The combination would seem to be naturally at odds with each other. Fortunately, they come together in perfect harmony creating music that is infectious. It gets under your skin and transports you to another world where music is more adventurous and originality is the norm.
What else can I say? This is quite simply a striking artistic creation that pays tribute to the past as it looks towards the future.
El Bicho: Uncle Earl -Waterloo, Tennessee
One of life's greatest pleasures is discovering a new band. This year I was introduced to a talented quartet known as Uncle Earl, four females who work in bluegrass and old time music. They created one of my favorite albums of 2007, Waterloo, Tennessee, produced by John Paul Jones.
The stories told are mostly reflections on life, love, and death but that doesn't mean the g'Earls are always serious. A party breaks out during "D & P Blues," and you have to have a good sense of humor to sing an old traditional number in Chinese, "Streak o' Lean, Streak o' Fat (a.k.a. Hongshao Rou)," and make it work.
The g'Earls are all skilled musicians who take the lead playing and singing, but when they harmonize together, nothing sounds better. Do yourself a favor and give the album a listen because if you don't like Uncle Earl, you don't like music.
Donald Gibson: Bruce Springsteen - Magic
A good storyteller knows how to craft a convincing narrative, one in which specific circumstances and characters express a universal sentiment or ideal. Rock and roll allows a story to be told to the beat of a drum, the chords of an electric guitar, and the rhythm and melody of music. In 2007, Bruce Springsteen blended his literary songwriting skill with the energy and resourcefulness of the E Street Band to create Magic, the best album of the year.
Springsteen’s distinguished ability to lyrically personalize abstract issues is apparent throughout this album. As well, his deftness in delivering a dark message with often-incongruous music is remarkable. “Gypsy Biker,” for instance, is ostensibly a eulogy to a war-fallen friend, with eloquent lyrics imparting condolence. Yet an onslaught of raw guitar symbolizes anger toward the powers that allow such senseless death to happen in the first place. Such dichotomy of words and music, the conflation of two divergent elements to tell one story, manifests throughout Magic.
Article comments
1 - Donald Gibson
Thank you, Connie, for including my selection in this article. You did a great job putting everything together.
- Donald
2 - Pico
I concur with Donald, Connie, you did a great job with this article and overall with the BC Music Section. I'm proud to be associated with such a well-run subsite.
3 - Connie Phillips
Thank you Donald, Pico, and every other writer who contributed to this article and the section throughout the year.
I enjoyed reading the varied choices all of you brought to this article, as much as I enjoy reading about and discovering new music through your writing through out the year.
I look forward to the new year of releases and reading what all of you have to say about them.
4 - Chris Beaumont
Excellent stuff here! (especially Tomahawk!)
5 - Mark Saleski
hmm, i'll have to revisit Tomahawk. i bought it, listened, and then managed to misplace it!
6 - Tom Johnson
Thanks for putting this together, Connie. From the looks of things, our choices mean we're not going to sit well with the Pitchforkmedia set. I'm seeing some stuff they would probably categorize with a prefix of "dad-" thrown on for the ease of insult. Regardless, as I've said in other pieces about favorites, these are likely to be the albums we continue to listen to in many years rather than ones that are chosen out of a need to maintain some aspect of "cred," whatever that really means anymore.
Yep, that Tomahawk is one of those odd albums that I love yet won't be listening to all that often. Definitely suits a particular need. A bright moment of the year, for sure, but not something I can put on my list simply because I can't listen to it that regularly.
7 - Glen Boyd
No arguments with two picks for Bruce, plus Wilco, Norah, and the rest. Of those I haven't heard Tomahawk, Torn, and Uncle Earl all sound pretty interesting. Good list all around from our crack group of music scribes for sure.
-Glen
8 - Sterfish
Great article. The beauty of these types of posts is that it makes you want to seek out stuff. I have never listened to any of the albums in this article. In addition, I haven't even heard of a couple of artists on this list.
My pick for best of 2007 would be The White Stripes' Icky Thump.
9 - Michael J. West
Thanks so much for including me in this, Connie! And great job to everybody else who contributed, too!