Archive for December, 2007

Vinyl

Buckwheat Zydeco – On Track (1992)

NICK DERISO: Buckwheat Zydeco should, more correctly, be called Buckwheat Zydeco/Soul/Pop/Dance/R&B/Rock/ Funk/And Some Gospel. “On Track” is perhaps the best example of Stanley Dural’s far-flung interests. He arrived, of course, with the credentials: A gravelly patois style, a band called Il Sont Partis (“they are crazy”) and experience in theRead More

Vinyl

House Levelers – No Definitions (1991)

NICK DERISO: Go into this hidden-away New Orleans gem expecting blues — what with Jim Dickinson producing and East Memphis Slim as a sideman — and you’re in for a big surpise. The House Levelers were more of a thumpy roots-music outfit, one that was at once sharp as scissors,Read More

Vinyl

Oscar Peterson (1925-2007): An Appreciation

Oscar Peterson, one of jazz music’s most recognizable modern-day pianists, was felled on Sunday not from the lingering effects of a 1993 stroke — he kept playing after that — but from kidney failure. He passed, aged 82, in his native Canada outside Toronto. Peterson’s stroke compromised his left handRead More

Why Everyone at the Shoney’s Held a Vigil For Loretta Lynn

Why Everyone at the Shoney’s Held a Vigil For Loretta Lynn

Everyone knew Loretta Lynn was at Shoney’s in West Monroe, Louisiana. It said so right on the side of her tour bus. But she wouldn’t come out.

Vinyl

The Subdudes, “Poor Man’s Paradise” (2007): One Track Of The Year

With all the All Star albums of 2007 out of the way, there’s just one more piece of year-end business to take care of: my favorite song of the year. Like the top CD of the year, this one didn’t require much agonizing. It’s a song that puts me inRead More

Vinyl

My All-Star CD's of 2007: The Best Of The Rest

by Pico Either it’s been a strong year music-wise, or I’ve simply been listening to more new releases than I usually do. It’s probably a combination of both but regardless, there was a lot of good chaff left on the floor by the time I finalized my All-Stars Starters andRead More

Vinyl

My 2007 MVP CD: David Torn – Prezens

When it came time to decide which CD’s to include in my starters and alternates lists, there was a lot of agonizing over many of the choices. But my top choice came early and easily. In fact, it was all but determined by the end of May, after I listenedRead More

Vinyl

Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007): An Appreciation

by Pico At 6:00 a.m. this morning, singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg passed away peacefully at his home in Maine. He fought a three year battle with prostate cancer that was already advanced when diagnosed in 2004. He was 56 years old. He will of course always be remembered for the musicRead More

Vinyl

My All-Star CD's of 2007: The Starters

by Pico Yesterday I revealed my second team selections of favorite CD’s from 2007. Now, we get into the really good stuff. Here is the Special Seven: Robert Plant/Allison Krauss – Raising SandNiether Plant nor Krauss are the kind of artists whose records I run out and buy, but I’veRead More

Nels Cline, California Transit Authority, Wilco + Others: S. Victor Aaron’s Alternate All-Star Albums of 2007

Nels Cline, California Transit Authority, Wilco + Others: S. Victor Aaron’s Alternate All-Star Albums of 2007

In looking back on 2007, it’s time to assess the releases over the last 12 months and pick out the more outstanding ones.