OBAMANOMICS- The New Style

You read it here first, folks...I plan to coin the phrase "Obamanomics" and get it into the regular flow of things before some kind of dried up old politico-type potato beats it into repetitious uselessness. If that's already in the circulation of things, let's go for "Barackonomics" or "EconObamics."

Watching last Tuesday's inauguration was a moving thing to see. People of my generation haven't had a whole lot to get excited about politically. We were born in the Regan era, and have only been able to vote in "Dubya" related elections. If you were a person of my generation in Illinois, you had even less to be interested in- obviously, our governor is not the most charismatic guy around at the moment, and he won two elections (but as of yesterday is now "in the private sector"- i.e. just a reg'lar ol shmuck stopping by Dunkin' Donuts this blessed Friday morning.)

But watching all those millions of people out there in the cold in DC, and seeing the Obamas poised to shake things up a bit, my gut was nervous. Don't get me wrong- I think he's the best man for the job by far. Even friends of mine who are fairly staunchly anti-government in general can get excited about him. In fact, about the only bit of election business I had ever gotten even remotely psyched about prior to this presidential bid was Obama's run for the senate.

So what's makin' me nervous? I'm afraid the flea-like attention spans and unrealistic expectations of the American public might not give him a fair shake.

Perhaps my first inkling while watching the inauguration came when Obama and fam were happily waving to the cheering throngs. In a voice over, a round table of fairly typical political nay-sayers and fact checkers were discussing what was happening. Anyone who's ever seen a live news broadcast of just about anything knows that this tends to be a mostly opinionated and dull affair- "Well... we're...we're getting a closer view now. Yes! Yes... the same nothing is happening that was happening five seconds ago when we got in for a closer view."

Suddenly, as Obama walks behind his car waving to a cheering public, one of the political voice over people pipes in: "Well, this honeymoon period isn't going to last forever. He has to get to business" and another "I have to wonder what that swearing in flub will cost him."

It was like listening to golf commentary. He had been president, officially, for all of two hours, and there were already people giving him shit.

But- with the sheer suffocating amount of media coverage involved in the process (and...really every process of note nowadays)people are bound to be disappointed. When the entire world knows what kind of underwear you prefer or what your kid got on their spelling test, you're bound to disappoint someone... "Oooh... that'll cost him. 9 out of 10 polls show that he really should have ordered the soup. Muffin is no good. That'll come back to haunt him- the religious right HATE people who eat muffins."

I for one am glad to have an intelligent, well spoken president I can actually root for. So give him five minutes alone to comfortably shit so he can think properly.

After all- everything is roundly and explicitly fucked at the moment. Perhaps not as much so as your average 10 'o clock newscast would have you believe, but still fucked without question. As a matter of fact, things have been fucked for a long time now, it's just that the pud-pullers and pundits are only now getting around to acknowledging it. Let's hope they don't pin it all squarely on O'bomb. He walked into this stew, after all. The cooks were entirely different folks.

We should all relax: Bush is back home, one of these days he'll settle back in and buy himself a football team to fiddle around with, and all will be right with the world. Something tells me the book tour/motivational speaking Clinton move isn't gonna fly with this one.

THE 15 BEST ALBUMS I’VE HEARD IN 2008

At the end of a somewhat shaky year of election coverage, economic crises, gubernatorial hyjinx, all-around assholes and hockey moms, it’s nice to sit back and realize that it’s been a damn fine year for music.

Nothing like some good ol’ fashioned misery to get them creative types out there a-stewin’, huh?

This year I’ve yet again managed to, even on my humble income, lay down an embarrassing amount of money on records. There’s still a lot of stuff I haven’t heard yet, because as someone who DOES spend a lot more cash on music than is really even financially reasonable (it's that indoor-type sensibility kicking in again. You don’t have to talk to a record) that musical nerditude is expansive into all sorts of not-new music. For example, I laid down a good chunk this past year on Gun Club reissues, old and very rare NoMeansNo albums, not-as-rare-but-still-not-easy-to-nab Oblivions Lps, and a lot of other shit.

When you spend several days a week puttering around your one room apartment writing and drawing, records are a fantastic way to stave off the demon-voices that would otherwise have you muttering things aloud to yourself or perhaps the urge to murder a small animal or another human being. Who needs friends, huh?

But I digress…

If you don’t care (which- maybe you shouldn’t) then just stop reading. In my defense, there’re plenty of things on the internet far more nerdy than this meager offering. Of course, there’s a lot more interesting things, too. Y’know, like boobs.

Without further farting about- here’s what I HAVE heard and listened to incessantly in 2008 (in alphabetical order…sorry. I don’t have the heart to rank them- it’s like telling your children which one you like best, or which one of them is adopted…)

Matt Bauer- “Island Moved in the Storm” (La Societe Expeditionnaire)
Gorgeous is probably the best word to describe this album- an understated, poetic folk masterpiece that sounds like it was buried in a riverbed 100 years ago, and channeled through a ghost that lives in your attic.

Crooked Fingers- “Forfeit/Fortune” (Foreign Leisure)
Eric Bachman returns to the Crooked Fingers format with a record that moves away from the minimal singer-songwriterliness of his most recent solo endeavor, To The Races (2007 Saddle Creek.) Though 2005’s Dignity & Shame (Merge) was, in my opinion, easily the band’s best record to date, Forfeit/Fortune takes the southwestern elements developed on that record and stirs them with the kind of 80’s dance beat sensibility of Red Devil Dawn (2003 Merge) The result is a solid 1/2 hr of Crooked Fingers music, and a worthy entry to the band’s already formidable canon.

Johnny Dowd- “A Drunkard’s Masterpiece” (Bongo Beat)
Epic and weird, A Drunkard’s Masterpiece blends free jazz, beat poetry, murder balladry, classic rock and roll, and miscellany into an alarming and surprisingly fluid stew that plays like some kind of weird drug-inspired off-off-off-Broadway play. Every new Dowd record is incredibly different than the last- a tough thing to pull off as expertly as he does this far into his thus far illustrious career. Hearing A Drunkard’s Masterpiece, I sincerely wonder where it could go from here.

Dutchess & the Duke- “She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke” (Hardly Art)
1960’s bouncy pop, but with a garage-floor kind of feel that is not terribly easy to blend comfortably. But Dutchess & the Duke manage to lay down 10 tracks that feel totally fresh and some hooks that will run laps in your head with little chance of making a pit stop.

Justin Townes Earle- “The Good Life”(Bloodshot)
The son of Steve makes good. Real damn good. So good, in fact, that his lineage is completely irrelevant to the conversation. As a person who listens to a ton of old country and singer/songwriter stuff (y’know- Kristofferson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver, JTE’s middle-namesake Townes Van Zandt) I can say that without a doubt, Justin Townes Earle stands poised to join the best of the Highwaymen of olde.

Firewater “The Golden Hour’ (Bloodshot)
Easily the most infectious album of 2008- the story of the record’s creation is a fascinating one, the hooks are catchy, the lyrics are blatantly insightful- there are no missteps on The Golden Hour. Handily the best album of Firewater’s career- perhaps the best album of Tod A’s formidable career as a whole.

Fucked Up- “The Chemistry of Common Life” (Matador)
Last year, Hidden World (2006 Jade Tree/2007 Deranged) was near the top of my list for
so many reasons Chemistry of Common Life is here now. They’ve taken what they started with a slew of self-released 7” and developed it even further- not every hardcore record can start with a flute solo and make it seem like second nature. If I were to make a “Top Shows I Wish I’d Made it To in 2008” list, Fucked Up would be on it twice.

Kid Dakota- “A Winner’s Shadow” (Graveface)
On first listen, this record plays as an even mix of slow, sad ballads and catchy pop songs. But after repeated listenings and actually hearing the lyrics, one realizes this is a thoroughly well-crafted and earth shakingly sad album, no matter what the music is doing. Songs about drug addiction, failed relationships, and a blood transfusion in Mexico after overdosing make for some heavy and intensely personal listening. Pulling off a deeply sad, troubling, and personal record while still managing to make catchy rock songs is a thin line to walk, but this album pulls it off amiably.

Langhorne Slim- “S/T” (Kemado)
Langhorne Slim’s 2005 Narnack debut, When the Sun’s Gone Down was an infectious record of the highest order, which I still find myself putting on repeatedly 3 years later. After an excrutiatingly long wait (excluding in that his also-excellent 4 song V2 EP from 2006) his latest for Kemado is well worth the wait. And his back-to-back Chicago shows this year stand as two of the finest I saw all year.

Charlie Parr- “Roustabout” (self-released)
A criminally unknown and underappreciated talent, Roustabout is Charlie Parr’s (official) 5th self-released album. His guitar skill is on par (no pun intended) with early Blind Joe Death-era Fahey, and his slice-of-life songwriting is up there with the best of them, reminiscent of John Prine or early Randy Newman. Roustabout is easily his best collection of songs (which include some serious foot-stomping catchiness) since 2005’s Rooster. With so many sub-par and just barely par roots musicians out there churning out of all things “old and timey," choking the life out of traditional music, it is hugely refreshing to hear a genuine talent breathe such life and vitality back into its not-quite dead body, making amends for all the waxed-moustache-and-straw-boater vaudeville schtick around. Charlie is the genuine article, and this record definitely attests to that.

Slim Cessna’s Auto Club- “Cypher” (Alternative Tentacles)
It’s always nice to have a new record from one of your favorite live acts. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club is still (after umpteen viewings) one of the best live shows around, and Cypher collects a lot of songs I’ve been hankering to have on wax for a number of years now. Listen to this record and try not to tap your foot (or all out dance depending on the track and your inclination/state of inebriation.) It’s the Auto Club at their finest. Honestly my only complaint with this band is the wait between new albums.

Thee Oh Sees- “The Master’s Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night In” (Tomlab)
One of the best surprises of the year comes from the latest outlet for John Dwyer, formerly of Coachwhips and numerous other projects. It’s hard to even find a reference point- it’s like the finest late 1960’s proto-punk garage, but filtered from a different plane of existence. I can’t wait to run out and find everything else from this band. Like… tomorrow.

Jim White- “Transnormal Skiperoo” (LuakaBop)
Another one for the “I wish they were releasing more music” category- Jim White is a certifiable lyrical and musical anomaly. He’s yet to make a bad record, and it’s been way too long since 2004’s Drill a Hole in That Substrate and Tell Me What You See. Admittedly, this record came out in 2007, but as his live show at the Old Town School of Folk this past year, complete with a string of highly entertaining anecdotes, was one of my personal show highlights for the year (and where I picked up this record) I think it should count.

Andre Williams- “Can You Deal With It?” (Bloodshot)
I’ve followed Andre Williams closely since his return to the recording scene in 1998 with Silky, which stands as one of my all-time favorite sleazy garage-soul platters, and I can say with every ounce of certainty that his latest is the best thing he’s done since that fine surprise. And the story of its creation (see the soon-to-be-released documentary Agile, Mobile and Hostile: A Year With Andre Williams) makes it all the more a milestone in an already illustrious and notorious career.

Wovenhand- “Ten Stones” (Sounds Familyre)
One of the most unsettlingly intense shows I’ve ever experienced, David Eugene Edwards is an unmatched talent. Ten Stones, his fifth album as Wovenhand (after making the transition from 16 Horsepower) is certainly a contender for best album of his already phenomenal recording career. It is in turn delicate and powerful. And it manages take an Antonio Carlos Jobim love song (“Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars”) and (perhaps unintentionally) turn it into something thoroughly upsetting.

RUNNER UPS:
Everyone's a winner! Check 'em, jack...

GIANT SAND- "PRO-visions" (Yep Roc)
EDDY CURRENT SUPRESSION RING- "Primary Colours" (Goner)
RACEBANNON- "Acid or Blood" (Southern)
HAUNTED GEORGE- "Pile O' Meat" (Hook or Crook) (though... this one easily wins for best album name, maybe ever..)
YOUNG WIDOWS- "Old Wounds" (Temporary Residence)

SOME NOTABLE REISSUES:
I’m a dork. I make two categories.

DICTATORS- “Every Day is Saturday” (Norton)
2 LP’s worth of alternate takes, demos, rarities, and even original radio spots (including a ticket giveaway commercial) with exhaustively detailed liner notes from one of the world’s most sadly unknown punk originators

NOMEANSNO “0+2=1” and “Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed” (Wrong)
Yes, they finally had to put them out themselves. But after WAY too long a wait, SOMEONE has finally begun reissuing NoMeansNo’s epic and without parallel back catalog on super deluxe, double gatefold colored vinyl.

VARIOUS ARTISTS- “Fight On Your Time Ain’t Long” (Mississippi)
Another phenomenal collection of classic and rare gospel blues gems from the 1920’s and 30’s from Portland’s Mississippi Records, including obscure sides from such sadly overlooked blues forebears as Bukka White and Blind Mamie Forehand. To be fair, though, really anything Mississippi has released this year (or any year) deserves mention. They’ve yet to release a dud- everything has been phenomenal, from their blues and Afro-beat comps (Love is Love and Last Kind Words are especially great), to their punk, jazz, and soul reissues (check out Irma Thomas Sings, or the Rats’ only ever released LP- they being Dead Moon before there WAS a Dead Moon.)

Just go buy one of ‘em, any of ‘em, and you’ll be hooked for the rest of the catalog. It’s that good.

CHARLIE PICKETT- “Bar Band Americanus” (Bloodshot)
This compilation spans the career of one of southern Florida’s finest career musicians- one Charlie Pickett, who served his time on the tour circuit, cutting several ass-kicking records in the process back in the 1980’s. His coup de grace was a record for TwinTone, Route 33, produced by no less than R.E.M.’s Peter Buck. But, alas. The road is one helluva bitch, and Charlie hung up his axe. But in the course of his short but purposeful career, he single-handedly invented the kind of swampy electric sludge country later made popular by folks like the Gun Club and Violent Femmes (pre-“Blister in the Sun,” natch.) Fortunately, this comp shows us all how much ass Pickett kicked, and with a couple new tracks thrown in, it attests to how much ass he is still currently kicking.

Best Overall Package/Reissue:
Various Artists -“Victrola Favorites” (Dust to Digital)
Two CD’s of unspeakably rare international 78’s from the teens and twenties- all never before released on CD, some tracks recorded from the only known existing copy, and all recorded directly from a Victrola machine. Housed in a hardcover book featuring insightful (but not too insightful) texts, and time period appropriate advertising and ephemera. A fantastic package, and not terribly surprising from the folks who put out the equally-as-gorgeous-and-meticulous “Goodbye Babylon” and “Fonotone” box sets.

I hope you've found something enlightening here. I promise to only complain about things next time 'round.

What hit you this year that I forgot? C'mon- bother me with nerdy nit-picking!