The Over-40 Top 10
New music for the not-so-new listener.
BY JIM FUSILLI
Sunday, January 18, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST
Last month, in a piece about what little regard the record industry seems to have for rock-music fans 40 years old and beyond, I mentioned I'd developed a list of top-shelf albums issued in 2003 that should please any seasoned lover of rock and pop. I've received a number of requests for the list, so here are 10 albums I think are the best of my sampling, in alphabetical order by the artist's name. You can find the rest, including my favorite jazz disks, on my Web site, www.jimfusilli.com.
A Perfect Circle, "Thirteenth Step" (Virgin). A sense of dynamics, a flair for melodrama and vocals by Maynard James Keenan distinguish this sophisticated, sort-of-heavy-metal band led by guitarist Billy Howerdel, whose music is as hypnotic as Mr. Keenan's chilling imagery. Drummer Josh Freese is superb throughout, playing nifty filigrees that dart around the guitar arpeggios, drawing in the listener until the music either explodes or vanishes.
The Allman Bros. Band, "Hittin' the Note" (Sanctuary). Bringing together guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, and jettisoning original member Dickie Betts, pushed the band to record its best studio album in some 30 years. Gregg Allman's voice is now a road-weary growl, which makes it perfect for the blues, while Mr. Haynes, a true gem, roars like a young Gregg Allman. Oddly enough, the album works better when you play it last cut to first.
The Be Good Tanyas, "Chinatown" (Nettwerk). Bleak, brooding country, folk and bluegrass by Frazey Ford, Samantha Parton and Trish Klein, three talented women from Vancouver. While their acoustic guitars ring, banjoes spiral and mandolins chime, they whisper, often in three-part harmony, tales of defeat, sorrow and death, including a chilling "House of the Rising Sun," Townes Van Zandt's "Waiting Around to Die" and Ms. Parton's sorrowful "Lonesome Blues." They sound as if they believe, and dread the meaning of, every word.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Take Them On, on Your Own" (Virgin). Nasty, leather-clad trio from San Francisco with a raw, fuzzy sound that recalls the Stooges, '70s punk, Joy Division, and the Jesus and Mary Chain, and fits nicely in a CD changer with the Strokes, White Stripes, Mooney Suzuki and other bands that allow you to ignore the artifice once they plug in. Built on a relentless sheet of growling, snarling power chords, you wouldn't want to play it any other way but loud.
Elvis Costello, "North" (Deutsche Grammophon). An 11-song hymn to melancholy in which Mr. Costello explores the effects of divorce and the risks inherent in opening one's heart again. A mature work that echoes the classic "Frank Sinatra Sings Only for the Lonely" in its structure and mood, "North" features some of Mr. Costello's best singing, a 48-piece orchestra and another splendid performance by his longtime colleague, pianist Steve Nieve.
Dixie Hummingbirds, "Diamond Jubilation" (Rounder). The gospel legends celebrated their 75th anniversary by recording with Levon Helm and Garth Hudson of the Band, Dr. John and guitarist Larry Campbell, who produced the disk and convinced his boss, Bob Dylan, to contribute a song. The bottom-rich unison singing by the six Hummingbirds and the country-blues sound Mr. Campbell fashioned provide rousing support for several extraordinary vocals by Bill Bright and 83-year-old Ira Tucker Sr.
Eels, "Shootenanny!" (DreamWorks). The best album yet by Mark Oliver Everett's band -- disarming, self-deprecating, off-kilter rock that's both unexpectedly ragged and typically meticulous. Mr. Everett's childlike perspective doesn't quite conceal the woes of a troubled mind. On the Eels Web site, Tom Waits offers an apt summary of the disc: "Electric Jungian therapy on vintage pawn-shop instruments."
The Soul of John Black, "The Soul of John Black" (No Mayo). John Bigham, formerly of Fishbone, played guitar with Miles Davis, Dr. Dre and Eminem, while bassist Christopher Thomas performed with Betty Carter, Macy Gray and Joshua Redman. Their debut together is a crisp, confident collection of soul, hip-hop and rock that's defined by Mr. Bigham's right-between-the-eyes vocals and acoustic guitar as well as, no surprise here, the duo's superb musicianship.
Sun Kil Moon, "Ghosts of the Great Highway" (Jet Set). Mark Kozelek, formerly of the dour Red House Painters, has a new project that's about the best thing he's ever done. Quiet, introspective ballads stand alongside whirling sonic bombasts featuring Mr. Kozelek's squealing electric guitar. Sound like something from Neil Young? Yes, but it's been awhile since Mr. Young has produced a work this good.
Various Artists, "Torch: A Six Degrees Collection" (Six Degrees). It delivers what it promises -- stylish songs of yearning for lost love. What's different is that most are built on exquisite trip-hop and electronica beats by the likes of the great dZihan & Kamien, Nitin Sawhney and Bugge Wesseltoft. The album's more traditional bookends: Cassandra Wilson's cool reading of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" and an excerpt from Roy Nathanson's wonderful 2000 album "Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill," featuring Elvis Costello and Cyrus Chestnut.
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