The Top Ten Albums of 2012

This might well be one of the more eclectic lists of the top albums you will find for the year 2012. In order to qualify for my list the album must be one that I reviewed earlier in the year, that is, one that I was interested in enough at the time to listen too. In this way I know that I am not mirroring any of the more conventional lists that we all find this time of year.


10. The Once and Future Carpenter by The Avett Brothers - The Avetts as well as their compatriots Mumford and Sons released new albums this year. While the latter received more press it is the Avett's who make my top ten list. While the Mumford's first single I Will Wait might be the best of the lot it is the Avett's album that is broader and more balanced. Doing nothing more than what they do album in and album out The Avett's show why they are one of the most popular touring acts today.

9. Red by Taylor Swift - I cannot really call myself a Taylor Swift fan but one does have to recognize her ability to turn anything into a song. Watching my daughter skip and sing around the house this fall in her thirteen year old way I remembered how much music means to someone at that time in their lives. For millions of young girls and older girls too Swift makes the music that means the most to them. And it is intelligent music. For all of the adults who spent the fall trying to get " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together " out of there head accept that it is hopeless. Swift can craft a tune like few today.

8. Born and Raised by John Mayer - Mayer coming off a year of bad publicity showed that when he stops talking and start singing all will be ok. With nary a bad song on the album and many like the title cut and Shadow Days are long to be remembered.

7. That's Why God Made the Radio by The Beach Boys - With a 50th anniversary tour and a new album it was an exciting year for the boys. It might well be that we do not want to know what recording methods made the music sound like the sixties version of the band but what there is no doubt of is that the harmonies on this song are as good as they have ever done. Pacific Coast Highway and the other songs of the second side of the album make this a true work of art similar in type of not in scope to the second side of Abbey Road.

6. Heroes by Willie Nelson - On this album which on many of the cuts Willie is joined by friends and members of his family Nelson's voice is still a treasure. Singing covers such as Just Breathe by Pearl Jam and Coldplay's The Scientist Nelson never sounded better. When he is joined by Billie Joe Shaver and Jamey Johnson on Hero and Snoop Dogg on Roll Me Up it is clear that Willie has friends in high places indeed and they all add to the fun of the album. Come On Back Jesus is another song of strong note.

5. Gospel Plow by Elizabeth Cook - I have just reviewed this in depth but suffice to say that I have listened to no album as much as this all year.

4. Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance by Patterson Hood - This solo effort by the lead singer of The Drive By Truckers was one of the strongest albums of the year. The title cut is one of the best tracks of the year, Hood's mumble drawl fits perfectly. After the Damage and Better Than the Truth are both great tracks and of course no Patterson Hood/Drive By album would be complete without a talk song, this album features another Alabama history lesson called Untold Pretties. A truly great album.

3. Tempest by Bob Dylan - One of the few albums in recent years to receive five stars from Rolling Stone Dylan's new album was superior. With the only song that made me get caught in public rocking out behind the wheel, Early Roman Gods, along with a tribute to John Lennon called Roll on John the album was an instant classic. Dylan's thirteen minute tale of the sinking of The Titanic, the albums title cut mixes truth and Dylan fiction in a classic way that is perfect the whole way through.

2. Battle Born by The Killers- It has to be considered true that The Killers are very good at copying the art of Springsteen and to some extent U2. Still sometimes the followers better there leaders and on The Killers later effort they have completed a supremely confident album. With song after song that one can imagine on the radio, if FM radio still played rock music, and that additionally you know would be perfect in arenas all around the country. Brendan Flowers has cut his hair, he looks like a male model, but there is no denying one thing, he can sing like few others. This is a very strong album, perhaps not as classically influential as some of the others but sometimes precision and perfection of the type displayed here but must be acknowledged.

1. Channel Orange by Frank Ocean - Truthfully it was not even close. I am not a rap music fan. I am not a connoisseur of blues, funk or soul. I know an album of incredible depth and magic when I hear it however. Orange's album is a salute to it seems each of his predecessors from Marvin Gaye to James Brown to certainly Prince. With songs such as Forest Gump, Pyramids and especially Thinking About You and Super Rick Kids Ocean proved himself a force beyond all forces in music this year. This was clearly the most influential and superior album of the year.

More in depth reviews of all of these efforts can be found on this blog from earlier in the year.

Gospel Plow by Elizabeth Cook

Any regular reader of my blog knows that Elizabeth Cook is one of our favorites here. In 2012 Cook released this EP of Gospel tinged music that was one of the best releases of the year.

Anyone wanting to get an idea of the range of this singer should run not walk to her album Welder which is stunningly good but for a look at how enjoyable Gospel music can be with some modern alt country influences not much will beat this.

Having seen her live this past summer I can attest that these songs play ever so well in concert. Opening with Clap Along Sing Along " If I Had My Way" one knows that Cook herself has been in a few of these revivalist churches whose energy can blow the roof off as this song certainly does.

With some sweet harmonies and a high note that is just perfect Cook follows that with the country twinged Gospel Plow. When Cook tells you to " keep your hand on the Gospel Plow" you never want to let it go.

Every Humble Knee Must Bow Cook takes us down to the river to sing a song of redemption and the knowledge that pride must leave before one can find God.

The Other Side of Life might well be the prettiest song you will hear this year. It is almost beyond words. With just an organ, a slight guitar and Cook's incredible voice we hear her say that she, as she approaches death, she feels like singing as she is on the Other Side of Life. Truly uplifting.

After we wipe out tears from that song Elizabeth wants us to get up and move and with the gospel stomp of New Jerusalem calling we certainly will. I dare you not to tap your foot along to this one.

Three Men of God gives us some Gospel step behind the story of Abraham, Lazarus, and Joshua and Cook with some great singing and what might be self harmonizing. Truly incredible.

The album ends with a reminder that Cook may sing country, may have the angelic voice for Gospel but that she might have a rock and roll heart. Singing the Velvet Underground's Jesus etc. Cook plaintively asks Jesus to help her find her proper place. Is there really any sentiment that is more correct in our talks with God. I saw her sing this in concert as well and it was a highlight of the show.

This is a wonderful album and will be overlooked at years end but make no bones about it, any list of the years best that does not include this album will have a gaping hole in it.

Top notch.

Elizabeth Cook Live in Portland

Two weeks ago tomorrow my wife and I traveled to Portland to see Elizabeth Cook in concert. For those of you who do not know Elizabeth Cook is a country, kind of , singer. I say kind of because she is an interesting mix of what could be called traditional country, outlaw country and roots rock and roll. Cook, also hosts the very popular show called Apron Strings on the Outlaw Country channel on XM radio.

I suspect that Cook's persona is one that is either love or hate but for me at least I very much enjoy her music and her personality.

So I dragged my wife, who is always willing to do anything or see anything, to Portland to One Monument Square, a small venue off State street. When I say small, I mean small. This place was small. 200 people maybe in removable chairs. When we arrived we literally could have sat in the front row but instead decided on the third row at a good angle to the stage.

Cook's opening act was her guitar player and husband Tim Carroll. Carroll played some interesting songs and clearly has talent. He told some interesting stories and referred to his headliner/wife as the Good Witch of the South and with a wink" hoped that she was not listening just then."

The first thing noticed when Cook takes the stage is she is not nearly as tall as I thought. Wearing boots, an above the knee skirt and blonde hair she is an attractive lady but she also is forty and in her face looks like she has spent plenty of time at second rate dives on the road trying to make a career.

When she took the stage she did not look happy through the first couple of songs. My wife commented later that it was a shock to her, as her personality on her radio show is so flighty/bubbly it was a shock to see her with an almost frown stitched on her face. Soon after a couple of songs the reason became apparent, the monitor in her ear was not working and she was struggling to sing on note and pace correctly. Once this corrected she became the Elizabeth Cook we expected.

When she smiled at the end of a song and the wrinkles or perhaps better said crinkle lines appeared at her eyes she was a very attractive woman.

Beyond that though this lady can sing. She can wail as I have said in other descriptions. Quite a drawl makes her a bit hard to understand for the uninitiated but she has a solid catalog of songs that most of the faithful there well knew. We heard Heroin Addict Sister, Say yes to Booty ( A crowd favorite she describes as about drunk sex) and her most popular song El Camino. El Camino is an outlier however, not like most of her songs but her ode to a creep in an El Camino who " must have slipped quelide in my beer" is a tough song to not like.

What made the concert special however was her promotion of her new gospel rock album. Ending the show with Burn this Building Down and gracing us during the show with Gospel Plow songs like the Velvet Underground song Jesus we heard a gospel range that is perfect for Sunday morning after a tough Saturday night.

Cook has a deep appreciation for her musical heritage, a wonderful cover of Merle Haggard " I started loving you again " which her soaring vocal was wonderful for. She played a song of the recently deceased Doc Watson, and a fifties singer, I forget his name, now a car salesman in East Texas, who Cook deadpanned " was making dozens of dollars a year from her singing his song."

The stories Cook tells were personal and while rehearsed and told at all stops were still winners. Hearing about her Mom and Dad's hillbilly romance, her being the first child or their union, her ten older half brothers and sisters, her Dad's time in prison for running moonshine, and her Mother's pragmatic approach to their romance are all parts of the show. Hearing her and Tim tell us the story behind the song they call " The Roof Song" makes all understand the challenges of performers on the lower end of the pay scale.

A very good show, a great singer, a funny entertainer and a nice night. My wife who knew next to nothing going in of Elizabeth Cook said she had a great time and thought she was a very good singer.

And still hearing that twang asking if anyone out there drove any " Creepy Cars" in the intro to El Camino proved that she was the girl we loved on the radio.

If you get a chance see the girl next door Elizabeth Cook.