Blabber’n’Smoke’s Top Ten for 2013

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I succumbed to the idea of a top ten for the first time last year and if nothing else it’s been useful looking back at it over the past few days and comparing it to the list below. Was it a good year for music? I don’t know. Has there ever been a bad year? All I can say is that I’ve enjoyed listening to music this year as much as the last one and the year before that and so on. Many of last year’s list still get regular plays here so at least I liked them and the number one, John Murry’s Graceless Age has had a second wind with its eventual release Stateside. It may seem odd to have an artist with two entries in the list but both albums by Michael Rank & Stag are simply superb examples of what Blabber’n’Smoke would define as Americana; rooted in the country with a frontier outlook and a fierce regard for the common folk. And a happy coincidence to have two works from Howe Gelb mentioned also as he continues to plow his singular field. Both albums have striking images of Gelb threatening to turn him into an Americana icon, part Mt. Rushmore, part Dorothea Lange, for Blabber’n’Smoke, he’s a hero. Anyway, here’s what rocked our boat over the past twelve months.

1. Doc Feldman & the LD50. Sundowning At The Station. This Is American Music

Soiled songs and dusty ballads sounding like a wounded Crazy Horse. A triumph for label of the year, This Is American Music.

And here’s the man himself

2. Michael Rank and Stag. Mermaids. Louds Hymn

Wracked and raw country folk and rock from North Carolina’s Michael Rank. In the space of two years he’s delivered three albums (one a double disc set) that in a fit of hyperbole we said it sounded as if Keef had left the Stones in ’69, joined The Band and recorded with Neil Young frying honeyslides in the kitchen. At the very least it comes close.

3. Israel Nash Gripka. Israel Nash’s Rain Plains. Loose Music

Guitars weave and wander with a ferocity and lyricism that defies description and he repeats this throughout the album and there’s a moment in the title song where the guitars fizz and burn just like the best firework you’ve ever seen.

4. Cam Penner. To Build A Fire. Independent

“Ukuleles, guitars, banjos were strummed. Floors were stomped. Kick drums were kicked. Feet stumbled. Thighs, knees, hands, slapped, clapped. Voices strained and bent. Fingers gripped, grabbed, picked. Arms and hands flung. Skin wrapped tight strained and stretched. Body and sound thrown against wood and metal.”

5. Michael Rank & Stag. In The Weeds. Louds Hymn
No apologies for the second appearance from this tall, stick thin North Carolina rock’n’roll ragamuffin. The sonic slurry he conjures up is nothing less than mesmerising.

6. Sam Baker. Say Grace. Independent

Baker’s wounded heart goes from strength to strength

7. Diana Jones. Museum of Appalachia Recordings. Proper Records.

She’s not well known but whenever we mention her there’s a flurry of activity from folk who recognise Jones’ ability to sound as old as the hills and bang up to date, the thinking man’s Gillian Welch?

8. Birds of Chicago. Birds of Chicago. Independent.

JT Nero makes an honest woman of Allison Russell as they formally pair up for a laid back celebration of harmony singing and some Tupelo honey.

9. Dead Flowers. Midnight at The Wheel Club Hee Haw Records

Dark and deep, vocally and lyrically, a trip through North America and the soul.

Dead Flowers – The Beach from deadflowers on Vimeo.

10. Wynntown Marshals. The Long Haul. Blue Rose.

Local heroes, The Wynntown Marshals survived some turbulent years with band members coming and going. With new crew on board they came up trumps with a bigger, more layered sound and another fine songwriter in the shape of bassist Murdoch McLeod who penned the amazing Tide. Topping off a great year for them the band were snapped up by the very discerning blue Rose label.

Honorable mentions

Howe Gelb. The Coincidentalist
Howe Gelb. Dust Bowl
Mark Collie & his Reckless Companions. Alive At Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
J. R. Shore. State Theatre.
The Coals A Happy Animal
Benjamin Folke Thomas. Too Close to Here
Slaid Cleaves. Still Fighting The War
Thriftstore Masterpiece presents Lee Hazlewood’s Trouble Is A Lonely Town.
The Quiet American. Wild Bill Jones
Amanda Pearcy. Royal street
Heidi Talbot. Angels Without Wings
Jim Dead I’m Not Lost
Rachel Brooke. A Killer’s dream
Great Peacock E. P.

J. R. Shore. State Theatre.

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J. R. Shore is yet another one of those Canadian artists who sound as if they were born and bred south of the Mason Dixie line with four fifths of The Band being the premier example. Having played in several Canadian bands Shore moved to Nashville in 2004 before returning to Calgary, Alberta five years later. State Theatre is his third release since his homecoming and it positively hums and reeks of the South with echoes of New Orleans and his forebears, The Band, well to the fore.
Split into two discs the second one offers up eight covers of familiar songs including The Band’s W. S. Walcott Medicine Show, Neil Young’s For The Turnstiles, The Dead’s Deal and The Burritos Sin City. Sticking fairly closely to the original arrangements it’s entertaining fare with the standouts being excellent renditions of Tom Russell’s Blue Wing and John Prine’s The Late John Garfield Blues.
Disc one is all original Shore songs and it’s a measure of his talent that this is the one that’s been played most often at Blabber’n’Smoke. There’s definitely a Band feel to many of the songs here with a heavy emphasis on keyboards (played by Garth Kennedy) while the guitars can be bluesy or country-like and accordion, baritone ukulele and violin lighten the tone. Shore’s voice has an attractive drawl with echoes of Jagger, Randy Newman and Dr. John at times and his vocal performances command attention throughout while his writing encompasses historical tales and social commentary.
The album opens with the swamp blues of Holler Like Hell, a lengthy (six and a half minutes) growl of a song with that bristles with menace with Gospel undertones in the call and response chorus. A magnificent curtain raiser it steamrolls along with chugging guitar solos adding to its bile. Addie Polk tells the true tale of a 91 year old widow who shot herself rather than have her home foreclosed and while it starts off with an almost perky southern stride there’s a burning anger in the middle eight when Shore rails against the moneymen who force such calamity on folk like Addie. Poundmaker is another true tale, this time stretching back to the 1880’s as Chief Poundmaker of the Cree Nation is imprisoned and broken by the white man. A terrific and powerful ballad with fine piano and organ interplay and swooping slide guitars it serves to recall the pride of such men despite the rigours imposed on them and is an awesome listen.
Shore goes on to sing the praises of Charlie Grant, a negro baseball player on a song that has firm echoes of The Band with the kaleidoscopic whirls of the organ very reminiscent of that other Garth while Dash Snow retains the keyboard flourishes on a drug song that could have been penned by John Prine but sounds as if it was played by the Stones circa ’69. The Band influence pops up again with the sprightly keyboards and quickstep jaunt that is Jackie’s Odds about a gambler born to lose.
There’s more gutbucket blues on Spring Training before the barrelhouse piano of 146 introduces a Randy Newman like lament. The Ballad of Dreyfus wanders into Dylan territory as Shore ponders on the fate of Alfred Dreyfus who inspired Zola’s infamous J’Accuse letter. Capturing Dylan’s hectoring tone from the early seventies while the organ whirls and a fine coiled guitar solo erupts this sounds like The Band backing Dylan on Desire. The disc ends with a faux antique acoustic blues that crackles through the speakers but also crackles with the intensity that burns throughout the album. Overall its a compelling listen and well recommended.

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