I think you should hear these (January '08)

Music is a REALLY big deal to the Yankee. I have always cared more about music than most people I know, and I have always remained fairly open-minded about music, despite being a stickler for quality. Music can evoke, arouse, soothe, or attend emotion in a way that other stimuli are hard pressed to match.

So with that as a brief intro., I'd like to share a few albums with everyone. I've actually put more thought and time into this blog than almost any blog I've ever written. Music is that important to me, and my recommendations are not made lightly. I understand that not all music is for everybody, and you may well hate everything I suggest here. That's fine with me.

A lot of what I listen to (though very little of what I will mention here) is what my friend Cam calls "music for musicians." There's a lot of stuff out there that is written for people who like to sit down and listen to every nuance of a tune and will be really excited by the flow, artistry, and performance of a really well crafted piece. Some of us love to lose ourselves in every bend of a string, every confluence of rhythms, every emergence of harmony. On the other hand, most people out there (including most of you, I'd wager) think that listening to a nineteen minute funk song with six minutes of singing and eight separate instrumental solos would be an interminable and mind-bending type of torture.

I say all of this to clarify that what I recommend here will not be what Mrs Yankee likes to call my "music snob" music. There is some really amazing musicianship represented in these albums, but every one of these albums is eminently listenable for even the casual music fan.

These are not "my favorite" albums, although each of them is certainly among my favorites. This is not a "top ___" list, because such lists are silly and shortsighted. Most of these albums are albums I have listened to for years, over and over, from front to back. They have stood the test of time, and are as powerful and meaningful today as they have ever been.These are some albums I'd like to share with you, for one reason or another, and I hope you like them.

Believe it or not, that was the briefest intro I could compose on that topic.

Now on to the albums, in no particular order...

"TRUTH AND SOUL" by Fishbone.

I could have easily made a list comprised entirely of Fishbone albums and been thrilled with the result, but that wouldn't look as unbiased as I intend this list to be.

There is no such thing as a "typical" Fishbone album, nor can one readily define "the Fishbone sound" in an offhand or pithy way. Through every lineup, Fishbone has been comprised of really stellar musicians who have worked very hard to turn out the best product that they can possibly produce. Every album is different, and some quite radically so.

When I am introducing someone to Fishbone for the first time, this is the album I usually give them. "Truth and Soul" is one of their earlier albums, but it captures much of what is great about the band in a brief and readily accessible package. Soaring, soulful vocals, tight horns, powerful, moving rhythms, and incisive lyrics are just some of the foundational elements that you will find in every Fishbone album and "Truth and Soul" has them all in a stripped-down, unvarnished, bare-bones pakage. From the raw emotion of "Freddie's Dead" (a cover of the Curtis Mayfield classic) to the wry wit of "Slow Bus Movin'," from the haunting beauty of "Pouring Rain" to the irrepressible dancing energy of "Bonin' in the Boneyard," Truth and Soul is quite simply one of the greatest albums ever made.

As I noted above, I could list several more Fishbone albums of equal quality and depth (including the most recent album, "Still Stuck in Your Throat,") but if you want a first-time-listener-friendly introduction to a band that would place among the greatest bands of our day, "Truth and Soul" is it.

"Gift Horse" by The Lost Dogs

The Lost Dogs are a band that in many ways defy description. Each of the members of the band are members of other bands, and they get together to make something very special in The Lost Dogs. I could (and probably will) write an entire blog telling you about this band and their history, but if you've made it this far through this blog, you deserve all of the brevity I can muster.

The Lost Dogs don't fit into any musical box very well, but I might try describing them as Appalachian-influenced southern folk-rock from California. Their music is simple, and pleasant in the way that only truly great musicians can produce. Any journeyman who works hard enough can compose and play a pleasing or impressive piece, but only a truly great musician can play something simple, something familiar, and make it really come alive. The Lost Dogs are members of that elite group of musicians who can play the simplest music in a way that cannot be duplicated merely by reproducing the notes. Among the fans of the Lost Dogs are The Kentucky Headhunters, a supergroup comprised of studio musicians who are very widely renowned as some of the best at their craft. I think that says quite a bit.

Even so, what makes The Lost Dogs worthy of this list is how that music works with the lyrics of their songs. These guys have experienced much of the worst that life has to offer, over and over again. They've been through divorce, abandonment, the deaths of loved ones, ostracism, severe poverty, etc. They don't shy from these issues, and they don't sugar coat a damned word of it. Perhaps more impressively, neither do they lie unmoving in misery. The hope that comes from pain is one of the purest and most enduring of emotions, and every Lost Dogs album has that in spades. This is one of the only albums ever that has, in hard times, moved me quite literally to tears. "Gift Horse" is perhaps the most raw, honest, moving, and ultimately comforting album, I've ever heard. If you have really, honestly ever been down in the vicinity of rock bottom for any length of time, this is the album you should at least give one listen. This is only one of several great albums by The Lost Dogs, but it is honestly an American classic.

"Future Classic" by Surreal and DJ Balance

While I'm on the topic of classics, I have to mention the aptly named "Future Classic" by Surreal, working on this album with DJ Balance (among others.) I could (and again, probably will) write an entire blog entry about Surreal, but I'll summarize by saying that he ahs almost single-handedly restored my faith in hip-hop. Surreal has defied every current trend in popular music by producing an album that is strong from start to finish, with great lyircs, fantastic timing, tremendous beats, and elite production. I haven't truly enjoyed a rap album this much since 1995, to be honest. Surreal knows that even the best of emcees is only a novelty act without truly amazing beats, and he consistently works with the best DJs available on the underground scene to craft true works of art. One of my favorite tracks on the album is "Car and a Job," a track he did with Ohmega Watts providing the beats wherein he describes what the true goals of the aspiring rapper should be. This album is not easy to find in stores, but it is available on Napster and online.

By the way, this album only edged out "True Indeed," his collaboration with The Sound Providers, by the narrowest of margins. If you have ever been a hip-hop fan, and you've been mostly disappointed with what the last decade or so has had to offer, you owe it to yourself to check out these albums.

"How to Live with a Curse" by Stavesacre

Stavesacre is the band the LA Times called "the best band you've never heard."

I've been a fan since the mid-nineties. I pre-ordered the very first album, and I've been a loyal fan ever since. Stavesacre is the only band I've seen as many times as I've seen Fishbone. I adored the first two albums, was not quite as impressed by the EP or their next two albums, and was completetly and utterly blown away (in a good way) by the final album. That final album is the album I mention here.

"How to Live with a Curse" is quite simply an amazing album. Lead singer Mark Saloman is one of the few rock vocalists who really sings from the diaphragm (like a soul singer) instead of the throat. The result is that Mark can convey power and emotion in a way that most pure rock singers simply can't match. He doesn't have the skill or range of a Rob Halford or a Bruce Dickinson or a Freddie Mercury, but I'd put Mark Salomon right up there with Stevie Wonder or Bill Withers on his ability to convey raw emotion through song.

Stavesacre has always had the best lyrics of any rock band I can name. It's not even close. Poetic, emotive, and powerful don't really do justcie to the lyrical content of most of their songs, and when really blasted out by the man who wrote them (Saloman,) the lyrics take on depth and meaning rarely if ever matched in popular music. If I sound like I'm gushing, it's because I am. This album is that fucking good. Get a copy. Listen to it from start to finish. Listen to it again. Listen to it one more time. If you still don't think it's a truly great album, I'll be amazed.

One of the saddest moments of 2007 was when the band announced that they were dissolving after more than a decade of great music. No drama or tragedy precipitated the breakup. The sad fact is that most bands can't afford to do what they do just for the love of the music, and as the members of Stavesacre got married and had kids, they just couldn't pay the bills as a full-time band.

Still, they are supposedly working on one final album, which will include the return of original guitarist Jeff Bellew, and there may be one final, very limited tour.

You Orange County people could meet some of the members of Stavesacre when you look for any of these albums. Two members of the band went in with another partner to by OC landmark Greene Records, in Santa Ana. Support small business and a keep part of OC history alive by checking out Greene before you buy on line.

I could write a blog a day just about music, and I could easily extend this list with entries like "Blue Light, Red Light," by Harry Connick, Jr., "Farewell: Live from the Universal Amphitheatre," by Oingo Boingo, "Vex," by Steel Pulse, "Mecca and the Soul Brother" by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, "The Roots Come Alive" by The Roots, "In Light Syrup," by Toad the Wet Sprocket, "Songs in the Key of Life," by Stevie Wonder, "Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome," by Parliament, and so on, with explanatory entries for every one.

For now, just give those offerings a listen, and let me know what you think. Love 'em or hate 'em, I'd love to know either way. Oh, and if you have any suggestions that have already stood the test of time, and that you think a really critical music nerd who is picky about both music and lyrics might dig, feel free to offer suggestions. I'll be more than happy to check them out.

Thanks for your time, y'all.

~The Yankee