2009 has its best record, and it is ‘midnight at the movies’ by justin townes earle

Listen up, all you little punks.  It’s been a while since we posted anything here, but that’s just allowed the anger to swell that much more.  Maximize iTunes on your desktop and pause that goddamn La Roux garbage you’re listening to and focus here.  The best record of the year is already out (came out in March, as a matter of fact), and it’s not Animal Collective’s.  In fact, it’s a country record. But this ain’t your daddy’s country music.  That’s right.  It’s real country music.  Good country music.

It’s sad, actually, that we’re now at the point where I feel it necessary to say “This ain’t your daddy’s country music.”  But that’s where we are, so it’s said.  I desperately, desperately want all you hipster kiddies in the coastal big cities to have an appreciation for real country music.  Maybe you do and I’m being overly defensive.  But it bears saying just in case, because it’s important.

I gave Justin Townes Earle’s second album The Good Life a passing mention at the very end of the post where I listed my highlights of 2008.  It didn’t make my top five albums because… well, because it wasn’t all that good.  But damned if it didn’t show promise, and damned if JT hasn’t lived up to that promise with this year’s Midnight at the Movies.

Honest, folks, I could write an essay about the myriad ways in which I deeply love each and every track on this album.  Long, sordid tales of infatuation, flirtation, passion, betrayal and– ultimately– redemption.  Real pulpy stuff, honest.

Like the make-no-bones-about-it, let’s-just-get-this-out-there track about his more-famous old man Steve, “Mama’s Eyes”.  “I am my father’s son / I never know when to shut up / I ain’t foolin’ no one / I am my father’s son.”  I mean, C’MON.

Or the beautiful title track that opens the album and that’ll make you wanna cuddle up with that special someone.  Or the brilliant carefree bluegrass-pitched romp “Walk Out.”  Or the elegantly fingerpicked “They Killed John Henry.” Or the drunken swagger, whistlin’-dixie bliss of “What I Mean To You,” arguably the best tumbler-of-whiskey-on-a-piano song since Dylan’s “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” (though in a completely different way, and with notably less piano).  The track I’ve posted here, “Poor Fool” is fairly representative amalgamation of these last three examples.

And he covers The Replacements.  Not only that, he covers “Can’t Hardly Wait.” It’s fantastic:

He’s touring with Gillian Welch, the only other person to give me this much hope for the state of modern country music since Johnny Cash died.  Dude does everything right.  He even dresses like Hank I.  Just look at that picture above.  Bless his heart.

Please, for the love of all that is holy, go buy this album.  The world needs more of Justin Townes Earle.

“Poor Fool” by Justin Townes Earle (from Midnight at the Movies)

Buy on eMusic

Buy on iTunes

Buy on Amazon

blind pilot – there, fine, i said it. happy?

The ‘A Cold Sweat’ ethos has always been to discuss whatever is in your ears at the moment, and not what the newest, hottest shit out there is.  But at the moment, Blind Pilot happens to be both.

Blind Pilot’s record “3 Rounds and a Sound” came out in 2008, but I didn’t spend much time with it until this last month.  What at first blush sounds just pleasant proves to grow better and better with each listen with these guys.

Their song “One Red Thread” seems to be the one that will be driving their growing profile, but the track below was the first to sink its hooks into me.  Something about the opening lyric is mysteriously accusatory and sad in a way that makes you want to know exactly where the protagonist is coming from.

You should really buy this album.

“The Story I Heard” by Blind Pilot (from 3 Rounds and a Sound)

Here’s Blind Pilot making their TV debut on Carson Daly’s show. They did a great job.

best of 2008 – jimmymontreal

jimmymontreal’s top albums and tracks of 2008

albums

5. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver

I was going to start off with a bunch of excuses about this and that — not enough time to focus on the music this year, etc, etc… — but fuckit. I’m pleased with my “Best Of” for this year ‘08. And to kick things off I’m keeping Bon Iver in the starting line-up. Not because of the hype (a bit too much, but whatevs) or because of the songs (which are on the whole quite strong), but because of the lesson it represents: whatever it takes to record what you must, do it. If you need to escape reality, find a shed. If you can’t afford a studio, maybe you can afford a laptop. If all you have is a 57 and a shitty guitar, maybe you don’t need vintage mics to capture what you need. To those who want to get into the digital versus analog debate in recording today — a giant, massive, resounding FUCK YOU!! There is a utility and a place for both.

4. Motion to Rejoin by BrightBlack Morning Light

I have no idea where this group came from or what they’re all about. Frankly, I don’t really care. It’s not superawesome songwise, but I found myself listening to it over and over again this year. And with each listen I’d dorkshat my pants, because kids — THIS is what compression sounds like. Every instrument is just crushed: the rhodes, drums… even the vocals. FLAPjacks, I love that sound! Add to that an album opener that consists of a jam on but one chord… I mean c’mon.

3. Third by Portishead

Time was I listened to Portishead on long car rides on my way to somewhere. Maybe nowhere… I forget. I’m different now. Ten years in the making, PHead’s different too. They’ve traded the turntables for samplers. They’ve traded the huge horn-hits for an out-of-tune fingerpicked acoustic guitar. But they’ve kept Beth’s scorched melodies. The result is a curious and badass album.

2. Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust by Sigur Rós

I myself am relatively late to the Sigur Rós party. I started off with a headfirst dive into ( ) and boy were those waters cold. But mgdistrict encouraged me to take a gander on Takk… and hotdamn I was hooked! Their latest is super good. Sigur Rós’ trademark textured ambiance and falsetto vocals are matched up nicely with a more straightahead rock sound. Must say, this made for perfect airplane listening right over the Rockies as the sun was setting. Just sublime.

1. You & Me by The Walkmen

All the songs on this album are good, yes. But it’s the manner in which it’s produced that gets me goin’. And I don’t want to look up a single thing about how it was recorded, lest I ruin what it does for my imagination: set up in a giant warehouse, room mics set as far away from the band as possible, drums mic’d through the floorboards and guitars through the air vents. And the vox all recorded in the most disgusting bathroom you’ve ever smelled… THAT is what this album sounds like. And I love it.

tracks

10. “Cold Son” by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

9. “Furr” by Blitzen Trapper

8. “Flume” by Bon Iver

7. “I Thought I Saw Your Face Today” by She & Him

6. “Hold On To Yourself” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

5. “Oppressions Each” by BrightBlack Morning Light

4. “Joe’s Waltz” by The Dodos

3. “Grounds for Divorce” by Elbow

2. “Canadian Girl” by The Walkmen

1. “The Rip” by Portishead

… and other good stuff from 2008

ALBUMS THAT I ALSO LIKED: Dig, Lazarus, Dig!! by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Visiter by The Dodos. Furr by Blitzen Trapper. Real Emotional Trash by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks.

MOVIES THAT I LIKED: Man on Wire — just watched it last night… so good. I also liked Gonzo, The Dark Knight and Quantum of Solace. I haven’t yet seen Frost/Nixon, but it looks good.

I HAVE A FEELING: that 2009 is going to be a very good year, music- and other-wise. Happy New Year, kids.

best of 2008 – smitch

smitch’s top albums and tracks of 2008

albums

5. You & Me by The Walkmen

After solidifying my top four, I thought long and hard about which other album deserved to crack the list, and I kept coming back to these bastards. While their 2005 masterpiece Bows + Arrows is a cleaner record, You & Me has moments that rival Bows’ best and preserves its basic essence start to finish.  Which is to say, it’s awesome.

4. Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend

When this album first came out, I couldn’t get enough of it. Almost every song is unbelievably catchy, and the band aimed for a specific niche and nailed it. They’ve got a talent for writing/performing engaging music that explodes out of every song. My initial craving for Vampire Weekend was so intense I wanted to inject the music directly into my bloodstream. Alas, as with so many other things that enter the body intravenously, I overdosed on it, and it’s forever been relegated to awesome-but-infrequently-enjoyed status. And I gotta disagree with mgdistrict on the standout track – see my top songs list below.

3. Dear Science by TV On The Radio

I’ve still yet to crack TVOR’s perplexing exterior and find the rich creamy center, but ever since 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain first clicked with me (it took several listens), I’ve had a thing for these guys. I loved Dear Science from the first time I heard it. Lots of really good, eclectic songs, with a heavier dose of catchy riffs than in past TVOR efforts I’m familiar with. The title’s awesome, too.

2. Visiter by The Dodos

Clocking in at just under one hour, this was one of the most interesting and creative albums of 2008. Lots of hollow, low-production-value percussion, almost like the band picked up whatever was lying around the house (pencils, chop sticks, washboards, driftwood) and used it for drums. The songs meander back and forth from catchy phrases to melodic acoustic guitar numbers to psychedelic chanting sequences, but never wander too far from a generally coherent structure.

1. For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver

This was my favorite album of the year early on, and nothing ever managed to knock it from the top spot. It’s soothing, melodic, creative, and tight, with a handful of just really great songs. Everything about it – the tracks, the cover, the back-story – paint the picture of reflective isolation, of a guy in a cabin somewhere cold making beautiful music about the good times that are now behind him and the fact that he’s okay with that. You know what, Bon? I’m okay with it too.

tracks

10. “Modern Mystery” by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

9. “Furr” by Blitzen Trapper

8. “Red and Purple” by The Dodos

7. “Love Dog” by TV On The Radio

6. “Far Away” by Cut Copy – 80s synth-pop revisited… in a good way.

5. “Red Moon” by The Walkmen

4. “Through the Night These Days” by Jason Collett – LOVE the little piano riff throughout.

3. “Out of Reaches” by Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

2. “Lump Sum” by Bon Iver

1. “Oxford Comma” by Vampire Weekend – Even though I do give a fuck about them, I loved this song, which threads the needle between catchy and original.

… and other good stuff from 2008

ALBUMS THAT ALLLMOST MADE IT Here’s To Being Here by Jason Collett; Furr by Blitzen Trapper.  If I hadn’t procrastinated in getting my hands on Blitzen Trapper, this one might have made the list.  Their album Wild Mountain Nation was one of my favorites of last year, and this one’s damn good too.  Just didn’t have enough listens to be totally sure.  Maybe next year, guys.

ALBUMS I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO AT LEAST ONCE At Mount Zoomer by Wolf Parade; Oracular Spectacular by MGMT.  I loved Wolf Parade’s 2005 album Apologies To Queen Mary, but just never got around to buying their latest.  Probably had something to do with the fact that it’s not on eMusic, and it was released on the same day as (and was therefore overshadowed by) the Coldplay album.  Definitely at the top of the list when I inevitably get an iTunes gift certificate in my stocking.

MOMENTOUS WORLD EVENT Since this is a music blog, not a political one, I’ll just give you a hint: it rhymes with “the first plack bresident.”

best of 2008 – mgdistrict

mgdistrict’s top albums and tracks of 2008

albums

5. Visiter by The Dodos

Just barely beating out You & Me by The Walkmen.  Such an original and amazing release.  No one else sounds like these guys (same could be said for The Walkmen, I suppose, and Vampire Weekend, for that matter).  Punchy, rocking and intense.  I love it.

4. Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend

Hype schmype.  You will be playing this record while you make potato salad for your kids in a summer vacation beach house one of these days, mark my words.  And you know what?  It will still be great.  Best track: “Campus.”

3. Starfucker by Starfucker

By any objective measure, this should not be my type of music at all.  In fact, I can easily see how some may find it obnoxious.  But, man, I just love it.  So infectious.  It reminds me of the days when I couldn’t stop listening to Air.  There’s something about electronic music that makes it automatically thematic for everything going on around you.  I love that.

2. Viva la Vida by Coldplay

Bring on the hate.  Come on, seriously.  Bring it.  This is an awesome record.  Had they continued down the X&Y path, there would be no bigger detractor than me.  But this is big, it’s grand.  We still need rock albums like this.  Coldplay at least had the guts (the ego?) to try to make it.

1. Here’s To Being Here by Jason Collett

It’s a testament to this album’s quality that it was released in early February and is still in heavy rotation in my music library, and not yet tired or old.  I love Jason Collett’s voice, and the quality of songs on this album is remarkably consistent.

tracks

10. “Grapevine Fires” by Death Cab for Cutie

9. “Canadian Girl” by The Walkmen

8. “Walking” by The Dodos – If only for the string vibration at 0:03.

7. “Mississippi” by Bob Dylan

6. “Flume” by Bon Iver

5. “Grounds for Divorce” by Elbow

4. “Go Easy” by Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – If only for the change at 2:20.

3. “The Rip” by Portishead

2. “Nothing to Lose” by Jason Collett

1. “Strawberry Swing” by Coldplay – What can I say? I’m a sap when all is said and done.

… and other good stuff from 2008

ALBUM The Good Life by Justin Townes Earle – Steve Earle’s kid put out a great country album this year that I highly recommend if  you are looking for something a little less pressed-gray-slacks and a little more dirt-under-your-fingernails.  Highly recommended: the brooding Civil War tale “Lone Pine Hill.”

ALBUM  House With No Home by Horse Feathers – Was hooked at the first track. If you liked Bon Iver this year, I bet you will be too.

MUSIC VIDEO  “Time To Pretend” by MGMT – Best. Video. Ever.  HE RIDES A CAT.

NOVEL  The Other by David Guterson – I was blown away by Snow Falling On Cedars years ago, but then disappointed by Guterson’s East of the Montains.  This one reminded me how good he is.  I hope he focuses more on novels in the future; his short stories aren’t his best work.

PODCAST  Planet Money from NPR – Brilliant podcast and blog that is thrown together so ably by Adam Davidson, Laura Conaway and others, teaching you all you need to know about how the world as we know it is ending.  I can’t recommend it enough.

CITY  San Francisco.  How come no one told me about this place?  Jeez.

a cold sweat’s top albums and tracks of 2008

The three of us who write this blog have in common, of course, a shared love of music.  When we first got to know each other we had something else in common: a lack of girlfriends and, more generally, lives.  These two common factors had a symbiotic relationship.  The intensity of one inadvertently fed the intensity of the other.  We may have been lonely, sad bastards, but we were lonely, sad bastards with great life soundtracks.  And that almost made it OK.

Times change, though, and I think it’s fair to say that none of us are as hip to new music as we used to be.  That said, we try to keep our ears to the ground.   With that caveat laid clearly on the table, we’ll use the next few posts after this to present our top albums and tracks of the year.

Chip in, and link us back to your lists.  We love reading ‘em.

just when i thought stars couldn’t get any DUMBER, they release an ep like this… and TOOOTALLY REDEEM THEMSELVES!

Editor’s Note: I had to edit the title of this post from reading “STUPIDER” to “DUMBER,” thus proving who the stupid one here actually is.

I, like many others, got my first taste of Stars in 2005 thanks to their fantastic album Set Yourself On Fire.  The indie rock soap opera that is that album’s opening track was the gateway drug to an album full of emotional, climactic and very sappy (but very good) songs.  I was shocked to love it as much as I did.  “The Big Fight” was a particular highlight for me: I listened to that song on repeat on a business trip to Seattle and now am fondly reminded of the song whenever I see a picture of the Space Needle or Ichiro Suzuki.  It was one of a few albums that defined a period of a lot of great music for me.

All of those good feelings made the auditory atrocity that was last year’s In Our Bedroom After The War very painful for me.  I hated it on first listen and continue to think of it with a disdain usually reserved for coffee cups with seams that cause a leak under the lid.  With tracks like “Personal” (link to ridiculous, gimmicky, gag-inducing lyrics here, but consider yourself warned), it was about as big a disappointment as I could have imagined.  From what I’ve seen, I am kind of on my own among Stars fans in feeling this way, but there you have it.  There were no standout tracks to me, no interesting moments, no dramatic arc.

So it was with some trepidation that I downloaded the EP Sad Robots the other day.  It’s really great.  Notably absent– at least when compared to Set Yourself– is a guitar presence.  But that’s fine… in fact, it’s great.  The strum of an electric here and there helped immensely to build the sound on that album, but in it’s place here we have a heavier emphasis on atmospheric electronic sounds.  The result is something familiar yet altogether new, and I couldn’t be more relieved.

“A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife” by Stars (from Sad Robots)

the best band named after a gay weatherman i’ve heard in quite a while

I don’t know how, but I had a Sam Champion song in my iTunes library called “You Can’t See The Stars In This Town” prior to buying their new release Heavenly Bender.  Like other lonely songs that sit without an album to call home in my library, it is a mediocre song that– more than anything– holds promise of other good material.  (Unlike smitch, I’m prone to keeping singles like this around on my hard drive.  The reason being that they’re effectively post-it notes, reminding me that, hey, these guys are probably worth hearing more of at some point.)

Sam Champion is an indie rock band from Brooklyn and they pretty much look just like every other indie rock band from Brooklyn.  Their sound, though, is notable because it– well, because it doesn’t suck.  Exhibits A and B below.

I’ve heard them be compared to Pavement, but I don’t see it at all.  Maybe it’s a comparison that’s left over from their first album, which I haven’t heard beyond the track I mentioned above.  “Dead Moon”, to me, sounds almost like it could be classified as psychadelia, and “Jealous Shakes” has a chorus that can’t really be described as anything other than straight-up rocking (with a bridge that, for some reason, reminds of Gorillaz… that’s probably way out of left field and makes no sense… never mind).  Same goes for the track the follows it on the album: “There Was A Doubt”.  These songs are fun, if not particularly challenging or startling or fresh.  I bet these guys would be really fun to see live.

It’s always good to have some straightforward, unpretentious rock to keep in the back pocket.  Never know when you’re gonna need it.

“Dead Moon” by Sam Champion

“Jealous Shakes” by Sam Champion

Both songs from Heavenly Bender. Buy it on eMusic.

how bob lefsetz made me rank my favorite ryan adams records today

To know who Bob Lefsetz is is to have a strong opinion about him and his well-known newsletter. Personally, I find him to be a cantankerous old sonofabitch with an axe to grind and an overwrought writing style. One thing I will give him, though, is that he is always thoughtful, he’s clearly passionate about the right things, and he seems to genuinely care about music and the important role it plays in our lives. For that, I suppose it’s fair to say I respect the guy, as much a pain in the ass he may be. I do enjoy reading his newsletter when it is forwarded on to me, as it often is by my coworker, Franklin (who is a subscriber– I am not).

Franklin has a musical taste and opinions about the industry that are much more in line with Lefsetz’s than my own, so we sometimes have different takes on his pieces. He forwarded me a Lefsetz piece on Whiskeytown, because he knows I’m a Ryan Adams fan. I thought I’d share the Adams-related exchange we had after he forwarded me the article:

From: Franklin, Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 10:09 AM

As someone who has heard/tried to listen to EVERY single Prince record at least once, there is DEFINITELY a syndrome of being too prolific. Sorry Prince, I love you, but MOST of your music is annoying.

I don’t know Ryan Adams’ collection well enough to say if this was the case with him. I feel so at home with his style and sound that even lame songs usually sound pretty good to me.

Adams probably didn’t benefit from his embarrassing interviews. Too many wasted chats in front of an open mic. He just sounds stupid. But with that said, when I read his interviews in print I always love him. I have a similar reaction to Madonna. As soon as she opens her mouth I want to gag. But I usually like her music (or at least I like it after it has been beaten into my head 10,000 times).

Wasted Keith Richards always had a very well spoken Mick Jagger to handle the press. If the Stones had had to rely on his incoherent babble, they would have ended up collapsing.

It reminds me of the bit about Jerry Wexler talking about ‘tracks.’ “Yep, it sounds good, but there are no tracks on the record.” I love his enthusiasm for the song writing. Plus he calls them tracks which is cool in a Jewish Brooklyn kind of way.

I’m listening to a song on Demolition right now called “Desire”. It sounds good, but at the end of the day, it’s just kind of lame. It just doesn’t seem like a ‘track’. Hmmm, “Cry on Demand” is starting to make me feel kind of weird too. Is this a bad record?? I need a ranker on the records.

From: Me, Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 10:50 AM

You know how to goad me into writing an email, I’ll give you that.

My Ryan Adams Album Rankings:

1) Gold – For purely sentimental reasons. This was the first album of his I got, and I was hooked. “Answering Bell” sung by anyone else would be terrible, but his countrified warble makes it heartbreaking and oddly moving. And it’s a pop song. Could be an Elton John tune, in which case I’d HATE it.

2) Love Is Hell - People slammed it. The label sent him back to the drawing board saying “You can do better.” WHAT?? Are these people nuts? “Please Do Not Let Me Go” is one of the saddest, most moving songs I’ve ever heard. This album only spoke to a few people, but the people to whom it did speak treasure it (stole that line from David Dye. When he said that in an interview, Adams said something to the effect of “Yeah. Thanks for saying that.”) I’m one of those people.

3) Jacksonville City Nights – This really should be my #1. A lapsteel slap in the face to Nashville and folks who said he was a 100% pop artist. Reminds me of Fall in Vermont for some reason. “Hard Way to Fall” and the Norah Jones duet “Dear John” are both great but, really, I love the whole damn thing to pieces.

4) Cold Roses – I buy the quantity over quality argument here. No need for this to be a double-disc effort. But the first two tracks are among his best ever.

5) Heartbreaker – Too weepy and self-romanticizing for me to go back to over and over again. I love it, don’t get me wrong. “My Winding Wheel” is an amazing driving song. During its guitar intro, I always visualize a tire spinning down a highway.

6) Easy Tiger - This is what came out when someone tried to sit him down and say “Dude, not all 37 of these songs can make it to the album, and you’re going to have to include certain ones to make this have mass commercial appeal.” Hence “Two” and “Everybody Knows”, which are both very “adult contemporary” sounding but you know what? You guessed it, I love ‘em both. Something about the timbre of this guy’s voice, I guess…

7) 29 - Certainly its own album. Sprawling, folksy tales. This album actually grows on you after time if you give it a chance, but I certainly don’t begrudge anyone not liking it. “Carolina Rain” is my favorite, and “Strawberry Wine” is really cool (I dig the occasional song that has no chorus).

8) Demolition – The name comes from the fact that these are mostly cutting room floor demos and B-sides that hadn’t been put out there before (get it? “demo”lition?), and yes, the result is many misses (”Starting to Hurt”, “Gimme a Sign”, “Jesus Don’t Touch My Baby” in particular are all stinkers). But “Dear Chicago”, “Chin Up, Cheer Up” and “Tomorrow” are all lovely, and I like the others as well, if not insanely.

9) Rock N Roll - Including this in the ranks is kind of silly, because it’s its own beast. Fun, catchy rock. This album got slammed by a lot of people, but all I can think of when I hear it is “I MUST get an electric guitar and a twelve pack IMMEDIATELY, and attack both voraciously” because the music is so carefree and stupid and fun. And I love that it’s literally the product of a week locked in a basement with friends and copius amounts of hard drugs, just cranking up the distortion and banging out tune after tune as a DIRECT result of being told that Love Is Hell wasn’t good enough/wasn’t what his label wanted out of him. “Oh yeah? Well take THIS.”

And I guess my point in defending the quantity of his output was driven by two key differences in my thinking from yours/Lefsetz’s.

1) I’m not arguing that a stronger focus on quality over quantity would not have benefited his career. I agree that Ryan Adams is a musical Thomas Wolfe without a Max Perkins: his career could have benefited from a stronger guiding hand in terms of his output. But as a FAN? I could care less about how popular he is, which leads to key difference #2:

2) I love his music, and I want to hear it all, hits and misses. I want to see the evolution, and hear him explore. I’m that into it. Your point about John Prine is well taken, but I think if you gave Prine the choice between exploring music as much as possible and sharing as much as possible with his fans all the while being as successful as he is and sharing a little LESS just in order to be thought of as a bit “tighter” a songwriter and hence gain some invisible points in the rankings of music critics, he’d choose the former in a heartbeat. When you’re an artist, producing art is what you’re supposed to do, not hold stuff back because it may strategically benefit your career in some abstract way.

From: Franklin, Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2008 10:55 AM

I LOVE THIS EMAIL.

I need more time to read it full. I can’t wait to cue up the records with your notes. Thanks.

To be clear/fair, I don’t care about anyone’s music career. But I do like quality. I think Lefsetz is saying that quality equals a career. Most of the GREAT records ultimately make it. Sometimes the obscure lame records are obscure and lame for a reason.

But scrap John Prine. I was referring to PRINCE. As in ‘the artist formally known as.’

Oops. So there you have it. I can’t read. A song for your trouble:

“My Winding Wheel” by Ryan Adams (from Heartbreaker)

ron sexsmith – canada, eh? allllmost made it.

I first picked up a Ron Sexsmith CD at the Borders on Church Street in Burlington, VT while Christmas shopping about 7 years ago.  I threw on some headphones and listened to his album Cobblestone Runway.

Sexsmith has an awesome voice.  It’s got an interesting timbre and depth, and you can tell he’s in complete command of it, but it also has an almost nasal quality about it that is tough to define.  It was enough of a selling point that I picked up the album as a gift to my little brother, and of course ripped myself a copy.

As interesting as his sound is, and as effective his poppy hooks can be, his lyrics struck me as a tad too fey, a bit too intimately reflective for my taste, and I never got too into the album.  (My brother had the same reaction.)

I never picked up anything else by Sexsmith until I saw a post on music for robots about his new album, Exit Strategy of the Soul.  Turns out he co-wrote the song “Brandy Alexander” with fellow Canuck Feist. (You may recognize the song name from Feist’s The Reminder.)  His horn-laden version of that tune is killer– much better than Feist’s, in my opinion– and was enough encouragement for me to buy the album.

Exit Strategy is a mixed bag.  There are still elements in some songs that I just don’t like.  When he sings lines like “I’m the same boy that you knew then / I just want to be chased by love / embraced by love / just like you,” I can’t help but feel like I’m in the dentist chair, squirming as James Taylor and other adult contemporary garbage conducts an all-out assault on my ears.

But songs like “Hard Time” (below) are great.  If only he’d write songs with a bit more of a stiff upper lip more often, I think I’d go from being a Ron Sexsmith appreciator to a huge Ron Sexsmith fan.  I mean, this song is right up there with “One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)” in the pantheon of great breakup songs: “Since I’ve lost her love / seems I’ve lost my balance / have no soft place to fall / one could say I’m having a hard time.”  I LOVE that line!  It reminds me of Bill Murray in Rushmore: “Oh… I guess you could say I’ve been a bit lonely these days.”

After Cobblestone Runway came out, I remember reading an AP piece on Sexsmith.  The article painted him as a songwriter’s songwriter, one who many more-famous-than-him musicians loved (fan Chris Martin does a duet with him on Cobblestone Runway), but who for whatever reason had failed to break into the mainstream.  There was a line from Sexsmith in the article, saying something to the effect of “I’m a Canadian, and hence cannot be a rock star.  I see Ryan Adams wearing sunglasses indoors and say ‘Get over yourself.’”  I can certainly understand and appreciate his point, but part of me wishes he’d just embrace some level of theatrics in order to employ a dramatic perspective on things every now and then.  Don’t sing about how you feel, Ron.*  Sing about something that’ll make me feel the way you do.

“Hard Time” by Ron Sexsmith

“Impossible World” by Ron Sexsmith*

Both from Exit Strategy of the Soul.  But it on eMusic.