Doug DeLoach’s favorite releases of 2014
A run down of the best releases of 2014.
Longtime CL music writer Doug DeLoach runs down his favorite releases of 2014 (in no particular order with the exception of his No. 1 pick, Longing for the Past):
10. Alexis Zoumbas: A Lament For Epirus, 1926-1928:Chris King’s exhaustively annotated opus showcases the obscure but sublimely talented Greek fiddler whose heartbreakingly soulful and irresistibly seductive folk improvisation is guaranteed to make you swoon.
9. FLAP: World of Visions:The dueling aces of acoustic thrash/funk/pop-jitterbug have confabulated a fascinating world of fabulously freaky tales and sawed-off guitar riffs you will never learn how to play at home.
8. Jon Byrd: Route 41: If there was a god and justice prevailed in the universe, Jon Byrd would be a country/roots superstar. His second album features compositions by good friends including Atlantans James “Slim Chance” Kelley and Al Shelton.
7. Edgewood Saxophone Trio: Snake Nation:Homegrown sax ace Jeff Crompton writes the charts and leads Bill Nittler (baritone) and Ben Davis (tenor) on a brassy romp from the second lines of New Orleans to the funky industrial bowels of Atlanta.
Dave Seidel: ~60 Hz by Dave Seidel
6. Dave Seidel: ~60 HzLA transcendently wondrous hum permeates this simple yet richly varied meditative exercise in sine wave manipulation.
Daniel Bachman - Pig Iron from Jesse Sheppard on Vimeo.
5. Daniel Bachman: Orange County Serenade: The acoustic guitar wunderkind carries forward the legacy of John Fahey & Co. and into the 21st century with melodies of thrumming steel and hollow-bodied harmonics designed for fathomless contemplation.
4. Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn: Self-titled: Husband and wife Fleck and Washburn take the dueling banjos concept in a different direction by re-imagining folk, blues and gospel repertoire, along with original material, to create a surprisingly varied array of distinctly beautiful, deeply relevant music.
3. Leyla McCalla: Vari-Colored Songs:Drawing from a palette of Haitian, Creole and Acadian hues, the former Carolina Chocolate Drop renders jazz- and blues-tinged variations on the poetry of Langston Hughes and other folk artists.
2. The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records, Vol. II (1928-1932):With its Art Deco-inspired polished aluminum case housing an additional 800 songs from the historically indispensable Paramount catalog, Volume II takes its rightful place alongside Volume I as the supreme standard of the boxed set category.
1. Longing for the Past: The 78 rpm Era in Southeast Asia:A couple of minutes into the first track on Disk 1 of Longing for the Past: The 78rpm Era in Southeast Asia, my early warning system was pegging the meter on the “Holy crap!” side of the dial. The more deeply I delved into the 90 selections on four CDs, culled from 78rpm recordings made in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore between 1904 and 1966, the more mesmerizing and evocative the music became. The artfully packaged boxed set includes a 272-page book chronicling the cultural traditions and historical circumstances, which spawned these extraordinary recordings. The first track is a prime example of vong co (which essentially means “longing for the past”), a form of aria that developed in southern Vietnam in the first decade of the 20th century. The vocalist, Ut Tra On, was revered for his dulcet intonation, extraordinary breath control and improvisational acumen. A recording from 1927, featuring a Laotian vocalist accompanied by a 14-tube mouth organ, sounds like a minimalist composition by Phillip Glass. Another selection spotlights kecak, the instantly recognizable chant-and-clapping form from Bali. Longing for the Past... is a phantasmagorical assemblage of sounds, text and imagery. David Murray compiled the music, wrote an introduction, and provided most of the recordings. Michael Robertson and Jonathan Ward also loaned scarcely precious disks to the cause. Contributing writers include Terry Miller, Jason Gibbs, David Harnish, Sooi Beng Tan and Kit Young. Michael Graves did the audio restoration and mastering. Winner of the 2014 Bruno Nettl Prize from the Society for Ethnomusicology. Longing for the Past... was recently nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Historical Album category.