Jack Rabid’s Top Ten — December 30

by Jack Rabid
30 December 2007

1. 
   
   Wilco – Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch/WEA)

   Because Jeff Tweedy is a natural songwriter with such a reliably sandy voice, he and his band succeed time and again with this early ‘70s cleanness. It’s 100% less ambitious than their last few albums, true. But when songs and singing win like this, you love it, anyway.

2. Ray Price – The Essential double CD (Columbia/Legacy/SonyBMG)

   If George Jones is the greatest living country singer, then Texas’s twin prides Price and Willie Nelson would surely rate nomination for his court.

3. Stephenhero – 57 Stars of the Air Almanac (Ragoora U.K.)

   Ex-Kitchens of Distinction frontman Patrick Fitzgerald’s best post-Kitchens LP by far, it’s a treat for old fans without regurgitating an underrated past.

4. Bo Diddley – The Definitive Collection (Chess/Geffen/Universal)

   Now that we mourn the loss of Ike Turner (well, those of us who weren’t married to him, which I read was 13 different women), it’s time to give Diddley his due as another timeless guitar-rock pioneer and timeless legend, still living… for how long?

5. The Decemberists – A Practical Handbook DVD (Kill Rock Stars)

   What a game audience! Watching 1400 people sway hither and thither, pogo, Cossack dance, scream, laugh, hoot, and clap is as pleasurable as this absolutely incredible band, caught here in their most entertaining setting, as a live act, especially during the epic, awesome “Mariner’s Revenge Song.” The crowd’s feigned death/sleep then rise as the band kicks back in the finale of “The Chimbley Sweep” is a visual knockout.

6. The Bags – All Bagged Up; the Collected Works 1977-1980 Vinyl LP (Artifix)

   It took three decades, but finally one of the most original bands of the incredible late ‘70s L.A. punk explosion, The Bags, have an LP! At last, it’s possible to hear a full set of Bags material, and it’s so undomesticated, it will sever your senses for several seconds.

7. The Effigies – Reside (Criminal IQ)

   This Chicago punk-turned-post-punk band’s also revived 1980s-punk/indie era contemporaries have already proven that bands could regain bygone inspiration on LP in the ‘00s. But by picking up on 1986, not 1981, thus seizing their own post-punk thread never continued, The Effigies have no modern stylistic peers. And like Ink, it will take several plays before the layers of _Reside_’s smarts and subtleties become as apparent as its strident authority.

8. The Dimes – The Silent Generation (Pet Marmoset)

   A must for fans of the similar pretty pop solo records of Tobin Sprout, these Portland popsters delight.

9. The Libertines – Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 (Libertines Music)

   Just for the monumental opener, “Bad Memories Burn,” from 1988’s overwhelming Tilt-a-Whirl, the sardonically but in-truth-accurately-titled Greatest would be a must. That 20 other flavors of its awesome blueprint follow is enough to crown this collective the great unknown band of their time; that Greatest is fittingly dedicated to my late pal BEN VOSS, whose tragic 1999 loss to leukemia remains haunting, and whose dream it was to release this collection himself, makes its arrival smell like 4000 marigolds. Best $13 you’ll spend all year.

10. The Len Price 3 – Rentacrowd (Wicked Cool)

    Best U.K. update of ‘60s mod we’ve heard since The Rifles. There’s life in this genre yet!!!