1000 Albums To Hear Before You Die

While on the subject of best of lists and the like, The Guardian has compiled a list of the best 1000 albums, with a short blurb on why each one deserves it's place on the list. They did an excellent job. I found little to disagree with, and much I haven't listened too. A trip to Amoeba Records is in my future to fill in some of the gaps.

1000, albums to hear before you die

Favourite Albums of 2007

These are in no particular order, and not necessarily released on 2007. The only criteria are that I listened to, and enjoyed them, for the first time last year.

Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.
I bought this, and didn’t really listen to it for a while, despite Johnny Marr being involved. When I finally took the time absorb it, it was well worth the effort. I’ve been a fan of the band since The Moon and Antartica. They show a Beatles like glee in using the recording studio, and those super catchy jangly guitar hooks, nicely balance the more arty side of the band. I can’t really say that Johnny Marr changed their sound much, but this is a great album, gorgeously recorded.

Built To Spill – You In Reverse
Dough Martsch and his band can’t put a foot wrong in my world. On this album, the band sounds they sat in the room together and played as a group. There’s a lovely live feel to the recording. BTS have inherited Television’s, (Marquee Moon is a top 10 of all time album to me), arty angular catchy guitar rock mantle. The music feels painted with guitar tone and texture as colors.

Bruce Springsteen – Magic
Warrants a mention for the songs, “Radio Nowhere”, and “Girls In Their Summer Clothes” alone. “Radio Nowhere” is the first song in a long time that I have repeatedly listened to several times in a row. Also, the Boss who will never be mistaken for a Paul McCartney when it comes to catchy melodies, seems to have found a few hummable tunes here. Unfortunately this is also one of the worst mixes I have heard in a while, the album is muddy and over compressed. On headphones not such a bad thing, but on my home system the flaws are very apparent.

Louis Stewart – Overdrive
Louis Stewart, as far as I can tell, is Ireland's only world class jazz musician. The Dublin born guitarist should be a lot more famous than he his, but apparently his desire to live in Ireland short circuited any chances of this. I saw him in NIHE, (now University Of Limerick), when I was in secondary school, and there were less than twenty people at the show. It was my first introduction to jazz, and I was gob smacked by the sheer virtuosity if his playing. I guess he would be considered Be-bop, although I am not very knowledgeable in Jazz subgenres. On this 2006 live album, (the first time I found anything by him on iTunes), He combines technical virtuosity, fast blues lines and complicated, (to my ears), harmonic structures, with a lot of soul. This is when having a good sound system really pays off.

LCD Sound System - Sound Of Silver
I bought this because so many critics raved about it. Although I like electronic music, I haven’t a large collection. What I loved about his was that it was song based. It references 80’s bands like the Human League, New Order, even Talking Heads but is it’s own thing. One of the best albums on this list,

Radiohead-In Rainbows
Given that this has topped every critics end of year poll, there is nothing I can really add, except that Radiohead rediscovered melodies, and discovered a playfulness that they never really had before. Some of the songs sound like the Go Team, who my kids love, that says a lot about the direction Radiohead took on this album.

Joe Pass – Meditation, Solo Guitar
Another Be-bop jazzer, this is an old album from the early 90’s. I had arranged a solo guitar version of the old Jazz chestnut “Autumn Leaves” for a friend’s wedding, upon hearing it my guitar teacher mentioned it sounded Joe Pass like, and played me some of this album. While flattered by the comparison, I am a ham fisted guitarist compared to this legend. This again is a live album, just Pass and his guitar; it is mind blowing how a single instrumentalist can play like a full band. Moving bass lines, melody like chord progressions and tasty single line melodies all seem to be played at once.

Robert Plant and Alison Kraus – Raising Sand.
This has deservedly received a lot of attention. Two great singers on an inspired collaboration. Robert Plant proves yet again that he is one of the greatest vocalists in the history of modern music while Alison Krauss’s harmonies blend clearly and perfectly without ever taking second place. T-Bone Burnett’s production is subtle and ghostly, an autumnal soundscape perfectly suited to these songs of longing and desire.

Tinariwen – Aman Iman: Water Is Life
I blogged about this earlier in the year. Tuarag rebels with guitars. Joyous and Hypnotic. Nothing like any of the other albums on the list.

Honorable Mentions

Grinderman – Grinderman
Nick Cave and a bunch of his mates. The funniest song this year - "No Pussy Blues".

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Not as good as Funeral but still very good. Best concert of the year also.

My Version of Arthur McBride and The Sargent

As promised, here is a clip of me playing Arthur McBride and The Sargent. It was a little more intimidating than I expected. I am used to recording with mics etc., but stare into a camera, while watching myself on the small pull-out screen, was a bit off putting!
I spent a lot more time than intended trying to get this on YouTube. For some reason, when I did a direct capture (press play on the video camera and YouTube grabs the video directly), with a digital cable, no sound was captured. When I used the analog cables, a slight distortion was introduced into the sound. When I tried to capture the video on my PC (so I could upload instead of using direct capture), I got great sound but there were some skips and glitches. In the end, I went with the direct capture, even though it has slight distortion. If there are any video/YouTube gurus out there, I'd love to know how to capture good sound.

Arcade Fire

I went to see Arcade Fire at the Greek Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night. I expected a great show, I love both of their albums, particularly their debut, "Funeral," and their gigs get doting reviews. Also, my younger brother raved about their Dublin show a few months back. I had high expectations.

The Greek, as it is known locally, is in a magnificent location. A small outdoor amphitheater, perched on the hills above the beautiful U.C. Berkeley campus, it is big enough to lend a sense of occasion, and small enough to have some intimacy. Given the power of the show, the fact that this was the last night of their North American tour, and the wave of success that Arcade Fire are riding, it is probably true that this was the last chance to see them in a small(ish) venue.

It is true that I can sometimes be accused of hyperbole (shock and horror!), especially when it comes to music I like. However, all of the folks that went with me to the concert (including one who had never listened to the band before), agreed that this might have been the best live rock band that they had ever seen. Honestly, I've seen some fantastic gigs, I saw Bruce Springsteen in the Oakland Arena once, and he was spectacular. Although not a huge U2 fan, they are also excellent live. I saw them in Portland a few years back, and I have great respect for Bono's showmanship. However both these artists have pretty choreographed shows. Arcade Fire manage to make you believe that anything can happen during the show. They pull beautiful music out of a cauldron of chaos. There were ten people on stage at all times, changing and swapping instruments between and during songs. It seems everyone in the band sings simultaneously and is a multi-instrumentalist. The effect is graceful and delirious all at once. Anthemic rock music, not created by volume and power chords, but by layering violins, multiple keyboards, and a minimum of three guitars. More than all that, there was the utter commitment of everyone in the band. They played like their lives depended on it. Only Springsteen puts this much into a show, and there were ten of them.

They finished the show with "Wake Up" a song from the "Funeral Album." It starts as a strident rock song, and mutates delightfully into a Motownesque rave-up at the end. The song has a catchy 14 note coda, and as the band left the stage, you could still hear it. At first I thought it was a loop playing through the speakers, then I realised that the entire audience was gently singing the melody. As we walked back through the Berkeley campus, every so often you would hear someone among the happy crowd softly humming it to themselves.

I also discovered that cell phones are the new lighters. We were pretty high up in the theater and every time I looked down, I could see a sea of blue glowing cell phones held aloft.

* They are doing a European tour this summer and will be playing in Ireland, at the Oxegen festival, along with Queens Of The Stone Age (another fave of mine and a great live act).

Rockin' The House on Paddy's Day

Yours truly on the mic on Paddy's day, wearing the obligatory green (in this case, a Guinness t-shirt). I was again playing Lindsey Boullt's Musician's Showcase (that's Lindsey in the background, handing out shots of Jameson to the band). This is such a cool event. There is none of the competitiveness you can often find at standard gigs, just a fantastic atmosphere of support and camaraderie. This is my third showcase, and the best part is hanging out with folks I don't get to see the rest of the year. I think this photo was taken while I was playing one of my own songs "Outside Looking In." I posted some MP3s on the blog last year, but you can download the final mastered version here.

Warning guitar geekery ahead:
For those interested, the guitar I am playing is a Line 6 Variax, a totally new type of digital guitar. It has an on board computer and can model twenty two classic guitars. For example, it can sound like a 58 Les Paul, the original of which wouldn't leave much change out of $30k - if you could find one. And this guitar cost me $400! The sound modelling is spot on, and it seems to have already revolutionised the guitar world. Mind you, it doesn't look nearly as cool as a 58 Les Paul, but I am never going to own one so...

Music in Advertising

While watching The Oscars last week, I was about to leave the room when a Cadillac ad came on featuring The Pogues' "The Sunny Side of The Street." It took me by surprise. Caddy's seem more the provenance of blinged out rappers, rather than drunken Anglo-Irish poets. It's a great song, but the only lyric you hear is the final line of the chorus (not surprising, given the boozy lyrics).

Seen the carnival at Rome
Had the women I had the booze
All I can remember now
Is little kids without no shoes
So I saw that train
And I got on it
With a heartful of hate
And a lust for vomit
Now I'm walking on the sunnyside of the street

Stepped over bodies in Bombay
Tried to make it to the U.S.A.
Ended up in Nepal
Up on the roof with nothing at all
And I knew that day
I was going to stay
Right where I am, on the sunnyside of the street

Been in a palace, been in a jail
I just don't want to be reborn a snail
Just want to spend eternity
Right where I am, on the sunnyside of the street

As my mother wept it was then I swore
To take my life as I would a whore
I know I'm better than before
I will not be reconstructed
Just wanna stay right here
On the sunnyside of the street



A few days later, I was again watching TV when a Mitsubishi car ad came on with a great, driving, crunchy bass line. I had seen the ad before, but it hadn't dawned on me who wrote the music. I was shocked when I realised that it was The Fall's "Clasp Hands" from their great last album, "Fall Heads Roll." Mark E. Smith's long running band of chaotic art rockers were the last people I expected to license their music to an ad - for a fucking car! However, this really shouldn't be that surprising, given that Smith has made a career of doing the opposite of what's expected of him. Not surprisingly, again, the idiosyncratic lyrics and Smith's barking voice are barely featured. His voice kicks in just as the ad ends.

Like I said, I was somewhat taken back. I always feel a little let down when my favorite bands shill for a car add (The Who for Nissan, The Buzzcocks for Subaru, Led Zepplin for Cadillac). However, despite the fact that it sticks in the craw to hear a song that means a lot to you selling a car, I ultimately have nothing against bands "selling out." If most people knew how hard it was to make money from records, they wouldn't be so down on bands that sell their souls for a little mammon. Many musicians, even those that "make it," never make a whole lot of dosh - most bands don't make a dime from record sales. The record company has to recoup costs first. Apparently it took Wilco four albums before they made money from album sales - and even then it was because they self-released the record.

Selling a song to an advertising company is a good way to make cash. Especially if you have had some hits, but your career is over in terms of record sales. Most bands, even those that are successful, continue playing live long after their album sales have lagged behind (example number one, The Rolling Stones). Live shows, although the heart of music, are a massive undertaking, slow ticket sales could leave a band in serious debt. Kicking back, while one of your tunes services the sale of a car, can hedge against these losses, and in many cases, make an artist more money with less effort.* However, I suspect the main reason many musicians hock their wares to advertising is not so much for the filthy lucre, but for the attention. Sting is on record saying that one of his albums was a non-starter in the sales stakes until he shilled for Jaguar. John Mellencamp sold that awful, if well-intentioned "Freedom Song" to Chevy and has seen some of his best album sales in years. At the end of the day, whatever about these dinosaurs, the more people who get to hear a great, truly indie band like The Fall the better.

Still... The Fall in a Mitsubishi add. We are a long way from my college years when even a sniff of "selling out" could doom a band to eternal unhipness.

Anyhow, here's the ad:

For good measure, here's the Cadillac ad:

* My understanding is that this is not a decision an artist makes alone. The record company almost always owns owns the master recording, and the publishing company will own a portion of the writing royalties. In many cases, the artist has the least control over what is sold.

He really gets it

Scene: I sit on the couch reading while Thin Lizzy's 1979 album, "Black Rose," blasts. Shane sits beside me. He likes hanging out listening to music with his dad.

Shane: "Daddy, what is the singer's name?"

Me: "Philip Lynott."

Shane: "What's the guitar player's name?"

Me: "There are two - Scott Gorham and Gary Moore."

Shane: "What's the drummer's name?"

Me: "Brian Downey."

Shane: "And the piano player's name ?"

Me: "Ahhhhhmmmm, actually they don't have a piano player."

Shane thinks for a moment.

Shane: "Why is rock 'n' roll so loud?"

Me: "Well, it just is. That's what makes it exciting."

Shane: "Other music isn't so loud, is it?"

Me: "No."

We sit listening to "Waiting for an Alibi." A minute passes.

Shane: "Daddy?"

Me: "Yes, Shane?"

Shane: "What color is the singer's shirt?"