Will Pinholster
Richmond, FL / Forever a rummager of the intellectual and creative curiosities of my ever-changing surroundings
The most significant music of the past year fits into three different categories, according to the relationship I have with it.
Taken By Storm
In a world of such technological and communicative connection, it is rare that any one thing of interest flies into your life under the radar. This category consists of three such low-flyers, one live performance DVD, one soundtrack, and one solo act that all found a way to spray the grounds of my existence with some exciting blankets of explosives. They left me pleasantly ravaged.
The Long-Awaited
This category is relatively self-explanatory. Each of its four releases had been on my radar, red-flagged by my audible government, for years. 2007 marked the arrival of these anticipated releases, and the revival of my love for each of the included artists.
In From The Outbox
These three releases are by artists to which I turned my nose up at first introduction. Then by virtue of the clarity of hindsight, forceful re-introductions at the hands of my peers, or simply the desperation brought on my a lack of money and new music, these gems shone and finally caught my passing eye. They are now some of my most-precious jewelry with which I accessorize my musical self.
TAKEN BY STORM
My Morning Jacket / Okonokos
It actually came out on Halloween of 2006, but didn’t enter my life until early 2007 (if my shaky memory serves me well). I hadn’t even heard the DVD existed, until very shortly before a coworker literally laid it in my lap after hearing me mention the words “My Morning Jacket” two short days prior.
This beautifully orchestrated piece of music/art/performance is nothing short of drool-inducing. Perfect for a night spent in a dark room, building inspiration to create.
I’m Not There Soundtrack
This is one of the best soundtracks I’ve ever encountered in a movie theater. It is well-conceived, well-produced, and plays a considerable part in the actual movie itself. Bob Dylan’s mastery has rarely been done as well as it is by Jim James & Calexico, Jeff Tweedy, and the Black Keys. The only complaint that I can muster is the album's lack of Tom Waits, but then sometimes its better to leave perfection undisturbed, somewhere off happy in a warm darkness.
Tyler Ramsey
I found Mr. Ramsey while researching Band of Horses’ most recent touring buddies. Come to find out that Tyler Ramsey is more than a touring buddy, he’s a genuine pal of theirs. Regretfully for them, their solo friend stole the show from them.
I said it once before and I'm standing by it. Tyler Ramsey is playing the songs that have been floating around in my head for years. For that I can't help but to love and hate him.
THE LONG-AWAITED
Radiohead / In Rainbows
New Radiohead. ‘Nough said.
Band Of Horses / Cease To Begin
Their previous release found its way into the music industry’s limelight and into my heart rather quickly. Written in the Carolinas and Recorded in Seattle, Everything All the Time was a lovely mix of the sounds of the two areas, was Just enough of Pacific NW’s glorious gloom, and a perfect amount of Appalachia’s dirty playfulness. However, the highly-anticipated Cease To Begin finds its home mostly in the hills of Carolina, an area that is dear to my heart geographically and musically. The new album feels much like a place I’d like to spend my time, something equally familiar and fresh.
Iron & Wine / Shepherd’s Dog
Somewhere between salty Florida and dusty Texas, Sam Beam found something new. He played with it and made it his own. Thankfully, his fans were not greeted by the all-too-familiar face of Our Endless Numbered Days, as with some others of his subsequent releases. I’ve heard a good many criticisms of the new album’s sound, but that has only made me love it more. I’m am very happy to hear that Mr. Beam’s music has grown in parallel with his beard and hair.
The Weakerthans / Reunion Tour
The Weakerthans shaped a large part of my youth. Since Fallow, I have followed front-man John K. Samson’s lyrics with an eager pair of ears. Their last release Reconstruction Site left the lyric-lover in me wanting, but the instrumentation-appreciator in me was awoken to a new face of The Weakerthans. Reunion Tour satisfies both sides of me equally. The sincerity of songs like “Night Windows” and “Utilities” in combination with a continuation of the story of beloved Virtue the cat, excites me all over again and re-fans the flames in me that are hungry to hear what comes next for these wonderful Canadians.
IN FROM THE OUTBOX
Beirut / The Flying Cup Club
The first time I heard Beirut, I rejected it because it seemed “too pretentious” being that it was the product of a New Mexican resident making an attempt at the sound of Mediterranean Europe. In the weeks since (two of which were spent in Mediterranean Europe), I have come around to love the unnaturally-foreign sounds of Beirut. Honestly, what was I thinking? And who was the pretentious one?
Midlake / The Trials of Van Occupanther
Another 2006 release that I scuffed at without any real reason worthy of scuffing. I was given a couple songs (“Van Occupanther” and “Roscoe”). After a couple listens, the songs lay dormant in my iTunes library neglected until summer of 2007. It was a beautiful revival, spiced with the most delicate pinch of serendipity, one of those the-planets-must-be-aligned moments where an odd musical craving is satisfied only by the songs of an earlier cast-off.
The National / Boxer
Granted this one didn’t spend much time in the “outbox,” but, nevertheless, Boxer did serve a spell in the company of the neglected and refused. I think that was a result of my rebellion from the brush-fire spread of The National’s popularity... Silly me. I missed out on months of rich lyrics, deep vocals, and thoughtful instrumentation that, while maintaining a hint of tiring indie-Brooklyn, kept itself alive with an good dose of bar-stool passion and desperate energy.