The Music Letter-2008

I hate critics. Our band has been on the good and bad side of their graces, and to be honest, they don't get it either way. Thom York is one of my heroes for sure on this point. Actors have The Screen Actors Guild, and they get to evaluate the work of their peers and in a lot of cases, they get it right. Then there is the Academy and well it's a joke. The Grammy's they're a joke. I have been caught calling fans 'the idiots'. What would 'the idiots' like, because for popular mainstream success (whatever that is these days) you really do have to find the lowest common denominator, dress it up and hide a few nuggets for the 'true' fans and hope for the best. I wish musicians were a more united bunch. We have SOCAN and ASCAP thank God, and various unions but when it comes to be being united in an association that evaluates our work as an industry we leave it to hacks, failed artists, and the fans. Man I sound really bitter. But it's the truth. This year has been amazing for music though. The Indie has really started to be well an oxymoron. Some of the most successful acts that are breaking through are doing it on their own dime. The definition of Indie is being stretched but we are starting to see the beginning of a maturing in our industry after years of insanity.

My list below is just that...My List. We all have our favourites but as I said above, we should look to the creators for their point of view on what is the best music you should spend your well earned ducats on (or your well earned time ripping it off from some site).

Themes on my lists are geographical first. New York has reasserted itself as capital of music cool. The National, Vampire Weekend, We Are Scientists and The Hold Steady all hail from the 5 boroughs. The Brits get it right. Coldplay really put it away this year. The record, love or hate'em demands respect as a beautiful ballsy journey that stripped off the guitars, reigned in Chris Martin and showed that the best bands always have the most kick-ass rhythm sections. The Kings of Leon and The Killers are RIPPING up the charts in England, and have made but a blip on this side of the pond. Will we always have to be taught by the British how to respect our own rock? And this is not to mention fucking capital records by Keane and Radiohead. Finally, as every year goes by more and more amazing Canadian rock keeps getting made. The Stills and Wintersleep have made a couple of my favourite records in the last couple of years.

The last theme on the lists below is the return of the male singer/songwriter. This has been building for a few years but we've hit critical mass. Jason Mraz, Ron Sexsmith, Jack's Mannequin, Sam Roberts, Ray Lamontange and my favourite Luke Doucet have put out stellar records. But this is not to mention some of the work that was already out there like Alexi Murdoch, Joel Plaskett (last years darling) James Morrison and Damien Rice to name a few. The lone woman on either list is Kathleen Edwards, who just keeps getting better-"Buffalo", what a fucking GREAT song!!. I am a huge fan of a great many female artists but it seems that the male voice seemed to grab me the most this year.

So here are my votes, with explanations and qualifications.

Best Songs

20. Violet Hill Coldplay
There aren't many guitar parts on Viva La Vida, but that's OK 'cause of the HUGE parts in this tune.
19. Archeoligist Wintersleep
Although the album came out in 2007 this tune was released in '08 and it was the second tune I heard from them, and it's wicked. They make shouting 'Belly of a whale' not as silly as you would think.
18. Them Kids Sam Roberts
His second record Chemical City was a disappointment. It sounded rushed and a little under-inspired. The new one takes off from We Were Born in a Flame and I love the motivation of this song-'The kids don't know how to dance to rock n' roll'. So true.
17. You Are The Best Thing Ray LaMontagne
This tune has big brassy horns a Motown pocket and an amazing earnestness. He is an old soul making music that is so hard to find.
16. This Is How I Know Ron Sexsmith
This is a fine wine of a tune. He is an effortless writer with a gift to send you such a simple idea in a really stylized and vivid package. And again I'm a sucker for horns.
15. The Resolution Jack's Mannequin
This is the most classic 'big record' sounding tune I've heard this year. It is sonically large, lush and skilled. The idea of the song resonated with me a lot this year, you really have to look to yourself sometimes for the answers.
14. Jigsaw Falling Into Place Radiohead
It takes a while for some bands to admit that what they do the best they should do more often. This song is the closest they have come to a re-interpretation of Paranoid Android. Thom York hasn't sounded this great in years.
13. Hard Sun Eddie Vedder
I love it when Eddie Vedder SINGS! He has one of the most honest cool voices in rock. He can fill a room, it excites you. If you're Canadian you may have heard this song on the radio about 18 years ago as it was written by Gordon Peterson and was a minor hit. This is a sprawling reverb cranked version that stood out on the radio for me.
12. I Will Possess Your Heart Death Cab for Cutie
Simplicity is all you need when you have an amazing melody. Benjamin Gibbard's voice is singular and really effective. Another tune that was played on a great deal on radio that just stood out.
11. Human The Killers
This song grew on me as I heard it about 100 times while in the UK. Flowers is very clean and plaintive in the tune. This sound I think suits the band and they are back doing what they do best-New Wave/U2.
10. Beckoning Vacuity
I heard he demo for this song a year and a half ago and was into it instantly. What a groove. The song pulls you in and then throws you around for a sonic ride at the end. 'cause I'l do it , I'll do it all.'
9. I'm Yours Jason Mraz
This tune is very 2008. It was a viral success. Something that would never have happened 10 years ago. He writes it, plays it live a recording gets out through a MSN live version and it's a hit-THEN he puts it on an album and it's a monster. I enjoy the live version and the first time I heard it was by my friend Mandippal Jandu who does a wicked cover of it.
8. 9 In The Afternoon Panic! At the Disco
I discovered this tune with Jesse and Al at a Best Buy in Massachusetts. We bought the disc right away and loved it. The hook is the biggest one of the year for me. The Beatles will always live in a musicians heart and we will always be guilty of trying to re-do what they did using the musical equivalents of stone axes and chisels.
7. The Only Way Home The Free Press
Shameless self-promotion but I really love this tune of ours. It is the favoured child for me. It's the closest to what I would do by myslef and it's I think the most inventive tune on our record. When we play it live I really do feel like I'm playing it for the first time every time.
6. Being Here The Stills
More of this PLEASE!! Best bass line of the year. The middle eight is epic. This is rock n' roll.
5. Sex On Fire Kings of Leon
If you haven't heard this tune, find it and listen to it, and be schooled in the basic tenets of rock. Screaming guitar, sex, edge of your range singing, crashing on the ride and a "I don't care a fuck what you think" attitude.
4. Coming Down to Earth Peter Gabriel
As JD said to me "It sounds like an older PG song. And he decided that Tom Waits should arrange it. It's very cool but very peculiar in places, too. Vintage Gabriel ending, though, with the last twenty seconds being absolutely beautiful." Also, it's so hard to make a new song about caring for mother earth and not sounding like your geography teacher on Earth Day.
3. How Far We've Come Matchbox Twenty
Talk about a comeback tune. I think I have tried to write this song tens this year since I heard it. Can't wait for the record.
2. Washington Square Counting Crows
Duritz has the singular ability to put you right in front of him tell you a story and make you cry. This song has a lot of personal resonance for me. The piano work at the end is stunningly crafted. It's a song that brings you to a point of peace and acceptance about transitions in life.
1. Viva La Vida Coldplay
Martin didn't steal this song form Satriani. He borrowed it from the countless composers of hymns and Psalms of the last 1000 years. Before there was rock, jazz, blues, damn-before there was Mozart and Beethoven there were priests, pastors, deacons and monks that put the prayers of the faithful to music to get closer to God. So much classic melody we have heard, again and again. That's the point, it is a re-telling of a story. Music is the great oral tradition, Martin gave us a re-interpretation inspired by the time spent making a rock record in some of the oldest churches in the world.

Best Albums (There not dead...yet)


10 Stay Positive The Hold Steady
What a LOUD record. Bam. In your face like a punch after a Hard night of drinking. Frank Black meets Bruce Springsteen meets Guns N Roses meets Iggy Pop and Neil Young with Crazy Horse. 'Cause who hasn't been "subpeanad in Texas and sequestered in Memphis?"
9 Asking for Flowers Kathleen Edwards
I'm still in love. This is a 5 year crush for me and she just keeps getting better. She makes sad sound so beautiful. "Buffalo" is my vote for a truly Canadian song. This music is far too smart for the average country listener (no offence-but have you listened to a country station lately?) and Hot AC has imploded this year, so where does this leave exceptional acts like her? It's up to you and me to listen, buy and respect, and tell everyone you know.
8 Perfect Symmetry Keane
This record continues to surprise me as does the band. The main writer is not the singer, the lyrics aren't really even his but Chaplin just delivers. What a voice! I was afraid of the way-too-eighties vibe at first and a couple of the songs are still too much for me but the layers and depth are there regardless. "You Don't See Me" is just awesome.
7 In Rainbows Radiohead
The record I have been waiting for since 1997.
6 Oceans Will Rise The Stills
Our music scene, as vibrant as it is, has WAY too much posing, manicured sideburns hipster pretentious bullshit associated with it. These guys buck the trend of a lot of Canadian Indie Rock by not trying to sound...well...Indie. They have a real American rock aesthetic and awesome melody. The bass playing on this record is fantastic.
5 Pretty Odd Panic! At the Disco
This probably would have been at the top of my list if there was a little less self-indulgence, more maturity and about 4 less songs. Having said that, the production on this record is world-class and blows the doors off anything I have heard in years from an arrangment perspective. George Martin must have heard this and said, "not bad, not bad at all." "Northern Downpour" is exceptional.
4 Exit Strategy of the Soul Ron Sexsmith
Music for adults. You have to be of a certain vintage to really appreciate this work. It's like the music equivalent of Restoration Hardware. Gorgoeus, almost perfect in spots. He is a John Irving singing songs. "Brandy Alexander" is a stand-out album cut.
3 Blood's too Rich Luke Doucet
"Long-Haul Driver", revamped from his acoustic EP he put out a while back is big Texas style driving song and I love it. "Cleveland" is an amazing love song only he could write and a bad ass version of "Love Cats". Awesome
2 Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend
Believe the hype and believe what your 21 year old tells you, this is a great record. Paul Simon, Talking Heads, The Cure, and Elvis Costello are all worn quiet brightly on this record. But it is a happy and honest piece of work.
1 Boxer The National
Sombre, beautiful and really smart. Although released in 2007, I'm sneaking this in as a slow grower and I love it sooo much. It's at the top because I think I have listened to it top to bottom the most out of any record in the last 10 years.

Having said all this, I did a straw poll the past week of people's favourite tunes..."Single Ladies (Put a Ring On it) Beyonce and All Summer Long Kid Rock were the clear winners. What do I know?

What to Look For This Year

No Line On The Horizon U2
Daniel Lanois is not known for is bravado so when he says this is the album of the decade I think we should take note. Part of me thinks it will be a let down, that they have been spent and will fall into a middle age malaise to be reborn some newer band that can still be a the proto post-modern rock band and be on their way to 60. I thought Bruce was done, and fuck now look at him, bigger than he ever was. So Fingers crossed. I know one thing, even if its their worst effort, it will still be better than 98% of the shit that the majors will put out this year.

Guster untitled
With titles like "Jesus and Mary" and "Hebrew Joe" I think we're in for a treat. Fatherhood I think will make these guys look at the funnier side of life, and man if you have seen them live, they are capital comedians.

Bruce Sprinsteen Working On A Dream
More great work form the Magic sessions. After completing Magic he went to a hotel room in Atlanta, and well wrote another g#ddamn record (in between stops getting Barack Obama elected). He is The Bruce.