FAVORITE ALBUMS 2024 (FIRST HALF)
By Bill Bentley
T Bone Burnett, THE OTHER SIDE. It’s best to keep the eyes on anyone who ever called Texas home. They can slip and slide all over the place, and when least expecting bust through with a big surprise. T Bone Burnett has surely done that this year. His recent album THE OTHER SIDE is a revelation. The man started out as J. Henry Burnett and fashioned a set of songs that won’t soon be forgotten. The originals take on, well, the job of living a life beyond just breakfast, lunch and dinner, and drift into the splendid spiritual realm without getting all gobbed up about it. This is music for foreverville, and delivered in a way that’s not going to scare anyone away. OTHER SIDE indeed.
Gary Clark Jr., JPEG RAW. It sometimes feels like life takes too long. That those who really do walk on guilded splinters should be noticed by the masses immediately. But then again, when the journey is earned without shortcuts, that could be the best way of all to arrive. Gary Clark Jr. is going to go all the way. Period. He’s an artist with his own gyroscope governed by deep spirit and hydrotronic power. The way he doesn’t believe in shortcuts, but rather does the hard work his own way is a sure sign this is a Hall of Famer. JPEG RAW is on the way to making that mark on Clark’s permanent records in a way the whole world will hear. Just for kicks, go ahead and turn it up. Gary Clark rules.
Lance Cowan, SO FAR SO GOOD. When it comes to A-list publicists, the world isn’t ready for waiting for one of them to record one of the best albums of the year themselves. It’s just not done. Unless you’re Lance Cowan, a Nashville regular, who is not shy about opening out his own songbook and guitar and showing some of the Music City crowd how things are done. Cowan’s permanently memorable songs come from way down deep, and he never takes a shortcut to make sure the music side beside them comes out as strong as the lyrics. When this album first appeared this year it felt like it must have been a magic trick. Publicists don’t write songs and sing like this. Foolish us. Of course they do when they’re this good. Next stop: Colbert, Fallon or Kimmel. Surely Cowan’s Rolodex has the numbers on hand. Time to call.
Jesse DeNatale, THE HANDS OF TIME. Here is a musician who is as great as anyone making music now, and among his most devoted followers he is the first in line for handing out the finest. And, city by city and town by town Jesse DeNatale is bringing in the true believers to his tent. It’s an absolute splash to watch this happen, because recruiting fans can be a long and hard won road. But with the new album THE HANDS OF TIMES such an undeniable accomplishment, once again it seems only a few more steps before the audience doubles and triples. That’s because DeNatale has the goods. Let’s repeat that: this man has the goods. It’s a straight ahead shot at great, pure and simple. Watch this happen.
Alejandro Escovedo, ECHO DANCING. Texas musicians are known for being able to cover the waterfront with all kinds of styles, but leave it to multi-tasker Alejandro Escovedo to go to Italy and record many of his recent songs there. Each and every one is a total winner, allowing the San Antonio native to take the music to an emotional blast-off. There is something so heartening and, yes, romantic about Escovedo’s writing that it can feel like hard hits to the heart, as well as big secrets dwelling inside the soul. There aren’t many others nurtured in the rock & roll movement of the 1960s that have gone on to this kind of ability, but thank goodness this man is one who did. Alejandro Escovedo is a walking wonder who shows no signs of slowing down, whether he’s dancing with the echoes or reeling with the spirits. The love continues.
Hurray for the Riff Raff, THE PAST IS STILL ALIVE. A band with a dozen albums that is this great has to be in line for the next step to success. And add in the fact that their most recent release is as wonderful as THE PAST IS STILL ALIVE and it seems a sure shot something is going to blow wide open soon for the band. They call New Orleans home now, and fit into the funky individualism of musicians in the city like natives. Their music, though, stretches in influences all over several continents and reels in such unique references that there’s really no telling where the musicians call home. Except it’s for sure somewhere in their hearts. Riff Raff roundup.
Ted Russell Kamp, CALIFORNIA SON. A rock & roll band with a stone-cold cowboy chassis is a recipe for greatness. Ted Russell Kamp has been writing and singing songs, producing other’s records and playing in some of the best bands in the land for years now. And it all is surely going to lead to infamy someday. This man is just too good not to. These are songs that could have been written in prison, vocals that should grace the stage at the Grand Ol’ Opry and an attitude that just simply cannot be bought or borrowed. That’s because Kamp knows what makes him tick, and isn’t about to change music or clothes to get anywhere faster. The man is in it for keeps.
Khruangbin, A LA SALA. Every once or twice a year there is an album release that is beyond description. As in words just can’t do justice to what the musicians have captured. That’s Khruangbin. This Houston group came together in the most diverse city in the United States, and it gladly sounds like it. Their songs are equally soundscapes and interpretations of notes from the beyond. Don’t expect to be able to sing along, nor is it necessary. These are sounds for headtrips that haven’t quite been taken yet. But keep trying. There is true wonder to be found. Go Lamar High!
Dylan LeBlanc, COYOTE. Is there any way to explain how certain singer-songwriters are clearly captured by greatness, even at note one? There is something in their voice and their lyrics that they are able to communicate permanent truths in ways that become unforgettable. It’s like they are that way from their very start. Now that Dylan LeBlanc has made several albums and gotten off the launch pad even if only tentatively, it really does feel like his latest endeavor is meant to have a blast-off that will inform the nation who this man is and why he really does matter. And even if that hasn’t happened yet, it doesn’t mean that the stars won’t align for LeBlanc someday soon. COYOTEs be howling.
Curtis Salgado, FINE BY ME. Blue-eyed soul brothers used to roam the territories, and then their size shrank to an extent that the style wasn’t bustlin’ loose like it used to. Maybe that’s because recording devices didn’t allow for lucky mistakes, or that everything could be perfected into, well, perfection. The human element was put on the shelf. Not so with Curtis Salgado. He gets down on the ground on note one, and isn’t above making sure the gritty side of the street is well-covered. The man is a singer of majestic ability, and he knows his way around the dark of the street as well. And best of all, Salgado knows what songs to sing that will let the lovelight shine, and also knows how to write them when needed. This is someone who’s been doing the deed on the bandstand for over 40 years and isn’t about to slow down now. Listen and learn.
Ann Savoy, ANOTHER HEART. Ann Savoy is a Cajun by marriage. But as far as a lifetime, she is such a great artist there is no doubt she’s earned that rep beginning in childhood. Very few people can spot better songs than Ms. Savoy, and as far as singing them, she is at the very top of the modern chain. Her latest album might be the woman’s very best yet, and hopefully will make the kind of massive impression that never goes away. This is reality filtered through a magical glass and even when the stories hurt, in the end they teach enough to ease the pain. Bon ton forever.
Monte Warden & the Dangerous Few, JACKPOT! Now this is a time-tested Texan who has slammed that pedal to the metal on his latest disc. The Dangerous Few have flown into the danger zone themselves, too, and their new single “Put On Love” is showing signs of actual hittage. It’s been awhile coming for Monte Warden–back to the 1980s with his mighty Wagoneers–but now seems right to watch this whole gang fly into the ozone. Their playing is on fire, the original material is A-plus, and Warden himself is a star that is ascending at near-warp speed. Really. Leave it to the Lone Star state to bust a move often when least expected, and then watch the rocket flares start flipping out. Like they do.
Charlie Winton, ETERNAL LIGHT. While this recent album might be making a sneak attack into the spotlight, that’s often the best surprise of all. Charlie Winton is based in Berkeley, but is a student of the world. His super eclectic songs are pulled in by Winton’s own wandering antennae, and he isn’t worried about mixing and matching the steady and strong influences at all. What that results in is a sturdy rock & roll that is fearless in its influences, but always able to come out completely as its own. And Winton’s vocals rip and run through enough styles of rock that in the end it’s like a tour de force of rock all its own. Big kudos to producer Scott Mathews, a long-time pro that can do just about, well, anything. The year’s surprise.
Song
Gregg Hill, “A Dream of Old Friends.” Sometimes there is a song that travels so directly into the heartstream it just cannot be stopped. Gregg Hill’s newest track “A Dream of Old Friends” is an all-timer, framed by such sweet poise that at first it might slip by. But do not miss. This is an unforgettable classic that grows stronger as the days pass by, until finally it goes into the Hall of Fame of musical chillbumpers, and hopefully warms the soul for several lifetimes. Old friends rule.
Reissue
The Blasters. MANDATORY. There are no words needed here. The Blasters made some of the very best recordings in the 1980s.They were smothered in reality and took off from the turntable launch pad with unequaled velocity. And the fact that band member Dave Alvin wrote so many of them is nothing short of spectral. Listen to these songs now all on one disc and put the EMS on speed-dial. It’s the heart-pulsing history of America pushed through a 2-inch speaker by a band for all time. Blaster Casters forever.
