The Rolling Stones – Exile On Main St. (Polydor)
Outside of noting the excellent sound and some interesting outtakes (“Plundered My Soul” is a classic Stones ballad, and it’s neat to hear “Good Time Women,” the first draft of “Tumbling Dice”), there’s really no point in reviewing this record. You either believe it’s one of the greatest rock & roll albums of all time, or you don’t. Its position on this list tells you where I stand.
Bettye LaVette – Interpretations: The British Songbook (Anti-)
I was skeptical about this project, but Ms. LaVette surpasses all expectations, making these classic British rock songs her own.
The Drive-By Truckers – The Big To-Do (ATO)
I hate using the phrase “can do no wrong,” but that does indeed seem to be the case with the Truckers. They’ve yet to make a bad record.
The Jayhawks – s/t (AKA The Bunkhouse Album) (Lost Highway)
Closer to Bakersfield country than the country rock for which they would become known, the Bunkhouse record is the Jayhawks at their most raw and unvarnished. It’s not as transcendent as Blue Earth or Hollywood Town Hall, but it’s more satisfying than a lot of their later work.
Earl Greyhound – Suspicious Package (Hawk Race)
For its first album, this NYC trio was a soul-inflected heavy blues rock band. Now I’m not sure what they are – the same influences get twisted into new shapes, with a more refined sense of dynamics leading the way.
Hellbound Glory – Old Highs and New Lows (Gearhead)
Foulmouthed but truehearted outlaw C&W from Reno, Nevada, of all places.
Tommy Keene – Tommy Keene You Hear Me: A Retrospective 1983-2009 (Second Motion)
A forthcoming anthology of the terminally underappreciated songwriter’s work. Review coming soon.
Roky Erickson with Okkervil River – True Love Cast Out All Evil (Anti-)
Another project about which I was skeptical, due to my ambivalence toward Okkervil River and preference for Roky when he’s in full demon rocker mode. But this is an undeniably gorgeous piece of work.
Daniel Durchholz & Gary Graff – Neil Young: Long May You Run – The Illustrated History (Voyageur Press, 2010)
Just what it says it is in the title. Review coming soon.
Robert John Lurie – No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilby and the Church (Verse Chorus Press, 2009)
I wish this book went into more depth, but it’s a nice overview of Kilbey and the Church. I think the book’s much-maligned personal angle gives it a nice resonance a lot of rock bios don’t have.
