Pasadena Weekly Selects Town as Best Album of the Year
Best of 2006 trax
By Bliss
Artists responded to 2006’s tumult with music about various global crises. Rock titans Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen weighed in on the Iraq war, while U2 frontman Bono continued his globetrotting campaign to reduce Third World debt. Katrina-ravished New Orleans inspired worthy releases by Irma Thomas, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Chris Thomas King, Shawn Mullins, Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. Hip-hop dominated pop culture despite faltering sales; the Roots and Michael Franti addressed current affairs in their music, but doubts lingered about the street cred of superstars like Jay-Z. Meanwhile, Bob Dylan stymied expectations with the blues-soaked “Modern Times,” Woody Guthrie sidekick Ramblin’ Jack Elliott made a critically hailed comeback with “I Stand Alone,” and Joanna Newsom, Vetiver and the ubiquitous Devendra Banhart gave legs to the freak-folk movement.
Amidst industry preoccupation with iPods, iTunes, Cubes, MySpace, satellite radio, the launch of Zune and the demise of Tower Records, Brit popsters Lily Allen and the Arctic Monkeys overcame odds stacked against indie artists and generated international buzz that actually carried more substance than hype.
Despite the impatience of a soundbyte-addicted culture, albums continued to be the forum of choice for artists making thoughtful statements. As the nation swept its Congressional house and grappled with the tragic consequences of a war of its leaders’ making, it was only fitting that several of the year’s most potent albums addressed mortality, and the
intangible beauty and meaning of life.
1) TIE: Los Lobos, “The Town and the City” and Tom Waits, “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards”: Los Lobos’ song cycle about society and immigrant experiences in LA had a lock on the top spot, thanks to its “Kiko”-esque instrumental texture, universally relatable lyrics and stirring musical gumbo of R&B, blues, Chicano and garage rock, cumbia and Mexican folk. Then came the chameleonic Waits’ three-disc epic “Orphans” with its inverted madhouse revels in rock, blues, gospel and jazz – a complex, towering view of creativity and humanity’s messy sprawl that’s as demanding as it is musically sublime. Both discs
conjure alternate worlds; dive in.
2) Ali Farka Toure, “Savane”: A hypnotic, beautiful masterwork by the Malian guitarist and unwitting “desert blues” progenitor, who recorded this inspiring 12-song collection of traditional dances, love ballads and topical songs when he was dying.
3) Kris Kristofferson, “This Old Road”: The Country Hall of Famer proves himself a poetic, compassionate sage for the ages – and, not unlike longtime friend and hero Johnny Cash, crafts tuneful music that transcends genre boundaries with this intimate, timely set that stands tall alongside his early-’70s classics.
4) The Decemberists, “The Crane Wife”: Using a Japanese folk tale as a lyrical springboard, the Portland indie-rockers retain their quirky sensibility and sound on their major-label debut, which improbably balances buoyant melodies with dark themes of longing, sacrifice and death.
5) Alan Jackson, “Like Red on a Rose”: Jackson and producer Alison Krauss’ mutual admiration society yielded one of 2006’s most unexpected surprises: this quiet, gorgeously performed and produced stunner that eschews Jackson’s customary good-time conviviality for sober midlife reflection. “I don’t sing like I used to,” Jackson intones on Robert Lee Castleman’s melancholy “Firefly’s Song,” a statement that belies his interpretive powers. “Sometimes less is more.” Amen.
6) Quetzal, “Die Cowboy Die”: The Eastside ensemble continues to gratify open-minded listeners with impassioned performances, deeply principled songs and a dizzying embrace of styles: son jarocho, salsa, Chicano rock, soul and R&B. By far Quetzal’s most cohesive and accessible album, “Die Cowboy Die” also comes closest to capturing the spontaneous
exuberance of their concerts.
7) Arctic Monkeys, “Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”: If they were only about the jackhammer urgency of their hit “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” the Arctic Monkeys would just be one more overhyped British import. Add the defiant likes of “Fake Tales of San Francisco” and thoughtful songwriting of “Riot Van” to a bracing lack of pretense and seriously insistent beats, however, and you’ve got one
compelling combo.
8) Rosanne Cash, “Black Cadillac”: A thoroughly moving, genre-transcending meditation on love and the spiritual and familial ties that bind, composed in the wake of the deaths of her mother, stepmother and legendary father.
9) Johnny Cash, “American V: A Hundred Highways”: The Man in Black’s enduring relevance lies in his stature as an all too human icon dueling with painful inner demons while championing principles of decency and tolerance. Recorded when he knew his raspy breaths were numbered, his final album is grave, uplifting and at times unbearably poignant, his weakened vocals paradoxically underscoring his spiritual vigor.
10) Jake La Botz, “Graveyard Jones”: Blues is defined more by feel and groove than intellect, with a primal pulse geared most often toward juke-joint gyrations or pyrotechnic guitar flash. This ain’t that. La Botz lays on the groove grease with muscular support from guitarist Rick Holmstrom and drummer James Goodall, but it’s his creation of a Buddhist-informed mythology that elevates his gritty, spectral blues and makes this ambitious song cycle food for the mind as well as the soul.
11) Keith Jarrett, “The Carnegie Hall Concert”
12) Ray LaMontagne, “Till the Sun Turns Black”
13) Michael Franti, “Yell Fire”
14) Chris Smither, “Leave the Light On”
15) Solomon Burke, “Nashville”
16) Toumani Diabate’s Symmetric Orchestra, “Boulevard de l’independence”
17) The Roots, “Game Theory”
18) Cat Power, “The Greatest”
19) Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris, “All the Roadrunning”
20) Salif Keita, “M’Bembe”