I still buy albums, even though they’re digital these days — and yes, I still do “buy” them, as in “pay money.” My four most recent additions:
1. The Decemberists: The King Is Dead. This is such a good album from such a veteran band. I heard this and thought, “Hmm. Great harmonica in spots (used in a lot of the same ways that the Gin Blossoms used harp nearly a generation ago), better vocals than I remember from these guys, some lyrics that are occasionally overwrought but are not as spacey as in the past, and a lot of stuff that sounds like Irish folk tunes or I.R.S.-era R.E.M.” Turns out I was closer to the truth than I thought: Peter Buck, R.E.M.’s lead guitarist and a guy whose tone I absolutely love, plays on three of the tracks.
Just as the Cool Kids didn’t like it in the 1980s when R.E.M. started making the Top 40 and mixing Michael Stipe so you could actually hear his vocals, the Cool Kids may not like this effort, with its shorter songs and lack of space cadet-dom. Too bad, I say. I am wearing this album out.
2. Wanda Jackson: The Party Ain’t Over. Wanda is in her 70s now and was recording rockabilly before I was born. The fact that she’s doing a 9:30 Club gig in a few weeks should tell you something. These are all covers and a lot of them are predictable (although, really, is there anything cooler than her cover of “Rum and Coca-Cola,” complete with her line about “Der Bingle,” which will be lost on almost everybody?). But there is a great moment on this album that occurs just before she launches into a cover of Amy Winehouse’s “You Know That I’m No Good.” “Always have to push,” she says. Every time I hear that, I smile. That’s what you have to do as a musician to stop yourself from becoming a museum piece — you always have to push. Jack White is involved in this effort, too, and his ability to shove some songs right to the edge of chaos and then pull them back is thoroughly enjoyable. Finally, I absolutely am GOING to do “Shakin’ All Over” at a gig.
3. Joe Bonamassa: Live at the Royal Albert Hall. How is it I hadn’t heard of this guy until I stumbled across this concert on a cable channel? Here’s an American in his 30s who has been a guitar prodigy since he was a preteen. He packs the Albert Hall, he gets Eric Clapton to play on stage with him, he rips out stunning guitar solos and has a really interesting, breathy voice, and I’ve never heard of him until recently? I really have lost it. I was glad to see he put out an album of this concert, as well as recording a video for posterity, and I love this.
4. Delta Spirit: History From Below. I first learned of these guys from another stumbled-upon television appearance — this one on Carson Daly at 2 a.m. on a post-gig Friday night in December. They’re from Long Beach and as far as I’m concerned, they’re from that fine Southern California guitar-twang-rock tradition that brought us Credence, the Blasters, Camper Van Beethoven, the Beat Farmers, Mojo Nixon, X and even Buck Owens. “Bushwick Blues” is absolutely my favorite song of the last year.
