The Year in Music
Toasting revivals: from Adele's new pop standard to Paul Simon and other aging,raging rockers
Tom Waits
AdelePhoto via HaveeruOnline
The Decemberists
Justin Vernon of Bon Iver
Wilco
Paul SimonPaul Simon/Facebook
Earlier this year, I was driving my 9-year-old daughter somewhere; I can't remember where or when. Hits 1, the SiriusXM channel for the hottest music of the day, was on, which is a given when the little girl is in the car.
My ears were being assaulted by one nonsensical piece of schlock after another, as usual, when the bleating receded to allow a lovely little piano arpeggio take center stage. In just moments, Adele’s wounded voice came on to accompany that piano, the beginning of “Someone Like You,” and I was floored.
That’s the funny thing about pop music: Just when you give up on it, something comes along to remind you why you fell in love with it in the first place.
Adele’s success not only revived the music industry (the monster sales for her album 21 were a major factor in the 3-percent increase in U.S. album sales), but it formed the first consensus between critics, fans, and radio in a dog’s age.
What was refreshing was how old-fashioned the execution was, a combination of excellent songwriting (mostly from Adele herself, the most underrated part of her skill-set); tasteful, soulful production; and a voice that recalls Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield and resonates with just about every wounded soul on the planet.
That’s the funny thing about pop music: Just when you give up on it, something comes along to remind you why you fell in love with it in the first place.
Adele is no doubt the dominant musical story from the year that was, but she wasn’t the only one. Here are some of the others that got my attention this year:
A new way to listen
Even if the music we heard wasn’t always inspired, the delivery systems for that music became more and more innovative. From Pandora to Spotify to music in the Cloud, I don’t quite understand all of it, but, as a music fan, I sure am enjoying it.
The idea that I can listen to just about any song on the planet anytime I want to is somewhat overwhelming to a guy who grew up trying to tape the hottest songs off the radio to my 8-track player just so I could listen to them at my own convenience.
The grumpy Luddite in me wants to turn up his nose at all of this; the music fan in me flips the Luddite off, sticks the headphones into the computer, and cranks the volume up.
Geezers on parade
Because radio means less and less these days in terms of success, older artists have come out swinging, knowing that they’ve got the best chance of being heard since they were in their heydays.
As a result, guys like Paul Simon, Robbie Robertson, Nick Lowe and Tom Waits showed the whippersnappers how it was done, putting out albums that were far more than echoes of past glory.
That's them in the spotlight
The morbid side of human nature demands that we use the end of the year as a time to reflect on what we’ve lost. It’s no different with music heroes, who always seem to leave us far too soon.
Among the many memorable figures who passed on this year, two stand out. Amy Winehouse’s sad deterioration cannot overshadow her singular talent, even if that talent was on display for far too brief a period. As for Clarence Clemons? Bruce Springsteen often described his saxophone player as the “King of the World.” Anyone who has ever heard the solo in “Jungleland” knows that there is no hyperbole whatsoever in that description.
Album of the year: Sorry, Adele, but no album gave me more enjoyment than the first one I heard in 2011 — The King Is Dead by The Decemberists.
R.E.M.’s members, thankfully, are still with us, but the band decided this year to call it quits. They parted on amiable terms, but, then again, they always did things a little different and a little better than other bands.
The best
I’m happy to report that there was enough great music this year to make compiling a best-of list a difficult proposition. So I’ll just throw some names out there off the top of my head:
- Newcomers of the year: Tyler the Creator, Lana Del Rey, Dawes, Das Racist, Kurt Vile
- Avoiding the sophomore slump in a big way: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver
- Continued greatness: Wilco, Radiohead
Which leaves my album of the year. Sorry, Adele, but as great as you were this year, no album gave me more enjoyment than the first one I heard in 2011: The King Is Dead by The Decemberists.
The band toned down the sci-fi trappings and hyper-literate lyrics and yielded a moving set of timeless songs that alternately rocked with brooding intensity and swayed with dreamy beauty.
In fact, I’ll think I’ll cue that up on Spotify right now. See you next year.
