Pete Goftun's (George Washington Brown/ Frankie & The Heartstrings) albums of the decade
Top ten of the decade? Sure. A couple caveats; this is the top ten as of 13/09/09. It will probably be different tomorrow. It would probably be different in an hour's time. These records are the ones that strike me as 'first thought, best thought'. there's very few records I regard as 'perfect'. some of these could be considered stinkers, but have one or two songs that elevate it above whatever else I can recall I was checking out at the time. Anyway, it runs like this
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... The first 5 songs are possibly in the most perfect order since "Da Capo". It reaches an apotheosis with "Nashville Parent"; mood, music and lyric capture the shimmer and tension of a city summer night. The owl on the roof has got it right.
... Beguiling, gorgeous. Sounded like a million things and nothing else.
..."The Creek Drank The Cradle" By Iron & Wine, "Metro Area" by Metro Area and "Headphone Masterpiece" by Cody Chesnutt
... Amy Linton is this decade's lost genius. After two records of increasingly smart guitar pop, she wrote and recorded this album entirely alone, and disappeared from public view. It's a towering achievement - that rare beast both stranger and catchier than anything previous. Wherever she is, I hope she's happy.
... I think i listened to the first Feist album quite a lot. "You Are Free" by Cat Power too, though that was 2003...
... I don't really count this as a 2005 album, as I'd had the pleasure of hearing most of these songs over several years and various incarnations of the Brewis brothers wandering muses. Choosing a best FM album, or one from their other guises (The Week That Was, School Of Language, Electronic Eye Machine, New Tellers) is like choosing your favourite child. But gun to my head, I'll pick this one, as I guess it's like a first romance. You never quite fall in love the same way again.
... This album actually passed me by the year of it's release. But after raves from various trusted sources, I revisited it. Good job too.
...There The Open Spaces" By Sleeping States and "Dropping the Writ" by Cass McCombs. Cass is a puzzlingly obscure singer songwriter from Baltimore. "Dropping The Writ" contains the song "Windfall", which manages to walk (no, dance) the tightrope between mawkish and incredibly affecting. If you haven't got lump in your throat when, unable to express himself in words, he bursts into falsetto in a way that Kevin Rowland could only dream of, then you don't have a soul. Markland Starkie (AKA Sleeping States) creates music the way that most people converse. His songs meander from one part to the next, essentially improvised, then added to. In most hands this would be boring, or self indulgent, but his lyrical guitar playing and gorgeous tenor make this record a wonderful, hypnotic experience. A hymn to urban living that sits comfortably alongside my honourable mentions; "Night Drive" by Chromatics, and "Untrue" by Burial.
...A great (for me) summer, and a great summer jam. This takes me back to the Platform of Alexandra Palace Overland station. Waiting for the train to Old St. Burning sun. Sticky tarmac. Hot wind. Feeling weirdly good to be alive.
... A strong contender is "Memory Tapes" by Memory Tapes ("Bicycle" contains possibly the most euphoric final 2 minutes of the year). "Watch Me Fall" by Jay Reatard is amazing. "Songs Of Shame" by The Woods too.
Other artist's top tens
All these lists were compiled into one Artist's top ten albums of the decade poll. But here are all the individual lists that went into it...
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