Monthly Archives: January 2012

The BEST COMPILATIONS of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)

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By Chris Moore:

Every year, there are a wide variety of compilations, best of’s, essentials, greatest hits, and retrospectives that are released.  I usually only buy one here or there.  This year, there were three outstanding compilations, which are recognized below.  In each case, the packaging is excellent, notable if only for the excellent attention to liner notes that provide further context and insight into the tracks.  Even though all three were of high quality, Ben Folds’ reasonably-priced, beautifully packaged, well-selected Best Imitation of Myself takes the prize without debate.

1) The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective – Ben Folds

2) Twenty – Pearl Jam

3) Outside Society – Patti Smith

The BEST REMASTERS / REISSUES of 2011 (The Year-End Review Awards)

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By Chris Moore:

This year, I didn’t listen to all that many remasters or reissues.  Pink Floyd re-released all their albums in one intimidating batch.  Had it been one at a time, I might have tried one.  Nearly every week, there have been remasters or reissues on the new release rack at Newbury Comics.  And yet, at year’s end, I am left with only one in mind that carries any weight with me:  The Beach Boys’ SMiLE Sessions box set.

This is – finally, officially – the closest we’ll ever come to hearing what SMiLE would have sounded like, had it been released in context over four decades ago.  Brian Wilson’s 2004 take on SMiLE turns out to be, as expected, a close approximation and, in some ways, a more complete version.  That is the most heartbreaking aspect of this box set: there are parts missing, instrumentation with unfinished vocals, and a general sense of genius abandoned.  This being said, The SMiLE Sessions present a gorgeous, expansive vision that may well have been yet another game changer in a series of re-visionings then taking place, led largely by the Beatles.

We’ll never know how much of an impact this album would have had, or how great a success it would (or wouldn’t) have been.  What we can do is marvel at the beauty of Brian Wilson’s vision and the Beach Boys’ remarkable vocal soundscapes.  (The deluxe box set may only be for the diehard fan, but believe me, it’s well worth it if you consider yourself to be anything approaching diehard!)

1) The SMiLE Sessions – The Beach Boys

 

 

Christmas, Volume 2 – Playlists on Parade

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By Chris Moore:

This is the second installment in my Christmas music playlist series, perhaps my most brilliantly titled one yet!  😉

As you’ll notice, I’ve done my best to present a wide span of time periods and topic matter, including songs that touch on winter in general, the legendary figures of Christmas (such as Santa, Rudolph, Frosty, etc.), and the spiritual music honed in on the “reason for the season” (i.e. the celebration of the birth of Christ).

Perhaps my greatest failing in this list (and, with a subject as broad as Christmas, I am sure to have many) is the lack of traditional Christmas songs, hymns and otherwise.  I have two comments about this: first, it is simply a fact that many, if not most, artists have tended to pour more of their creative energy into non-denominational tracks, perhaps hoping to avoid alienating their audiences, and second, there is also a tendency for truly great bands to record some of their best performances on their own original holiday music.

For this reason, you’ll see a lot of contemporary classics of the Christmas genre represented here.

If you’re a person who appreciates and perhaps even prefers traditional music, I would strongly recommend checking out the original Beach Boys Christmas album for “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” which was cut from this list only because “We Three Kings” is included in the BnL/Sarah McLachlan version of “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”  Brian Wilson recorded some fine renditions of traditional tracks on his 2005 solo release What I Really Want for Christmas, including “O Holy Night,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “The First Noel,” and “Silent Night.”

And, if you can get beyond the gravel in his voice, Bob Dylan gives a bang-up, wannabe 1940’s treatment to many of these tracks, plus “O’ Come All Ye Faithful” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

The track listing below is another assortment of Christmas songs, fast and slow, happy and sad.  In fact, starting with the hopeful but tentative tenor of Stevie Wonder’s “Someday at Christmas,” I plugged in several of my favorite somber yuletide tunes: BnL’s “Green Christmas,” the Moody Blues’ “A Winter’s Tale,” and Ben Fold’s Grinch soundtrack offering “Lonely Christmas Eve.”

Don’t fret, though, there are plenty of upbeat tracks to balance it all out.  Consider the typically punky/poppy Weezer take on “We Wish You A Merry Christmas,” the disaster-averted hilarity of Relient K’s “Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town,” and the Temptations’ excellent and unique arrangement of “Rudoplph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

As always, I hope you enjoy reading through this playlist, and that I’m able in some small way to nudge you toward getting into the spirit of the season, despite how busy or how burdened you may be.

Check back next week for the third installment in the series!

1. “Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)” – Elvis Presley

2. “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” – Weezer

3. “Jingle Bells” – The Brian Setzer Orchestra

4. “The Man with All the Toys” – Brian Wilson

5. “Someday at Christmas” – Stevie Wonder

6. “Green Christmas” – Barenaked Ladies

7. “A Winter’s Tale” – The Moody Blues

8. “Lonely Christmas Eve” – Ben Folds

9. “Away in a Manger” – Johnny Cash

10. “Wonderful Christmastime” – Paul McCartney

11. “Feliz Navidad” – Jose Feliciano

12. “Christmas All Over Again” – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

13. “Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town” – Relient K

14. “I Wanna Be Santa Claus” – Ringo Starr

15. “Hey Santa!” – The Wilsons

16. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” – The Temptations

17. “Frosty the Snowman” – The Beach Boys

18. “Merry Christmas, Baby” – The Beach Boys

19. “Christmas Evening” – Jim Fusco

20. “Auld Lang Syne” – Barenaked Ladies

The BEST “SHOULD’VE BEEN THE SINGLE”’s of 2011 (The Year-End Review Awards)

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By Chris Moore:

Every year, a significant percentage of music listeners base their playlists and knowledge of music on the tracks chosen as singles.  The obvious drawback here is that these tracks are chosen based on the likelihood they will be radio hits.  In short, the songs that fit the formula prescribed by the labels will be chosen, and the other – oftentimes superior – songs are left unnoticed.

Now, I understand why this is the process; I really do.  Those who like albums are left to take our chances on the LPs.  However, even in choosing the singles, the powers-that-be often surprise me.  The following three tracks are the songs that I feel should have been the singles for their respective albums instead of the ones that were actually chosen.  I’ve listed out the songs that were chosen as singles, and you’ll find that, in a couple cases, there are three songs that have been chosen over the song I feel is most single-worthy.  As a final note, Colbie Caillat recently released “Brighter Than the Sun” as the second single from All of You, which leads me to believe that I’m not completely off base in my opinions.

1)  “Hurts Like Heaven” – Coldplay (over ‘Every Teardrop is a Waterfall,” “Paradise,” and “Charlie Brown”)

2)  “Fire Fly” – Childish Gambino (over “Bonfire,” “Heartbeat,” and “All the Shine”)

3)  “Brighter Than the Sun” – Colbie Caillat (over “I Do”)