5 records I enjoyed in 2006
Bob Dylan - Modern Times I thought Love & Theft was like a large dining hall with vaulted ceilings and old portraits on the walls, evocative of the sense of history you get in a museum, or maybe wandering through the oldest parts of Oxford University. Then I heard Modern Times, and I realized I was just in the broom closet before.
Hank Williams III - Straight To Hell I first liked it because I thought the “Nihilistic cowboy with third-generation rock star money” schtick was funny. A thousand country singers manage to be nothing but another country singer. But Hank 3 finds his own voice and creates something that’s much more than he started with.
T-Bone Burnett - The True False Identity As I tell anyone who will listen, this guy is brilliant. The more I listen, the more detail I discover.
Man Man - Six Demon Bag I would expect that no one wanders into this record casually and likes it. But if you, like me, were already keen to the … er… peculiar charms of people like Dylan, Zappa, and Waits, these guys have a lot to offer.
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife Only had this for a couple of weeks, but I already love it. Some of the songs are fun little prog-rock noodly sorts of things, while others are so beautiful that you can’t help but smile.
There was no 2006 product involved, but Merle Haggard was an important part of my music listening this year. I really didn’t know his work before this year, and now I’m hooked.
December 28th, 2006 - Posted in Music | |
