Weekly Recommended Album # 4 American Water by Silver Jews

With apologies to Editors Jenkins and Ivey, I missed last week's deadline. I will try to do better. Well, the last note set off an interesting firestorm, well actually more like a small campfire over the viability of live albums. Glad I could get some people talking. This week I thought about throwing a title out there that would be out of left field like " The Cool" by Lupe Fiasco or anything by the band Can, but this selection while somewhat popular, brings me back to it over and over: American Water by Silver Jews. Frontman David Berman's wordplay is well reknowned on all SJ albums, causing you to pay attention to lyrics possibly more than any artist. And while other SJ albums have great songs, namely Black and Brown Shoes from The Natural Bridge, American Water seems to be the most complete album.An album that starts out with: "In 1984, I was hospitalized for approaching perfection" only sets the table for good things to come. I maybe sucker for Berman's country poetry with its protestant thighs, digital deer and honkytonk psychiatrists, but listening to it this week made it seem just as fresh as ever. The best line of the album may be "I am the trick, my mother played on the world" from Send In the Clouds, a line that easily could have shown up in anything from Eminem to Slayer.

Weekly Recommended Album # 3- The Tigers Have Spoken By Neko Case

I personally think that live albums get sort of a bad rep. To provide a work analogy, studio albums are really presentations to the public as to what an artist is about. A debut album is like a resume, an introduction that allows the artist to give a brief overview of training, influences and experiences. Subsequent albums are more like powerpoints that give a bi-annual overview as to what the artist is up to at the time. Live albums are different. A live album allows the listener to tag along to see the artist at work. This is why Johnny Cash at Folsum Prison and Elvis at Madison Square Garden are so timeless. This is why I am recommending The Tigers Have Spoken by Neko Case. Essentially a live compliation album, it is a good showcase for all of Ms. Case's talents namely her songwriting and her choice of covers and that smoky twangy voice that is her trademark. Recorded over three shows, Neko uses her backup band The Sadies to full effect on such tracks as "Train from Kansas City" and "The Tigers have Spoken". She does Loretta Lynn proud with her cover of "Rated X" and does a haunting "Wayfaring Stranger". But what makes that album is how she plays off the crowd to step it up a notch on nearly every song.

Weekly Recommended Album #2

This is the soundtrack to a Wim Wenders film from 1997. If you lived in New York , Chicago or LA and you blinked you probably missed it. If you lived anywhere else, you didn't need to blink you missed it anyway. I vaguely remember renting it but that is about as far as it goes. When it comes to Mr. Wenders: Wings of Desire=Greatness, The End of Violence= Not so Much. But the soundtrack, oh the soundtrack. Mr. Wenders either has a very good ear or a little bird with great taste was doing some whispering. Either way, this is an album not to be missed, even the sound clips from the film actually add to the album. Recommended tracks: "A Little Drop of Poison" by Tom Waits, a great song that I am not sure is available anywhere else. "Everytime I Try" by Spain, usually Spain songs are good for navelgazing and nothing more, but this moves slightly faster and with more feeling. "Bailare (El Merecumbe) by Raul Malo, the lead singer of the country band The Mavericks is so melodic, you find yourself singing along to a song completely in Spanish. Other artists include a Michael Stipe/Vic Chesnutt duet, an early track from Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown and DJ shadow adding some atmospherics as well. That's the good news. The bad news is that it seems to be out of print, but if it is a bargain bin, walk it up to the counter with a smile that says "I just took candy from a baby", because you just made a steal.

Weekly Recommended Album #1

After all the hardwork put in from my friends Mr. Ivey and Mr. Jenkins, I thought I would put in my little contribution to the music critic consortium. I applaud Mr. Ivey for listening to Tom Moon's suggestions and giving his own impressions and Mr. Jenkins for going through his entire audio library. This will sliightly different, and a little half-assed as well. I will try to every week recommend one album from my collections that I think deserve a listen, and welcome your comments if you think I am full of it. So without further ado...Ballad of the Broken Seas- Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan-Released 2006I have to admit that 97% percent of my recent music acquisitions have come via our local public library, an unexpected and bountiful resource. I checked this out without a listen and added it to iTunes and listened to the album on a ride home from the beach. Very pleasant surprise, with Lanegan much more weathered from his Screaming Trees heyday and Campbell as delicate as ever, possibly moreso than with Belle and Sebastian. Not so brief summary: Imagine in 1964, Phil Spector decided to take a break from the wall of sound and do a simple side project with his friends Leonard Cohen and Marianne Faithful. They record a dozen songs, including Hank Williams cover and call it a day, saving a beautiful time capsule before time took its toll on their vocal chords.