Top 10 Albums of 2010

2010 has come and gone, and I got to hear a healthy amount of quality music. The bottom half of this year's top 10 list was pretty hard to sort out, as there were more worthy candidates than available spots. I can't promise that I wouldn't change the list if I wrote it up again tomorrow. Anyway, Happy New Year, and let's hope for more good stuff in 2011.

10. Red Priest, Johann, I'm Only Dancing: I learned much less about the music of J. S. Bach in the music courses I took in high school and college than I did from listening to this CD.

9. Vilma Timonen Quartet, Forward: And they do move forward, thanks to more vocals.

8. Simon Fagan, Outside Looking In: This one gets bonus points for overall consistency.

7. Vampire Weekend, Contra: Another band gets better the second time around.

6. Amadou & Mariam, Welcome to Mali: It's the kind of album that will annoy a purist. But purists tend to miss out on a lot of good music.

5. The National, High Violet: The last two songs, "England" and "Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks," really pushed this album up the list.

4. Ozomatli, Fire Away: Some people will complain that they've gotten more commercial, but they've also gotten more musical and still have the same energy.

3. Richard Thompson, Dream Attic: From the 60s to the 10s. That makes six decades during which he's made essential music.

2. Johnny Clegg, Human: Like Richard Thompson, he's aged well, and deserves a much bigger following.

1. Jesca Hoop, Hunting My Dress: Definitely the most original recording I've heard in a while, and she backs up her originality with some quality songwriting.

Johnny Clegg, Human (Appleseed Records, 2010)

Johnny Clegg has been one of my favorite performers for a long time.  (The fact that he is ultimately the reason I met my wife doesn't hurt his case, either.)  Whether he has performed as the white half of the legendary South African duo Juluka, as the leader of Johnny Clegg & Savuka, or more recently as a solo artist, Clegg has always written songs about the struggles of his homeland and home continent, mixing English and Zulu in his unique style.  His new CD Human finds him trying a couple of new things, but ultimately succeeding best with what has always worked for him over the past thirty years.

Clegg has tried his hand at some more mainstream rock and pop in his solo recordings, and Human continues this trend.  Songs like the opener "Love in the Time of Gaza" and "Hidden Away Down" are quality rockers, even if they lack the distinctively African touches that characterize most of Clegg's work. "All I Got Is You" veers towards electronic dance pop, while "Give Me the Wonder" has a decidedly Latin flavor, and the ominous opening chords of "Here Comes That Feeling" recall 90s alternative rock. 

That being said, Clegg has always been at his best when he's crossed cultures and styles together.  His back catalog is filled with many great songs combining English verses and Zulu choruses sung with powerful South African harmonies, and the new song "Congo" fits in with the best of these. My favorite song on the new album is the closing song "Magumede," an adaptation of a traditional Bhaca song. The lyrics are simple and humorous -- a boy asks his mother who has taken his pants, the mother responds by asking him where he slept last night -- but the group singing and humming are as irresistibly infectious as anything Clegg has done in a very long time.

Never one to shy away from politics, Clegg addresses a number of contemporary issues on Human. The inspiration for "Love in the Time of Gaza" came from a young couple talking in the background that Clegg noticed as a CNN camera panned across scenes of rubble and devastation after an Israeli attack. "The sky is black with gunships, but I'm dreaming of a girl." Some feelings and hopes transcend any location and even the most bleak of circumstances. CNN also provided the inspiration for the song "Hidden Away Down"; a friend of Ted Kennedy quoted Hemmingway at his funeral, saying that the world breaks everybody but that some people emerge stronger for having been broken. "Congo" addresses the unfortunate situation in the central African nation, whose natural wealth has increased the oppression of its inhabitants instead of liberating them from it. The control of the diamond industry has passed from one warlord to the next, and the people in general are only valued for the diamonds they can extract.

Johnny Clegg has made a remarkable career out of addressing the African condition in a way that is earnest and though-provoking on one hand, but lively and energetic on the other. The willingness to sing and dance along has always been a prerequisite for appreciating Clegg's music. As his first full album of new material to get officially released in the United States since the last Savuka album Heat, Dust & Dreams in 1993, Human has the potential to introduce Johnny Clegg's music to a new generation of fans; if you listen to Human and like what you hear, definitely delve into this great performer's history. And of course, people who've stuck with Clegg for a long time have every reason to go get this album as well.

Overall grade: A

reviewed by Scott

A solo acoustic performance of "Love in the Time of Gaza"

Top 10 CD's of 2006

Hello and Happy New Year. As promised, it's time for the annual Top 10 CD list. Given the predominance of iTunes and iPods and single-song downloads, it's easy to be concerned that the album is becoming a lost art. Commercially there may be an element of truth to that, but I've reviewed plenty of albums this past year that are worth enjoying as a whole, not piecemeal. And as always, I have much more respect for artists who can impress me for forty minutes at a time, rather than just four.

I've reviewed nine of these albums already, and the tenth was reviewed here by Jim Lynch, so I don't have to go into any lengthy descriptions.

1. The Ditty Bops, Moon Over The Freeway. They're clever, they're funny, and they have to many good songs to ignore.



2. Johnny Clegg, One Life. I'm always happy when an old stand-by returns to form in a big way.




3. Dion, Bronx In Blue. He's always been a great singer, but I was really impressed with his guitar-playing on this one.



4. Värttinä, Miero. They're doing some U.S. shows this month, so keep your eyes open. The review was posted in Green Man Review.



5. Merrie Amsterburg, Clementine and Other Stories. Like Bronx in Blue, this album brings the musical traditions of America's past into the 21st century.


6. Loreena McKennitt, An Ancient Muse. Another unique artist makes a fine return.




7. Weird Al Yankovic, Straight Outta Lynwood. His biggest hit, only twenty-five years after his first album. Even people like me who loved his first record assumed at the time that he was just a novelty act. I guess we were wrong.

8. Maria Kalaniemi, Bellow Poetry. To really hear this one, turn the lights out and shut off all sound.




9. Amy Speace, Songs For Bright Street. A sharp wit and some good melodies should have gotten her more attention than she has to this point.



10. Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. Eerie and Cryptic, but also compelling.

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The Top 10 CD's of 2005

Johnny Clegg, One Life (Marabi, 2006)

The South African singer Johnny Clegg has had a long and storied career, promoting interracialism and multiculturalism at the height of apartheid as the white half of the legendary duo Juluka and as the leader of Johnny Clegg & Savuka. He has continued to perform regularly, for a stretch as part of a reunited Juluka but primarily as a solo artist, since the last Savuka album Heat Dust and Dreams came out in 1993. He has entered the recording studio less frequently lately, though, and his new album One Life is only his third studio album since Heat Dust and Dreams. Happily, the new CD is on the same level as much of his best work.

With apartheid now in South Africa's past, Clegg's lyrics have reached for broader themes. The album opens with "Daughter of Eden," a tribute to the eternal feminine in its many forms, and follows with "Jongosi," a Zulu song about young athletes/warriors taking a stand together. One Life also addresses many issues facing Africa as a whole. "The Revolution Will Eat Its Children," already on my short list of all-time favorite song titles, deals with the cycle of revolutions and takeovers too often resulting in new leaders who wind up needing to be overthrown themselves. The subtile "Anthem For Uncle Bob" suggests that the song is aimed in particular at Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe. In a similar vein, "Boy Soldier" looks at the common habit throughout Africa of impressing teenage boys into service in armies or revolutionary groups. As usual, Clegg alternates between singing in English and Zulu, often on the same song, but he expands his linguistic horizons on One Life by including songs in Afrikaans ("Thamela - Die Son Drink Water") and French ("Faut Pas Baisser Les Bras").

Musically, other than the Latin feel of "Daughter Of Eden," there aren't any big surprises here. Clegg has always combined Western rock and folk with Zulu traditions and township jive, and he also keeps up with current musical trends. While heavy-duty electronics got in the way a bit on his previous album New World Survivor, One World sounds very fresh and not forced. Almost all the music on One Life is upbeat, and the disc as a whole just simmers with energy. My favorite element of Clegg's sound over the years has been the multi-voiced Zulu choruses. The distinctly African modal harmonies have this power to them that very few vocal traditions on the planet can match. Happily, One Life is full of these choruses, to a significantly greater degree than on most of his post-Juluka work. The chorus of "Jongosi" in particular hits with a force reminiscent of Clegg's best work.

One Life finds Johnny Clegg back in his prime, bounding with vibrant energy while remaining thoughtful and thought-provoking with his lyrics. Clegg has been one of the most important figures in the world of music for close to thirty years, and with his new album he remains as vital as ever.

Overall grade: A

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