New musical discoveries of 2006

Filed by: Darren on January 12, 2007 at 12:35
Filed In: Music

Here's a quick selection of some of the new musical discoveries I made last year. All new to me, anyhow...

Bruce Springsteen, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

My album of the year, definitely. I've been a Springsteen fan since I was 12. While the cool kids at school were bopping their little brains out to Madonna and whatever else was around in the mid-80s, I was listening to songs about the decay of the American dream, the day-to-day struggle of the under-privileged working classes and the role of love as an all-redeeming force for change. (No, I didn't have many friends at school...)

Anyhoo, fast-forward to 2006 and Springsteen's latest album. A collection of cover versions or songs made popular by, or generally associated with, the legendary American folk singer Pete Seeger. Sounds a bit twee and mellow? Not a chance, not with The Boss in charge. Bruce selects his favourite songs, then goes out and recruits an 18 piece country / gospel / bluegrass band to belt them out with gusto aplenty. An absolutely huge sound from one of the living legends of rock music. A real eye-opener, and almost impossibly catchy once the songs are stuck in your head.

And Jo and I were lucky enough to get hold of tickets to see the Seeger Sessions band live at the Manchester Evening News Arena as well. Absolutely brilliant, best gig of the year. Three hours of solid playing (as is the norm from Bruce) and a whole host of re-envisioned rootsy cover versions of some of Springsteen's classic material as well. His delta-blues-style version of 'Cadillac Ranch'? Had to be heard to be believed...

The Divine Comedy, Victory for the Comic Muse

The other close contender for my album of the year, just pipped at the post in the final analysis. James Lovegrove switched me on to the Divine Comedy a couple of years back and I haven't looked back since.

I just love Neil Hannon's music: it's intelligent, quirky, funny, heart-warming, heart-breaking, all at once. His last two albums, this one and 2005's Absent Friends have both been masterpieces of virtuoso story-telling as well (check out 'Our Mutual Friend' on Absent Friends, and 'A Lady of a Certain Age' on the latest). Definitely worth checking out, especially if you appreciate music made at the more cerebral end of the scale.

Josh Ritter

A singer-songwriter in the classic Americana story-telling mode - think Ray Lamontange, Jim White, Jeff Tweedy and the impossible-to-avoid shades of Dylan and Springsteen - with an interesting, tuneful voice and a great turn of phrase. Ritter's music covers a wide range of styles and topics with all the classic themes thrown in.

I bought 'The Animal Years' and within three or four tracks I was on eBay looking for the rest of his back-catalogue. I think I've tracked most of it down by now, but The Animal Years is still the one I come back to; there's something about the opener, 'Girl in the War' that keeps me coming back, and the last track on the album, 'Here at the Right Time' is just lovely.

And - as I discovered after double-checking the URL for Ritter's homepage - it turns out that a certain Mr King was quite impressed as well...

Cat Power

I'll admit I have something of a weakness for lady singer-songwriters, just so long as they have interesting voices and interesting things to say. At one point Tori Amos was my number one addiction, but since she got happily married and became a mum her music seems to have become a lot less interesting, so I've been looking for new ladies to fill the gap in my musical affections.

Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power, is definitely one of them. She's got a smoky, sultry voice, a good vocal range, and sings great songs about... well, life. Check out her most recent album, The Greatest, recorded with three Memphis soul musicians who used to do the honours for Al Green. Great for long, wine and whisky evenings in front of a roaring log fire, I reckon. Haven't got a log fire, but I'm happy to test the other half of the theory...

Cara Dillon

An Irish singer-songwriter with an incredibly pure voice; most commonly described as 'angelic'. She's married to (or partnered with) Sam Lakeman, brother of that current darling of the folk scene, Seth. She's also a past winner of two BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards both in 2001, for 'best newcomer' and 'best traditional track'.

Both the Lakeman boys guest on her albums, providing backing vocals and instrumental support (she used to play with the two of them in a folk group called Equation, included Kathryn Roberts and another Lakeman: Sean). Dillon's albums are a mix of new interpretations of old Irish tunes and her own (and Sam's) new compositions, many of which nevertheless have a quality that makes them sound as if they're as old as the Donegal hills.

Jo and I nearly got to see her perform twice last year, but on both occasions something else cropped up and we missed out. This year, if she plays anywhere near North Manchester, I'm going to go along and lose myself in her voice for a while.

Black Mountain

I think these guys might have had a track on The Cover Mount CD That Changed My Life (the subject of a future blog entry) or maybe I just found them in a random eBay sweep. In any case, I picked up their eponymous debut album at some point last year, and it was a stonker.

They've got a blues-y, roots-y Americana feel to them, but with quite a heavy rhythm section, lots of bass, lots of noise. Two singers; male and female, which makes for some nicely contrasting vocals. They sound a bit like Wolfmother (but not quite so Deep Purple). Anyway, one to try, if you're feeling in the mood for something dark and tuneful. The band - or one or two members of it, anyhow - also performs as The Pink Mountaintops, with material that's a little more light and ethereal, or so I understand. One for my 'track-down and listen-to' list.

The Raconteurs

Take Jack White, of The White Stripes fame, plus his old pal, singer-songwriter Brendan Benson, plus a couple more friends of theirs - Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler from a band called The Greenhornes - and you get The Raconteurs, who play everything from jingly-jangly indie guitar pop through to distortion-fuelled psychedelia, covering quite a few bases in-between in the process.

The full four-piece makes for a much more rounded sound than the Stripes, which I think is the whole point. A good solid rock album from a new group of old friends. I think I must have listened to this one five or six times back-to-back when I first got it. And check out their website - tres retro-chic!

Baxter Dury

Another random eBay discovery and one I'm very glad I made. Baxter Dury is the son of the late Ian Dury, of The Blockheads. There are certainly elements of the elder Dury's cockney snarl in Baxter's vocals, but it strikes me that there seems to be more variety to his music than in most of the Blockheads tunes I'm familiar with (although I'm more than likely doing them a terrible injustice there as I've probably only heard their immediately obvious hits).

'Francesca's Party' is the stand-out track on his 'Floorshow' album, the whole of which I must have played at least a dozen times since I got hold of it mid last year.

The Black Keys

My mate Howard - who knows more than a thing or three about good music and has introduced me to a number of shelf-fuls of it in the past couple of years - really rates these guys. They're a two-piece from Ohio who play seriously lo-fi blues rock on guitar and drumkit. They record and mix their own tunes; shunning technological trickery in favour of a much more stripped-back, laid-back, down and dirty, grungy sound. Crank up the volume, break out the sipping whisky and you're in for a damn good evening.

Their latest, Magic Potion is the third album of theirs that I bought in '06, along with their debut, The Big Come Up and their six-track Chulahoma: The Songs of Junior Kimbrough e.p. and they're all great stuff. Damn good call, Howard mate. Wish I'd gone with you to see them live last October, but I think they're back in Manchester this coming February, so there's time yet...

deadboy & the Elephantmen

Another two-piece, who are on the same label - Fat Possum - as The Black Keys were until their last album. Another band with a lo-fi, grunged-up rock sound. Singer-songwriter Dax Riggs plays a mean guitar whilst Tessie Brunet handles the drums and backing-vocals, and they sound great. We Are Night Sky is their debut album, and it's a damn fine piece of work.

My favourite track on there is the yell-along toe-tapper 'Stop, I'm Already Dead', which would have been a guaranteed dancefloor-filler back in my Salford University Student Union alternative night DJing days, and no mistake. If you're a Black Keys fan already, you should definitely check these guys out.

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So there you go. The pick of the stuff I discovered in 2006. Please do feel free to use the comments section to let me know if there's anyone or anything else you think I'd really like on the basis of this lot, yeah? A link to a relevant website would be great...

Oh, and for further recommendations in a simiar vein, check out Gabe Chouinard's blog, where he posted his top ten of 2006 a while back. He also highlighted the Black Keys' latest, plus the Springsteen and Raconteurs albums as well. Looks like we ought to swap play-lists some time.

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2 Responses to 'New musical discoveries of 2006'

Joe on January 14th, 2007 6:34 pm

Will have to have a scoot round the web to see if I can hear some of those, see if they appeal to me too. I picked up a few new (at least to me) musos this year, a few from Jeff and Ann VanderMeer's occassional lists but quite a few from the live sessions on Gideon Coe's mid-morning show on BBC6. Neko Case was excellent and I really enjoyed Cat Power and Regina Spektor (who I think still has a name which sounds like a 60s Bond villainess). The Handsome Family were another find as well - digital radio and being able to hear tracks online to see if I like more of a band's music has probably got me listening to more music in the last couple of years than ever.
Ariel on January 15th, 2007 2:22 pm

I think there are samples on most of the homepages there mate. And I really must start listening to some more radio. Tried Virgin while we were decorating buy they only seem to have about 30 tracks by 20 different artists on their playlist...

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