Deer Tick - War Elephant

Not only do I not remember where I first picked up Deer Tick's War Elephant, I also don't know what it is about the album that has kept me so drawn to it ever since. Of course, I wouldn't take the time to blog about it here, if it weren't a great album, but that's hardly what I'm talking about when I say that its attraction eludes me. Without even getting into the discussion of what constitutes good music or bad music, there's another level to music (any music - good or bad) that exists, and that is the draw. Sometimes, the draw is synonymous with originality, but sometimes it's something else entirely. In the case of this particular album, its draw is its production: just dirty enough to match the songs. The tracks feel like they've been pulled right from the soundboard of a corner bar concert that was played in some sleepy town on Saturday night. Just the kind of show you'd stumble into on accident and end up having one of the best nights of your life. Now, what's really cool about this band is that it's one guy, John Joseph McCauley III. Well, at least on the War Elephant album anyway; the band has since grown into a 5-piece group. While listening to the album though, just keep McCauley in mind - one guy, alone in a studio, laying down track after track, not knowing what it would all sound like when it came together in the end. With his gritty guitar style and even grittier singing, McCauley's Deer Tick has a sound unlike any others. It's part country, part rock, part folk, and all good. The other thing to look for is the diversity of the album. While most of the tracks find themselves swimming in the same vein, you'll find a few songs sliding off into the superunknown in terms of style. In the end, I'm left wondering where this band can't go.

Highlights: "Long Time" and "These Old Shoes"

The Killers - Sam's Town

This album gets a lot of flack, and I have no idea why, though I am comforted in knowing that I am not alone on this issue. In a December 2009 poll of Rolling Stone readers, Sam's Town was hailed as the most underrated album of the decade. (And just when I think Rolling Stone has completely lost its sense of good music! See their review of this album from 2006 for evidence.) Aside from being somewhat of a complete departure from the band's glam-emo-electronic debut album, Sam's Town is somewhat of a complete departure from everything else that was released by any artist at that time. With this release, The Killers gave listeners something of a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to the traditional rock n roll album, which sounds like it would be right at home in a 100,000+ arena setting. All of the songs have such a huge presence, it's as if the band were building a town of their own, and this album is their account of the town's journey from birth to death. You can't help but settle in and start to feel right at home in the howling dust winds swirling all around this hot desert wasteland. What I love about The Killers is their ability to take simple parts and put them together in complicated and completely new ways, so that a single-note guitar strike looping over and over suddenly becomes the spine of an epic swell of sound that sweeps inland, gathering emotional intensity from each new inch of the world it washes over. Make no mistake about it: This is not just a record; it's a ride - so buckle up. Borrowing a bit of inspiration from the greatest American artists of their time, Sam's Town sounds at times like a really good Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, or Neil Young album that you've never heard before. The songs are genuine in theme, yet unapologetically grand in style. Don't sell this album short by sticking to the singles; Sam's Town is meant to be heard in its entirety - one track followed by the next. Welcome to Sam's Town; I hope you enjoy your stay.

Highlights: "When You were Young" and "Read My Mind"

Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction

Today's selection shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After all, Guns N Roses' Appetite For Destruction has been a staple on pretty much every "best of" list since its release in 1987. Aside from its claim to the title of "fastest-selling debut album in history", Appetite has held its own as an enduring top producer, selling more than 33 million copies worldwide, with more copies sold each day. Sure, historically-speaking, this album is a "no-brainer", if for no other reason than the impact that it had on popular music at the time; however, it is the continued relevance of the album that has landed it here today, more than 22 years after the fact. On average, I would say that I still listen to Appetite For Destruction at least once a week, and it hasn't lost an ounce of the energy or attitude that it had when I first listened to it, back in the days of cassette tape. This is the album that made me want to play guitar. Even today, when I listen to Slash's screaming guitar solos, I am in awe of the feel that he has as a player (and that's different from his technical prowess). You can actually hear Slash speaking through his playing: emotional, hungry and ready for a fight. Now combine those chops with Steven Adler's lazy drum style, Duff's bouncy punk rock bass lines, Axl's catch-a-tiger-by-its-tail vocals, and Izzy's blues-based songwriting structures, and you have a band that can't be beat by anyone but themselves. All of the songs here pushed the limits of what was being done and prepared the world for what was to come. Appetite For Destruction is rebellious rock at its raunchiest. From the first note of the first song, there's no mistaking where you are: You're in the jungle, and you're gonna die.

Highlights: "Welcome To The Jungle" and "Mr. Brownstone"

Son Volt - Trace

Following the split from Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt, which helped to define the sound of the alt-country genre. Picking up where Uncle Tupelo had left off, Farrar took over all of the vocal duties and set to crafting a straightforward rock album tinged with country sensibilities. Trace is the resultant record. Unlike the more Americana sound of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt has a rough-around-the-edges quality to it that blends perfectly with Farrar's growl. This record just runs front to back like a roadtrip across the Deep South; it just feels like a hot slice of hard-working American piety. There's a certain level of respect and care given to the working-class compositions on Trace, similar to what you'd expect from say a Bob Seger song, like taking pride in the modesty of an honest living. This is the soundtrack of rural America's blood, sweat and tears, and the traces they leave behind. If you've never listened to Trace before, then take the time to do it right: get in your car, roll down the windows, get out on the highway and tap your steering wheel. Freedom never felt so good.

Highlights: "Windfall" and "Ten Second News"

Tom Waits - The Early Years, Volume 2

I continue to be amazed by the number of times I loan this album out to friends who've never heard it and, in most cases, never heard of it. Tom Waits has been around long enough to be considered an icon in the music business, but despite all his success, still seems somehow relegated to a cult status among insiders and songwriters. What gives? Understandably, many listeners are turned off by the sheer gruffness of Waits' voice. Also understandably, many listeners are turned off by the often strange instrumentation, which Waits himself calls his "junkyard orchestra", and cacophonic arrangements. However, if you just drill down to the heart and soul of the matter, you'll quickly find that there's not a better songwriter alive today anywhere in the world, and The Early Years Volume 2 does all the work for you. On this album, Tom Waits has re-recorded many of his best songs for a stripped-down, acoustic sound that really allows his songwriting to shine. And with songs like "Diamond on My Windshield" and "Mockin' Bird", you get beyond your standard songwriter comfort zones, you get a little jazz, a little blues, and a lot of solid well-structured songs. In all honesty, this is the album that changed my life forever. There are plenty of albums that have blown me away over my lifetime, and more even before my lifetime, but Tom Waits' The Early Years Volume 2 opened up a world of "cool" that even the coolest cats I knew never knew about. This is the kind of music that requires you to swagger even when you're just sitting still; it's just that cool.

Highlights: "Blue Skies" and "I Want You"

Sibylle Baier - Colour Green

Haunting, beautiful, and as pure and honest as music can get. The story of how Sibylle Baier's Colour Green came to be is almost as touching as the music itself. Recorded back in the early 1970s on a home reel-to-reel system, the songs on Color Green were never intended for anyone other than the artist to hear. In fact, this album wasn't published until 2006, when her son, Robby, compiled all of the songs on CD as gifts for family members. As luck would have it, one of the discs ended up in the hands of J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr fame), who was so impressed with the rawness of the recordings that he passed it along to a label that wasted no time in its release. Though it is not Sibylle who is the lucky one in this story, it is all of us. One gets the sense in listening to this album that this music was created alone in a dimly lit room with no other sound than the flicker of a candle and the hiss of a recorder, and all of that ambiance is captured in the sound of the guitar and the lyrics; this is the sound of a woman bearing her soul privately and provocatively. From the moment you hit play on "Tonight", Colour Green draws you in like a child in awe of his mother, staring up at her from the floor and wondering if there are any more beautiful women in the world than her, though you're sure that there are not. This album is as close as many people may ever get to being serenaded. Do yourself a favor: Turn out the lights, get a glass of red wine, sit on the couch, put your head back and your feet up, and push play. You won't be disappointed.

Highlights: "Tonight" and "Colour Green"

Andrew Morgan - Please Kid, Remember

Drawing a little inspiration from Elliott Smith and perhaps even Badly Drawn Boy, Andrew Morgan's Please Kid, Remember holds a little something for everyone who still remembers the magic of being young. There's a bit of innocence trapped in this record that for some reason or another reminds me of Ben Kweller's Sha-sha, in that it feels profoundly personal and honest. Like Sha-sha, the songs here are simple at their core, though Andrew Morgan has taken to spicing up each track with a little tamborine hit here or xylophone melody there, which ultimately makes for a beautiful, whimsical journey that stays consistent from beginning to end. Like a fantastic film score, Please Kid, Remember maintains a central theme that appears again and again throughout the album, taking you here, there and everywhere, but always reminding you that you're not far from home. More than anything, upon first hearing this album, I was touched by how instantly comfortable it felt to me. And isn't that the sign of a truly great album? Perhaps too soft for some listeners, something about these songs does more than remind me of a better time, it transports me there. Give it a listen, and maybe I'll see you there.

Highlights: "Turn Your Collar To The Cold" and "Three Months In Cook County"

Crooked Fingers - Dignity and Shame

Between roles as frontman for Archers Of Loaf and his To The Races solo album release, Eric Bachman was hard at work on one of my favorite bands of all time, Crooked Fingers. With his instantly recognizable growl (taking cues from Tom Waits), Bachman transforms simple chords into bombastic ballads that stick to your brain like melted ice-cream under a sweltering summer sun. Less raucous than any of the output from Archers Of Loaf and more upbeat than To The Races, Dignity and Shame catches Bachman at the crossroads of somber and sanguine, creating songs with a quick tempo that are more than happy to take their time getting where they're going. Bachman's works tend to tinker a bit with the space that surrounds them, finding unusual genius in what might otherwise have been a generic piece of music. Front to back, this album continues to astound me, even years after its initial release. If you like this album, don't be afraid to venture off and explore the entire breadth of Bachman's musical makings.

Highlights: "Call To Love" and "Sleep All Summer"

Fyfe Dangerfield - Fly Yellow Moon

As leader of Guillemots, Fyfe Dangerfield has already proven himself in the music scene by creating some of the most spectacular new sounds in recent years; however, it is his latest solo release, Fly Yellow Moon, that has moved me most of all. With obvious inspirations from The Beatles and Morrissey, Fly Yellow Moon moves along in a palpable progression few songwriters seem capable of catching onto these days. It's soft, bouncy, melodic, melancholic, catchy and utterly awe-worthy. Trust me, if you haven't heard it, you should.

Highlights: "Barricades" and ""She Needs Me"