Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Top ten, part two

Some more music!

6) Lucy Wainwright Roche; 8 Songs
I found Lucy Wainwright Roche, as I must admit I have found many artists, on NPR's Song of the Day. I wound up listening to her album Lucy on my Dahill walk, but it is 8 Songs that holds my attention even more. I really like Roche's own work--and recently saw her perform some of it--but there is something perfect about her uncomplicated cover songs: the unexpected appearance of Richard Shindell's Next Best Western; one haunting a capella B. Allen that I probably like more than S&G's more-conventionalyl titled version; a light-as-air rendition of Fleetwood Mac's "Everywhere" as the snow starts to fall.

5) Spoon; Transference
I knew Spoon before but their newest album surely deserves a spot here, since it's among the first few albums I really enjoyed this year. Each song blends catchily, inexorably into the next, and back when I was in better shape I found it a perfect soundtrack for running around the neighborhood. There's something really joyous about my favorite "Got Nuffin." I got to see Spoon live at Radio City earlier this year and it was well worth the journey into the depths of Midtown.

4) Gabriel Kahane; Gabriel Kahane
I first heard of Gabriel Kahane 'cause he lives in my neighborhood. A contributor to Sufjan Stevens's albums and a friend of Elizabeth, #10 on this list, he makes songs with interesting lyrics that combine classical music attention to detail with indie rock melodies (like the hilarious, awkward Craigslistlieder, available for free online). On his self-titled album, Underberg is a perfect soundtrack for The Fortress of Solitude, or for any Brooklyn nostalgia trip, and the gorgeous, deceptively upbeat-sounding North Adams always reminds me of traveling in Massachussetts this summer. I had the pleasure of seeing Kahane in concert with the great-named Rob Moose in the tiny nuclear bunker that is the basement of Sycamore, my neighborhood's oft-mentioned whiskey bar flower shop, and look forward to his new album, due out next year.

3 comments:

  1. Hee, yay Lucy! (You already know she's an Obie, I'm sure.) -sam

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  2. "I got to see Spoon live at Radio City earlier this year and it was well worth the journey into the depths of Midtown."

    Whoa, me too! What a coincidence!

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  3. No way, for reals? Let's hang out! :P

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