Annoying as it may be, I had a three-way tie for my second favorite record of the year. They are each rather different from each other, and as I said in my last post, if I had to pick a best record for each sub-genre two of these records would be at the top of their own category. I know, I know…what are they already? Fine, I’ll get on with it.
I’ll start with the record that would not be my favorite within its own category since it shares a decent amount of ground with Other Lives. This was tough decision for me. Finding that my favorite track of the year was Paper Cities, by Other Lives, is what made the difference between my fave of the year and the runner up. By the time you’ve read this far the cover of the record is on your screen (even if you have dial-up), and you know I am talking about the fantastic release from the Toronto band Great Lakes Swimmers called Lost Channels. I wrote about this record in an earlier post from around the time of its release. Great Lakes Swimmers last record, Ongiara was my favorite record from 2007. So it was very gratifying this year to have such high hopes and expectations met. Lost Channels is solid or better on every track. My biggest musical regret of the year, as well as my wife’s, is that we weren’t able to catch either of their performances in Minneapolis this year.
Next is a record that, while having 15 songs and coming in just under 56 minutes, is solid from beginning to end. Mark Olson and Gary Louris were the central creative forces behind The Jayhawks during the early years of the band. When Mark Olson left the band it was the magical harmonies between these two that Gary Louris could not find a suitable substitute for. Don’t get me wrong, the Louris years have produced some great music, especially Rainy Day Music. But the Olson/Louris years produced classic stuff, crowned by Hollywood Town Hall. Word was out rather early that these two were working on Ready For The Flood together, plenty of time for Jayhawks fans to salivate over the possibilities. Then what happens? They delivered, that’s what.
And then there is the release called Us, by another Minnesota artist, Brother Ali. It just keeps ending up in the player. I don’t pretend to be any kind of an authority on Hip-Hop. But I can tell you that Rhymesayers might have found out this year who is going to give Atmosphere competition for the best and most famous act on the label.
lazyczech playlist 