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The last couple of years I have counted down my 10 best albums of the year... and since this is a time of milestones (we're very nearly to 2008, I'm rapidly approaching 500 entries on this blog... which by the way I've been keeping for four years now), I've decided to continue the tradition. Don't expect to see any of these on the big Mindsay voting... this is the real music that the industry doesn't always pay much attention to. I have absolutely no criteria other than this: the album must have been released in 2007, and it must be something I actually purchased (rather than just hearing snippets of). And without further ado... here we go...
Solid sophomore record from this band. I must admit, I actually really like this band, surprising considering my disdain for Blink-182, from which it was spawned. In any case... if you're into the punky stuff and don't mind some rather adult subject matter... this one's sweet.
9. tobyMac: "Portable Sounds"
Superior third set from Toby McKeehan. You might remember him as 1/3 of dc Talk. Well, I can safely say that his solo stuff is even better than his old band. It's essentially hip-hop, but with some serious pop and rock influences. Toby said that the goal for this record was to create tracks that would stand alone for listening on mp3 players, etc. It has spent quite a bit of time on mine!
8. Josh Turner: "Everything is Fine"
Josh has the privilege of being the only country artist on the chart this year (and one of the only ones I listen to regularly, for that matter). I kind of got out of the country scene some time ago, but Josh has a real old-school deep baritone, and I love it. Great record.
7. Straylight Run: "The Needles The Space"
Straylight Run has been one of my favorite bands ever since their first record came out. This one doesn't disappoint either, following in the footsteps of their previous work, but stretching the listener a little bit. It's a little more alternative, a little more "folky"... but I love it. An incredible amount of talent in this band.
6. Cartel: "Cartel"
Sadly, Cartel suffered a bit from the legendary "sophomore slump." Don't get me wrong, this is a solid record, but it doesn't quite live up to the raw energy that was present on their first CD. Still one of the best of the year, though... great pop/rock hooks and positive content. I like it.
5. Spoken: "Spoken"
Spoken once again comes through with the best hard music album of the year. This band will rock your face off from the moment you put the CD in until the last note ends. This album is even a little bit harder than the last couple of records, but it works well for them, and I love it. Don't put this one in unless you like it heavy.
4. Jars of Clay: "Live Monsters"
I fought with myself long and hard over whether this record could be included on this list. It's a less than full length live album made up completely of material which was already on Jars' "Good Monsters" (one of LAST years best albums). But, in the end, I had to do it. The way Jars of Clay was able to reproduce and reinvent these songs live is stellar, and if you ask me, the versions that result are better than the original studio tracks. Bravo, guys... you created an incredible album without doing anything new.
3. Anberlin: "Cities"
Anberlin is a band that shows an incredible amount of musical development with every record they put out. Their singer, Steven Christian has said that if the last two records were about understanding God and others, respectively, then "Cities" is about coming to terms with yourself. That theme definitely shows here, and the result is just awesome. This is rock music as it was meant to be played.
2. Jon McLaughlin: "Indiana"
This is without a doubt one of the best debut albums I've ever heard. I'm not typically into pop, but this CD really blew me away. Plus this guy has some incredible piano chops. I've been listening to this nonstop for almost two months now. Simply wonderful.
Drum Roll, Please....
1. The Fold: "Secrets Keep You Sick"
From the second I put it in, I knew. This is simply some of the best music I've ever heard. The band goes after some really deep issues on this one, and they do it with such brilliant writing and orchestrating that it's simply irresistible. Not to mention the ingenious packaging... it simply doesn't get any better than this. On par with anything else I've ever heard.
And there you have it! So now it's your turn to talk to me! Have you heard any of these? Do you like them as much as I do? Is there something that I completely missed this year that I would love? Let me know! I'm all about the feedback! Hope you enjoyed it... can't wait to see what happens next year!
Click here to listen!
The record company I signed a 3 year contract with is closing. Actually he is trying to sell the business. It has been confirmed that the company that is interested in the studio is not interested in Country or Gospel music. Although all contracts will go with the sale of the studio, I don't believe the contracts are included in the price being offered.
It has been proposed to me, by another musician, that I should make up a letter to dissolve the contract with the intentions of me keeping the songs with all rights from my second album.
It is clear that the studio has lost interest in the recording business and not only is not doing anything to help it's artists, but on part has not lived up to their part of the contract.
In this case I must look at all aspects. You may say that if the company has not fulfilled their obligations of the contract, that it should be easy to fault them for failure thus voiding the contract. But remember, this is a 3 year contract with almost 2 years left on it. There is no other time frames mentioned in the contract. So legally they don't have to do anything for 2 years and 355 days if they don't want to.
But I intend to make up a letter and see what happens. I was told by an inside source that my name had been brought up in discussion. Luckily the inside source was on my side. He asked the producer what his intentions were as far as my album was concerned, and brought up the fact that twice I had been told that a distributor has received my product and was being printed. This was not true. I waited quite awhile before booking engagements so I would have the product on hand to sell. From my first venue to the last one I did, I did not receive product and at the last minute was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off, trying to copy CD's, make labels, and print case covers. It was not a pretty site.
Lesson? Read the contract. I did read the contract, but didn't look for that line that said "a national or state release of album/or single release, will be done within the first year of finished recording."
In the contract it states that the label will receive $2 from each and every CD that is sold, with the distributor keeping $2 and the artist receiving $2. Now you, and many others I have discussed this with, may be thinking "if the artist is making the CD copies, printing the labels, and printing the case covers, the producer is not entitled to anything. But, in this legal binding contract, it does not specify that it matters who or where the product comes from, only that the producer gets $2, and of course you would have to pay the distrubuter if there was one. This is the reason I have not booked anything so far this year. I do not think it is fair that I am doing all the work for product and the producer gets a portion. He was paid for his time and trouble on the recording. And he has done nothing for me to further my career. At one time he told me Sparrow Records wanted to buy my contract, he even called me several times during the negotiations ( supposedly) and in the end turned them down because he thought if they were offering him that much money, that we may as well make that profit ourselves. Nothing happened with that either.
If you are looking over a contract, I suggest you make a list of things you expect and for sure put a time line of some sort in there as you think the events should proceed. Then if the details that are included in the contract don't come to fruition as stated, it would be much easier to get out of the contract.
How can I explain the things I've seen and been a part of when they are such tiny moments every day. So many tiny moments and I don't know if you would "get" them--or if I can even describe why they are so profound.
And also, there is this sense that the outward journey isn't the importent part. That as great and amazing and wonderful (and sometimes terrible, uncomfortable and frightening,) as it all is that these things are only ephemeral and that the really importent journey is that which is occuring within myself. I've compared my journal with that of the other bloggers and worried that I wasn't giving enough detail to the outward features of my journey. What exactly it was like to spend ten hours on a government bus from jodhpur to jaisalmer. How I sat with five other people on a metal bench made for three and how a kind man tried to kill me by forcing me to eat uncounted bananas.
How I sat next to an old man with a little girl, no more than eight or nine years old man who I thought was his daughter until I noticed the toe rings, anklets and gold bangles of a bride. She had the mehendi, too. How I camped in the desert with the Raika, in the center of 200 men and was never hassled (but they prayed outside my tent at 4AM every morning under the full moon.
How my driver in South India took care of me like a daughter. Or how I lived for a month in a hotel in the family's apartment, taking my meals with them and helping their daughter with her homework. Why haven't I been able to put these stories into words? I'm so afraid their record will be lost.
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