Top Ten Records of the Year

10 Jimmer Podrasky- The Would Be Plans

If you were to have spot checked my music collection intermittently over the past two decades, there are only a handful of records that were always a part of my collection. The Rave Up's Chance was one of those records. To be fair though, I have always loved everything that Jimmer wrote and for years I have been asking what it was going to take for him to get another album out. Thank goodness that there were others who felt the same way. Finally in 2013, the former Rave Up's frontman released his first solo effort and it was worth the wait. In the downtime, Jimmer's sensibilities have converted from positively midwestern to a Zevon-ian grasp of the Los Angeles vibe. He is clearly a southern California guy now. Jimmer and LA are a match made in heaven as his songs can attest to. Life hasn't been easy but it has been eventful and now that Jimmer actually owns the sort of life experience and wisdom that his vocals have long suggested he had, the songs are more meaningful and lasting. Jimmer is a true talent and the kind that could only get lost in LA. He is an inspiration and a credit to the craft. The Would Be Plans will be a permanent addition to my music collection.

9 Dorado- Love, Hunger and Fear of Death

Jody Nelson played on my second record. It was like being in the room with Hunter S. Thompson. He was disturbingly quiet at times. On a dime, he would make a few comments and have the whole room in hysterics and then right back to withdrawn behind the sunglasses. When I first heard this record I thought that it was the perfect musical representation of his personality. Over time, the record really took on more meaning to me. Great songs, wildly divergent sounds and eclectic voicing. It is atmospheric and brooding. It is chock full of ear worms and Jody's voice is a throwback to the 80's New Wave frontmen doing their best to ape Bowie. It's fun.

8 John Moreland - In the Throes

I found myself buying this record after reading a comment about the overall lyrical quality it possessed. I think that I expected to be let down. I was not. To me, Moreland is what is missing in the Alt Country genre- the true outsider. He doesn't look like a musician, and he doesn't pretend like he does. There is something inspiring about the vulnerability in his songs. It rings true. He is displaced. He is uncomfortable and he wears his heart on the outside. I have never seem him live(rhymes with thrive)  but i feel as thought I have heard him live. ( rhymes with give). I think I played this record as often as any other I bought this year. Lots of beauty and heartache to be found in these grooves.

7 Okkervil River- The Silver Gymnasium

I just read someone describing this record as generic. What in the fuck are you listening to? To me, this album represents Sheff's reconciliation with his true roots. The last few Okkervil records were really affected and I felt myself moving away from Will's music- feeling that the writing was an exercise in fiction and lacked the sort of raw and honest emotions of the first few. The record is a symbolic return home in more mays than one. Sheff is the master of assuming identities. I have been waiting for his to take front and center stage and it finally did so on this gem.

6 Doc Feldman and the LD 50- Sundowning at the Station

A few years back my friend James moved to Lexington and started raving about this guy he was playing with. He sent me some demos and even a split 7 that they recorded and none of it knocked me over, save the fella's voice which felt like the real thing- old timey Hank Williams with a bit of high and lonesome. That guy was Doc. This record languished for months before it clicked for me. It can lull you into complacency if you don't take the time to listen actively. The lyrical content is incredible but it sounds so sweet that it tempts you to settle for just the sound. I don't get all the comparisons that I have read but I do think that Doc is a singular talent. Thanks to the special TIAM people for lighting this bushel on fire.

5 Hiss Golden Messenger - Haw

I will be saving a top ten spot every year HGM puts out a record because for me he can do no wrong. I loved this record the same way I loved the last one. It is quirky, seventies nostalgia and new age bravado. It is a record that is too weird to have been made. Great stuff. A perfect soundtrack to a night at home. It's like Van Morrison reading Manson letters into your ears.

4 Jason Isbell- Southeastern

Nothing more need be written about this record. Yes it sounds like a Ryan Adams record. Yes it's his getting sober record. Yes Super 8 is out of place. It got spun more than any other record I own this year. Jason is of two minds - his recording career and his live performances. The two don't blend. And Southeastern established that they are both worth while.

3 Wooden Wand and BV- Blood Oaths of the New Blues

When I heard this for the first time, I told JJT that this was the completion of a project that he had begun way back with James the Quiet. It was the record that the last 3 hinted at. All those folks from Birmingham bought the vision and it shows. For my money, Outsider Blues and So Co Song are among the best lyrical efforts Jimmy Jack has penned. What I have always loved about James is his ability to make the mundane seem magical. His description of the road trip in Outsider Blues is emblematic of that. Everyday life is a muse if you let it be. For my money, James Toth is one of our best songwriters. I count myself lucky to have worked with him and to call him a friend. And someday, I will spin this for my son and proudly tell him that this is "our friend, James".

2 Bill Callahan - Dream River

Ever aspire to write a song? Then don't listen to Callahan. He will spoil it for you. The effortless sound in the perfectionists body that is Callahan/Smog completely destroys me. He is as singularly focused in the lyric and song as any artist I know but his efforts roll of his tongue as if they just dawned on him. This year, I have routinely put this on at night just to hear his voice in the darkness of the room and imagine him around a campfire telling his tales. We are living at the same time as a master songwriter in Callahan. He will loom large in the years to come as the body of his work finally is reckoned with. He is a genius living in a  time when genius is thrown around much to lightly. This is the second best record he has ever made and it is soul crushing.

1 Baptist Generals - Jackleg Devotional to the Heart

Ten years of waiting and it was worth every second. I won't try to incapsulate this effort. It is beyond my capacity. Chris and friends outdid themselves. I will only say this - the collective sound and lyrical quality of this album is on par with NMH Aeroplane. It is that eclectic, revolutionary and inspired. This was my record of the year the moment that I heard it. Part Ginsburg's Howl, part Thompson's Fear and Loathing and part love letter to Dallas, this album could never be made again.....regardless of who tries.

2013 Year End Best of Music in Film

This was a tough category as I watched so many music films. I could probably have made a list just about the music documentaries from 2013 but I decided to keep it brief. These were not all made this year by discovered by myself in the last twelve months.

10 Diggers

I was not a Ken Marino fan until I saw him on Eastbound and Down this year. He was absolutely perfect as the former athlete turned talk show host and foil to Kenny Powers. That led me to his 2009 independent film release, Diggers. Diggers is ostensibly the story of a community of Long Island clam diggers who are losing their livelihood to the corporate operations moving into their water. The film also serves as an homage to the music of Big Star which can be found sprinkled through every scene of consequence in the movie. In addition to being an entertaining and understated slice of life, this movie will make your ears perk scene after scene.

http://www.diggersmovie.com

9 Fat Kid Rules the World

I was unconvinced when this coming of age movie was recommended to me. Ultimately it became a favorite of the year. The story of an overweight outcast and a drug addled train wreck high school drop out, this film makes being in a band cool again. And I don't mean the kind of "cool" that people associate with the rapid rise of made for tv musicians. I mean, cool in the same way that the Ramones walked into CBGB looking like they escaped from a psych ward and took the stage. I mean cool in the way that Richard Hell confused and confounded in Television. I mean cool in the way that kids used to cram into non air conditioned garages and make as much goddamn noise as they could every chance that they got. It is a heart warming story and it captures the musical ambition of youth in the Northwest perfectly. Gus Van Zant should take note. Not all rock and roll stories end the same.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1499648032/fat-kid-rules-the-world-0


8 Not Fade Away

Another story about a kid who finds his place in front of the mic. Starring James Gandolfini as  the working class rather who doesn't understand what the hell happened to his son, the tale follows its lead from reluctantly taking over his garage band to the fulfillment of his aspirations arriving in Los Angeles, his dream of making it big still alive. The choice of timing allows for great discussions about classic rock albums by Bowie, The Stones and others as the guys try to figure out where their sound is. The moral is that rock and roll, not rock stars, save your soul. And every believer owes it to themselves to watch it more than once.

http://www.notfadeawaymovie.com

7 Artifact

I don't really know who Jared Leto is. I have never heard a note of 30 Seconds to Mars but this documentary about a band battling their record company in court and fighting for the rights that one would assume we all enjoy as musicians. Leto and his band have sold millions of records and yet they have seen no revenue at all. When they contest this arrangement, EMI responds in kind by suing the band for 30 Million Dollars ( making you think that Dr. Evil might be acting as lead counsel for EMI). Leto's rage and the story of the brother that his band saved make the movie worth watching and the unflinching footage makes Sam Jone's documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart look like the manipulative love letter to Wilco that it always has been.

http://www.artifactthefilm.com

6 Ain't In It For My Health

God forgive me for not ranking this higher. I am obsessed with Levon Helm and I waited for years to finally see the film. It is possible that the rank is the result of over bloated expectations but I really wanted to see more footage of Levon performing and more intimate conversation about his history and influences. Regardless, it is a great story about a great man and it is worth it alone to view Levon give driving directions off the top of his head for a four state journey. Rest in Peace to one of the greatest that there ever was.

http://www.levonhelmfilm.com

5 I Am Not A Hipster

It is hard to forgive this movie for its title. Those willing to settle in for a viewing will reluctantly do so. It is the story of a young midwestern musician who, upon the death of his mother, relocates to San Diego and has an underground hit record. Of course, he becomes a cult figure while remaining fractured over his loss and broke thanks to file sharing. His family arrives and the film takes a turn for the endearing. His sisters are among the most entertaining and odd ball characters on film this year and his war with electronic "artist" Space Face is worth the price of admission alone.

http://www.iamnotahipster.com

4 This is 40

This film is a must for fans of Graham Parker. It is also a must for those of us who have the four decade mark and still harbor dreams of living a life about rock and roll in any fashion. Rudd's character name drops classic records while his wife and daughters dance to Lady Gaga. It is too long and Albert Brooks and John Lithgow are classic as in laws. Graham steals the show with his performances and one liners. The outtakes from this are also belly ache funny.

http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/this-is-40

3 Who is Harry Nillson

The title is a fair question. Most people don't know the man that perhaps influenced The Beatles as much as any other single songwriter. In the film he is portrayed as reckless, self-indulgent and brilliant. He finally gets his rightful place among the greats of his era and the stories told by his children portray a man who was far more interested in being a dad than he was in being John Lennon. The documentary is a love letter as nearly every living contemporary takes great care to render a warm and loving picture of a man who's voice was one of a kind.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756727

2 A Band Called Death

Music history doesn't get re-written too often. And, when it does with regard to black artists, it is all too often limited to the Stax/Soul and Rap genre. Here we find the story of a young Detroit group that was decades ahead of their time. The brothers have their share of tragedy along the way but what comes across from the living members is the absolute love and devotion that brothers in arms share. It was the biggest surprise of the year for me.

http://abandcalleddeath.com

1 Muscle Shoals v Nothing Can Hurt Me

Couldn't do it. I could not choose. One is a carefully researched and beautifully shot retelling of the mythological origins of the Muscle Shoals sound. Its influence on so much music that I love is impossible to separate from the film itself. The Aretha Franklin story is worth the purchase price alone. Too little time is devoted to The Swampers themselves and after awhile the shock that it was ' white boys playing those songs" gets old. Nonetheless, it is a wonderful artifact of an indispensable part of Americana tucked away in the deep south.

Big Star is my favorite band of all time. I doubt that any movie limited to two hours would have left me satisfied but the film makers did what they could with a band with nearly no living members. Chilton is perhaps under- represented in the stories and I didn't feel like I garnered much in the way of new information. Regardless, not that many fans get to see a film made about their favorite band and I won't bite the hand that feeds me.

http://www.bigstarstory.com

http://www.magpictures.com/muscleshoals

2013 Year End Best of List

It is the time of year when we start to reminisce over the best parts of the year, musically and otherwise. For us, this has obviously been a big year. We started a record label. But that didn't stop us from discovering some amazing music, podcasts and live shows. So, for the first installment, we are going to share the best Online Music Resources of the Year. Podcasts and internet radio are increasingly becoming a part of the music landscape. Along with the early adopters like NPR, KCRW and others, musicians,comedians, labels and fans have thrown their proverbial hats into the ring. A few are mentioned here;

5 Marc Maron - WTF
Marc Maron has been a part of the podcast scene since its inception. He is a stand up comedian who has since written a couple of books and just renewed for a second season of his television show, Maron. But for us, Marc is at his best when sitting across the table in his garage from musicians who come in droves to swap stories or fill a pr obligation. Regardless of their pre-disposition, Maron manages to get the best out of them. 2013 was the year that Maron took it to a new level. His interviews with Iggy Pop, John Cale, Lou Barlow and John Vanderslice were the closest that most of us will ever come to sitting down with our heroes. Maron asks the fan questions but also has a unique ability to find the story inside the storyteller. Closed books like Nick Cave, Curt Kirkwood and Tommy Stinson find themselves sharing tales that have evaded the press for decades. Marc's hour with The Figgs may have been the single most revealing interview about a working class band we heard all year. The podcast is updated weekly and very few are worth skipping.

http://www.wtfpod.com

4. Nine Bullets Radio

Nine Bullets is for a pretty specific listener. It may not be the right fit for everyone but no other radio show that we have found more succinctly sums up the chip on your shoulder reclamation of Southern Rock that Bryan Childs and his program. Childs has strong opinions about music and everything else but he puts it all out there on every show. He also is first on the scene for a number of artists. You can typically get your first listen to artists from New West, Last Chance, This is American Music and others on Bryan's show. He archives the shows which makes it a breeze to listen to at your leisure. Nine Bullets commitment to southern rock leaves little room for the more progressive or freak folk elements of the independent Americana scene but then again, it is hard to picture fans across the panhandle of Florida bemoaning the exclusion of acts like Woods or Dawes, much less the freakier side of the genre. Bryan Childs might win you over and he might make you hate him but his consistency and access make his show a must listen for fans.

http://ninebullets.net

3 This is American Music

If you are here, then you know about this label. It is perhaps the most honest, organically grown reflection of love for the artist that exists. My project owes a great debt to the path that these friends have charted. Moreover, the label itself has become an open door for music of any kind that hits the owners in the chest. While it's first year may have been conservative in its selection of releases, the past year has shown that TIAM doesn't give a fuck about genres. It has given all it's fucks to MUSIC. And it will spare no time or expense to support those who feel the same. While the website is not a traditional streaming music site, all of its artists are available there and the page is kept up religiously with the best links out there for not just their bands but other bands who make great music. The label and it site is a loose collection of misfits, oddballs and curiosities that- for fans- is a candy shop akin to Alice's Wonderland. Kudos to the folks at TIAM who have formed great relations with other labels, artists and venues to increase participation, access and fun. Add it to your favorites and check it religiously and you are highly unlikely to miss a good release in the next year.

http://thisisamericanmusic.com

2 Substrate Radio

Jason Hamric is an imposing figure. I first saw him while recording my second record in Birmingham and he immediately struck me as a man not to be toyed with. Beneath that giant exterior beats the true heart of rock and roll. His show hosts the best music being released regardless of obscurity. He has a direct channel into some of the most talented musicians in the south who would otherwise be toiling away with little notice and he is more than willing to turn the mic over to the likes of Duquette Johnston, James Fahey or Lester Nuby. Mind you, Hamric is not the only mic talent to be found at Substrate but his imprint can be found in nearly every broadcast. It is no exaggeration to say that a full year of your life could be enriched by this radio station only. It isn't all there is but it is damn sure all you need. And of course, it is archived so it is never too late to get your shit together and make it a must stop.

http://www.mixcloud.com/substrateradio/

1 Your Roots Are Showing w Franny Thomas

Franny Thomas may be the purest taste maker that Satellite Radio has these days. She hosts a variety of shows on The Loft but no high profile program has provided as much access to as many artists as her weekly take on Your Roots Are Showing. Her national audience has given countless deserving bands access to ears that may never have had that chance were it not for her insatiable search for the best new music and her open mailbox policy for receiving new music. You don't need to know someone who knows someone to earn play with Franny. Her only currency is in talent and commitment and she never waivers in the mission to get you to hear and understand what she does. She can be counted on for a fair shake whether you are the latest it band from Austin or a small band with a home recorded EP and no label. Once Franny gets ahold of you, it is all on you to deliver. The old model of radio gives way to the version of radio that artists have dreamt of. The Fair Shake. God bless Franny for keeping it real and for giving countless subscribers are reason to keep satellite radio if only for that two hours a week when she opens the mic and her heart to the best of what she hears.

Your Roots Are Showing