Marathonproxys 4: One More from an Old Friend

I’m beginning to feel embarrassed about my lack of knowledge regarding records that have been released in the last four years. Touring a lot affords me the opportunity to see a lot of good bands but I find I am constantly neglecting new albums, even the ones that everyone I know (and, more importantly, trust) say I should get. Embarrssingly, I seriously cannot think of one record, released in 2007, recorded in 2007, which I purchased this past year. I do have albums from 2007 – I traded for some at shows, some were given or gifted to me, but I’m surprised that I haven’t even picked up the new Robert Pollard records this year. 2008 will be the year for me – no tours on the horizon, plenty of time to mix up a delicious vodka slush and put my head between the speakers before my wife gets home. The following list are my favorite records that I actually listened to a lot in 2007. They are in no particular order, except for #1, which is hands down my favorite re-discovery of the year.

1) Bruce Springsteen – Born in the USA
I never gave this record a chance, ever. I even had two cassette copies of it growing up. Both sides are great, and “Darlington County” should have been a huge hit. Springsteen fans I know say they don’t like this one very much, but every spin of each side prompted me to love it more and more. Honorable mention in the Springsteen category: Born to Run. Yeah, I’ve got some catching up to do if this hasn’t made my top ten in the past.

2) Steely Dan – Countdown to Ecstasy
My good friend Pete Schreiner bought this for me at a library sale in 2006 and I didn’t throw it on the turntable until a cloudy Saturday morning back in February. What an unbelievable record. When the pedal steel creeps its way into “Razor Boy” I’m reminded of the true majesty of a well-written, well-produced, and impeccably arranged FM radio song. Steely Dan is not the soulless beast that old punk rockers would lead you to believe they are. They used their limitless budgets and musical knowledge to make some untouchable records. Sure, down the line it gets 80s-slick, but this record in particular is as solid as the brick of cocaine they did while making it.

3) The Who – Live at Leeds, Deluxe Edition
When this came out back in who-knows-when 2000 something I was fresh in to my “I don’t really buy records anymore because I’m always going to shows” phase. I can’t believe I didn’t pick this up until 2007. Live at Leeds might be my favorite rock and roll record, and that’s hard to say because I love each and every version that has been released. In a way, the previous edition (the one disc that corrected errors from the 1970 original and also expanded it by forty minutes) is my favorite, but this one, which features everything from the previous update plus Tommy, live, is fucking unbelievable. I have been asked where I would go if I could travel in time – and, honestly, I would go to this concert. “I’m a Boy” is amazingly heartfelt, and “Go to the Mirror” on the Tommy disc is what rock and roll is, was, and ever shall be, amen. In the back of my mind I’ve always known that the Who are the best rock and roll band that has ever existed, and this adds a lot of fuel to that ever-burning fire.

4) Morrissey – Vauxhall and I
This Steve Lilywhite produced record from 1995 had a minor hit, “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get,” which caught my attention and convinced me to order it to fulfill my last CD commitment to Columbia House. I put it on tape and listened to it pretty incessantly in my car while I was a senior in high school, and even made copies for girls I liked then. It got tucked away for, well, eleven years, when I received a message from one of those girls that said “I found that Morrissey tape you made for me. Still a great record.” She’s right. There’s an antique feeling to it, unlike other Morrissey releases, where the arrangements are delicate and his voice, while still taunting and haunting, seems a bit more honey-dipped than usual. “Hold on to Your Friends,” and “I Am Hated for Loving” are worth the price of admission alone. Plus, Morrissey’s hot.

5) XTC – Skylarking
This is another Columbia House take-a-chance-record that came in, oh, 1987, that I rediscovered in 2007. I’ve always been an XTC fan but, sometimes, I get the feeling that they know a little too-well how to make their pop magic (hard to explain, but see also Of Montreal and Paul McCartney). There are some strange world music moments on this record, but “Grass,” “The Meeting Place,” and “Earn Enough For Us,” more than make up for the dark discomfort brought upon by tracks like “Dying” and “Another Satellite.” I bet you can find this for $4 at most used stores, too. It’s worth it.

6) The Doors – Strange Days
I know, I know. And I make fun of them, too. However, if I have recommended this album to many a person, and since the Perception box came out (all remastered at the correct speed and, well, loud enough that you can hear the kick drum) I’ve been listening to this a lot. “You’re Lost Little Girl” was written for Nancy Sinatra (and would have been awesome) and the freak-out guitar solo in the hilariously overblown but, still, somehow dramatic “When the Music’s Over” is one of my favorites, ever. Sometimes it’s hard to not think of tapestries and claims of “poetry” but this record is a quiet, dark gem.

7) Minor Threat – Discography
I’ve had my drunken arguments about the validity of Fugazi’s place in the canon of independent music based on music and not on ethics, but there is no way I would ever argue with Minor Threat. For the last three months of 2007 I attempted to run at least five miles a week, and at about 12 minutes a mile that equals a lot of Minor Threat. This collection is powerful and the production is timeless. “Play it faster” – I will, Ian, I will.

Golden Boots – Burning Brain
Magnolia Electric Co. toured with this amazing band from Tucson, AZ for the majority of our Sojourner fall tour. The band never falls apart although they threaten to, musically, constantly, almost as if they are playing a joke on the audience. It’s charming desert country music and it all comes through in Burning Brain which was released digitally by Park the Van Records this year. Somehow their guitars sound like a flurry of single notes, even during the biggest chords, that creates a constant arpeggio that creates more atmosphere than one would expect from a semi-lo-fi record. Check out “Days are Night” and listen to how the description of someone wearing “pants for a sweater” seems completely normal, if that person happens to come from Tucson.

9) Tom Heinl – With or Without Me
“Weird” Al taught me a lot about classic rock. I would religiously buy his records as they came out (starting in 1981 and ending in 1994 – sorry, Al) and he taught me a thing or two about subtlety, self-effacement, and, of course, parody. Tom Heinl, from Eugene, OR, is not an outright parodist, nor is he a shitty Bob and Tom quality singing comedian. He is a country singer, by and large, who is obsessed (apparently) with karaoke. His record, With or Without Me, features him singing his songs and then the songs repeated without words so that his listener can do karaoke with him. Apparently his live shows were him and a karaoke machine with his music. My dearly departed friend Evan Farrell (R.I.P.) championed Tom Heinl, and Tom Heinl owes Evan a great deal of thanks for the amount of people he turned on to him. Songs like “The International House of Pancackes” (featuring the line “Room starts spinning like a ceiling fan/fruit loops like a breadcrumb trail to the can”) and “Half Day Vacation” (featuring the line “Couple of Certs and it’s back to work from my half day vacation”) and real solid comedy music that isn’t un-funny after the first listen. Pick up the record (if you can find it) and, if you knew Evan, think about him during “Three Way,” which Evan serenaded us with in a Starbucks parking lot in Eastern Washington one evening. Just thinking about it makes me almost pee my pants.

10) Misfits – Static Age
I don’t think about the Misfits enough, and in 2007 I tried to listen to Static Age once a week. I know a lot of these songs ended up on other recordings, but the dry basement quality of this recording makes it sound like the band is playing inside of an oversized Halloween present. “Teenagers From Mars” and the disturbing “Bullet” really make any season bright. If I were still 16 and loved this band (I can’t say I really fell in love with them until I was 21) I would have at least three tattoos dedicated to them. Instead I have no tattoos and I talk about how pretty “Hybrid Moments” would be if it were slowed down with people in bathrooms at pop shows. Here’s to getting older, and here’s to another year.

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Also: a belated notice that my buddies over at Destination: Out went a little wild with the year-endage themselves. Here are some “other things” they liked, and when they make sure their tech-stuff isn’t all flibbity-dibbity anymore, I’ll link to their most popular downloads of 2007. Don’t know ‘em/afraid of OOP free jazz? Here’s a primer they did here a bit ago, to get you started.