Ten years ago, in a melancholic, spoken delivery in a song called "Magenta," singer Geike Arnaert observed simply, "seasons change, you know." How apt that statement now seems for at least part of my year in music. I hadn't been particularly enthused about the stylistic changes Arnaert's band, Hooverphonic, have made in recent years, but I've admired their earlier work, and there was a time in my life when it meant much; so the recent news that 2008 marks the end of Arnaert's tenure as the band's lead singer had a melancholic feel all of its own and fostered a bit of nostalgia. Their earlier, trip-hop, string-heavy sonics might seem part of a buried past, particularly now in an industry dominated by more analog styles, but in a song like "Magenta," they could prove how they were, once, among Europe's chief purveyors of an ambient, textured architecture, and of a patient approach that allowed a song to build, gradually. "Magenta" is an awfully beautiful tune ("Magenta" MP3). An even more melancholic note sounded when The Long Blondes, a talented alt-punk band from Sheffield, England, announced earlier this year that they were disbanding after their guitarist and principal songwriter, Dorian Cox, suffered a stroke that left his ability to play in doubt. The Long Blondes were raucous and crafty, and even though their tunes were sometimes too hook-centered for my own tastes, they embodied the spirited, quick-hitting punch of club-based rock 'n' roll, and their most recent album, Couples, released last April, displayed a significant evolution in their sound; the band largely departed from the rougher sonics of Someone to Drive You Home. That particular album sparked my interest in their music and convinced me of Cox's abilities as a guitar player. He produced a solid sound (despite the often semi-clean tones of his guitar), strung chords together well, and used feedback, overdubbing, muffled sounds, and quick riffs intelligently. "Lust in the Movies", from Someone to Drive You Home, is a prime example of the band's style, the structure of their vocal melodies and arrangements, and Cox's guitar playing ("Lust in the Movies" MP3). The Long Blondes will certainly be missed.
I felt a seasonal change in jazz, too, though of a different sort. The ninth edition of Richard Cook's and Brian Morton's The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, released only a few weeks ago, is the first edition without Cook's unwaveringly reliable judgment; he died last year from cancer, aged 50. I began reading the guide several years ago and could now hardly imagine listening to jazz without it, without siphoning its clear, honest views on recordings and styles, without arguing with it, without simply holding it (the ninth edition has more than 1,650 pages). Despite Cook's absence, though, I'm pleased to see a new edition and to know more are likely to come. Overall, my jazz listening shifted in 2008, particularly away from Miles Davis, whose recordings have dominated my listening for about as long as I can remember. I did spend some time at the extremes of Miles's career, with the live albums Dark Magus and We Want Miles from his 70s and early 80s electric period and Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants and Bags Groove from the mid 1950s. Miles had many strengths, and, as those two earlier albums show, foremost among them was a generous fluency in mid-tempo numbers. But, on the whole, my ears leaned towards other acts, particularly trios: Keith Jarrett's famed standards trio; a side project called Trio Beyond in which John Schofield, Larry Goldings, and Jack deJohnette paid homage to Tony Williams' Lifetime; Bill Evans' respected group, which included Paul Motian and Scott LaFaro; and guitarist John Abercrombie's Gateway, which features Dave Holland and deJohnette. I can't quite say what took me so long to get around to Evans' Complete Live at the Village Vanguard, but the wait was certainly rewarded by stellar playing ("All of You, Take 2" MP3). On Saudades, Trio Beyond perform at a consistently, almost intoxicatingly, high level and yet make the music awfully fun, not simply an exercise in musicianship. Two other jazz recordings marked this year's listening for me: Enrico Rava's The Pilgrim and the Stars, re-released this past September, highlights Rava's sparse, rhythmically inventive trumpet playing, and Joe Henderson's Inner Urge, which I received from my sister just a few days ago as a Christmas gift, is a particularly visceral set of performances and without a doubt one of my favorite discoveries of the year. (Enrivo Rava, "The Pilgrim and the Stars" MP3)
I'm not quite sure what to make of my rock music listening during 2008; I heard a lot of it, but in retrospect much of it seems fuzzy, with fewer standouts than there were in previous years. As much as I laud musical evolution, I felt lukewarm about The Kills'
Midnight Boom, although I think "U.R.A. Fever", the first single, is a
brilliant tune, and, as with the band's previous efforts, Midnight Boom contains
no lack of energy. I listened to The Duke Spirit's Neptune repeatedly, and seeing them live and meeting the band was definitely thrilling, but the changes in song craft and production values from their debut, Cuts Across the Land, had me curious about where this band is heading. Versatility seemed to be the name of the game for the duo She & Him (they certainly know how to write catchy songs, with "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" chief among them), as well as for Jenny Lewis' second solo album, Acid Tongue, which features a variety of styles and guest musicians. But I'd say, overall, among the most consistent efforts were The Hold Steady's Stay Positive and The Age of the Understatement from The Last Shadow Puppets, a retro side-project from the Artic Monkeys' Alex Turner and The Rascals' Miles Kane (MP3s: The Hold Steady, "Constructive Summer" and The Last Shadow Puppets, "The Age of the Understatement"). In the end, though, I think I was most taken by The Raveonettes' Lust Lust Lust. This band is genuinely, consistently committed to their sound, to white noise and flat, spare vocals, to a retro style mixed thoroughly with a modern cultural sensibility. Though profoundly different than a band like Hooverphonic, they nevertheless share a confident understanding of a song's architecture. "Hallucinations", for example, doesn't simply roll along; it builds ("Hallucinations" MP3).
Speaking of songs, let me conclude with this: for various reasons, some of which escape me entirely, I was never that fond of Bob Dylan, but when Darren posted "Boots of Spanish Leather" (from Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin') last June, I was so moved by the song that I went out the same day and bought the album. That is a great tune and has gone a long way in strengthening my appreciation of its singer ("Boots of Spanish Leather" MP3). And, finally, I had searched for quite a while to locate a copy of "Faults", a song by the Japanese industrial act Acid Android that features vocals by Curve's Toni Halliday. A vendor in Hong Kong had the original CD for sale, and through Ebay I managed, once and for all, to get a pristine, uncompressed copy. In many ways, "Faults" is profoundly different than all of the music mentioned above and might not seem to fit into my tastes here; but, for years now, I've held considerable appreciation for Curve's music and Halliday's singing. Perhaps in the new year I'll find time to write more about both ("Faults" MP3).
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Personal favorites from the past year, listed in alphabetical order by genre. Some are older recordings (so I've included original release years) and the list contains some albums not mentioned above:
The Duke Spirit, Neptune (2008)
The Hold Steady, Stay Positive (2008)
The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of the Understatement (2008)
Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue (2008)
The Long Blondes, Couples (2008)
The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust (2008)
She & Him, Volume One (2008)
John Abercrombie, Gateway (1975)
Miles Davis, Bags Groove (1954), And the Modern Jazz Giants (1956), and We Want Miles (1981)
Bill Evans, The Complete Live at the Village Vanguard (1961)
Joe Henderson, Inner Urge (1964)
Keith Jarrett, The Out-of-Towners (2001)
Alan Pasqua, The Antisocial Club (2007)
Enrico Rava, The Pilgrim and the Stars (1975; reissued 2008)
Trio Beyond, Saudades (2006)
Bach, Violin Concertos, and Gubaidulina, In Tempus Praesens;
Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin; Trondheim Soloists; London Symphony
Orchestra; Valery Gergiev, conductor (2008). I bought this mainly for
Gubaidulina's In Tempus Praesens -- an intensely dramatic piece of
music, which receives an expressive performance by Mutter.
Chopin, Preludes; Alexandre Tharaud, piano (2008)
Prokofiev, Symphonies 1 & 5; St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra; Yuri Temirkanov, conductor (2004)
Schoenberg and Sibelius, Violin Concertos; Hilary Hahn, violin; Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (2008)
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