Bumbershoot Dispatch #2: The Dream Syndicate

The Dream Syndicate, Bumbershoot, Seattle, Aug 31 2014

I commented in my Replacements review earlier this week that reunion shows are "treacherous". The pitfalls are many, usually some guys who ceased enjoying playing together a long time ago giving it another go only because it's a better economic opportunity than any other avenue they have.

But somehow, The Dream Syndicate (formed in 1981) have come back 25 years after calling it quits, and are playing with a great sense of purpose and energy, actually better than ever. The show at Bumbershoot last Sunday, played far too early in the day for their oeuvre, 4:30 in the afternoon, was searing rock'n'roll, urgent, compelling and it left the audience literally slackjawed.

The tone was set at the outset when they played the set's only cover, included on their final album Ghost Stories (1988), a blistering version of Blind Lemon Jefferson's "See That My Grave is Kept Clean". From there, not holding back a thing, they went straight to their most well known song "Tell Me When It's Over", for my money one of the very best rock songs of the '80's. And then they continued with most of the better known songs off their first two records The Days of Wine and Roses (1982) and Medicine Show (1984):

Definitely Clean
That's What You Always Say
When You Smile
The Medicine Show
Then She Remembers
Halloween
John Coltrane Stereo Blues
The Days of Wine and Roses

Steve Wynn, long a favorite here at WYMA, is a first rate songwriter, singer, guitarist, and band leader who has stayed very active since the Dream Syndicate broke up, making great music with Gutterball, Danny and Dusty, The Miracle 3,  and The Baseball Project. So it's not like Wynn needs to go back to the Dream Syndicate to feel relevant or validated. And the Dream Syndicate never reached the popularity they deserved anyway, so there wasn't a whiff of nostalgia here either, just pure rock.

This show was all about the love of the songs themselves and the sheer fun of playing them with the right set of musicians, including the powerful and super tight rhythm section of original drummer Dennis Duck and bassist Mark Walton who came aboard in 1984. Guitar player Jason Victor is the only new member, but after years of playing with Wynn in the Miracle 3, he is a true Syndicator as he and Wynn's twin guitar attack was on target for the entire set.

While every moment was dead on, "That's What You Always Say" was particularly overpowering, Wynn and Victor pulverizing the guitars chords and Victor tearing up the leads (starts at the 9:22 mark in the full concert video at end of this review - a must listen).

Here's some decent fan-recorded footage of one of my favorite songs of theirs, "Halloween", from a recent show in Denmark:

And they really stretched things out on "John Coltrane Stereo Blues", extending the wild guitar jam for 10+ minutes. 

The Dream Syndicate never caught much of a break in the mid 1980's and didn't seem to be fully understood or embraced by their major record label. And their Velvet Underground-meets-Crazy Horse-meets punk rock guitar mayhem was certainly at odds with the new wave radio hits of the day. Their music is dark, hard, and was even out of step with "the Paisley Underground" movement they were supposedly a part of, having little in common other than California zip codes with the sunny pop music of the Bangles and The Three O'Clock. 

But now in 2014 they carry no such unhelpful expectations. They can and do simply bring the rock. It's now outside of era and commerce and is just a great set of timeless songs, a tight rhythm section, a ferocious twin guitar attack and a winning frontman in Steve Wynn.     

Wynn revealed during the show how he sees the Dream Syndicate, saying “They said we were Paisley, but nah man, we were in Los Angeles getting down to Black Flag. Here’s a punk rock song....”  

Here's a quality recording of a full set from 2013 in their original hometown of Los Angeles, fairly similar to what I saw at Bumbershoot: 

It is the official position of the WYMA blog (Incorporated) that the Dream Syndicate should keep touring, maybe even write some new songs and record again. This band is too powerful, too good, far too satisfying to go away.

Thanks to fan Paul Austin from Seattle, who was kind enough to let WYMA use the terrific photo at the top above which he took at the show.  And we'll leave you with another of Paul's photos from Bumbershoot:

REVIEW: Boston Spaceships - Let It Beard

Sometimes, when considering Robert Pollard's recorded output, the word "sprawling" seems small. But let's start there... Let It Beard is big, real big. Kind of like the sound of a good '70's arena rock band, that big. Six listens through, and I still don't have a favorite song big... but the early candidate is certainly the four minute, sprawling (there's that word again, doing its best) "Tourist U.F.O." with its icing-on-the-cake J Mascis solo on the way out. "Hey, you got Mascis in my Pollard! No, you got Pollard in my Mascis!" But who's complaining?

Starting with the opener, "Blind 20-20", which changes at least four times in 3:03, this album is in fact a thrill ride and, as Pollard stated "a concept album about the sorry state of rock and roll"... the concept being, it would seem, "Let's quit screwing around with this precious crap and bring back the four P's". It's got all the ingredients of a great Pollard record: humorous double-take-inducing lyrical non-sequitirs, constant instrumental and tempo changes, razor-sharp guitars underpinned by a terrific rhythm section. Actually, in most cases it consists of Chris Slusarenko and John Moen underpinning, well, Chris Slusarenko, who does a great job both ways and is given credit for essentially pulling together the instrumental structure of the record. And please note well: Moen, who has played with Elliott Smith, Steven Malkmus and The Decemberists, is a hell of a rock drummer.

Other highlights include "I Took On the London Guys", featuring Steve Wynn on a very psychedelic-sounding lead guitar, "Make a Record for Lo-Life", which has a real Big Star swagger, "Let More Light in the House", which features a bit of prog art-rock - Soft Machine with banjos? Bob even sounds a little bit like Robert Wyatt to me on this one... "You Just Can't Tell" features some throbbing Colin Newman (Wire) punk guitar and "Chevy Marigold" will strike a chord with anyone who has a fancy for great blues-based rock music.

And to cover the Pop in the four P's, here's a nice ballad, "Christmas Girl", with a strong Pollard vocal and a sweet trumpet break :



Download Christmas Girl MP3

Pollard's fifth release this year is his best, and that is taking nothing away from the previous four, the Lifeguards' Waving At the Astronauts, Mars Classroom's The New Theory Of Everything and Pollard's Space City Kicks and Lord of the Birdcage. He's certainly in the zone with five quality discs just a little over halfway through the year, not to mention wrapping up the GbV Classic Lineup Reunion Tour. Folks, let's hear it for the Iron Man McGinnity of rock and roll.

Boston Spaceships Website

REVIEW: The Baseball Project Volume 2: High and Inside

Baseball and rock'n'roll go extremely well together. Going to the ballpark to see your team is like going to your favorite club to see a great local band. You get to hang with your pals, drink a few beers, watch the action, and swap stories. But hey, word to the wise, when you are sitting in the baseball stands quaffing down the brew and talking to your boys Louie and Jackson there about your favorite new bands, don't forget to be paying attention for the screaming foul ball that might be headed your way (more on that particular risk later).

Baseball provides much superior stories and context for rock'n'roll than other sports - colorful figures, terrific jargon, quirky unwritten rules, a rich history, bizarre mishaps, managers in uniform, and timeless statistical milestones (.300 hitter, 20 game winner, etc.). And no one tells better baseball stories than the Baseball Project, the alternative rock version of the Traveling Wilburys - highly skilled, experienced craftsmen on loan from their day jobs and having a ball - Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey from R.E.M. and the Minus 5, and drummer Linda Pitmon (Miracle 3), with various all-star guests, including Craig Finn, Ben Gibbard, Robert Lloyd, Ira Kaplan and Steve Berlin.

Some songs here on the Baseball Project's second record center on an individual player: "Ichiro Goes to the Moon", "Pete Rose Way", "Here Lies Carl Mays", and "The Straw That Stirs the Drink" (a hilarious homage to Reggie Jackson, written in the first person and delivered perfectly matter-of-fact by Wynn, "There are superstars and then there's what I am"). Other songs here outline an aspect of the game or baseball culture ("Chin Music", "Fair Weather Fans").

One of the best songs here, "Panda and the Freak", a garage rock high-velocity fastball, touches both bases, starting with a celebration of the rich history of nicknames in the sport ("Goose, Bird, Penguin, Rooster, Vulture - and your bird can sing. And the greatest nickname of all time Death to Flying Things)", and then honoring in detail two current players on McCaughey's beloved San Francisco Giants. Seen here performed live last summer with pinch hitter guest Mike Mills from R.E.M.:



Fans of The Hold Steady (like say, me), especially those from Minnesota, will love Craig Finn's emotional ode to his beloved team "Don't Call Them Twinkies" ("The Minnesota Twins are making Minnesotans proud..... These are grown men, these are heroes, please don't call them Twinkies"). And for Mr. Minnesota out there, you get a double shot of your baseball love because Linda Pitmon grew up outside the Twin Cities, and in "Fair Weather Fans" she too passionately displays her undying loyalty to the Twinkies (oops, so sorry Mr. Finn, Tigers fan here and old habits die hard; "my bad!").

You can listen to "Please Don't Call Them Twinkies" inside this link: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/music_blog/archive/2010/09/dont_call_them.shtml

But the best story here is one I'd never heard. Did you know that Hall of Famer Bob Feller, the "Heater from Van Meter" himself, once threw a pitch that was fouled off and struck his own mother, and on Mother's Day no less?! More recently, the Twins' Denard Span ripped one into the stands and hit his mom (a Spring training game so at least not on Mother's Day, thank god). It's all true and now captured in song. Learn all about foul balls targeting in on loved ones in the wickedly funny cautionary tale "Look Out Mom".

Another bonus to this record - the fine explanatory liner notes for each song, as here where McCaughey recounts the Span incident and concludes "You figure, what are the chances? Hey, Richie Ashburn hit the same woman with foul balls twice in the same at bat. Heads up people!"

The song that may be the most biting and memorable is "Buckner's Bolero" where McCaughey painstakingly outlines every lapse in judgment by other Red Sox that preceded that fateful error in the 1986 Series (e.g. "If Jim Rice had twice taken an easy extra base....And Bob Stanley sure picked a bad time to uncork a wild pitch, and I'm sure he's still thinking that you could have blocked it, Rich.... If one play killed the Sox, can you please tell me which?"). McCaughey's sympathetic version of history paints Buckner as the ultimate scapegoat, whose solid 22-year career ("10,000 at bats and close to 3,000 hits") was obliterated by one routine, albeit historically untimely, fielding error. These lyrics are required reading for all you grudge-carrying Buckner haters out there: http://lyrics.wikia.com/The_Baseball_Project:Buckner

Here's an earlier live version of the Buckner song without the delicious spaghetti western/Latin drama (trumpet, pedal steel etc.) of the new recorded version:



Of course, being a diehard Detroit Tigers fan, I have an especially soft spot for the warm nostalgic lead track, Steve Wynn's "1976", a jangly ode to the great Mark Fidrych, sadly now deceased, but forever etched in our memories as the carefree pitcher who captured the nation in his magical rookie season, "Golden hair flowing down, on your knees grooming the pitcher's mound." I love the spirit and jangly sound of this one and have had this tune rattling around in my head for a week. Listen here:



As on their previous effort, the music and writing on Baseball Project 2 is so strong, that fans of The Dream Syndicate, R.E.M., the Hold Steady and smart guitar rock will find plenty to like here even if they don't care that much about baseball. It is a very good thing when you get an entire record of Steve Wynn, Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey going at it on guitars. But Volume 2: High and Inside is a baseball fan dream. The lyrics are remarkably well done, sure to warm any fan's heart with their detail and sharp wit.

Heads up people! The Baseball Project have outdone themselves. I find this a bit stronger overall than the debut record simply because the tunes are even better.

And by the way, with Opening Day upon us this week, I'm feeling, highly objectively of course, that despite Cabrera's off the field problems, Zumaya's most current injury, and a somewhat questionable starting rotation after Verlander and Scherzer, the Tigers could surprise people this year....and I've not lived in Michigan for 30+ years now, so, like Ms. Pitmon, "a fair weather fan is not what I am even though my zip code has changed."

Band web page, tour dates etc.: Baseball Project Page at Yep Roc Records

Official site: http://thebaseballproject.net/

Link at stevewynn.net

Old Stuff Friday: The "Paisley Underground" - Dream Syndicate, Rain Parade, Long Ryders...

Steve Wynn has played psychedelic hard guitar rock since 1981, and is in my opinion the avatar of this strain of psychedelic rock which featured Wynn's band The Dream Syndicate and related artists like The Bangles, Green on Red, The Rain Parade and The Long Ryders (to name a few). The Dream Syndicate put out The Days of Wine and Roses in 1984 and, if anything ever combined the spirits of The Stooges, Lou Reed, Crazy Horse, Hendrix and Creedence in a suitably hard-to-categorize package, this thing did it. Here's a contemporary performance of "Tell Me When It's Over".



Another member of the "Paisley Underground" movement, which sometimes shared members with The Dream Syndicate and other local favorites like The Bangles, was The Rain Parade. Much more accessible, this band featured Matt Piucci and David Roback (who later formed Mazzy Star). Piucci has done some excellent work post-Rain Parade, and even joined Crazy Horse. Of course he did! Recommended if you like Neil Young, the Byrds, Velvet Underground... Here's "This Can't Be Today" from 1983's Emergency Third Rail Power Trip... which I can't stop listening to, even 27 years later:



These bands often shared bills with country artists like Dwight Yoakam and roots bands like Los Lobos, which shared a natural affinity for and fan base with artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Gram Parsons and Buffalo Springfield that had preceded them on California stages. Nowhere is this better represented than in the music of the Long Ryders... here's a terrific video of "Looking for Lewis and Clark" from 1985's The State of Our Union:



If you've followed the string this far (and hopefully enjoyed the music), I am going to seize this opportunity to attempt to turn you into Steve Wynn fans, if you aren't already. He towered over this movement and remains a tremendous talent and an inspiration to a lot of independent artists. He and old buddies Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey and wife and bandmate Linda Pitmon have recently recorded a second album of baseball-inspired rock, The Baseball Project: High and Inside. Check out that record and some of his other music:

Website: Steve Wynn

WYMA (JD's) Favorite Music of 2010

Our benevolent leader here, Mr. Hyland, asked his new recruit (me) to include a Top 20 of 2010 list. And these exercises are a bit compulsive to begin with, so I figure I have to get it in here by the end of January or it'll be moot or at least mildly embarrassing.

A couple caveats: I am not longer the completist I once was. This list signifies nothing more than these are records I happened to hear and like a lot. It does not suggest that I think the 20th of these is "better" than say Beach House and all these hip records everyone else thinks is great but I haven't heard. Truth be told, I might have listened more to Exile on Main Street, Bob Dylan and Solomon Burke (whose death was a significant loss in 2010) than all this new stuff combined. So consider this a drive by of sorts.

For many years I have written about and listened mainly to singer-songwriter kind of stuff, but this year found myself gravitating towards rock'n'roll. Which isn't to say this necessarily was an unusually great year for rock (though I believe it was) or off year for singer-songwriters, but more just where my head was at.

I've listed my favorite of year, then gone in alpha order for the rest of a Top 10, then added 10 more. Please excuse the brevity and lack of links and videos, but I know our readers are resourceful. And hey, I'm on deadline here.

Black Keys, Brothers. Hard to believe at this point in the game that anyone could mix the blues and rock’n’roll and come out with something sounding completely fresh and innovative, but these Ohioans do just that. And when I’m driving around and “Tighten Up” gets played on the commercial radio stations in Portland, the sound leaps out of the speakers and sounds awesome. Turn it up.

Alejandro Escovedo, Street Songs of Love. Al has survived a nearly fatal serious illness, every up and down the music industry could provide, and various other life obstacles. So now he just tells the truth, lets it fly like John Lennon. One of my favorite artists doing more quality work with his special brand of Texas roadhouse, garage rock, Rolling Stones, glam rock. Raging.

Casey Neill and the Norway Rats, Goodbye to the Rank and File. I wrote a long piece on Casey for this blog last week and won’t repeat myself. But this unusually well written record is wonderfully varied with rock, waltzes, ballads, Celtic hints, a great Husker Du cover…

Corin Tucker Band, 1000 Years. Corin left the beloved, respected Sleater Kinney and stayed home for a couple years to raise kids. This new beginning took her to new and deep places, the writing here so strong. And it sounds nothing like S-K and has a great deal of stylistic breadth. She's still rockin' though. And who knew Corin could sing, and I mean really sing, like this? Wonderful, triumphant.

Mavis Staples, You Are Not Alone. I love Mavis and love Wilco too, but when I heard they were making a record together, I thought, huh, I’m not sure about that. But Tweedy checked his ego at the door and tapped deep into the songs here much like he did on Mermaid Avenue records. Mavis is so deeply soulful.

The National, High Violet. This is a real rock band, the whole so much more than sum of its parts. Anthemic guitar rock written by super smart guys. It helps to have a kick ass lead singer. Their outdoor live show performing these songs in early September at Pioneer Square in downtown Portland before maybe 4000 people was live rock at its best. I’d much rather see this band than U2.

Steve Wynn and The Miracle 3, Northern Aggression. So how does a guy at this stage of his career make his hardest rocking record ever? Great band, dual guitar attack, great songs. As good as anything the Dream Syndicate ever did and I mean that as the highest compliment possible. Hell, Lou Reed himself would kill for a record this good.

Superchunk, Majesty Shredding. As a former Chapel Hill resident, I have a soft spot for this band. But staying with my theme and biases here – this is some infectious, super intelligent kick ass rock’n’roll by an experienced band who know what they are doing.

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, The Brutalist Bricks. A music blog dominated by a bunch of Notre Dame grads simply has to include Ted Leo, easily the coolest guy to come out of Notre Dame in the last 40 years with the possible exception of Joe Montana. Except Joe can’t write songs like Elvis Costello and isn’t a super smart encyclopedic old school punk rock god. Three chords and a cloud of dust.

Teenage Fanclub, Shadows. Don’t call it a comeback… well maybe you should. A terrific return to form by Scotland’s finest. Well crafted power pop, great harmonies. The closest thing to Big Star we have left.

Ten more:

Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig. Banjo, fiddle, guitar. Born in 1920, alive in 2010.

Drive-By Truckers, The Big To-Do. Now a venerable and vital American institution. Working class Southern heroes who seem to put out a record every year and never stop touring.

Gaslight Anthem, American Slang. A truly great bar band.

LCD Soundsystem, This is Happening. Post punk, heavily Bowie influenced, urban dance rock is hardly my thing but damn are these guys good. Will I embarrass myself to admit I listen to this while working out?

Los Lobos, Tin Can Trust. More great American music from real pros.

New Pornographers, Together. Confession: I have an autographed photo of Neko Case in my office. And AC Newman’s catchy power pop songs are a lot of fun.

Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise. It almost isn’t fair to have a band this good. Especially if god gave you that voice.

Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, Junky Star. The guy behind some of the great music in the great film Crazy Heart. Country music isn’t really dead, you just have to be willing to go looking for it. T Bone Burnett produced and that is always good news.

Tift Merritt, See You on the Moon. Delightful and soulful country pop Americana. Producer Tucker Martine (The Decemberists) gets such a warm sound, and help from Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and super sessionist and Pariah Dog Greg Leisz on pedal steel doesn't hurt. Tift’s best ever.

Titus Andronicus, The Monitor. They mean it. Joe Stummer would have loved this band.

WYMA (John's) Top 20 of 2010: As Usual With Me, Guitars Rule...

I'm going to post my top 20 of 2010 (click to follow link to MySpace Playlist). When I do these things, it's always difficult to make the final cuts. The "Top 10" sort of makes itself. It's the records that I just put in the cd player and leave in there. If there's something on the record I tend to skip, it probably won't be in my Top 10. There are probably records in 10-20 that meet that criteria, too... This year, Broken Bells and Drive-by Truckers would probably fit that description. It's all pretty subjective, is what I guess I'm trying to say. I welcome, indeed I invite, your comments and your personal lists of favorites. Try to post them in the "comments" section. If that doesn't work send me an email and I'll try to create a post with all the submissions I get.

I'm posting links to the official websites (or Myspace pages if the artist doesn't appear to have an official site). If you can't find these discs in a local store (check the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) and Alliance of Independent Music Stores (AIMS) links -- also available on the sidebar to the right), try to buy them via the artists' website... seems like the right way to thank all these acts for all this great music they gave us in 2010.

1. Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust. This was my favorite album of 2010. Los Lobos has been making great American rock music for about 30 years, and they usually make my top 20 list, but I don't recall the last time they had my top record. It's about time, probably. David Hidalgo is as good a soul vocalist as we have nowadays, and every song is well-written and played, but what made this record jump to the top of my list is the lead guitar interplay on songs like "Bridges Burning", a composition by Cesar Rosas and Jerry Garcia's old writing partner Robert Hunter. Los Lobos Website

2. Jim Lauderdale - Patchwork River. Speaking of Robert Hunter, this is the second wonderful collection of Americana sketches by Lauderdale and Robert Hunter. Jim Lauderdale is a musical treasure in every way: as a writer, collaborator (in addition to Hunter, he's recorded two full albums with Ralph Stanley and various other acts through the years) and a great bluegrass and straight country singer. Jim Lauderdale Website

3. Retribution Gospel Choir - 2. Here's another one with great guitar playing throughout, and some moments that truly approach Crazy Horse in intensity. Alan Sparhawk (of Low) is the leader of this band, and he obviously wanted an outlet for his rock guitar tendencies. Retribution Gospel Choir Website

4. Robert Pollard - We All Got Out of the Army. The best Pollard disc of the year was released in February and it confirms his preeminence in at least three of the four P's: pop, prog and psych, with echos of some of the best GbV power pop records and precursors like David Bowie ("Faster to Babylon"). Robert Pollard Website

5. Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3 - Northern Aggression. I've always enjoyed the wild guitar playing on Wynn's work with Miracle 3, but he's channelling Verlaine and Lloyd on some of the songs here. I'm not kidding... this is an incredible rock record. Steve Wynn Website

6. Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul. This is really an amazing piece of work, and I look forward to seeing the visual part of the project... just as an album, Dark Night is in my top 5. RIP Mark Linkous... he was really one of my favorites, year after year. Dark Night of the Soul Website

7. Henry Clay People - Somewhere On the Golden Coast. Only two P's (punk and pop), but a lot of fun. "Working Part Time" is so good, I don't mind them remaking a song from their first album ("This Ain't a Scene"). Probably not too many people ever got hold of that one anyway... Henry Clay People Website

8. Black Keys - Brothers. Starting from the same heavy blues base as their previous records, they expand into some soul and psych, and do it very well, as usual. Black Keys Website

9. Citay - Dream Get Together. Great, great guitar work on this record. This band makes psychedelic rock with a level of acoustic and electric guitar interplay you don't hear very often. Citay Website

10. Boston Spaceships - Our Cubehouse Still Rocks. Robert Pollard's second entry in my personal Top Ten. This, like the other Boston Spaceships discs, is very catchy and enjoyable while offering enough Pollard quirkiness to keep it interesting. Favorite song title: "John the Dwarf Wants to Become An Angel". Maybe my favorite song, too. Boston Spaceships Website

11. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker. Australian rock band, heavy on the psychedelic content, with great guitars and long songs. Tame Impala Website

12. Broken Bells - Broken Bells. Getting away from guitar-based rock just a bit, this record combined the writing and singing of James Mercer (Shins) with the backdrop of some more impeccable Dangermouse playing and production. Broken Bells Website

13. Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo. Spent the first couple of weeks I had this record trying to put two and two together regarding its influences: Shins, Wilco? Certainly I'd recommend it to anyone who's enjoyed the direction of the last couple of Wilco records. Avi Buffalo Website

14. Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils. Primitive guitar rock with partially-obscured vocals and catchy tunes. Lo-fi heaven, pretty much. Beach Fossils Myspace

15. Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do. DBT continue to rock hard and break your heart, sometimes at the same time. Usually at the same time. Drive-By Truckers Website

16. Steve Mason - Boys Outside. Slick Northern Soul meets high quality prog rock with electronic leanings. Mason and the members of the Aliens are former members of Beta Band, and it's one of those breakups, like Uncle Tupelo's, that yields at least two good new acts. Steve Mason Website

17. Best Coast - Crazy for You. Yeah, it sounds like the songs are all about the same stuff, but so what? This is the kind of catchy pop/rock you just find yourself enjoying and forgetting... and that's not a bad thing. Best Coast Website

18. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way. From horn-driven funk to sweet soul music, this band can do it all and Sharon Jones is one of the strongest bandleaders working today. Seriously, what is not to love about this band? Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings Website

19. Ty Segall - Melted. More surf rock-inspired lo-fi fun. I applaud the rise of this stuff... twisted step-grandchildren of Dick Dale? Ty Segall Myspace

20. Budos Band - Budos Band III. It's not new ground they're plowing, but somehow they keep their music sounding fresh (at least to me). The horns and the beat are the highlights, but I like the keyboards and guitars as well. If you liked old funk outfits like the Meters and the stuff uncovered by Egon on The Funky 16 Corners, definitely give these folks a try. They're making this excellent classic funk RIGHT NOW.Budos Band Website


Honorable Mentions (I really liked these a lot, and hated to leave them off a "Best of" list, so consider them #20 A through K)
Neil Young - Le Noise
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Cee-Lo Green - The Ladykiller
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Robert Pollard - Moses on a Snail
Wild Nothing - Gemini
Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
Centro-matic - Eyas
(To clarify, this is on Honorable Mentions only because it's an EP of outtakes - a full Centro-Matic album is due out in early 2011)
High Dials - Anthems for Doomed Youth
Radio Dept - Clinging to a Scheme
A Viberatto - A
Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Rush to Relax
Fresh & Onlys - Play it Strange

2009 Releases I discovered in 2010:

The Mantles - The Mantles
Bear in Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
Desolation Wildnerness - New Universe