Here are the highlights of my listening, watching, and reading year:
New Stuff:
• Southern Culture on the Skids–Countrypolitan Favorites: ‘Skids covers album, songs by Wanda Jackson, Kinks, CCR, et al
• Mitch Easter–Dynamico: Could be a new Let’s Active album, minus the female vocals and plus more power chords
• Mick Harvey–Two of Diamonds: Dark balladry by Bad Seeds member
• High Llamas–Can Cladders: More Brian Wilson meets Bossa Nova – the ‘Llamas best since Hawaii
• Brant Bjork & the Bros.–Somero Sol: Stoner rock from surfers
• Junior Senior–Hey Hey My My Yo Yo: B52s meets 60s bubblegum meets contemporary dance; every track is a little party
• His Name is Alive–Xmmer: Left-of-center pop by longstanding indie rockers
• Mum–Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy: Boards of Canada with more hooksÂÂ
*Woodjen Ships–Woodjen Ships: Like early Deep Purple with Spacemen 3 sitting in.ÂÂ
Reissues, Compilations, Etc
• Anne Briggs–The Time Has Come: Breathtaking folk from 1971
• The Shoes–Double Exposure: Demos from Shoes albums Present Tense and Tongue Twister; some of the best Power Pop ever made
• Dwight Twilley Band–Sincerely/Twilley Don’t Mind: More of the best Power Pop ever made; Twilley Band’s first two albums, plus 4 excellent bonus tracks
• The Zombies–Into the Afterlife: Recordings made by Zombies members shortly after Odyssey and Oracle – a must-have for Zombies fans
• Neil Young–Live at Massey Hall: Solo Neil, on guitar and piano
• True West–Hollywood Holiday Revisited: Debut EP + first LP by Paisley Undergrounders – like Television from the West Coast
• Pylon–Gyrate +: Surf guitar meets art rock meets the Athens sound
• Gene Clark with Carla Olson–Live in Concert: Original Byrd and granddaddy of alt.country Gene playing live, near the end of his career and life
• The Bongos–Drums Along the Hudson: The bonus material is stupid, but it’s great to have the main album on CD
• Gram Parsons–GP Archives, Volume 1: Flying Burrito Bros. playing live as the opening act for Grateful Dead over two nights in San Francisco, 1969
Best Music DVD:
• All My Loving: British-made documentary from late 60s which makes the argument that the day’s pop stars were changing the world for the better. A little heavy-handed, but great live clips and interview segments of Donovan, Who, Hendrix, et al
Best Music Book:
• Riot on Sunset Strip by Domenic Priore: Contends that the music that came out of LA in the mid-to-late 60s was actually much better than what came out of San Francisco during those years, contrary to what critics and SF snobs have always said. Really gives a lasting impression of the scene on the Strip during its Mod/psychedelic heyday.
Best Non-Music DVD(s)
• Cult Camp Classics, Vol 1-4 (Sci-Fi Thrillers, Women in Peril, Terrorized Travelers, Historical Epics): Great cinematic camp fun, spread over 4 box sets containing 3 movies each. Joan Crawford plays a scientist trying to housebreak a cave creature; Lana Turner’s stepdaughter’s boyfriend slips her a hit of acid; a nerve-wracked family gets terrorized on the highway by a group of delinquents; the movie being parodied by Airplane!
Best Non-Music Book(s)
• Hard Case Crime series by Dorchester Publishing: Ongoing series of high-quality pulp novels, some from the 40s-70s, others by current writers. 5% are no good, 70% are good reads if not memorable, 25% are outstanding.