Our favorites of 2009

YEAH! Our faves of 2009 (from Modern Acoustic, Issue 27)

FAVORITE CD
“I and Love and You,” the Avett Brothers; “Sea of Tears,” Eilen Jewell. The Avetts’ mountain music has just enough punky attitude. Yes, we realize the band’s sound has been scrubbed a little cleaner than in the past, thanks to legendary producer Rick Rubin, but “I and Love and You” still comes off fresh and exciting, and new to those of us who hadn’t been paying attention before. As for “Sea of Tears,” Eilen’s timeless voice gets backing from some of the most-kickass late-’60s and early-’70s guitar-based sounds from a band who appears to have totally found its groove.
(Read our album reviews: Avetts HERE; Eilen HERE)

SURPRISE CD
“Friend of a Friend,” David Rawlings Machine. Since we’ve been waiting six years, anytime there is new music from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings it is a surprise.
(Read album review HERE; check out Dave’s music HERE)

MEMORABLE CONCERT MOMENT
Regina Spektor blowing the shofar as part of her encore.

FAVORITE CONCERT PHOTO
Dragonforce guitar player Herman Li (see above)

FAVORITE CONCERT
Big Surprise Tour. We went to see Gillian and David. We also got to hear the Felice Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show and Justin Townes Earle – all together sharing the stage in one big hoedown. The highlight was a concert-ending full-on version of “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll).”
(Watch our video HERE; read our CONCERT review HERE).

FAVORITE VENUE
House of Blues Boston. We have mixed feelings about this. We love small clubs for their intimacy and HOB is a corporate rock club that holds a couple thousand people. But we saw six shows there this year – from Regina’s Spektor’s pin-drop quietude to the jam-rock of Grace Potter -- and the sound was perfect every time. Even when there were nearly 15 musicians on the stage for the Big Surprise Tour, we could hear every instrument and vocal nuance. While you do have to stand most of the time, the sightlines are surprisingly very good. One thing: $6 for a can of Bud? That’s why corporate rock really sucks. A special shoutout to the Palladium in Worcester. We had never been there before and it’s a pretty cool place to see a show. (read our GRACE concert review HERE)

BEST TIME AT A SHOW
Regina Spektor at the House of Blues, Dragonforce at the Worcester Palladium. Anytime you can experience music with your kids, it’s a good time.
(read our REGINA concert review HERE).

FAVORITE QUOTE
Q. How would you respond to some critics saying that “Inhuman Rampage” is just playing fast at the expense of taste?
Vadim Pruzhanov, Dragonforce keyboard player: We love to shred and shredding is what we do. There are plenty of bands that play mid-tempo power metal whilst looking at their fretboards and not move at all. If it’s too fast, you’re too fucking old! (FROM SAVIORSOFROCK.COM)

FAVORITE NEW ARTIST
The Low Anthem. This R.I. band caught our attention with their song “Charlie Darwin.” We look forward to their next album. (Check out the Low Anthem HERE).

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Steve Earle. We’ve known about Steve for a long time. But after seeing him at the Berklee Performance Center, we realized he is the real deal, a folk singer with that political drive to keep going.
(READ OUR concert review HERE; Steve's Music HERE)


OTHER MEMORABLE CONCERTS
Jenny Lewis at House of Blues We knew Jenny had a great voice, but we were amazed that in concert she hits all the notes, whether singing a solo gospel number or fronting her full-tilt rock band. (Read our concert review HERE; check out her music HERE)

The Avett Brothers at the House of Blues We’d heard that seeing these guys live is a different experience than hearing their albums. And it is true. The energy level is ratcheted up to the point where you can’t help but dance. (Read our concert review HERE; check out their music HERE)

Kathleen Edwards at Paradise This was our second time seeing Kathleen. She puts on a great show, stomping around the stage and firing off funny stories about life on the road. (Read our concert review HERE; check out her music HERE)

Eilen Jewell doing Loretta Lynn songs at Lizard Lounge We almost didn’t go to the show, but at the last minute changed our minds. And we’re glad we did. (Read our concert review HERE; check out her
music HERE)

OTHER MEMORABLE ALBUMS
Erin McKeown, “Hundreds of Lions” Erin has a spark, a wit, and a way with songs like no other. Take a listen to “(Put the Fun Back in) the Funeral” and “The Rascal” and try not to smile. (Read our album review HERE; check out her music HERE)

Regina Spektor, “Far” We thought we’d never love a Regina album as much as we did “Begin to Hope.’’ But, lo and behold, “Far” hooked us. It has so many great tunes full of her amazing vocal acrobatics. One listen to “Eet” or “Dance Anthem of the ’ 80s’’ and you’ll be hooked too. (Read our album review HERE; check out her music HERE)

Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson, “Rattlin’ Bones” Kasey is a nationally known folk-pop singer; Shane, her husband, is apparently known mostly in their native Australia. This album, a mix of folk, blues and bluegrass, really stands out for the way their voices meld into one. The best songs -- “Jackson Hole,” “The Devil’s Inside My Head” – are romping tunes filled out with some furious banjo picking. (Read our album review HERE; check out their music HERE)

Issue 27, Dec. 2009

I Survived Dragonforce
We all have have things we have lost tolerance for. Animated kids’ films? No more, thank you. Musical theater? Not unless our kids our in it. Costume parties? No invite necessary.
But it is good occasionally to step outside your comfort zone and take in experiences you don’t consider your style. Sometimes they even surprise you.
A couple of summers ago, we spent a weekend at a jam-band festival. We are not big fans of jam music but we were interested to see if the groovy vibes of the Grateful Dead era that we knew and loved still existed. (They actually do!) Did we come away loving the music? No. But we were more appreciative of the whole scene.
This year we put our mettle to a test by taking our son to a metal concert. Now the metal-est we get is Zeppelin and Hendrix, so this was a real challenge.
The question was not only would our ears be able to take the decibals, but would we be able to tolerate the music and the scene, which has never appealed to us.
So how did it turn out? You’ll have to read all about it in our review, but we will tell you we were pleasantly – and amusingly – surprised.
Something that might not surprise you is that we have picked our favorites for this year and they include albums by Eilen Jewell and the Avett Brothers. We have written about both bands in depth, reviewing both their albums and concerts. It makes us happy just thinking about them.
We had a great time at shows this year, seeing performances by Regina Spektor, Grace Potter, and the Avetts at the House of Blues, Kathleen Edwards at the Paradise, Steve Earle at the Berklee Performance Center, and the metal extravaganza with Dragonforce at the Palladium in Worcester.
Check out our annual list of favorites.
Finally, just in case you hadn’t gotten your complete musical fill from this issue, we offer a review of the new release from – gasp! – Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. It’s actually the first release from David Rawlings, with help from Gillian Welch.
Hey, at least they have finally released something new. And with it, we can slip back into our comfort zone.
Rich Kassirer, editor
To read the full issue, click HERE
To read our review of David Rawlings album, click HERE


MA5 - Songs
Song that helped us survive this issue:
1. “January Wedding,” “I and Love and You,” the Avett Brothers. A wonderful little ditty of a love song.
2. “Long Distance Runaround,” “Fragile,” Yes. Reaching way back to someplace way back in my brain.
3. “To the Dogs or Whoever,” The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter,” Josh Ritter. Still a blast to listen to.
4. “The Rascal,” “Hundreds of Lions,” Erin McKeown. Erin sure knows how to have fun – even when she’s mad!
5. “A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold,” “Live at Massey Hall 1971,” Neil Young. A great solo acoustic version.

Kris and Kathleen

It was a good week for Modern Acoustic, we got out and caught a couple of fun shows this week: Kris Delmhorst played a solo show at Passim last Sunday and Kathleen Edwards was at the Paradise on Wednesday. Both shows were more laid back than rocking, which made for a chance to really listen closely to their lyrics. I'm usually one to focus on the actual music but I really dug just paying attention to what their songs were saying.
That's not to say that the music was secondary, because it's not. They both play with melody and harmony in such beautiful ways. Kris has a deep voice, but surprisingly hits high notes with a gorgeous softness. Kathleen can sing softly, but she can belt it as well, and when she does her cute Canadian accent really is accentuated.
Neither show was the kind that you say "I will remember forever," though. Kris played solo most of the night, until the end when she brought local singer Jennifer Kimball up on stage to sing with her. The show was nice, but I missed the extra guitar that Mark Erelli or Jabe Beyer provided when I've seen her in the past. As far as Kathleen's show is concerned, I saw her almost exactly a year ago when she brought a full band. This time she had keyboardist/guitarist extraordinaire Jim Bryson and another guitarist with her. Without the drum and the bass, the show wasn't quite as rockin'. Also missed Bryson's pedal steel which he didn't bring his time.
Neither of these are necessarily complaints since it gave me a different perspective and way to listen to these great artists. So in all, a great week.
Below are a couple of videos I shot of the two shows. For more pics from the shows, click HERE.

Issue 23, Dec. 2008

The Shining - Don't Be Scared, It's Just Our Faves of '08
Another year has gone by.
As we get older, they seem to fly by faster than ever before. We see our kids growing older, becoming well-balanced, truly amazing teens with ambition and interests; we see ourselves collecting wrinkles and grayer hair at a somewhat alarming rate.
Capturing all that goes by in a single year is tough. You go to work, come home, maybe go on a vacation or two... and then the year is up.
So it’s time to spend a few minutes remembering what we’ve done for the last 12 months. And since we’re a music magazine, we’ve spent this issue remembering the shows we’ve seen and the CDs we heard.
So here it is, our fourth annual end-of-the year Favorites Issue.
As you’ll read, we had a little trouble choosing our favorite CD of the year, so we awarded two our top honor. “Honeysuckle Weeks” by the Submarines (we loved them even before they got famous from their iPhone ads) and the pleasant end-of-the-year surprise, Jenny Lewis’ “Acid Tongue.”
And as favorite performer, well, it was tough to top Kathleen Edwards rocking out at the Paradise.
For all of our year’s favorites, check out Pages 6-7.
We are also really excited about our first-ever Special Report, an in-depth look at music blogs and the music industry’s love-hate relationship with them. We talk to musicians, label reps and the bloggers themselves to suss out where they fit in the Circle of Musical Life.
And finally, as we put the finishing touches on this year, we also find ourselves looking ahead to next year, and the change in this country’s leadership.
Not to get all political, but we sure are glad we will have a new president, and the choice of Barack Obama brings hope for a change of philosophy in the way the US is led.
With this, we dig deep inside our iTunes playlist to bring you songs that mirror our new hope.
Peace to all.
To download the new issue, click HERE.

MA5 - SONGS
Songs that helped us survive this issue.
1. “Pretty Bird,’’ “Acid Tongue,” Jenny Lewis. Hauntingly wonderful.
2. “A Man Needs a Maid,” “Harvest,” Neil Young. Not getting ideas, just an amazing tune.
3. “No Bad News,” “Children Running Through,” Patty Griffin. It’s fun to hear her rock out.
4. “Better,” “Begin to Hope,” Regina Spektor. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it.
5. “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” Bill Withers. Just one of the all-time great songs.

Marty McSorley: The Video

When Kathleen Edwards played the Paradise in Boston in March, she was psyched that she had finally received confirmation that Marty McSorley would take part in her video "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory," which namechecks the former hockey enforcer. Apparently, her label or other high muckey-mucks tried to put the kibosh on her attempt to make a hockey video for the song, but she was able to beat them down (probably with a little intimidation from McSorley!). The video has arrived and it is totally cute, which is not hard with Edwards in the lead. It shows off her sense of humor and includes members of her band, Blue Rodeo singer Jim Cuddy, and former NHL great Paul Coffey. There are some funny stare downs, hip checks, some ice dancing in full hockey gear, and a big kiss scene between Kathleen and McSorley. It's totally worth a look... For some reason I thought Kathleen would have been a better skater than she shows.

Now You See Them

Just a quick note to say that I've moved all my concert photos over to Flickr. Very soon I will make sure my Modern Acoustic website photo link will also take you there. Flickr is much quicker for uploading -- I don't have resize all the pics myself -- and the photos are much easier to find on the Net so they get more views.
Check them out HERE (www.flickr.com/modernacoustic/sets, for those who would like the actual address).
Above and below, a couple samples of what you'll find there...

Issue 20, April 2008

On Target: On her new album "Shotgun Singer," Kris Delmhorst looks inward
We’ve been spending a lot of our ample free time between issues reading and thinking about folk music – its origins and its future.
Why? Well, for starters, we’ve been staying up late with our nose firmly planted in the book “Turn! Turn! Turn!: The ’60s Folk-Rock Revolution” by Richie Unterberger, which vividly captures the spirit and excitement of how folkies turned to rock because of the Beatles and Dylan. It’s a fun read filled with interviews that takes music through ’50s folk heyday, the Byrds, the Lovin’ Spoonful, and Crosby, Stills and Nash.
We’ve also been contemplating folk’s future. Last year, Boston college station WERS eliminated its traditional folk and jazz shows and combined them into a more contemporary and more varied sound. And this year, another local station, WUMB, announced that its all-folk programming is getting a sprucing up, adding more “electric” music to its mix.
We are all for these changes, having thought in the past that sometimes those shows dragged a bit and could use some modernization.
Does it mean that traditional folk and jazz are dead? It’s hard to say. We think real music fans don’t mind a good mix of music and are willing to listen to anything of quality.
Folk has, in fact, given way to a much broader range of music that still provides the personal experiences of the songwriter. It could be a single musician playing a guitar, or a singer-songwriter accompanied by a backing band, or a full-on band with a diverse set of instruments or voices.
In that vein, we talk to Kris Delmhorst, one of our favorites. Her new album, “Shotgun Singer,” encompasses all of the above. Her voice is amazing, she plays a multitude of instruments, and she’s got great musical friends, who are always there for each other.
We also review Kathleen Edwards’ “Asking for Flowers” and the Waifs’ “Sundirtwater,” two albums that offer unique views of the world.
The old adage is that all music – blues, rock, jazz, etc. – is folk music. Maybe the times aren’t changing that much.
To download the interview with Kris in the new issue, click HERE.
To read the CD reviews of Kris Delmhorst, Kathleen Edwards and the Waifs, click HERE.

MA5 - Albums
Albums that helped us survive this issue.
1. “Shotgun Singer,’’ Kris Delmhorst. We just love her voice.
2. “Mutations,” Beck. So slinky, so good.
3. “Letters From Sinners and Strangers,” Eilen Jewell. A great bar band with a classic old-time sound.
4. “Children Running Through,” Patty Griffin. We really liked the album when it came out, we really love it now.
5. “Sing You Sinners,” Erin McKeown. Every song is like a blast of spring.

On the Oregon Trail

My search for great music goes far and wide, and recently we found our way to a website out of Oregon called opb.org. I'm not sure what it stands for but it's an independent music channel, which is set up to serve Oregonians looking for cool music. But of course being on the Internet, anyone who wants to hear their songs can sign up for free. What's really cool about obp is that they feature in-studio interviews and performances and post them for listening. Among those performances are our faves Kathleen Edwards (below), doing a great all-acoustic mini-set; Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter; Eilen Jewell (inset); and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Check out all the in-studio guests here. Enjoy!

She Makes the Dough, I Got the Video

For any one who thinks that Kathleen Edwards is just a nice little country singer from Canada, I say go see her in concert. Last night I caught her show at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston and, let me tell you, she and her band rock. Edwards is an absolute dynamo, moving around the stage beating on her beaten acoustic and even playing some stellar electric leads. She also has an amazing band, which features her husband Colin Cripps on lead guitar and Jim Bryson on keys and lead guitar. Both dudes can play! The band looks like it's having a blast as Kathleen smiles and swears the whole way through. They played for a better part of two hours playing songs mostly from "Back to Me" and "Asking for Flowers," her new album. She rocked out on the new uptempo tunes "The Cheapest Key" and "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory."
Before the latter song, she jubilantly told the us that she had heard earlier in the day from hockey thug Marty McSorley, who she namechecks in the tune, and that he agreed to be in her video and may even bring along The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, to join in. Being from Canada, she's an avid hockey fan and asked the crowd if there were any Bruins fans out there. When a big cheer went up, she brought out a box and offered up gingerbread man cookies dressed in Ottawa Senators uniforms. She and the band finished up with a pair of encores, first her alone playing what looked like an electric mandolin on new song "Sure as Shit" and then the whole band returned, blowing out "Back to Me" for the finale. A great night.
A couple of videos below. For more pics, click HERE.