The Shadow's 2010 End of Year list

10. Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart

2008's In The Future, their second album, was one of the absolute highlights for that year. Don't be fooled because the Canadians' new one is just as good even though the songs may be a little more compact.
Heavy prog rock with some acoustic interludes thrown in for good measure. Honestly, I'm looking forward to some new product from their doomier offshoot Lightning Dust.
Essential tracks : The Hair Song, Rollercoaster, Let Spirits ride.


9. Ray Lamontagne - God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise

Music wise Ray's 4th release leans close to his debut 'Trouble'. Back to his acoustic roots after the dark 'Till the Sun Turns Black' and 'Gossip in the Grain' where he lost the plot somewhat.
Recorded in his home with a small backing band, the songs and his voice shine like liquid silver.
Good to see the appearance of Greg Leisz on pedal steel. On of the greatest sidemen ever.
Essential tracks : Repo Man, This Love Is over, Beg Steal or Borrow.


8. Eli 'Paperboy' Reed - Come and Get It

White boy retro soul but what a stupid cd cover. Reed's official second are once more original tunes that wouldn't sound out of place in the late 60's catalogues from Stax or Atlantic.
He sings, he shouts, he growls just like the late Wilson Pickett. 'Come and get it' has a smoother production than the previous 'Roll with it' but that shouldn't spoil the fun. Groovin', funky and some mean ballads too.
Essential tracks : Name Calling, Time Will Tell, Pick A Number.


7. Los Lobos - Tin Can Trust

Los Lobos never made a bad album and that's a fact. These East L.A.'ers have been going for 32 years now and on their latest they're tackling the financial meltdown of America. Never let it be said they are not political aware and they certainly don't hesitate to defend the poor.
I nominate them this year not only for this album but, in fact, for their entire oeuvre. Richly deserved.
Essential tracks : Burn It Down, West L.A. Fadeaway.


6. Woven Hand - The Treshingfloor

Noone will ever take away David Eugene Edwards' crown as the emperor of doom. Not Nick Cave, not Leonard Cohen.
Whether he goes under the moniker of 16 Horsepower or Woven Hand his dark preachings and strong religious lyrics will remain my absolute favorite.
No surprises here, genius songs as usual.
Essental tracks : all of them really.

5. Black Country Communion

OK so forget the supergroup tag for a minute and let's call it this year's Wolfmother album. Solid Seventies hard rock with a modern twist. No sign of fatigue in Glenn Hughes' voice and this album gives Joe Bonamassa an excellent chance to shine outside the blues genre. And shine he does.
Even if BCC proves to be just a one album project they certainly delivered and already added a classic to the genre.
Essential tracks : One Last Soul, Beggarman, Song of Yesterday, No Time, Medusa.




4. Tony Joe White - The Shine

Now this was a very nice surprise. Simply the best album White's made in the last 30 years of his long career. Very directly recorded, no fancy production tricks from his son Jody this time. Voice all to the fore instruments far in the back. Intimate, warm, White's voice a swampy growl, primitive backing and fantastic songs. I'm impressed!
TJ may very well never write another hit but I don't care. He's done enough of that in his 67 years.
Essential tracks : Season Man, Roll Train Roll, All.


3. JJ Grey & Mofro - Georgia Warhorse

From the Louisiana Swamp Fox to the swamps of Florida. Grey's actually from North Florida but who gives? This man goes from strength to strenght and again his 5th album is full of back porch soul, swamp country and a certain kind of southern rock. Majestic music. Grey will probably never be big but you could do worse than check out his music. Your foot will keep tapping I assure you.
Essential tracks : King Hummingbird, Diyo Dayo, Georgia Warhorse, Slow hot & Sweaty.


2. Bruce Springsteen - The Promise

You simply cannot call this a reissue. The songs are over 30 years old but never saw an official release and, above all, come from the best period of his entire career.
Bands could build entire careers with songs like these. Bruce considered them not fit enough to be heard by us. I agree to the fact that only a couple would have fit onto 'Darkness' but there's enough to have made up an album between 'Born to run' and 'Darkness' especially since a lot have that big sound so well knows from the former. A proper historical document that's what 'The Promise' really is.
Essential tracks : Because The Night, Rendezvous, Talk To Me, The Little Things, Ain't Good Enough For You.




1. The Black Keys - Brothers

 First place goes to The Black Keys for - and I quote myself - "Lifting the genre of plodding blues rock to new and exciting heights".
When Dan Auerbach's solo album came out I was thinking hey! I hope he does something similar for the band. And now he did it too.
The Black Keys are no longer simply a guitar/drums duo but have expanded their sound while staying true to their chosen genre. The falsetto voice helps as well.
Plus, and that's a big plus, the whole cd is full of fantastic songs.
While I've been a fan from the beginning I honestly never imagined they would one year take the top spot.
Essential tracks : Everlasting Light, Next Girl, Tighten Up, Howlin' For You, The Only One, Sinister Kid, The Go Getter, I'm Not The One.

Black Dub - Black Dub (2010)

Another supergroup of sorts. Daniel Lanois, top producer and acclaimed musician's musician, put together his new project with Brain Blade on drums (Norah Jones, Wayne Shorter) and Louisiana bassist Daryl Johnson (Neville Brothers).
They are joined by 23 year old Trixie Whitley, daughter of Chris. Her Belgian mother is the sister of dEUS' bassist.

It's especially her voice that brings this project off. Pure but raw enough to entertain.
The name Black Dub is well chosen because the music incorporates several elements of the dub culture on the one hand. On the other there's Lanois' voodoo soundscapes that sizzle and crackle like a tumbleweed trown on a hot barbeque pit.
The production is outstanding, crystal clear drum sound and heavy basslines without being overintruding.
But then one wouldn't expect anything less from Lanois.
The songs. There's pure gospel in 'Canaan', 'I believe in you' is a dub heavy excersise while 'Surely' is a purely sexy ballad brought off by Trixie's unbelievable voice.
In some songs I can even hear influences of T-Bone Burnett even though he wasn't at the sessions.
You'll also find two Lanois instrumentals 'Slow baby' and 'Sirens' that have his trademark deep haunting waves of electronic guitar.

Black Dub, the album, came out rather late in the year and I won't change my personal top 10 of the year for it. Still, truth be told, it deserves a place in it.
Not your everyday pop music this but a very laidback album to enjoy.

Tony Joe White - The Shine (2010)

That's the cover.
I need to tell you about this album, friends. Came out about a month ago and it is definitely the best work he's done in almost 20 years.
Others have made his early songs into worldwide superhits so let's not go there. The royalties from those alone were probably enough for Tony Joe to buy up half the properties in his home state of Louisiana.
During the 80's he only made a few albums that were not up to par with his earlier work but then he got a second break. Tina Turner recorded a couple of his new songs ('Steamy windows' anyone?) and suddenly TJ got a new management and recording deal out of it.

That's his 1991 comeback album and worth every cent it was too. His own version of 'Windows', 'Undercover agent for the blues' and two of the best songs he ever wrote: 'Tunica motel' and 'Closer to the truth'.
After that a steady stream of recorded work followed with another highlight being:

 
 where TJ duets with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Jessie Colter, Lucinda Williams, Shelby Lynne and daughter Michelle.
All of his work has that swamp sound, hot and brooding and in his guitar parts you can clearly hear where Mark Knopfler got his ideas from.
But back to 'The Shine'.
There's something real special about this album. While the sound is warm and direct you'll have to listen close to hear the voice. White almost whispers his lyrics and the sparse backing is even further in the background.
Some songs have just an acoustic guitar and harmonica, there's hardly any electric lead to be heard.
I counted exactly one up tempo ('Strange night')  the rest are formidable in their laid backness.
The best here? 'Season man', classical Tony Joe White. 'Roll train roll', Delta folk blues. 'Ain't doin' nobody no good', a swamp blues drone.
A most satisfying album from the 67 year old Swamp Fox. 

Left Lane Cruiser (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

While deciding upon my Album of the Year 2010 (more about that later) I was reminded of a fine and unbelievable band I discovered only this year.
Their two official albums date  2008 and 2009 so they don't count as new. Pity.
Left Lane Cruiser is a two man guitar/drums outfit not unlike the Black Keys (hint!) but they're totally steeped in the Hill Country punk blues of R.L.Burnside.
Together they make an ungodly racket since Bren Beck not only plays the drums but also everything else he can knock on. He also provides a mean call-and-response to guitarist/vocalist Freddie J Evans IV with grunts, hollers and shouts in the background.

Their 2008 release. Lots of slide guitar and gravelly vocals, mostly up tempo numbers and every percussive instrument including the kitchen sink thrown in. The Black Keys almost seem tame in comparison while the Black Box Revelation can still learn a thing or two from this crew.
You can almost hear the fights breaking out in the barroom and the whiskey glasses shattering on the hardwood floor. Except the duo's raw blues sound would drown everything else out.

 
2009 and more of the same rough and ragged slide blues where Jon Spencer never dared to thread.
These guys are really really good even though they can be enervating after a while. But if you have a taste for this kind of music you're in for a nice surprise.

JJ Grey & Mofro (Florida, USA)

Country got Soul.
That's one way to describe what this is all about. Another would be that John 'JJ' Grey is the bastard son of John Fogerty and Tony Joe White with a big dollop of Otis Redding thrown in the mix.
You see my friends, this band from Jacksonville plays that swamp groove to perfection and doesn't forget to throw in some solid funk for good measure.
They released their first two albums under the Mofro name then changed labels and became JJ Grey & Mofro.
Though it was clear from the beginning that Grey was the main man I suspect the label change had something to do with the name change. The current situation is that Mofro indeed became an ever changing carousel of backing musicians.

Although all 5 of the albums are interchangeably perfect, the third one is my personal favorite.

Opens with a fiery swamp rocker 'War' (not the Edwin Starr one) goes on to the funky 'Country Ghetto' and the slow groove of 'Tragic' then the horn filled 'By my side' and the highlight 'On Palestine' a piano heavy ballad.
That's five shots to the head in 20 minutes.

The fourth album is the most horn driven and a bit more smoothly produced. Dan Prothero is the man that's done all the albums so far and they were all recorded at the same Retrophonics studio on antique equipment.
JJ Grey believes in tradition.


This year saw the release of the latest and a return to the guitar. Less horns.

Again a mix of funk, swamp rock and slow burn ballads. Opener 'Diyo dayo' harks back to the voodoo stomp of Dr.John while 'Slow, hot & sweaty' is, well, pure sex.

JJ Grey simply deserves to be heard for he is a true craftsman with a love for all things traditional and environmental. I hope one day he'll get the fame he so rightly deserves and I'm pretty sure he won't go the Kings of Leon way when that day arrives.