Drive-By Music Recommendations

I’ve been a bad blogger (again) this year. The combination of travel, housework and studying (I’m trying to add Certified Internal Auditor to my list of certifications) have kept me from sticking to my resolution to blog more regularly in 2011. What I have been doing lately though, is listening to a lot of great new music (as all of the aforementioned tasks are very conducive to music enjoyment). I splurged on a set of Sony studio monitor headphones, and they’ve made all the difference in the world to my home music enjoyment.

Some quick music recommendations from the first couple of month of 2011 are:

Drive-By Truckers – Go-Go Boots: The title of this post was in reference to the brevity of this entry, and not one of my favorite bands. Of course they showed up as well. Go-Go Boots is less immediate than last year’s The Big To-Do, but I think it’s going to be more rewarding over the long haul. Opener, “I Do Believe” may be my new favorite Patterson song, and “Everybody Needs Love” shows a new side to the band.

The Decemberists – The King Is Dead: A drastic improvement from the feelslikeworktolistento concept album The Hazards Of Love, The King Is Dead is 10 songs of near perfection. This album feels like a cross between the best parts of modern American roots music (Is that an oxymoron?) with vintage R.E.M. Guest appearances by R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and roots music mainstay Gillian Welch suggest that might have been just the mix they were going for. Here they are with the aforementioned Gillian Welch on Conan.

Iron & Wine – Kiss Each Other Clean: It’s Sam Beam, he still has a beard, he’s still awesome, and it’s fantastic…just listen to it.

Yuck – Yuck: Members of the Fat Possum Records (Oxford, MS) roster, Yuck have made one of the best lo-fi pop releases in recent memory. It’s catchy as hell, but not too perfect, and that makes it just about perfect. Best heard on vinyl. Here's my favorite song on the album.

Wavves – King of the Beach: Fuzzed-out summer anthems performed with reckless abandon. This one is really growing on me the more I listen to it. King of the Beach is the album on my current playlist that is most likely to make me want to put on my Converse and a hoodie and hang out at Goner Records all day, pretending to be a hipster. Also from Fat Possum Records, and also best heard on vinyl. Check out the title track below.

Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid: I’m not sure why I missed this one on my best of 2010 list, but now it’s a glaring omission. Be warned, the songs range from “so funky they should be illegal” to just plain weird, but that’s what makes this album so great. Here's one of the funky numbers.

Hayes Carll - KMAG YOYO: Just another stellar album from Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll. While I miss the more melodic side he showed on his last album Trouble in Mind, this one is just as strong for different reasons. Google the title acronym for a good laugh. Here's the title track as performed on Leno.

I’m also enjoying the just released albums from Lucinda Williams and R.E.M., but I haven’t fully digested them enough yet to form a solid opinion. They both look promising for the long-haul though.

What about you? What are you listening to right now?

Most Anticipated New Music of 2011

For the past couple of years, I have posted my favorite albums of the previous year. This year, I thought I’d get a jump start and let you in on a couple of albums I’m really looking forward to this year. There will be many more albums I’ll enjoy that haven’t yet been announced, or that I’m overlooking now, but here are the ones I’ll be checking out as soon as they are released (in no particular order).

Drive-By Truckers : Go Go Boots

Release Date: 2/15

If I had one complaint about the Truckers’ last album (and it’s a very minor complaint as it was still one of my favorite albums of last year), The Big To-Do, it’s that it was a little heavy on the rock and a little light on the country and soul influences that have peppered their music over the years (of course most of the soul came from Jason Isbell). Go Go Boots promises to remedy that, as they are calling it their “Muscle Shoals record.” From what I have gathered, most of these songs were written around the same time as The Big To Do. Instead of releasing another maximum capacity album in the vein of Brighter Than Creations Dark, they opted to split the songs into two more concise records.

R.E.M.: Collapse Into Now

Release Date: 3/8

I thought R.E.M.’s last album Accelerate was underrated. While, most fans were happy that the old R.E.M. they knew and loved had returned from the abyss of their previous two records, it was largely praised upon release and then quickly faded from memory. I went back and listened to it recently, and it’s a really good album. Not their best, but still good. Their upcoming album looks to capitalize on the resurgence created by Accelerate and delve, not only into the old days of Monster as they did on Accelerate, but also into the territory of New Adventures in HiFi and even their older work. It should make for a more expansive record, and I can’t wait to hear it. It doesn’t hurt that it will have guest spots by Eddie Vedder and Patti Smith.

Jason Isbell: Here We Rest
Release Date: 4/12
To be perfectly honest, I selfishly wish Isbell was still with the Drive-By Truckers. He brought a whole other realm of possibilities to the band. However, he proved with his first two solo albums that he had entirely too much talent to be restricted to a few songs per album as part of a band. His last release, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit was one of my favorites of 2009, and I’m banking on this being as close to a “can’t miss” as you’ll find on this list.

Death Cab for Cutie: Codes and Keys
Release Date: TBA
This will be Death Cab’s first trip back to the well since 2008’s good-but-not-great Narrow Stairs. Singer Ben Gibbard might feel a little pressure from his wife (Zooey Deschanel) after her two excellent albums as part of She & Him since the last Death Cab outing. The word is that this album is a lot less guitar heavy than Narrow Stairs, and that's fine with me, since some of my favorite Death Cab tunes are from Plans which tended to be a bit guitat-lite at times.

The Shins: Title TBA
Release Date: TBA
The Shins’ 2007 release Wincing The Night Away ranks as one of my favorite albums of the decade (my wife’s too), so it’s no wonder I am really looking forward to something new from the band. Singer and principle songwriter James Mercer teamed up with Danger Mouse last year to release the fantastic Broken Bells album, but I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while.

U2: Songs of Ascent
Release Date: TBA
Let’s face it, when the biggest band in the world releases an album, you have to take notice. I think they’ll be looking to bounce back after the disappointing (but in my opinion underrated) No Line on the Horizon, and even a below average album from U2 is still worth hearing.

My Morning Jacket – Title TBA
Release Date TBA
Whatever the project, front-man Jim James doesn’t disappoint. My Morning Jacket are one of my favorite bands, and James can fall in with most anyone and make fantastic music (most recently with The Roots and Monsters of Folk). He probably ranks as one of my top 3 musicians currently working. I have no reason not to think this album will be good, since MMJ’s last few records have been consistently great.

In addition, Beastie Boys, Jay-Z & Kanye West (together), Foo Fighters, Coldplay (guilty pleasure), Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Bright Eyes and The Strokes are also slated for new releases. Add to these the already outstanding releases by Iron & Wine and The Decemberists from January, and this is shaping up to be another great year for music nerds like me.

What albums are you eagerly anticipating this year?