Filed under: 2009 Top 20
Yep, accept no substitutes, this is the toppermost of the poppermost. Or somesuch…
Been a weird old year, and it can’t help but have affected what I’ve been listening to. Being indoors a LOT, and being medicated a LOT, meant that there wasn’t a lot of room for the livelier end of things – be it pounding hardcore punk, jump up D&B or whatever. So the stuff that resonated with me most over the year was either the more “songwriterly” (ugh) end of things, or plain old weirdness (as I keep saying, hauntology and opiates go together like rum and ginger). So while albums that would have been dead certs another year – Gallows, for example – don’t show, there’s a lot of moody country and the like.
Also, to get a top twenty out of a remarkable year for albums means no reissues, no compilations, no live sets (although I’ll do some sort of round-up at the year’s end).
As ever, the mp3 link is in the title, the Amazon or other “Buy Me” link in the album details.
Anyway, enough premable…
Number 20: Eilen Jewell – Sea Of Tears
A gorgeous blend of country, folk and R&B on the third album from young Bostonian Eilen (sic) Jewell. She seems to have gone in a slightly more bluesy direction here, and perhaps it’s not quite as good as last year’s Letters From Sinners & Strangers (not sure the cover of Shakin’ All Over serves to do much more than show what she’s up to). But still a warm, rich country voice and some wonderful songwriting.
Eilen Jewell – I’m Gonna Dress In Black
(Sea Of Tears, Signature Sound)
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