The Baseball Project - 1976: A great combination of lyrics and music, 1976 starts out looking at pitcher Mark Fidrych‘s rookie year with the Detroit Tigers. But it transcends that story and ends up as a rumination on memories that will never change despite the passage of time. All set to a 60s pop tune with great 12 string guitar work from R.E.M.‘s Peter Buck and amazing drumming and backing vocals from Steve Wynn and The Miracle Three‘s Linda Pitmon. And for those of you out there keeping score, this song is a rare co-write between Steve Wynn and Peter Buck.
The remaining songs are listed in alphabetical order by artist.
Emily Zuzik Band - Motels: There are songs that come under the heading of literature with guitars and Motels is one of them. A dark story of which details, verse by verse, all the reasons the narrator hangs out at motels, none having particularly to do with travel. This song has long been a highlight of Emily’s live shows and this recording is the definitive version of the song.
Emily Zuzik Band - You Want To Go Out Tonight?: This is the lead off track from the album The Wild Joys of Living, and it’s a little pop masterpiece: bouncy, danceable and with plenty of power chords to go around. The story of You Want to Go Out Tonight? involves the singer finding a great guy who she can’t wait to see. Although you wouldn’t call the story innocent, it is certainly the sweet side of lust.
Charlie Faye - Broken Heart Maker: A wonderful piece of 60s retro pop, complete with a perfectly used horn section. Charlie tells the story of a woman who is looking for love but ends up settling for far less. That far less is perfectly summed up as “she’s gonna be a fevered love taker and broken heart maker.” That jaw dropping, heart stopping line still gets me after many repeated listens to this great song.
Israel Nash Gripka - Fools Gold: To anyone who says that they don’t make ‘em like they used to, listen to this song. It’s straight ahead rock (albeit with an amplified acoustic rhythm guitar) that sounds totally contemporary but would have sounded equally good back in the 70s. I’m still unhappy that Israel moved his base of operations from NYC to Austin a few months back, because his live shows were just great.
Here are the second five albums in my Best of 2011 list; you’ll find the first part here.
Israel Nash Gripka – Barn Doors and Concrete Floors: Israel’s last record made my Best of 2009 list, and this one is equally good. I’ve been explaining what Barn Doors and Concrete Floors sounds like to people by saying it is as if Neil Young and John Fogerty met in 1971 and formed a band. But don’t let that description make you think that Israel Nash Gripka is anything other than someone who is using a classic sound to create some wonderful brand new guitar band music. Fools Gold and Goodbye Ghost are the standouts here, but in any event this is a good record to play loud.
Jim Keller Band – Soul Candy: After being away from writing and performing music for a number of years (he was in Tommy TuTone and co-wrote 867-5309/Jenny), Jim Keller has collected a band full of top notch musicians and been performing in small local venues and recording. Soul Candy is Jim’s second album in as many years. You’ll find 10 soul tinged songs on the record ranging from rockers like Meltdown and Giving It Up To Love to ballads like Julianne and Modern Girl. And of course Jim makes skillful use of a horn section.
James Maddock – Wake Up and Dream: The hardest thing in writing about James Maddock is coming up with an apt short description of his music. Folk Rock might be close, but much of James’ work is close to anthemic. That aside, the new album from James, Up and Dream, is a delight. There are 12 songs that range from energetically uptempo (Beautiful Now, Living A Lie) to the more introspective (Mr. Universe, Keep Your Dreams) and points in between (the title cut). The same band that played on James’ last two records as well as his live shows is back again and providing a very full sound. James has played many of these songs live over the past couple of years and it’s good to have them finally recorded.
My Pet Dragon – Mountains and Cities: Met Pet Dragon has taken elements from 80s synth pop and from that era’s U2 and combined them into anthemic and danceable rock. This album includes two excellent songs previously issued on EPs last year, Lover in Hiding and Flow and adds more standouts including Majestic Lovers, Moonshine, Lightning Inside and Songbird. This record sounds good turned up as well.
Bess Rogers – Out of the Ocean: This wonderful record full of power pop is the follow up to last years EP, Bess Rogers Presents Bess Rogers. Out of the Ocean was inspired by a book about evolution, but the lyrics are broad enough to be more than just about that. The songs here are well crafted, the arrangements inventive and Bess’ vocals are exactly what is called for. I always have a tough time moving past I’ll Be Gone, but other standout tracks include Math & Science, Anchor and Water & Dirt.
Bubbling Under
I had a hard time cutting this list down to 10 records. There were a number of records which I liked a great deal but which found themselves just below the line. So here are those albums of exceptional merit which did not make the list this year, but which you should pick up and enjoy:
I also left off two records which have not been officially released but were being sold at live appearances by these two bands. Their official release should occur in 2012 and they’ll be as close to a sure thing for next year’s Top 10 list as you can get:
It’s beginning to feel a lot like Top 10 List time again. So today and tomorrow Now I’ve Heard Everything will be presenting its Best Albums of 2011, with the Best Songs of 2011 to follow later. Each of those lists will be presented in two parts.
2011 was an excellent year musically and I struggled to whittle down this list to just 10 records. Since the records that just missed making the list would have been on the list in lesser years, I’ll name them in part 2 tomorrow.
The top album of 2011 is:
Garland Jeffreys – The King of In Between: It’s difficult to rattle off a facile description of The King of In Between. Maybe this is the briefest accurate description of it: a heartfelt and mature record that will hold your attention throughout 12 diverse songs. TKOIB includes rock, folk, folk-rock, blues, reggae and even disco. Highlights include the lead off song, Coney Island Winter, both a sad look at a once great neighborhood and a metaphor for where New York City and this country in general find themselves today, I’m Alive, a rocking, joyous number about surviving, and ‘Til John Lee Hooker Calls Me, a straight ahead blues.
The rest are presented in alphabetical order
Joy Askew – Drunk on You: Drunk on You is a gorgeous sounding record made with a stellar cast of musicians. Drunk on You sounds the way it does, atmospheric and occasionally moody, because Joy produced it trying to get a sound that is distinctive to the record. Drunk on You was mixed without the dynamic compression that makes so much of today’s recorded music difficult to listen to for long periods. The songs on Drunk on You have literate lyrics and catchy choruses. Highlights include the title track, AOAO, I Broke the Law and Walk the Dog.
Emily Zuzik Band – The Wild Joys of Living: The Wild Joys of Living is the 2011 record from Emily, officially billed this time out as the Emily Zuzik Band. At eight songs, it’s a short album but there isn’t a drop of filler here. You’ll find a combination of rockers and ballads all of which highlight Emily’s skills in songwriting. Although the production here is fuller than the way Emily has played many of these songs in the past, it all just works. The lead off track, You Want to Go Out Tonight is given a power pop treatment which makes it a perfect summer song. Also of note is the darker, moody Motels.
Charlie Faye – Travels with Charlie: Travels with Charlie is the record that grew out of Charlie Faye’s unique 2010 tour of America. She stayed in each of 10 cities for a month, found musicians to play with, wrote a song and recorded it. Consequently the songs on this record are a diverse lot, ranging from Americana, Country, Alt Country and even a few 60s pop infused songs. Charlie is a top notch songwriter and has a wonderfully rich expressive voice and you will not go wrong with anything on here.
It wasn’t clear that I was going to be able to get to The Bowery Electric on Friday night to see the final 2011 appearance of Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3. I had been laid low by a rather nasty bug for most of the week. But by Friday night, I had recovered enough to hop on the F train and make the short journey to the Lower East Side.
I decided that since I still wasn’t feeling 100%, instead of getting to the front of the stage and taking pictures during the show, I would just park myself by the railing, about 25 feet back. This vantage point had an unexpected advantage. Since it was just behind the sound man and his console, the sound was particularly good.
Around 9:40, Steve, Jason Victor (guitar), Dave DeCastro (bass) and Linda Pitmon (drums) took the stage. On a fashion note, Linda wore a black and gold shimmery metallic top which was quite striking (you can see it in the photo above). The rest of the band wore their standard Miracle 3 garb.
I suppose that the plan for kicking off some of the rust that might have accumulated over the past five months or so when the band had not played together was to play hard, loud and passionately. That’s what The Miracle 3 did: starting with Halloween and then segueing immediately into Bruises. There was a false start to Colored Lights (Steve started out in the wrong key) but that was soon corrected and it was smooth sailing and hard rocking from then on.
I’ve included the full set list at the end of this post. One thing that I found interesting is that all but three songs were drawn from three albums: Northern Aggression, …tick…tick…tick and The Days of Wine and Roses.
During the set, Steve took the whammy bar off his Jazzmaster and gave it to Jason to use during the next song, which Jason did. After the song was over, he returned that piece of hardware to Steve. What happened to the whammy bar on Jason’s guitar (the same one he has been using for years) wasn’t explained.
And speaking of Jason’s guitar, it stood out in the mix this time. I really enjoyed being to able to hear it that cleanly.
I was also surprised, and delighted, that Steve finally dusted off The Way You Punish Me and played it during the encore. I’ve always liked that song, but this is the first time I can recall seeing it live.
This show ran about 90 minutes and included 17 songs. The set list is below.
Halloween
Bruises
Colored Lights
Consider The Source
No One Ever Drowns
Cindy, It Was Always You
No Tomorrow
Tell Me When It’s Over
Resolution
Death Valley Rain
The Deep End
That’s What You Always Say
Amphetamine
Encore
When You Smile
The Way You Punish Me
Wild Mercury
The Days Of Wine And Roses
Shows on Sunday nights are traditionally a bit sparsely attended. But the release show at The Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 for The City Is King (pictured on the left), the new CD from Freddie Stevenson and The Midnight Crisis, was jammed packed and even had a party feel to it. There were also plenty of musicians in the audience and from time to time some of them would join the band for a song or two.
One of the high points of the two hour show was this number, Unsatisfied. Playing on this song you’ll find Freddie Stevenson (vocals), David Luther (sax), Oli Rockberger (piano), John Jackson (mandolin), Irakli Gaprindashvili (acoutic guitar), James Maddock (electric guitar), David Immergluck (electric guitar), Julia Haltigan (vocals) and Rob Heath (drums). Somewhat paradoxically, I find this number to be quite satisfying.
Sometimes albums are recorded but everything is not quite in place for their release. What musicians have been doing recently is getting this music out by selling those albums only at their shows. Some of the 2011 albums I really like have been issued this way.
One of those show only records of great merit is Birds Fly South by The Mastersons, a band formed around Chris and Eleanor Masterson. Chris and Eleanor have had separate careers but have recently started performing together. Chris was in Son Volt (version 2.0) and plays electric lead guitar; Eleanor plays acoustic guitar and fiddle and has performed with many folks including James Maddock and Kelly Willis and has a fine solo album out. Since the spring, Chris and Eleanor have been part of Steve Earle‘s band and been touring with him non-stop.
Birds Fly South is a collection of 11 songs which range from rock to alt country to Americana. Lead vocals are split between Chris and Eleanor, but no matter who is singing lead, there’s plenty of harmony on these tracks. Highlights include Crash Test, a rocker with Chris and Eleanor sharing the lead and with some tasty pedal steel work, The Other Shoe, a song which features Eleanor’s violin front and center and the more Amaericana-ish Tell Me It’s Alright, which also has plenty of that great fiddle. You can hear both Crash Test and The Other Shoe streaming here.
Back in the spring, the plan was for Birds Fly South to be released by the end of this year. I hope that timeline still holds because this record is just too good not to be in wide distribution.
Much of Drunk on You was recorded with the musicians playing together live in the studio. Joy was able to find a studio where complete separation of the instruments was possible, even though doing so is difficult when a piano is one of the instruments.
But Drunk on You sounds the way it does because Joy produced it trying to get a sound that is distinctive to the record. She’s been influenced by English bands, particularly Radiohead and Coldplay. Joy noted that The Police influenced this record, even if you can’t hear that influence.
Once the recording was done, Brian McTear came in to do the mixing. Both he and Joy agreed that they would not get caught up in the “loudness wars.” Drunk on You was mixed without the dynamic compression that makes so much of today’s recorded music difficult to listen to for long periods.
Since I was puzzled about the meaning of the title of the album’s second song, Aoao, Joy was kind enough to explain it to me. Aoao is a phrase that sounds like an English grumble of dissatisfied resignation that she made up. While we were parsing songs, Joy went on to explain that the song, I Broke the Law, deals with following your heart and doing something you know is completely right, even though it may be against the law.
You can hear Joy play live with a full band at The Rockwood Music Hall on October 5th at 8pm. It’s the record release show for Drunk on You and I’m sure that copies of that CD will be available then.
Joy Askew has a brand new album out titled Drunk on You. The record sounds absolutely gorgeous and last week it refused to let me play anything else. DOY is keyboard based, atmospheric, rhythmically driven rock with some catchy choruses. Whatever you call it, it already is on my best of 2011 shortlist. So when the opportunity to sit down and chat with Joy came up, I grabbed it.
A longtime New York City resident now living in Brooklyn, Joy’s path from her native England to New York City took seven years. Joy is originally from Newcastle. The scene there in the 1970s was exciting, but for music in the UK, London was the place to be. So Joy made the move to London.
Once in London, Joy decided that the US was the place to be. And to her, the US meant New York City. Eventually, Joy got asked to be in the band Eye to Eye, a project of Steely Dan producer Gary Katz. That got her to New York City with a long term work visa. But six weeks later, Warner Brothers dropped the band.
Not living in the US, Joy had not heard of the show and did not know of its popularity. As Joy found out, among the millions of people who watched SNL were musicians. And after that broadcast of SNL, she got calls offering her work.
A while back, Joy was working in Nashville. It was suggested to her that she move down there. But she never saw a reason to do so. According to Joy, New York City is much more comfortable if you are English.
With the lighting problem on the big stage at The Brooklyn Indie Music Fest mostly solved (it reoccurred once or twice and then was fixed) I was able to take photos of most of the acts there. The lighting was problematic on the smaller stage after the sun went in, though. In any event, here are photos of 18 bands that played on Sunday.
Posted by Eliot 
Shows on Sunday nights are traditionally a bit sparsely attended. But the release show at 
