Jack Flash Jr wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote:
Jack Flash Jr wrote:
We might still see some late gems but this is an opportunity to mine each other for new material right now ?
* Top 5 Albums Of The Year
* Guitar Album Of the Year
I take it you mean albums released this year?
Released in 2013
Otherwise I'd have Let It Bleed as my album of the year ?
I've bought more music this year than I can ever remember buying before. But I don't keep up with fashion and I've been busy making up for lost time with Ry Cooder's catalogue. iTunes and Nokia Music have changed the game for me - I can get lots of stuff that local shops don't stock, loads of people's back catalogs are available and it's cheap with a capital V. I've still got some Cooders to go, but there's Christmas coming and a birthday the next month.
So, despite the sudden swelling of my music collection, but not (because of my switch to digital purchasing) the CD shelves I had made, I actually only obtained six that meet Jack's quite reasonable requirements.
1) Robert Randolph Presents the Slide Brothers.
This also gets my vote for guitar album of the year. This album reminds me of why I once loved the blues, indeed it tells me that I still do love the blues. These guys play with such authority, such skill and with such great spirit and attitude. If they want a witness my hand is already up. Strong in them the spirit is.
2) Laurie Levine - Border Crossing.
In every way a step up from her previous (pretty good) album. Producer Dan Roberts does a stellar job and serves the songs and the singer well without simply repeating the recipe of the previous album. But the main attraction here is the fabulous soul groove, underpinned by the marvellous rhythm section of Tebogo Sedumedi and Justin Badenhorst.
3) Ry Cooder and Corridos Famosos - Live In San Francisco
A curate's egg, but the good parts are REALLY good. Late in his career Cooder suddenly hit considerable songwriting form, and his last few solo albums have emphasised that. So it's good to hear him plugging in and wailing again. He's good at it.
4) Linda Thompson - Won't Be Long Now
This is her third album since her unexpected comeback in 2003, and for me it's the best yet - the most consistent in form and in style. She doesn't expect hits and has no need to make concessions to fashion. Listen to this and one of the early Richard and Linda albums back to back and there's almost no difference. She's an anti-Celine, retaining the strong but unadorned style that she used in the 70s.
5) Richard Thompson - Electric.
Cooder's songwriting is coming on stronger as he gets older, Thompson's seems to be in slow decline. Here he's really inconsistent and one's thoughts start turning to a word not previously associated with him: Filler. But he made his name as a guitarist first and that aspect of his craft is undiminished. The performances are strong (not just Thompson's either - drummer Michael Jerome turns in a very fine performance, and fiddler Stuart Duncan is a delight every time he plays), and the power trio numbers suggest some interesting stylistic possibilities. Producer (and occasional 2nd guitar) Buddy Miller steers Thompson away from the shiney but flat sound that he's opted for since leaving Capitol and going indy.
