MUSIC THREAD

Breathe feels more like Fifty Eggs than Fleeting Days, and that's a good thing. On FD (more so than on NAL, which I liked) it seemed as though he'd run out of things to say. On Breathe, he sounds inspired again, and his message has matured, if that makes any sense.

I haven't heard the Breathe Easy EP. The latest EP I have from Bern is Anthems, which he released before the '04 election. That was really good, too.

 

Breathe Easy came out a couple of months before Breathe did. Only albums/EPs I don't have by Dan are those two and World Cup.

NAL has grown on me. I had heard a few of the songs on it solo acoustic while he was touring for 50 Eggs and didn't care for the band arrangements and some lyrical reworking he did - especially on the title track.

 

Just downloaded food and liquor on my IPOD.




What a breath of fresh air

 

Of all the great records this year, my fave has been Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins.

Also love Pearl Jam, the live MMJ, among others. Crane Wife has some great songs as well. Haven't bought as much as I normally have this year though.

 

i think i may agree 'bout rabbit fur coat.
saw jenny and the twins twice this year, each time i was absolutely mesmerized. two completely different shows in style and presentation, both spectacular.

 

Anyone else ready to put together your best-of-2006 lists? Here's my Top 10, in no particular order:

Dan Bern - Breathe
Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse
My Morning Jacket - Okonokos
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Great Lakes - Diamond Times
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
Golden Smog - Another Fine Day
Tom Petty - Highway Companion
Cross Canadian Ragweed - Live and Loud at Cain's Ballroom
Band of Horses - Everything All the Time

All in all, a pretty good year. I left some solid stuff off. People who say there's no good music anymore aren't looking hard enough.

 

I'll play:

1. The Hold Steady -- Boys And Girls In America

2. The Decemberists -- The Crane Wife

3. Band Of Horses -- Everything All The Time

4. Neko Case -- Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

5. Midlake -- The Trials of Van Occupanther

6. Drive-By Truckers -- A Blessing And A Curse

7. Cat Power -- The Greatest

8. TV On The Radio -- Return To Cookie Mountain

9. Tapes 'n Tapes -- The Loon

10. The Gourds -- Heavy Ornamentals

Also receiving votes:
Built to Spill -- You In Reverse
The Drams -- Jubilee Dive
Editors -- The Back Room
Cold War Kids Arctic Monkeys
Centro-matic -- Fort Recovery
M. Ward -- Post-War
The Long Winters -- Putting The Days To Bed
Glossary -- For What I Don't Become
Catfish Haven -- Tell Me
Arctic Monkeys -- Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Oakley Hall -- Gypsum Strings
Calexico -- Garden Ruin
Camera Obscura -- Let's Get Out Of This Country
The Thermals -- The Body, The Blood, The Machine

 

This is the first year in a long time where I didn't buy alot of new releases.The ones I did buy, I liked a lot:
Bruce Springsteen: The Seeger Sessions (regular edition and American Land edition)
Slaid Cleaves - Unsung
Kasey Chambers - Carnival

I also bought a handful of older releases.

 

How is Kasey Chambersa' latest? I love Barricades and Brickwalls, but didn't get into the one after that.

 

Like you I loved Barricades and Brickwalls and didn't care for her third album. The new one falls inbetween the two. Not quite the hard edged country-tinged rock of Brickwalls, but definitely more upbeat musically than her third album.
I can see her latest as an album that I'll appreciate more on future listens. I've only listened to it 2-3 times (after getting it a couple of weeks ago). It didn't grab me immediately the way Brickwalls did, but it didn't put me off immediately the way her third album did.

 

Slayer's "God Hates Us All" was my 9/11 soundtrack.

 

Haven't head a lot of the Golden Smog, but I lie what I've heard.