who thinks Ryan Adams isn’t prolific enough.
5. Southeast Engine - A Wheel Within a Wheel
Lots of Ezekiel references, other biblical imagery and lines out of the Norton Anthology, with a singer who conjures the voice of Jeff Tweedy and the phrasing of Ben Kweller. What’s not to like?
6. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Not a sophomore slump.
7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
If Spoon releases an album every year, it will almost always end up in the top 10. The band constantly reinvents itself, yet rarely missteps.
8. Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
One of the most underrated bands on the planet. Chewy poetic center inside a poppy candy shell.
9. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
It’s hard to find a better songwriter than Josh Ritter, and it was nice to hear him expand sonically on this album.
10. Feist - The Reminder
Feist hops between genres seamlessly, simultaneously appealing to hipsters and their moms.
11. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Ethereal violin pop? By any label, “Imitosis” is one of my favorite tracks of the year.
12. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog
Sam Beam did the impossible. He branched out in a way that pleased listeners who wanted some change, yet stayed familiar enough to make his loyal fan base happy (for the most part).
13. White Stripes - Icky Thump
Jack White gets more enigmatic with each release. It’s also a great album when you want to hear dirty guitars that can blow a speaker.
14. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
I’m surprised this album hasn’t appeared on more lists. It’s a little uneven, but the bright spots are really bright. If you haven’t already, at least check out the title track, “Country Caravan” and “Big Star.”
15. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
The blogger backlash was inevitable after “Float On.” But I’d listen to a Johnny Marr Modest Mouse song over a Smiths song any day (see Iconic bands I don’t like). Give the album another try if you wrote it off.
16. The Everybodyfields - Nothing is Okay
A male-female duo with unique but complementary voices makes a depressing country album that for some reason isn’t a downer. Great fiddle, too.
17. Sea Wolf - Leaves in the River
“You’re a Wolf” is one of the best songs of the year, and the other tracks are solid, too, especially “Black Dirt.” Alex Church writes dark, folky stuff and adds strings to create Romanian overtones.
18. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
I was disappointed in this album, but even a disappointing Wilco album is better than most releases. That’s how good Wilco is.
19. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Lots of atmosphere, lots of reverb, catchy tunes, a little twang. My Morning Jacket meets the Shins.
20. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
Watching these guys perform really made this album open up for me. “Don’t Be Afraid, You’re Already Dead” is gorgeous, and despite that title, the album is unironically uplifting.
21. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Backlash for this one was predictable, as well. It was disappointing, but like Wilco, it’s hard for the Shins to mess things up too much.
22. Josh Rouse - Country Mouse, City House
Another underrated songwriter who consistently puts out excellent albums that wallow in subtlety.
23. Ian Ball - Who Goes There
Ian Ball was always my favorite singer in Gomez, so this album plays like a Best of Gomez to me.
24. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
World music, chant singing and indie rock. After more listens, it’s possible this one could climb higher in the list.
25. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
I guess “freak folk” and “eclectic” are redundant, but I’m amazed how Banhart managed to make an album that mingles ’60s folk, the Doors and a song about a briss that has him evoking a Jamaican Perry Como.

Top 5 Disappointments
1. Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War
2. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
3. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
4. Ben Lee - Ripe
5. Youth Group - Casino Twilight Dogs

Top 5 Overhyped
1. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
3. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
4. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
5. Peter Bjorn and John - Writer’s Block

Quiet

We had our first snow in Columbus yesterday, and it was substantial. Not enough for the news teams to give it a catchy name, but enough to slow things down and make everything look nice and clean for a little while.

Coincidentally, the day before, I received in the mail an EP by Jim Ward titled Quiet. Actually, it was addressed to Joel Childers, so maybe I'm not supposed to have it. (Mr. Childers: If you would like your EP, I'll send it along, but I'm afraid I'll have to keep my current address.) Jim Ward was the the guitarist for seminal post-hardcore/emo-punkers At the Drive-In, then went on to form the not-so-seminal-but-similar band Sparta with some of the leftovers. (The other remaining members became the Mars Volta.)

It turns out Ward has created a nice, aptly titled little five-song EP that's a great companion to a snow day. Ward usually shreds his vocal chords screaming in Sparta, but on these tunes he sounds like a subdued, American David Gray alongside stripped-down, acoustic arrangements. It's nothing groundbreaking lyrically, but it's surprisingly understated coming from Ward. Maura Davis of Denali also adds some vocals on "Take it Back" to great effect.

In the release, Ward hints that this is the first in a series of recordings, and says that after a long tour, "I wanted to sit in my house and play acoustic guitar quietly." I'm glad he did, because on cold, snowy days I like to sit in my house and listen to acoustic guitar quietly.

mp3: Jim Ward - Take it Back

Spoon with Great Northern, Buffalo Killers and Happy Chichester, LC Pavilion, 12-3

“Indie rock” has become somewhat of a meaningless term over the last few years, with plenty of bands who are by no means independent being tagged with the descriptor. The term also assumes all rock on an independent label must sound similar by nature of its origin. Such is the difficulty and danger of attempting to put music into neat little categories. But, the term has begun permeating the mainstream, finding its way into movies, TV shows and dozens of commercials aimed at the coveted 18-30 demographic. And when a genre is that pervasive and accepted, it makes sense to use it, misnomer or not.

Spoon embodies the indie rock ethos, and I for one am glad to see the band gain in popularity the last couple of years after toiling away since 1994. Spoon didn’t have a Garden State to catapult it to the level of the Shins, or a crossover single delivered to the masses like Modest Mouse (“I Turn My Camera On” came close), but the popularity of the indie rock genre and the band’s clever re-inventions on a succession of albums (and locally, a good amount radio airplay) have enabled Spoon to reach that first tier of indie rock recognition.

Britt Daniel is Spoon. He’s an unassuming guy, to the point where he walked through the crowd beforehand without most people ever noticing. He’s like the nondescript guy from every college dorm who keeps a low profile and always looks like he just woke up. But the style he has created for the band is truly his own, with a scratchy-but-soulful voice scraping away over sharp, quick guitar and piano. It’s as if every instrument in Spoon is part of the rhythm section, which creates plenty of space for quirky musical gestures and avoids claustrophobic tendencies.

Daniel and his Austin, Texas, cohorts communicated almost all of that uniqueness live, making the show a real treat for longtime fans and first-timers. While the set was heavy on cuts from this year’s confusingly titled Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon broke out some oldies, too, opening the show with a great version of “If You Say So” from 1996’s All the Negatives Have Been Destroyed. Daniel played his guitar like a jackhammer and sang with passion on danceable burners such as “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb,” “Rhthm & Soul” and “Don’t Make Me a Target,” with lyrics about “nuclear dicks with dialect drawls” who “come from a parking lot town.”

There were a couple of weak points. “The Ghost of You Lingers” could have been cut from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and the same went for the live set. The horn section on “The Underdog” was sorely missed. Also, the person manning the sound board perpetually added short blasts of reverb and echo to Daniel’s vocals. I assume this was at the request of the band, but it came off as unnecessary and distracting--almost as distracting as the drunken college student who repeatedly attempted to talk to me about the 2008 presidential election during the concert, then asked if I would return something to Global Gallery for him. ($5 tickets = more beer money = muchos drunkenness.)

But the negatives shouldn’t be overstated. Spoon saved up a whole lot of energy for a taut encore that ripped through tunes such as “Japanese Cigarette Case” and “I Turn My Camera On,” ending the night strong and cementing its place among indie rock royalty.

Three other bands opened the show, and I was most impressed by the atmospheric pop of Great Northern. The crowd as a whole never really seemed to buy into it, which made the band’s set seem a little more ho-hum than it should have. Great Northern played a new song that the band admitted wasn’t fully complete yet, and it showed, but otherwise the songs were well-crafted with borderline boy-band melodies disguised by lots of Silversun Pickups-style guitar feedback, keys, synth and Rachel Stolte and Solon Bixler’s lush vocals. It was super-catchy stuff, and the arrangements and ambience kept things interesting.

Buffalo Killers, a three-piece from Cincinnati, played southern garage rock in the vein of Kings of Leon with louder guitars and lots more hair. The bluesy riffs evoked Hendrix while brothers Zachary and Andrew Gabbard emitted phlegmy yowls over top. I couldn’t help thinking how great the songs would be on Guitar Hero. Local stalwart Happy Chichester opened the show solo with some uptempo acoustic numbers and moody piano, and his tunes just keep getting better. Still, I again lament the fact that performing solo has become the art of how to use a loop pedal. Solo musicians: It’s OK to just use a guitar and your voice. No one will think less of you.

Jose Gonzalez, Wexner Center, 11-30

I’m a sucker for mellow, acoustic songs with literate lyrics. So I expected to be whisked away to a magical dreamland of engaging folk pop at the Wexner Center’s Jose Gonzalez concert Friday night. Instead, I ended up pretty bored.

Don't get me wrong, Gonzalez is talented. The man has complete mastery over his classical guitar, and deftly fingerpicks and strums his way through songs effortlessly, creating droning, hypnotic landscapes on the instrument. If he were merely the guitarist in a larger band, I’d probably sing his praises. His voice isn’t too shabby either. The soft tenor is pleasing on the ears, with no harshness to be found.

But...

Hearing Gonzalez live, all those mild, palatable qualities become dull. He’s like the hipster version of Jack Johnson--laid-back and mellow to the point of soullessness. Or maybe the singer-songwriter version of Al Gore--expressionless, robotic and lacking charisma. The performance just didn’t feel inspired, and he didn’t convince me that he actually meant any of the things he sang, which is a shame since he’s not a bad lyricist.

The tunes that worked best were songs in which his two percussionists added some depth with various instruments and vocal harmonies. Other bright spots of the night were a few of Gonzalez’s most popular songs, which are favorites for a reason. On “Fold,” “Down the Line” and his cover of the Knife’s “Heartbeats,” his personality shines through in the creative vocal performances that complement the melodic guitar hooks. He’s also good at keeping the songs short and sweet.

I envision these stronger songs on a mix CD that a guy makes for his girlfriend. “I’m in love with those two Jose Gonzalez songs on the mix,” she says. “They’re sad but so pretty.” She then decides to go buy his two albums, but after a few listens she realizes that all she really needed were those two songs. The others are more of the same, yet not as compelling. “Sad but pretty” eventually becomes “tiresome and repetitive.” Then they break up.

A few more similar pics on the Flickr page.