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Best CDs of 2004
by Tracy M. Rogers
To put together a list of the best albums of any given year is a daunting
task. It requires not only patience and time but also acceptance of one’s limitations
as a music critic, listener, and human being. The appreciation of music is
wholly subjective. Some listeners prefer edification, while others rely on
the emotive value of music. Some prefer music that speaks to them personally,
while others seek universal truths. I have tried to pick music that fits into
all of the above categories for me, music that is both emotional and
intellectual, both universal and personal in its truth.
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10.
Mindy Smith
One Moment More
Vanguard Records
Lyrical simplicity and musical minimalism mark
Mindy Smith’s debut album, One Moment More. Rooted in folk and
Americana traditions, One Moment More is a tale of spiritual
awakening, a coming of age story by a young woman whose faith and emotional
well-being have been tested by the loss of loved ones. Centered around soft
acoustic guitars (with only sparse pedal steel or electric guitar on
most tracks), the true emotional depth of the album hinges on Smith’s voice,
a limber instrument that possesses both a sweet childlike quality that
permeates tracks like “Raggedy Ann” (about growing up forced to wear
hand-me-downs) and a tenacity and power that give her cover of Dolly Parton’s
“Jolene” and the album’s opener “Come to Jesus” a bit of grit. One
Moment More is a stellar debut album.
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9.
Jack Ingram
Acoustic Motel
RAM Records
Each winter for the past few years Jack Ingram has embarked on
what he terms the “Acoustic Motel”
tour: a night of just Jack, his guitar, a rickety old
motel bed, and the stories behind his songs. Recorded on one such night at
the Cactus Theater in Lubbock in February 2003, Acoustic Motel captures
Ingram’s humor and the folk roots of his music – two attributes often
overlooked amid the blaring guitars of his live shows with the Beat Up
Ford Band. Ingram’s voice will always be rough and his guitar work
brazen, but Acoustic Motel, with its sparse arrangements and
emphasis on storytelling, captures a level of intimacy and quietude that
Ingram rarely displays on stage.
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8.
Ian Moore
Luminaria
YepRoc Records
Featuring pop melodies, falsetto vocals, and overdubbed
white noise, Ian Moore’s Luminaria is a truly unique musical event. Beneath the
pop sheen, however, lie eleven well-crafted, country-tinged folk songs,
anchored by Moore’s exquisite acoustic guitar playing and his scratchy,
howling vocals. A rock edge emerges on “Bastards,” but soon gives way to
the looping folk of the closing tracks. Lyrically, Luminaria finds
Moore contemplating darker emotional currents in both abstract and concrete
terms. But words are not enough to describe the
richly textured musical layers present in Luminaria. It exudes each
of these styles and none of them exclusively.
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7.
Screen Door Music/Various Artists
13 Ways to Live
Red House Records
In a year that saw the conflict in Iraq escalate
rather than decline, Austinites Screen Door Music (with the help of a few
of their friends) put together a compilation that expresses anger, hope,
disillusionment, and isolation applicable not only to the current
conditions in Iraq, but also to the human condition in general. Anchored by
the musical prowess of the cello, piano, and guitar trio, 13 Ways to Live
ranges lyrically and musically from Butch Hancock’s angry and indignant
song of dissent, “The Damage Done,” to David Baerwald’s melancholic parable
about lost innocence, “If Wishes Were Horses.” The resulting record is more
cohesive than most albums produced this year, and intrinsically more
profound.
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