TybeeDawg’s Pick of the Litter 2010 – Top 10 CDs

TybeeDawg’s Pick of the Litter 2010

“Where does it go? The good Lord only knows….seems like it was just the other day…”

Billie Joe Shaver sure knew what he was singing about, because 2010 got away from us pretty quick, didn’t it? I’m sure I’m stealing this from some forgotten comic’s stand up act, but did you ever notice that kids measure their ages with fractions while adults use decades? (“This is Alicia. She’s eleven.” “No I’m NOT. I’m eleven and a HALF.” “Hey, how old is your friend Ginger?” “Not sure, she’s in her thirties, I think.”)

I think that what I liked most about my favorite music this year is not so much that it was incrementally pulling me forward as much as it was wrapping me in some comforting layers of reassurance, so there’s nothing here that’s cutting edge or experimental, just some things that made me feel good. So in that sense, 2010 was less of a magic carpet than a slightly threadbare security blanket.

With that, here are some albums that kept me warm:

Jim Lauderdale - Patchwork River - With help from Al Perkins on dobro, E-Streeter Garry Tallent and James Burton on guitar, Lauderdale and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter have the year’s most compelling record. Lauderdale serves up melodies and hooks while Hunter consistently delivers memorable lyrics like “If you’re looking for justice, what you doing in court?” This record spent more time in my head than any other on this list.

Darrell Scott – A Crooked Road – A very ambitious double album from one of the most talented songwriters and musicians working today, and each listen unveils a new level of complexity. In this case, words fail me, so just go get it and thank me later.

7 Walkers – 7 Walkers - An unfailingly delicious homage to the Crescent City courtesy of Papa Mali, Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann and Meters bassist George Porter Jr. The record is scattered with gris gris and absinthe and slathered with shifting textures and grit. 7 Walkers is one of the best things you’ll put in your ear all year.

Will Kimbrough –Wings – Will Kimbrough’s folksy Americana sound is spiced with pop and Memphis R&B and seasoned with his own banjo, mandolin, guitars and keys, but lyrically is very much rooted in his relationship with his family and with himself. With Wings, Kimbrough has crafted a record for grownups that doesn’t make you feel old.

Robert Plant – Band of Joy – Distinctly American in feel and tone, Plant is backed by some of the best musicians Nashville has to offer (Buddy Miller, Patti Griffin, Darrell Scott, Byron House), who tackle both traditional tunes as well as those by songwriters like Townes Van Zandt, David Hidalgo and Louis Perez (Los Lobos), and Richard Thompson.

Honey Island Swamp Band -Good To You – This New Orleans band comes on like some funky, blenderized mix of the Gourds, Little Feat, the subdudes, Mofro and Paul Thorn. Be good to yourself and get a copy of this one.

Packway Handle Band -What Are We Gonna Do Now? - You know what I say? The Athens-based Packway Handle Band can pretty much do whatever they want. This is easily their most accomplished and well-rounded, they seem poised to step things up a notch and stand toe-to-toe with the best folk/bluegrass bands around.

Ray Wylie Hubbard -A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) –Ray Wylie testifies that “Muddy Waters is as deep as William Blake” and churns out a mix of rural blues and poetic chaos as the backdrop for his fatalistic tales of death, dust and destruction.

Drive-By Truckers -The Big To-Do – Throughout these thirteen tracks of lap dances, alcoholism, tragedy, double crosses, solitude, duress, restraining orders, falls from grace and falls from high wires, the Truckers continue to produce the smartest, sharpest high body-count rock n’ roll to be found.

(tie)Peter Cooper -The Lloyd Green Album / Eric Brace & Peter Cooper - Master Sessions – Different sides of the same coin, these two records demonstrate Nashville’s future with Brace and Cooper’s songwriting skills while honoring the past with the striking presence of steel guitar legend Lloyd Green and covers by Tom T Hall, Kris Kristofferson, Don Schlitz and John Hiatt.

Nudged out of a crowded field: Paul Thorn – Pimps and Preachers, Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig, Peter Karp and Sue Foley - He Said She Said, Have Gun Will Travel - Postcards From The Friendly City.

Curtis Lynch

Playgrounds Magazine January 2011

AthFest 2010 Compilation

AthFest 2010
Various Artists
Ghostmeat Records
http://www.athfest.com/

For music fans who like to explore new sounds, Athens, Georgia is the place to be. And if you want to dig into a bunch of new music in one weekend, then AthFest is what you’re looking for. AthFest compilations have always been something special for me… after listening to a number of them; I’ve been excited, enthralled, confused and bemused, but never bored. On this, the 13th AthFest compilation, the trend of offering something new continues: of the sixteen tracks, nine of them are previously unreleased.

This latest volume encompasses everything there is to like about walking through downtown Athens during AthFest, although it seems a bit more mainstream than previous releases. Then again, does mainstream even mean anything when it comes to Athens music? In the past we’ve had rap and blues and gospel and quirky experimental music, but this year the focus is rock and pop, with some country and Americana. Many of these bands have been around awhile, so the new and shiny factor is diminished. The quality, however, is not.

This is a fine group of songs that work and flow together in ways that many compilations can’t manage, from The Whigs garage-band raveup I Don’t Even Care About The One I Love to the new-wave pop of The Orkids or the speedy crunch of Pride Parade’s If You See Her, Say Hello.

The Packway Handle Band’s Outskirts, from their excellent What Are We Gonna Do Now? release, is a great addition, as is Five Eight’s The Ballad of Frankie Jr. and Timi Conley’s New Boyfriend. Also featured are Ken Will Morton, whose Tell It To The Wind quickly became one of my favorites, Venice Is Sinking, William Tonks, and The Incredible Sandwich.

Proceeds from the sale of this compilation benefit AthFest educational programs like AthFest InSchool, AthFest AfterSchool and Keys for Kids.

Curtis Lynch
Playgrounds Magazine
June 2010

Packway Handle Band - What Are We Gonna Do Now?

Packway Handle Band
What Are We Gonna Do Now?
Self Released
www.packwayhandleband.com

You know what I say? The Packway Handle Band can pretty much do whatever they want. The Athens-based band is already lauded for their tightly spun harmonies, material that includes a growing batch of their own extremely well-written songs, quirky cover choices and a string of impressive live performances. And with What Are We Gonna Do Now? they seem poised to step things up a notch and stand toe-to-toe with the best folk/bluegrass bands around. This is their fourth full length studio release (there was also a 2007 live EP) and their consistency and quality has to be reckoned with. This one, self-produced and recorded at fiddler Andrew Heaton’s house, is a departure from their stage show, where the band crowds around twin condenser microphones, stepping up to add a lick or sing a line, because on this record, each member recorded their parts separately. A minor point perhaps, but to my ears, there’s a different sense of space and warmth, a depth that comes from extra brushstrokes courtesy of sax and flute on a couple of tunes.

Heaton’s wry songs, “What Is A Packway Handle?,” which does absolutely nothing to answer that question (which is of course the point), and “I’m Glad You’ve Got My Priorities So Straight” provide the winking, smiling counterpoint to Michael Paynter’s five contributions. Paynter’s “Off My Knees” has surging bluesy riffs that explode into a chorus of layered harmonies, while “Outskirts” sports emotionally expressive lyrics that for some reason remind me of Dylan, circa Blood on the Tracks. Guitarist Josh Erwin chips in with three tracks including the instrumental “Horse vs. Technology.” This release is easily their most accomplished and well-rounded and I’d put it up against anyone else in that vague Americana/folk/bluegrass category that people want to talk about.

What Are We Gonna Do Now? I don’t know; just let me know when you do it.

Curtis Lynch
Playgrounds Magazine
February 2010