Artist Opinion: Beau Jennings
Beau Jennings gives us his albums of the decade.
I will have to start by saying these are probably the five records that most influenced me this decade, as opposed to what I think were the five best records of the decade. With that, and in no particular order:
Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts Of The Great Highway - I was so happy when I heard Mark Kozelek sing “I buried my first victim when I was 19/went through her bedroom and the pockets of her jeans/and found her letters that said so many things/that really hurt me bad” at the end of first song “Glenn Tipton.” Of course this was a gruesome, macabre line - but I was thrilled with the way this song told a story, dropping bombshells like that at the end of what started as another nice, nostalgic folk song. The whole record continues this way, with incredible instrumentation to bring the stories home.
Bruce Springsteen – The Rising - I have to credit this record with giving me a tiny inkling of what it would have been like in New York City on September 11th. In the title track Bruce sings about a fireman on his way to ground zero: “Left the house this morning/Bells ringing filled the air/Wearin' the cross of my calling/On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here” and then later, when the fireman is reminiscing of better times: “A dream of life comes to me/Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line”. As you can probably tell by now a record comes down to the lyrics for me, and this one really delivers. This may or may not be true, and if true it’s certainly corny, but I love the story of people telling Bruce “we need you” in the street after 9/11 and the idea that the E Street Band re-united for this record.
The Hold Steady – Boys And Girls In America - Again with the lyrics, this time from the first song on the album Stuck Between Stations: “She was a really cool kisser and she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian” - just fantastic. The rock n’ roll-teenagers-hooked-on-drugs-lifestyle that pervades this album is the farthest thing in the world from the way I grew up, which is maybe why it’s so much fun for me to listen to. I think The Hold Steady appeals to the same part of me that The Get Up Kids appealed to when we I was in high school. This band achieves the perfect mixture of, “We’re playing for fun!” with, “Guys this is really serious.”
Ester Drang – Goldenwest - These guys were Tulsa hometown heroes back in 2000. They were such a powerful live band at their peak, a six-person wall of sound making music that no one else in the state was making. I remember seeing them play and spending half of the show trying to figure out where each sound was coming from. The first time I heard the record was in a friend’s living room late at night with the lights off and we listened from beginning to end straight through. I was friends with everyone in the band but was still completely amazed at the sounds they were coming up with, building a magical bridge from The Verve to The Beach Boys.
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Nothing else really needs to be said about this record. The only thing I could add possibly is that the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, about the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, is one of the most educational things a modern band could learn from. As far as individual songs go, “Poor Places” is the best track on here.
Posted by Wes Soltis on Jan 11, 2010 @ 9:07 am
