DBT Week in Review - 12/31/09

Suck it, 2009. What you got, 2010?

See y'all next year.

DBT/Patterson

Best of 2009 Artist List on JamBase:

"Patterson Hood - Drive-By Truckers

Albums
Patterson Hood
1. Bloodkin - Baby They Told Us We Would Rise Again
On the surface, no frills, meat and potatoes rock (and damn proud of it) but a closer listen reveals the finest songwriting all year as this 24-year-old band sings the horrifying tale of their trip back from the abyss and sees it through to a joyous life-affirming conclusion. It's like that Leaving Las Vegas movie with a happy ending - unbelievable if weren't true. Such well-treaded territory would suck if not for the magnificence of its execution. 'Wild Rhododendrons' is the finest songwriting I've seen all year, and 'The Viper' and 'Heavy With Child' are just as good. Meanwhile 'Easter Eggs' is the best song of man love I've ever heard (including 'Bobby Jean' and 'Angie')."

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Best of 2009 Artist List Part 2 on JamBase:

"Patterson Hood - Drive-By Truckers - Best of Decade List

1. The Glands - The Glands
Patterson Hood by Susan J. Weiand
My favorite album of the decade and also my all time favorite album ever to come out of Athens, GA. It came out in 2000 and is still growing on me nearly a decade later. Unfortunately it came out on Capricorn in the waning days of their attempt at resurgence and virtually no one outside of Athens heard it, but of those who have there is a cult of us who feel exactly like I do about it. They never released a follow up and Ross now manages a record store in town. A truly timeless masterpiece that gets better with every listen (and I've listened to it weekly for over nine years now)."

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Robert Christgau: Rolling Stone Ballot: The 00's Best Songs & Albums:

"#7 Drive-By Truckers: Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West '08)"

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Ken Tucker's Top 10 Recordings Of 2009 : NPR

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The War On Pop: Best Albums of the 2000s: #9 Drive-By Truckers - Southern Rock Opera (2001):

"So what does Ray Charles’s Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music have to do with the Drive-By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera (2001), you might ask?"

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George Pelecanos - Notes on the Hard Revolution CD:

"Have I made my point? DBT is the rock band of the decade. No joke."

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Drive-By Truckers Go 'Full Speed Ahead' on New Album - Spinner:

"Picking the right ones wasn't such a difficult task, the band tells Spinner. 'It's pretty obvious, really,' guitarist/singer Mike Cooley says. 'It usually is. At some point, you start finding the corner pieces and the ones with the straight edges first.'"

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DBT on Blip.Fm

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Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Love this. The only thing between Isbell and DBT is Maplewood.

Best Of 2009: Americana:

"JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit [Lightning Rod]
The former Drive-By Trucker loads his second solo record with a wealth of songwriting gems. No song will ever use the phrase “rolled-up $20 bill” in a lyric any better than “Cigarettes And Wine.”

MAPLEWOOD Yeti Boombox [Tapete]
The album title pretty much says it all. Brooklyn boys make good. Harmonies and guitar glitter.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities And Rarities 2003-2008) [New West]
The best way to fulfill a recording contract you’ll ever hear. Seems like some of these should have made a record somewhere along the way."

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, "Cigarettes and Wine" | The People's Music:

"“She smelled like cigarettes and wine.” I know that girl, you know that girl– hell, we all know that girl. Well, probably not the exact girl, but we’ve all known a few, and even more so, we all know the feeling he’s singing about. Even if you couldn’t understand English, you’d know exactly what is going on in this song.

If for some reason you don’t own the album, get it here."

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Beat Surrender: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit (Lightning Rod Records)

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Drinks With: Jason Isbell | American Songwriter:

"Was there a moment when you were younger where you heard a pop song and the format of that really clicked for you?

Oh yeah. I don’t know what artist in particular but a lot of that probably came from ‘80s radio for me: Prince, Crowded House, Until Tuesday and a lot of those bands they were playing on the radio then—Colin Hay from Men at Work. That kind of stuff really appealed to me when I was really young and first started to write. I loved how those songs all fit together."

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Watch this: Embedded New Year’s Eve Marathon with 15 new artists! | Current Music Blog:

"Embedded Tour Stop Special with White Rabbits, Black Lips, Jason Isbell, Fucked Up & Amazing Baby. Premieres December 31 at 10pm EST.

Got big plans for NYE? Catch Embedded on New Year’s Day or over the weekend, too!

Here’s when to turn on the TV:

Thursday night: 12/31 starting at 7pm EST/4pm PST, then again starting at 12 midnight EST/9pm PST.
Friday afternoon: 1/1 starting at 4pm EST/1pm PST
Saturday morning: 1/2 starting at 10am EST/7am PST
Sunday afternoon: 1/3 starting at 5pm EST/2pm EST

And, of course, once they’ve aired you’ll be able to watch all 15 Tour Stops at current.com/tourstop, plus our channels on Hulu, YouTube and MySpace."

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Vic Chesnutt

Swampland:Memories of Vic Chesnutt By Daniel Hutchens

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Vic Chesnutt's death-obsessed folk cuts deep -- and personally | Pop & Hiss | Los Angeles Times:

"Chesnutt's very real ensnarement in the insurance system lends an uncomfortable yet deeply compelling undertone to his lyrical attempts to make peace with illness, his paraplegism and death. Chesnutt doesn't hold out too much hope for whatever healthcare bill makes it through the Senate, either -- 'What will pass will be weak, the powers that be will be happy and the insurance companies will be thrilled,' he believes. Those facts only remind a listener that the small braveries of an album like 'At the Cut' can, if not offer solutions, at least be a bit of comfort and companionship. Or solace that Chesnutt doesn't have to figure out even bigger problems, like how to fix California's ailing economy.

'You guys are the most screwed of all,' he said, laughing."

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Donate to the family:

CASH Music: Kristin Hersh

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Brent Best

Brent Best | KXT 91.7 | Public Music Radio for Dallas Fort Worth Denton

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Will Johnson

My Artist Of The Decade- Will Johnson - Americana and roots music - No Depression

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Muscle Shoals.... uh... Fabric

Chanin skirt wraps tree at White House | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"After a few more words, it all clicked. A woman who knew Chanin and worked at the Chicago fashion boutique Ikram had contacted Rogers, who was looking for a designer to make a tree skirt for the White House's Blue Room. Rogers asked Chanin, founder of the Florence-based fashion and lifestyle company Alabama Chanin. She said yes."

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Music

A really marvelous night for a moondance, apparently.

Van Morrison, 64, Welcomes Baby Boy

Update:

Not so marvelous, then:

Morrison baby announcement was hoax: statement - Yahoo! News

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Darkness. Imprisoning me. What? I said "Darkness. Imprisoning me..." What? Never mind.

Metallica drummer struggles with ringing in ears - CNN.com

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Here's some vid I shot of Chuck Prophet at the Great American Music Hall back in November:

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