John Davidson’s Top Ten — January 28

by John Davidson
28 January 2007

Long Time Gone

1. Loveless by MIKE MCGONIGAL (Continuum, 2007)

   The excellent 33 and 1/3 series marches onward with McGonigal’s bloggy take on my favorite album of 1991 (and indeed, one of my alltime faves.

2. Exile on Main Street by BILL JANOVITZ (Continuum, 2007)

   I re-read this a few weeks ago, and it really is one of the best books in the series. Janovitz, the wonderful singer/songwriter for BUFFALO TOM, gives insightful commentary on an album that already has millions of words written on it. His enthusiasm and love and musician’s ear makes this book a delight.

3. THE SHINS – Wincing the Night Away (SubPop)

   The only disappointment is that this album is not their best. Otherwise, it’s a total winner.

4. THE EARLY YEARS – The Early Years (Beggars)

   an epic take on many psych pop forms, but without a lot of freakout baggage.

5. SLOAN – Never Hear the End of It (YepRoc)

   At 30 songs, the album is probably too hard to devour. But this is a band without a bad album in their catalog.

6. ASOBI SEKSU – Citrus (Friendly Fire)

   Lots of debt to shoegazing, and in the end, more user friendly.

7. Chunklet (the website)

   Love him or hate him, HENRY OWINGS is a gift to music, a true lover of the form and one who has spent his entire adult life putting on shows, writing books, booking bands, making magazines, getting nominated for Grammy awards, and generally just suporting the scene like few others. His website is excellent.

8. Guided By Voices: A Brief History by JAMES GREER (Black Cat, 2006)

   An expose, really, given that everyone thinks that Bob Pollard just shits out songs and never edits. Either the book is a lie or most everything you know about him is legend.

9. WHAT MADE MILWAUKEE FAMOUS Trying To Never Catch Up (Barsuk)

   According to Falkner’s website, he’s done recording his new album and is shopping the demos. He’s earned a good deal, as the demos show.

10. SLY STONE – There’s a Riot Goin’ On (Sony Legacy)