Category Archives: 2011 music reviews

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Song of the Day #1,134: ‘Victory Dance’ – My Morning Jacket

I love their albums, but I have no desire to see My Morning Jacket live. Everybody talks about what a great live band they are but based on clips I’ve seen, that means they jam a lot. And I hate jam bands.

But calling My Morning Jacket a jam band, or a great live act, sells them short. Based on 2008’s Evil Urges and their newest release, Circuital, this group is something I value much more — a great studio act.

I’m not familiar with the band’s pre-2008 work, but these last two albums take listeners on a journey the way great albums can. I don’t subscribe to the critical consensus that MMJ is the second coming, but they are pushing boundaries in exciting ways and I’m fully on board.

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Song of the Day #1,131: ‘Everytime I Follow’ – Ron Sexsmith

He’s baaaack!

Just when you thought he was out, I pull him back IN!

Don’t worry, anti-Sexsmith heathens, this is just a bit of housekeeping. I haven’t posted a review of Ron Sexsmith’s latest album, Long Player Late Bloomer, and this post will serve in that capacity.

Despite the Sexsmith antagonism I heard from the more vocal segment of my readership, the Ron Sexsmith Weekends actually did quite well traffic-wise, and toward the end generated some of my most impassioned comments from a fan base that discovered the series too late.

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Song of the Day #1,130: ‘Set Fire to the Rain’ – Adele

Over the next two weeks, I’m going to feature songs from albums I’ve purchased this year. Most were released this year as well but a couple are 2010 albums that I’m just getting around to now.

These write-ups will also serve as reviews for the albums I haven’t yet featured on the blog. I’m way behind on both my movie and album reviews this year so I’m using these SOTD posts as a shortcut to catch up on at least the musical side of that equation. The movie reviews will come in due time.

First up is a track from Adele’s smash hit 21, which has dominated the charts and airwaves since its release in February.

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Brad Paisley – This is Country Music

Country music is the only genre I can think of that people are embarrassed to admit liking. Not all people, of course… the U.S. is full of proud country music fans unafraid to fly that flag.

But in the circles I travel in, liking country music is akin to wearing a mullet or attending a monster truck rally. It’s more than just uncool… it’s a social and political betrayal of sorts.

Recently my sister posted a Facebook status saying she is “officially in love” with Blake Shelton (whom she has discovered through his TV show, ‘The Voice’) but she prefaced that comment with “I’ve never been a big country music fan,” a disclaimer I doubt she would have provided had he been an alt-rock musician.

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Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What

I’ve reviewed two albums in the past week by artists on the other side of 50, ancient by rock-and-roll standards. One was Lucinda Williams’ Blessed and the other was R.E.M.’s Collapse Into Now. Both represent the best work those performers have released in years.

And now I have the privilege of reviewing the latest release of another elder statesman, Paul Simon, who is less than a year away from his 70th birthday. To mark the occasion, his new album So Beautiful Or So What is receiving some of the best reviews of his career.

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