Focused on the Music, Vol. 6

Top 75 New Albums of 2012.


Part VI-- Numbers 20-11:



20.  MDNA
Madonna

There's a dichotomy of intent with regard to this album that should probably have killed its chances at succeeding as either the tale of Madonna's divorce from Guy Richie or as the first album of a new deal with her label.  She manages to balance both and delivers one of the better albums of her late career in the process.

The formula is the same as it has always been: take pop, mix it with dance, throw in a dash of electronica and then do something to shock the listener.  The difference here is that the shock is how bare Madonna lays her emotions.  Chick was hurt bad by this divorce and, perhaps more than ever, allows her listeners inside that pain, regret and conflict, with lyrics ranging from, "I tried to be your wife/Diminished my self/I swallowed my light", to, "Every man that walks through that door will be compared to you forevermore".  The regret stands out the most in these songs, probably because it is least-expected. 

What was absolutely expected was the open pandering for sales which, while it has always been a part of the Madonna formula, is taken to new levels as a result of the new record deal and LiveNation tour deal.  Enter M.I.A, LMFAO, dubstep bass drops and collaboration with the foul Nicki Minaj  -- basically all the stuff from this album that you've heard on the radio.  Gimme All Your Love (48), Girl Gone Wild (124) and such provide the sales, while songs like Falling Free and Love Spent provide the substance. 

The two paths this album is taking are for the most part mutually exclusive, with the notable exceptions of the Richie-slaying, Gang Bang and the best song on the album, I Fucked Up (138).  This separation of purpose is what gives the album its authenticity, however.  Anyone who's been through a divorce knows that while it can be gut-wrenching  and downright exhausting, you still have to get up and go to work everyday.



19.  The Ringmaster General
Dave Stewart

Moving to Nashville doesn't necessarily mean one has "gone country".  Dave Steward reaffirms that with this, his second record made since relocating to Tennessee last year. 

The followup to 2011's Blackbird Diaries has Dave again collaborating with ladies from all across the musical spectrum.  Be it Joss Stone, Alison Krauss or Diane Birch, Stewart again finds a way to select just the right partner for each of the songs.  His producer-at-heart instinct probably go a long way in making this so but, much as a lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client, Stewart realizes that going it alone is not the wisest move, so he enlisted Mike Bradford to assist in the production.  Together, Stewart and Bradford prove that a pedal steel and stings can be inserted into a song with neither irony nor condescension.  While not a full-on Country album, (far too much of a Blues and Rock influence), this is definitely within striking distance thereof.

Written and recorded in five days, Stewart and company entered the studio armed with only their instruments and a list of the people who would be guesting on the record.  Clearly Stewart is at his best when collaborating with others, as his voice, while competent, is in no way unique.  His lyrics can tend to opt for the easy cliche over the deep thought but his guitar playing is outstanding and he wisely defers when sharing a song with a stronger singer.  There are some excellent songs here, such as Drowning in the Blues, with Krauss and really only one clunker in the bunch, (the dreadful Girl in a Catsuit with Orianthi, she of the ill-fated Michael Jackson This is It tour).

Or favorite track: God Only Knows You Now, with Jessie Baylin (currently charting).



18.  Holy Weather
Civil Twilight

This sophomore effort from the South African - turned L.A. - turned Nashville trio represents a significant artistic leap.  These guys get it.  With rich textures, superb vocals, and catchy hooks, this should be the album that brings these guys mainstream.

While atmospheric piano ballads on their eponymous debut generated huge buzz on the underground indie scene, that has not yet translated into an explosion into the musical consciousness of the listener at-large. That is the listener's loss, as this album is everything that is right about music today.

This album reaches its true heights through lyric.  There's the spiritual bent of lead song River (It flows through walls of stone/It flows in between the bone/It has flowed since the divine exchange/It flows forever unchanged); the internal struggles of first single Fire Escape [62](I don't want to fill my body/With drugs I can't even name); the heartbreaking imagery of one of the most beautiful songs we've heard all year, It's Over (But they won't know/That my heart is driftwood/Floating down your coast).  Blended with superb musicianship, be it the haunting strains of It's Over the plaintive longing of Doorway (49)or the comparatively frenetic River (currently charting), there's an underlying kinesis throughout these eleven songs that draw you into a world you don't want to leave. 

Refusing to be typecast, the band goes from bass-driven rocker to trippy piano jaunt to indie acoustic to arena anthem, all the while maintaining the intensity throughout.  Rather than sounding disjointed, this genre-hopping only reinforces the energy of the album.  The result is an inviting, intriguing listen.

When we drew up the list for this countdown, we had this record in the mid-50's.  In the weeks it has taken to listen to everything in more detail and write up reviews it has made it into the Top 20.  If we were to revisit this list in six months, it may very well crack the Top 10.  We just hope more people hear this band because the next step for them is probably going to involve some level of selling out in order to keep their deal if this album doesn't sell.  And that would be a pretty damning indictment of the state of the music industry, when any jackass from American Idol can get a record deal.



17.  Someday
Susanna Hoffs

We bought this album because Susanna Hoffs is hot.  There was nothing else released the week this came out and we'd dug some of the stuff she'd done over the last few years with Matthew Sweet, as Sid and Susie.  But mostly, it was because she is hot.

Turned out to be an excellent purchase.

The two Sid and Susie albums were comprised of covers of the "other" songs of the 1960s.  While the main focus of those who write about music is screaming guitars and screeching vocals, folks (pun only semi-intended) like Simon & Garfunkel and Burt Bacharach were making hay with a more melodic sound.  Those were the focus of the Sid and Susie projects, as both Hoffs and Sweet were heavily influenced by this softer side of the '60s.

On this record, Hoffs takes the natural next step from those collaborations and presents an entire album of original material, recorded in the style of these 60's and early 70's classics (The record was released under the Baroque Folk record label).  Think of it as a sequel to Billy Joel's An Innocent Man: where Leave a Tender Moment Alone leaves off chronologically, Someday's first track November Sun picks up.  And like that album 29 years ago, Hoffs pulls it off without a hitch.

Exacting in its execution, this album is a flawless period piece without being derivative; it is authentic without being regressive.  Hoff's voice at 53 is still as light and vulnerable as ever but age has softened the edges a bit -- to her benefit.  Melancholy is more credible in this voice, happiness less cavity inducing.  Her guitar work remains top notch throughout.  With a rhythm section including Lindsay Buckingham and production accoutrement such as harps and flutes, this album is a smooth 30-minute, ten track journey along the lesser-known musical byways of the most turbulent of decades.  While not the kind of music we typically prefer, this is one of the best executions of an album from concept, to recording, to production, to release that we've heard all year.

Our favorite track: Picture Me (53)



16.  Strangeland
Keane

After their dreadful collaboration with K'naan and other assorted hip-hopsters on 2010's Night Train, this band was on its last leg with us.  They needed to deliver the goods with this record or we were done with them.

What they delivered was a return to the sound that made them famous in the first place and that's not a bad thing.  Critics blasted this album as safe and lacking daring.  However, when one takes chances and is daring and the results suck, perhaps circling back and getting it right is in order.

There are the pianos and strings, paired with weak lyrics of album opener You are Young that will inevitably draw Coldplay comparisons but the album recovers musically (if not lyrically) with lead single Silenced by the Night (25), and by Disconnected (137), the shaky start is a think of the past and the album explores their U2/Springsteen-nodding pop, while throwing the occasional Genesis and even Radiohead curve into the mix.  We question whether ordering the songs differently would have made for a better overall experience but in its totality, this is a vast improvement over the last album, if not quite up to the standards of 2006's Iron Sea.

From the reminiscent Sovereign Light Cafe (60) to the exploratory Sea Fog, we don't see this as a step back at all.  We see it as a renewal of purpose and are much more optimistic about the future of this band than we were at the start of 2012.



15.  We All Raise Our Voices to the Air
The Decemberists

While winding down the tour from their breakout album, The King is Dead (2011 #2 album), The Decemberists taped a few shows and from those recordings culled the best, releasing this 20-song set.  While it does include seven songs from King, as well as their three most popular pre-King singles, the gems of this album are the remaining ten album cuts.

Seeing a great opportunity for the band to get songs from their catalogue out in front of listeners, songs most have probably never heard, they do not disappoint.  There are at  least four or five songs that are radio-ready right now and the rest, while probably not commercial enough (how would they fit the 12-minute Mariner's Revenge Song onto a playlist?), every one of them is an excellent example of the signature sound of the best band to come out of the Pacific Northwest since ever.

Colin Meloy continues to show why he is hands-down the best lyricists in music today and the band, using anything they can get their hands on (dulcimer, anyone?) make some of the most organically beautiful music we've ever heard.  Meloy interacts easily and cleverly with the audience and at several points mentions wanting the crowd to feel as though they've gotten their money's worth.  With topics like the end of the world, the fate of Irish miners in 19-teens Butte, Montana and a joint suicide pact, how could they not?!?

With keyboardist Jenny Conlee battling cancer and Meloy announcing the band would be taking a, "multi-year hiatus", it may be quite a while until we get any new music from The Decemberists.  As a something with which to manage one's appetite until then, one could do much worse than this album.  We can only hope that Conlee comes out the other side of this in good health and the band's break is a short one, for the music world is a little less intelligent with them gone. 

Our favorite track:  It changes almost weekly and we really hope they choose to release some singles from this album but, as it has been out nine months now, it's not likely.  Currently, we're listening to The Bagman's Gambit* quite a bit.

*If you're not going to listen to the whole thing -- it's like eight-and-a-half minutes long -- at least give it to the 2:45 mark, so you can hear the first tempo change.  But we're tellin' ya -- you're gonna want to hear how the story ends.)

Incidentally, if you want to hear the album in its entirety, you can stream it here.



14.  Love This Giant
David Byrne & St. Vincent

When we were one album short of a round number for how many albums we purchased in 2011, we frantically bolted for the iTunes store, deciding we would buy whatever the best-selling album of the year was.  It was Adelle's 21.  Yeah, there was no fucking way that was happening, so we went to Plan B.  Buy something by a local artist.  We ended up buying Annie Clark's album, Strange Mercy and it ended up being one of our favorite albums of the year.

Clark, late of The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens' band, records under the name St. Vincent and is most often described as "quirky".  She frequently is compared to David Byrne.  When they found themselves together with a horn section onstage at a charity event, this album was destined.  Many a, "what if" conversation took place and eventually, they found themselves in a studio.

In order to listen to either Byrne or St. Vincent, one must step outside their comfort zone and, having an ingrained distaste for horns in general, we had to do so, as every track on this album is layered in them.  Added to that is that, while the two artists share similarities, those only serve to make the differences more stark and the results a bit unsettling.  Byrne is all mania and exuberance, while St. Vincent is the queen of distortion and tempo change.  Those two forces colliding with one another are what give this record it's life.

Be it the tale of reverse evolution on I am an Ape or the notion that perhaps one should become more stupid, so as to better relate to society at large on I Should Watch TV, the pair thrive on people watching then presenting their utterly unique take on things.  And while there is a certain chemistry there, even what might be flirtation, it's more of a general man/woman dynamic than any specific attraction -- like being in love with love.  In this instance, we find it refreshing that the older man/younger woman cliche is never part of the equation.  The album is much better for it.

Our favorite track:  Weekend in the Dust



13.  Blah Blah Reagan Blah Blah Punk Rock
Responsible Johnny

What if Rutger Hauer had a guitar, instead of a shotgun?

Would a hobo wreaking havoc in the streets slaying those in his path with wit, insult and shredding been as entertaining a movie?  Fortunately we have this album to provide the answer -- a resounding yes. 

From the fade-in of lead track and first single Stomp (80), this album takes off running and doesn't stop, in true old-school punk style.  There's no polish here and that's what makes it work.  But don't let these fuckers fool you -- there's some serious talent here.  They put on a good show of being all about drugs, pussy and rebellion and, to a certain extent, they are but beneath that lies a whole lot of depth.  Punk bands are supposed to know what, two chords?  Yeah, tell that to these guys.  Listen to Cock Wig (currently charting) then tell us these guys aren't for real.

Between Hobo Rob Michaud's biting, hilarious and, yeah, we're gonna say it -- intelligent lyrics, the ridiculous talent of Coy VD on guitar and one of the better bassists in the D/FW are in Quel, this is a really skilled set of musicians.  Ripping through 11 songs in just over 24 minutes, this album is the epitome of a punk record: it makes you believe your opinion matters.  It makes you want to share your fetishes, frustrations and mental illness with the world.  And telling someone to fuck off and let you do your thing matters.  Sure, in the end we all realize the world is indifferent to us and our gripes but that doesn't mean it isn't fun raging against the man.  Pop on this album and do so for a half hour.

Whether you want to tell politicos on both sides of the aisle what a jackass they are with Ain't Fer It (I'm Agin' It), feel like shitting all over someone else's perfect idea of what they think YOU should be with Suburban Nightmare, or just celebrate a personal accomplishment with I Didn't Shit Myself While Puking This Time, there is something for everyone here.

Our favorite track: Paranoid



12.  Which Side Are You On
Ani Di Franco

Unless you're an uber-feminist who looks at that Lenin guy and thinks, "he's a little bit right-wing for my tastes", listening to an Ani DiFranco album is like going to certain churches for charity: yeah, I'll listen to your speeches and attampts to convert me but I'm really just here for my dinner.

Being an election year, we really expected the proselytizing to be unbearable.  We were surprised to find this not to be the case.  Taking out the title track (173), an update of the 1931 labor anthem that, ironically (or intentionally) ignores the fact that labor has as big a part in the state of affairs as anyone else) and the ridiculous Amendment (seriously?  in 2012 you are still railing for an ERA?), this is a surprisingly apolitical album.  There are oblique references to abortion on Life Boat and a benign dabbling with environmentalism on Splinter but for the most part, these are personal tales of life and love that at times are simply stunning.

For someone so wrapped up in issues -- perhaps because of that fact -- a song like Mariachi (68) literally makes one sit back, relax and enjoy being in the moment.  And that is where this album succeeds.  Be it the early navigation of a relationship and finding out one another's strenghts and weaknesses on Unworry (20, 2013) or an ode to the benefits and downside of weed, while taking a swipe at the president she loves on J (dude could be FDR/But he's just shifting his weight), this album resonates with the simple, articulate telling of personal tales we can all relate to, regardless of political stripe. 

DiFranco's delicate voice and superb guitar work come together to make some truly beautiful sounds on this record, highlighted by Albacore (8), the most beautiful song of 2012. This album was an unexpected surprise and we're glad to have picked it up.  Its very existence reinforces the wisdom of not judging a book, or in this case, album, by its cover.



11.  4th Street Feeling
Melissa Etheridge

We've got more love for Melissa Etheridge than any straight man you'll ever meet.  Most of this is not a result of the music played on the radio though.  Billy Joel once said, "if I only heard the Billy Joel records they played on the radio, I would hate Billy Joel."  While we wouldn't go that far, we definitely appreciate Etheridge's music mush more as a whole than we would as a greatest hits package.

On the heels of 2010's superb Fearless Love, the release of this album was as highly anticipated as any of the year. 

When we listened the first time, our reaction was, "meh".  And the second.  By the third we were thinking we might have a dud on our hands.  Then we listened to it on our motorcycle and the whole thing changed.

Part of the issue was song ordering.  The title track is just awful and it is the second song on the album.  That, coupled with a change in producers threw us a bit.  This is Melissa Restrained and we'd not yet heard that.  The first time we were consciously aware of an artist intentionally "holding back" in order to give a better performance was in the 1989 movie In Country.  In a supporting role, Bruce Willis deliberately gave a subdued performance and it was exactly what was called for.

The same theory is at work here.  The crescendo is more so when one is not screaming all the way there.  It took a bit to get used to but the effect is brilliant.  The label went with something more traditional with lead single Falling Up (27) but that is the exception more than the rule.  This is a dark, stark, bluesy set on which Etheridge plays all the guitars.  Rumbling bass lines and strident, if not necessarily soaring, choruses permeate this back-to-basics record.  Always good for some tongue in...cheek lesbian fun, there's Rock and Roll Me and references to he ugly, very public custody fight in Shout Now but the standout track is when she breaks out -- a piano? -- on A Disaster* (currently charting).  While this album took a while to grow on us, it's simple approach allows Etheridge to show just how talented she is both musically and vocally.

*Sorry about the quality; it's the best we could find online and that's sad because this is a great song.  This version is just her with a piano, whereas the studio version has full band accompaniment.  You can probably get a better feel for the song by previewing it on iTunes, as this performance really does not do it justice..



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