Karate – Unsolved (Southern Records)
What makes this album so great is that it seems so simple: improvised indie rock infused with jazz and blues. It’s heavy on drawn-out, mellow jams and seamlessly alternates between harmonies and rhythms. But looking into the band’s history will tell you that this simplicity was the result of meticulous sculpting and band practice by three Berklee College of Music alumni, making it all the more intriguing. Sadly they’ve disbanded, but left seven records in their wake with this a stand-out.
2) Jeff Buckley – “New Years Eve Prayer”
There’s no arguing this man could sing louder than any of his backing band dared play. But that’s not what made him such a great artist. He had a knack for romanticizing life, death and love in a relatable way. This is a poem written in the few hours before a performance at the coveted (and now closed) New York City bar Sin-é; essentially it could be a letter from any man to his lover, explaining that it’s okay just to be themselves.
6) Warpaint – The Fool (Manimal Vinyl)
Four women in an art rock group doing making excellent, sensual music.
Bright Eyes – “Don’t Know When But A Day is Gonna Come”
The group are about to release what founder/singer Conor Oberst has called their last album, The People’s Key. As a homage they rank in this week’s Top Ten with one of my favourites from their 2002 release Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground (Saddle Creek).
Cowboy Junkies – “Sweet Jane”
This Velvet Underground cover has been etched in my memory ever since Woody Harrelson and Juliet Lewis scared the crap out of me as a child in Natural Born Killers. It was the only track that stuck in my mind from the film, and as much as it’s related with psychopathic serial murderers, I love it to this day.
Rolling Stones – “Miss You”
There’s debate between Rolling Stones members and management as to whether or not this was intended to be a disco track, but it’s really difficult not to tap your feet to this one.
Yeasayer – Odd Blood (Secretly Canadian)
Calling this group an experimental rock group could not be more true. Most of the tracks on this self-produced 2010 album gravitate to electro-pop, but there are edgy and dark elements peppered throughout, like in the opening track below.
Gotye – “Hearts A Mess”
This is more of a emotional journey than song. It’s a dark and sad six minutes, which the Belgium-born Australian says he put together holed up in his bedroom.
Seasick Steve – “Walking Man”
I don’t know which I like more: the song, or watching it performed live. Recorded, it’s a beautiful folk/blues love song. But played live, the bearded, gummy-smile, overall-wearing, once-hobo will invite a pretty lady on stage and serenade her, much to what looks like a combination of their delight and embarrassment. He’s killer on a single-string guitar too. Check him out. This single is from the album I Started Out With Nothing and I Still Got Most of It Left (Warner Bros.).
Tori Amos – “Cornflake Girl”
There is such a thing as the Tori Amos Cornflake Box: a promotional mini-box of real Cornflakes with Amos’ face on them, released in 1994 by Atlantic as a promotional tool for the song. Another piece of trivia is that Amos also appeared in a commercial for the Kellog’s Just Right cereal. But according to the controversial songstress, this song was inspired by a novel about a young girl experiencing female genital mutilation, making Atlantic’s promotional tactics look highly distasteful.
