For the remainder of 2009 we will be featuring albums that meant a lot to us this decade. I have really enjoyed spending quality time with my record collection and not just what is new and current. One thing this collection will not be is all-encompassing. We will be deliberately leaving out some of the universal favorites (Kid A, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Funeral, etc) because you’ll see them everywhere, and the last thing we want to do is state the obvious.

Instead, this collection will very much an outlet for us to share/discuss our favorites over the past 10 years with a focus on albums that we feel have been overlooked in the lists we’ve seen roll out this far.

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Levon Helm | Dirt Farmer (2007)

Levon Helm is a man who’s made herculean contributions to rock and roll. Anyone that’s spent time with Music from Big Pink and The Band know exactly what I mean by that. Helm’s musical career could have ended with The Last Waltz, he pursued acting, dabbled in solo output, and, on occasion, tried to get The Band back together.

Fast forward nearly 30 years after The Last Waltz, Levon Helm overcomes throat cacner and the the likelihood that he will never sing again. With the help of his daughter and long-time Dylan accomplice, Larry Campbell, Helm begins a recording session in now famous barn that houses the legendary Midnight Ramble sessions. The rest is history. Dirt Farmer earned Helm a Grammy for “Best Traditional Folk Album” rejuvenating an artist, career, and spirit.

I had the good pleasure of seeing Levon Helm at Chicago Theatre in June of this year. Though the show was sadly under attended, Levon Helm and his outstanding band delivered well past the three hour mark. My wish is that I’ll someday make the trip to Woodstock, N.Y., timing my travel to afford a stop at Cooperstown along the way, and stand amongst the cramped, yet comfortable confines of a live Midnight Ramble at Levon Helm’s barn. I understand this wish has a diminishing window of time to make a reality. Until then, Dirt Farmer remains one of my favorite albums of the past decade. It’s an album that, like its creator, ages like fine wine, the longer you spend with it the more it rewards you.

Best Live Show I Saw: Chicago Theatre (2009)
Best Tracks: “Poor Old Dirt Farmer” “The Girl I Left Behind” “Got Me A Woman” “A Train Robbery”
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Buy: Levon Helm – Dirt Farmer

++ Keep up with our Best Albums of the Decade by bookmarking this page ++

For the remainder of 2009 we will be featuring albums that meant a lot to us this decade. I have really enjoyed spending quality time with my record collection and not just what is new and current. One thing this collection will not be is all-encompassing. We will be deliberately leaving out some of the universal favorites (Kid A, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Funeral, etc) because you’ll see them everywhere, and the last thing we want to do is state the obvious.

Instead, this collection will very much an outlet for us to share/discuss our favorites over the past 10 years with a focus on albums that we feel have been overlooked in the lists we’ve seen roll out this far.

______________________________________________________

Ryan Adams | Cold Roses (2005)

2005 was a landmark year for Ryan Adams amongst a decade that found him releasing (by our count) elven albums. Yes, you read that correctly, eleven! Already a proficient songwriter, Adams upped the ante in 2005, releasing three albums, the first of which, Cold Roses, was also his first with the Cardinals, and arrived sporting cover art hat tipped in the direction of the Grateful Dead’s American Beauty. It wasn’t just the cover art that drew from the Grateful Dead’s influence, throughout two discs worth of material, Ryan Adams closely mirrored the guitar and feel of some of our favorite Grateful Dead albums. If you saw him live around this time, and he had his shit together, you certainly saw an artist firing on all cylinders.

I realize that picking Cold Roses as one of the best albums of the decade probably conjures up debate amongst Adams’ faithful followers and music critics in general, but it has remained, since first listen, the essential Ryan Adams album in my record collection. You see, Cold Roses is the album that brought me back to Ryan Adams. I was a huge fan of Heartbreaker and Gold, but his output that followed did little to excite me the way it once did. That changed when I bought Cold Roses, I knew just holding it in my hands that this was something special. I can distinctly remember running my fingers across the packaging that seemed crafted with extra care and attention – a feeling that even so many years ago already began to feel foreign in a rapidly rising digital age.

Cold Roses is a roller coaster ride of listen, one that keeps you hoping the operator lets you go around one more time around. It’s complete in the sense that over two discs and eighteen songs you’re hit with all that Adams can deliver. There are rock songs, slow songs, and songs that make you want to cry your eyes out. It’s a record for all occasions and sounds amazing on road trips.

Best Live Show I Saw: Barrymore Theatre, Madison (2008) | Overture Hall, Madison (2009)
Best Tracks: “When Will You Come Back Home” “Let It Ride” “If I Am a Stranger” “Magnolia Mountain” “How Do You Keep Love Alive” “Cold Roses” “Friends”
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Buy: Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cold Roses

++ Keep up with our Best Albums of the Decade by bookmarking this page ++

For the remainder of 2009 we will be featuring albums that meant a lot to us this decade. I have really enjoyed spending quality time with my record collection and not just what is new and current. One thing this collection will not be is all-encompassing. We will be deliberately leaving out some of the universal favorites (Kid A, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Funeral, etc) because you’ll see them everywhere, and the last thing we want to do is state the obvious.

Instead, this collection will very much an outlet for us to share/discuss our favorites over the past 10 years with a focus on albums that we feel have been overlooked in the lists we’ve seen roll out this far.

______________________________________________________

Andrew Bird | The Mysterious Production of Eggs (2005)

A true sign that an album is one of the best of the decade is that it’s still in steady rotation amongst your record collection. Some years your favorite albums stay stuck in time and you never really go back to them once January arrives. It’s not enough to say that Andrew Bird’s The Mysterious Production of Eggs one of my favorite albums of the decade, it’s far more than that for me. It’s one of my all-time favorite records. Arriving in 2005, a year ripe with many great releases, this album made me a full-fledged fan of Andrew Bird forever. The type of fan that gets excited about news of an upcoming album, that buys tickets in advance to shows when announced, and, on many occasions, spends even more at the merchandise table on the night of the show.

Being a fan of Andrew Bird means you’re never let down – both on record and in concert. While I’ve never since loved an album of Bird’s outright like The Mysterious Production of Eggs, I’ve always enjoyed the records that came after. Below, you’ll find a few songs that I highlighted as favorites, though I may as well have said front-to-back, because this album is truly supreme from beginning to end. These are the songs that always bring a smile to my face when I hear them. This is a record that I own several copies of on multiple formats. I’ve given this record as a gift and feel it is a safe recommendation to almost anyone. If you own this record I hope reading this makes you want to listen to it again. If you don’t own this record, I hope reading this makes you want to add it to your collection. It’s that good.

Best Live Show I Saw: High Noon Saloon, Madison (2006)
Best Tracks: “Fake Palindromes” “A Nervous Tic” “Skin” “Masterfade” & “Measuring Cups”

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Buy: Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs

++ Keep up with our Best Albums of the Decade by bookmarking this page ++