Playlist for
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
January 3, 2008

Hosted by Greg Lyon on Thursdays at 2-4 pm
on WPVM Asheville (103.5 FM and www.wpvm.org)

The archive for this show normally appears at the WPVM Archive Page, but this week it was truncated, so I’ve put up a more complete version on this website for the next week (listen fast!): STREAM

Notes:

– I usually do a countdown show of my favorite releases of the year, but this year I couldn’t decide on a favorite record, so I didn’t put them in order. But I did keep most of my favorites until the end of the show.

– Looking back, I’d say 2007 was a really good year in music. BUT–nothing stayed on CD player for weeks on end, so it didn’t have any blockbusters for me. The album that gave me the most sustained pleasure was probably the Grinderman album, which is both glorious and a bit depressing, considering I think the best, rawest rock record of the year came from a guy so established. Still, there was a pure joy evident on that album that I surmise came from somebody who rediscovered what it felt like to rock. "No Pussy Blues" is one of the greatest songs in the Nick Cave canon, and was my favorite "single" of the year. Veterans Angels of Light (Michael Gira) and Einstürzende Neubauten also got it done this year. Mark E. Smith and crew did not.

– World music, particularly African grooves, pounded my cerebral cortex constantly all year long. Sublime Frequencies wins for most consistently mind-blowing label. I didn’t get a chance to play several items from them that should have been in the show, including the brilliant comp, Molam: Thai Country Groove Groove from Isan Vol. 2. My favorite archival pick-up was the Romanian tambal master Toni Iordache compilation, Sounds from a Bygone Age Vol. 4 from the German Asphalt-Tango label. The Tony Allen and Orlando Julius sets on Vampi Soul (from Spain) had (and still have) the radio station buzzin’ for weeks. Mali was heavily represented as well: Tinariwen hit the bigtime, while the Yaala Yaala label uncovered the rawer side of the Mali underground with their first 3 mysterious CDs (artist info was scarce).

– I didn’t put any jazz albums on my list, despite the fact I heard a lot of tremendous jazz in 2007. I’m going to blame myself for this lacuna, and I have an excuse: I spent 3 years in Switzerland and came back to my vinyl jazz collection hungy (downright ravenous, actually) to get reacquainted with it. So I did, to the detriment of new jazz releases. The best thing I heard this year was something old, newly discovered: the Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964. That’s almost up there with the Monk & Coltrane set from Carnegie Hall discovered a couple of years ago. Truly smokin’!

– I had originally anticipated that 2007 would be dominated by the new folk (freak folk, psych folk, whatever you want to call it, just don’t call it New Weird America) movement. Maybe it was. But I wasn’t buying it. Nothing from this strain of independent music even made my finalist list for the year. Maybe I’ll mellow out in 2008.

– On the rock front, there was a surge in the California noise-garage-punk scene, producing such treats as No Age, Silver Daggers, Lamps, Health, and the like. Bands like Raccoo-oo-oon, Magik Markers, and Deerhunter combined the noise thing with a tribal psych vibe in a way I could digest without getting ill from hippy-itis. I continued to have a very soft spot for adolescent garage punk, which Home Blitz and Turbo Fruits representing on this show. Old Time Relijun and Wooden Shjips simply stood above the rest for me this year; they’re not unique, but there was something incredibly fresh in their carressing (and mauling) approach to some of my most easily pushed buttons.

– Carolina Funk runs off with the Best Archival Compilation of the Year award. Even without home field advantage, I think this would have won.

– Thanks for listening (and reading) in 2007!!!!!! Beginning next week, the show is airing on Fridays, 2-4pm. Shift your schedules accordingly! I wanted to move back to Friday afternoon because that was my slot at WPRB in Princeton, NJ for many years, and I LOVED it. Friday afternoon–you know you don’t want to work. You want to listen to the radio! Just do it.

Background Music: Tony Allen – Afro Disco Beat (Vampi Soul)

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