El Camino played
like a breath of fresh air, I'm happy to report. Not that that
exempts me from grumpiness, or midlife obtuseness. I could dissect
what makes the Keys' music “work” for me (bluntly: formalist
technique), and contrast that with what Japandroids do (or don't) but
it's best for all parties if I simply surrender to the tides of
change, and forward you to Philip Larkin's jazz criticism. College
kids of the '80s thought the old poet gallingly square, but let's
face it: he had a point. We may reach with some frequency for the
“cool,” even the post-cool, but we don't spend much time with
what came after that. The Great American Songbook is closing. The Global
Songcloud is just beginning to billow out. So it goes.
I never gave it up
to the Keys, did I? An oversight, and now the year is at an end. I
meant to, and that's the important thing. Here are some other
musical acts I meant to endorse and comment on. They put out some of
my favourite albums this year, and deserve attending to.
RUSH, Clockwork
Angels. Formalists and experimenters in equal measure,
each new RUSH album is worth celebrating for its bush-clearing,
sod-busting force of energy. But Clockwork Angels was also
easy to listen to, and it produced the loveliest song yet in RUSH's
considerable ouevre: “The Garden.” Further cause for celebration:
a steampunk novel with the same title, written by Kevin J.
Anderson, under the subtle direction of Neal Peart. For
those of us who miss poring over gate-fold album art to better divine
the true meaning of the music, this is fabulous fabulist stuff.
Meshuggah,
Koloss. I hadn't heard, or heard of, “Djent”
— yet another sub-category of Metal — even though I'm a fan of
the band that coined the term: Meshuggah. When I first gave Koloss
a spin, I thought it a lesser effort to the previous album,
obZen. Koloss grew on me, though, thanks
(again) in no small part to the bonus material that came with the
expanded CD (a “making of” doc, and some concert footage). This
is textured, this is heavy, this is (dare I say?) meditative
stuff. If you don't like Metal, you won't like this. But for
those of us who do, there's nothing like Meshuggah.
Speaking
of Metal, I think I was expecting something crunchier from Storm
Corrosion — the most promising of this year's rock duos, Steven
Wilson (of Porcupine
Tree) and Mikael Ã…kerfeldt (of Opeth). The album is
certainly heavy, and has its sonic tensions that generate interest. A
friend of mine talks about music that can't be played while washing
dishes, because the dishes will never get done. Storm Corrosion
certainly rests in this
category, and consequently does not get much play. However,
Steven Wilson's
Grace For Drowning and
Insurgentes
were both new to me this year, and received a great deal of taxi-Dad
playtime.
Also
enjoyed: the new Pat Metheny, and the new Charlie Hunter. And
probably a few others that don't come immediately to mind, alas. But
now I must tidy myself up and get ready for tonight's soiree. That's it for
2012. Let's hear it for 2013.
P.S. No, wait! Also Older Than My Old Man Now, by Loudon Wainwright III, and Sorrow & Smoke: Live At The Horseshoe Lounge by Slaid Cleaves.
P.S. No, wait! Also Older Than My Old Man Now, by Loudon Wainwright III, and Sorrow & Smoke: Live At The Horseshoe Lounge by Slaid Cleaves.
2 comments:
Hey Darrell,
Great way to close out the year. I'm not one, yet, to give up on the R & R. Surely, not as long as the Black Keys are around, nor Neil Young is still plunking away ("Psychedlic Pill" w/b in the top 5 album list for 2012 for me). Alabama Shakes was a breath of fresh air. Gaslight Anthem's "Handwritten" was their best release, IMHO, thus far (possibly due to their moving back to Jersey). A small group like Low Cut Connie shows that R & R DOES have a sense of humor and can be heard without nasty irony. Hope still springs, Sir! And as far as Jazz & The Great american Songbook...I believe there are some kiddies out there who will be bringing it back, with a twist. Here's to cyclical revivals....and hoping that 2013 brings some new surprises.
Low Cut Connie - excellent recommendation, DV! I'm loving that "polished enough to take it out of the garage" vibe.
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