jones - chicagoreader.com · by pawel pawlikowski was pro-moted for its lesbian romance, but...

18 CHICAGO READER | JANUARY 6, 2006 | SECTION ONE

(West Beirut) is set in a dilapidat-ed Paris suburb, where a quiet,gifted Moroccan teenager(Mohammed Khouas) is drawninto a secret romance with a whiteneighbor (Vahina Giocante). Herexquisite beauty and sexual bold-ness make her a walking powderkeg in the poor, largely Arab com-munity, and a conflict involvingthe hero’s leering buddies leadsboth lovers to the brink oftragedy—and to genuine love.

4. Grizzly Man. German masterWerner Herzog finds a uniquelyAmerican focus for his career-long fascination with man andnature: Timothy Treadwell, aself-invented grizzly-bear expertwho became a media personalitybefore a grizzly devoured him inAlaska in 2003. Working withmore than 100 hours of videofootage Treadwell left behind,Herzog fashions an unnervingportrait of a troubled man whosecongress with the grizzlies wasboth religion and death wish.

5. Me and You and Everyone WeKnow. Miranda July made anauspicious feature debut withthis canny combination of reas-

suring formula and startling sub-ject matter. The main story is asweet screwball romance betweena lonely performance artist (July)and a hapless shoe salesman(John Hawkes), but woven intothis conventional fare are sub-plots that boldly explore the nar-rowing sexual divide betweenchildren and adults. July handlesthis taboo material with a dis-arming frankness and simplicity,absorbing it into her main con-cern—the joy of discovery, be itsexual, romantic, or creative.

6. Palindromes. Todd Solondzdives headfirst into the abortioncontroversy with this heartbreak-ing moral comedy about a younggirl who is forced to have an abor-tion, runs away from home, andfalls in with a born-again familyof deformed children. Dividingthe main character among eightactors, each chosen for her inno-cence, was commercial suicide,but it was also typical of afilmmaker who acts more frompure feeling than common sense.

7. My Summer of Love. A homelyorphan in rural West Yorkshire(Nathalie Press) is drawn into asteamy affair with a posh bird

visiting from the city (EmilyBlunt), much to the displeasureof the country girl’s older brother(Paddy Considine), who’sreturned from prison a sancti-monious evangelical Christian.This small-scale British dramaby Pawel Pawlikowski was pro-moted for its lesbian romance,but despite all the idyllic after-noons on rolling hills, it’s a storyof brutality and betrayal.

8. A History of Violence. In DavidCronenberg’s harrowing crimedrama, some people are born tokill, others are born to be killed,and at the end a small-town fam-ily gathers at the dinner table,united and stained by this awfulknowledge. This was adaptedfrom a hard-boiled graphicnovel, and Cronenberg, despitehis own history of GrandGuignol, honors the form with aremarkably spare narrative.

9. The Best of Youth. This six-hour family saga by Marco TullioGiordana traces a middle-classItalian clan from 1966 throughthe end of the century, as twobrothers are united by theiraffection for a mentally ill youngwoman and then divided by poli-

tics. The film is well-paced andhas an impressive historicalsweep, though Giordana gener-ates that broad perspectivethrough intimate observation ofthe many characters’ everydaylives. The film was produced as aTV miniseries but rejected by theItalian state network and ulti-mately released in theaters,where it screened in two three-hour segments; a DVD release isscheduled for February 7.

10. The Devil’s Rejects. Who’dhave thought that Rob Zombie,the freaky-looking dude whoonce fronted the metal bandWhite Zombie, would conjure up the most frightening moviesince The Blair Witch Project?Moving like a bat out of hell, thistale of a murderous family on therun from a vengeful sheriff tapsinto the same fear of backwoodscrazies that’s powered the genresince Two Thousand Maniacs!and the original Texas Chain-saw Massacre.

Best noirs: The Ice Harvest, ATout de Suite.

Best comedies: Wedding Crashers,The 40-Year-Old Virgin, SarahSilverman: Jesus Is Magic.

Jones

Best animated: Howl’s MovingCastle, Corpse Bride, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Best general-interest docs:March of the Penguins,Murderball, Tell Them WhoYou Are, Up for Grabs.

Best music docs: Fallen Angel:Gram Parsons, Moog, TheNomi Song, Rock School, WeJam Econo: The Story of theMinutemen.

Best political docs: Enron: TheSmartest Guys in the Room,The Future of Food, TheProtocols of Zion, Wal-Mart:The High Cost of Low Price.

Best movies I couldn’t jam intoany of the above categories:The Ballad of Jack and Rose,The Beautiful Country,Breakfast on Pluto, BrokebackMountain, Capote, Charlieand the Chocolate Factory,Crash, The Constant Gardener,Good Night, and Good Luck,Kontroll, Layer Cake, Millions,Munich, Nine Lives, PurpleButterfly, Separate Lies, TheSquid and the Whale,Thumbsucker, Tony Takitani,Walk the Line, Yes. v

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CHICAGO READER | JANUARY 6, 2006 | SECTION ONE 19

Liz ArmstrongI was positively, wholeheartedlyobsessed with everything on thislist at some point in the year, eitherfor months or just for a few hours.I’ve put the entries in alphabeticalorder, because arranging themaccording to the amount of time Ifixated on them would be silly.

AIDS WOLF“We Multiply,” “Opposing Walls,”“Fuck You McLean,” “Panty MindExtended” | MP3s on MySpace A tangled orgy of wall-to-wallshrieking in a paradise full ofdirty naked people.

COCOROSIENoah’s Ark | Touch and GoStripped bare but still lush,heart-wrenching but kind ofcreepy—like the songs a JeanGenet novel would sing.

DELIA GONZALEZ & GAVIN RUSSOMThe Days of Mars | DFA/AstralwerksInstrumental electronic art-gallery music that’s like thedeeply revelatory moment in thedenouement of some trippy, grit-ty, long-lost 70s film set in a win-try New York, stretched out tolast a whole hour.

HARRY MERRYWell . . . Here’s Another Nice MessYou’ve Got Me Into! | TocadoKeyboard chaos and arrhyth-mic percussion, simultaneous-ly giddy and desperate—themusic a hamster might hear in its head as it tries to navi-gate the most elaborateHabitrail ever.

INDIAN JEWELRYInvasive Exotics | GirlgangShamanic badasses wield shadowy guitars and sinister

analog synths to summon avision of crows flying into adark eternity.

SAM FLAX KEENER“Backwards Fire” | MP3 at mindmilk.comA transmission from MarcBolan’s ghost channeled by a blond, feather-haired New Age twink.

M.I.A.Arular | XL/InterscopeDangerous dance music that’sequal parts jump-rope taunt,

hood grit, antifashion fashion,and National Geographic.

NEON BLONDEChandeliers in the Savannah | Dim MakTwo of the Blood Brothers setjazzy, ass-ripping screeching torollicking cabaret piano, spinyguitar, and hectic beats.

OCS3 & 4: Songs About Death andDying Vol. 3 and Get Stoved |NarnackLike a lazy summer evening on theporch, tipping back warm whiskeywith friends while some weirddusty troubadour guy no one real-ly knows sings and plays guitar.

SSION“World’s Worth” | Sound VirusSleazy Robitussin party jams fist-fucking outrageous VivienneWestwood punk.

Kabir Hamid

1. EDANBeauty and the Beat | Lewis Edan spins a dense, claustropho-bic matrix of 60s psychedelicrock samples around his deeplyweird lyrics, which he delivers inan authoritative, scissor-tonguedstyle. The hip-hop equivalent ofa Salvador Dali painting.

2. THE GAMEThe Documentary | AftermathSingle-handedly rehabilitates

west-coast gangsta rap. TheGame is so hardcore I bet all the muscles he uses to smile have atrophied right off his face.

3. BLACKALICIOUSThe Craft | Anti-Not even their best, but stillhead and shoulders abovealmost all the other hip-hopthis year—Gift of Gab’s inex-haustible flow defies belief, and Chief Xcel packs ideas into his tracks like a guy whoknows he won’t run out.

4. COMMONBe | GOOD/GeffenChicago’s native son resurrectshimself after the flop that wasElectric Circus: his love songs to the ladies are great, and hislove songs to the street cornerare even better.

The BestMusic of 2005Our Section 3 regulars have made their lists. Even though some of them don’t believe in lists, man.

Clockwise from left: Bettye LaVette, Spoon, Crooked Fingers, M.I.A.

continued on page 20


Best Music

5. CAGEHell’s Winter | Definitive JuxOne of indie hip-hop’s mostnotorious nutcases grows up and decides to share: openlyautobiographical stories from his incredibly messed-up life gotoe-to-toe with some apocalypticDef Jux beats.

6. KANYE WESTLate Registration | Roc-a-FellaWhether Kanye’s lyrics arecharming or just cutesy is opento debate, but there’s no arguingwith the richness and maturity ofhis almost orchestral beats.

7. DANGERDOOMThe Mouse and the Mask | EpitaphDoom. Danger Mouse. TheCartoon Network. Together theycut an irreverent fart in the gen-eral direction of all that’s self-serious in hip-hop.

8. ASAMOVAnd Now . . . | 6 HoleThe debut from this four-manFlorida posse is the album LittleBrother wish they’d made thisyear. Laid-back, infectious grooveswith fun, feel-good rhymes.

9. ONE.BE.LOS.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. | Fat BeatsFormer Binary Star memberrhymes his ass off over a warm,jazzy soundscape.

10. ATMOSPHEREYou Can’t Imagine How Much FunWe’re Having | RhymesayersSolid all around, and the closer,“Little Man”—where Slug readsletters he’s written to his son, hisfather, and himself—is one of themost self-aware hip-hop tracksI’ve heard in a long time.

Keith Harris

1. ART BRUTBang Bang Rock & Roll | Fierce PandaWire-weaned English lads usefaux-Fall two-and-a-half-chordbarrages to set up Eddie Argos’spunch lines about forming aband, failing in the sack, andfreaking out in art museums.

2. GOGOL BORDELLOGypsy Punks: Underdog WorldStrike | Side One DummyLyric-spitting madman EugeneHutz and his merry band throw aspastic Gypsy dance party for mar-ginalized mongrels everywhere.

3. M.I.A.Arular | XL/InterscopeThis displaced Sri Lankan art stu-dent has more than earned everyoverthought review with herpolitically ambiguous agit-pop—and her dancehall-tinged Brit-hop beats are so good they renderall that verbiage irrelevant.

4. THE HOLD STEADYSeparation Sunday | FrenchkissThese Brooklyn boys now confi-dently inhabit the bar-bandidiom they once merely imitated,which helps Craig Finn’s causticlyrics jell—you don’t have to be afour-eyed lapsed Catholic fromthe upper midwest to appreciatehis fractured urban legends.

5. KANYE WESTLate Registration | Roc-a-FellaKanye demands the best in col-laborators, and when that won’twork he samples them—top-tierpop producer Jon Brion adds hisgrandiose arrangements, and thevoices of Ray Charles and OtisRedding root the whole projectin the soul tradition.

6. SLEATER-KINNEYThe Woods | Sub PopAll the Led Zep comparisonsobscured another obvious refer-ence point—this is what Heartcould’ve been if they’d interro-gated the power of boy rock asexpertly as they harnessed it.

7. THIONE SECKOrientation | Stern’s AfricaYoussou N’Dour’s 2004 releaseEgypt untangled the Arabic andMiddle Eastern roots of WestAfrica’s musical culture, and thisdisc from Dakar’s perpetualnumber two attraction under-takes something similar—thoughit’s sweeter and earthier, andreaches even further east to spicethe music with Bollywood fillips.

8. MOUNTAIN GOATSThe Sunset Tree | 4ADA longtime enemy of the autobio-graphical lyric, John Darnielle craftsthese acerbic songs about his ownadolescence with the same artis-tic distance that makes his third-person narratives so powerful.

9. MINOTAUR SHOCKMaritime | 4ADDavid Edwards undercuts thewhimsy in his intricate laptoppop with wistfulness, as if to ask,“Yes, you got the high score, butwas it really worth it?”

10. FIONA APPLEExtraordinary Machine | EpicThese scaled-back rerecordingstrump the intriguing but fussydemos leaked online, provingthat a major-label intrusion into

the creative process can some-times have a happy ending.

Jessica Hopper

1. SUFJAN STEVENSIllinois | Asthmatic KittyBecause Chicago is worth it!

2. SPOONGimme Fiction | MergePerfection in rock isn’t interest-ing or compelling, except when itis. I can’t help but surrender mybreath to the sweet plodding ofthe piano and drums on this one.

3. MAKE BELIEVEShock of Being | FlameshovelTim Kinsella’s been threateningto give us a real punk band since1997—who knew his versionwould be this commie-situation-ist blitzkrieg combining the aes-thetic of Pere Ubu with the atti-tude and ideals of Huggy Bearand Born Against.

4. LUNGFISHFeral Hymns | DischordThe only band worth owning 11albums by. All Day I DreamAbout Dan Higgs’s Beard.

5. MARY J. BLIGEThe Breakthrough | GeffenI know it might sound sacrilegiousgiven the exalted status of Blige’searly records, but The Breakthroughis nuclear—it’s her most consistentdisc from song to song, the cameosare pure fire, and the productionis fuck a brick. Mary’s back.

6. JOHN DOEForever Hasn’t Happened Yet | YepRocIt’s such a relief when the newrecord from an aging punk herodoesn’t make you wish he’d left wellenough alone. There’s still nobodywho duets better with lady singers.

7. RIVER CITY TANLINES River City Tanlines | DirtnapA bona fide icon with her ownlabel, Alicja Trout is the IanMacKaye of garage punk—andon top of that she solos like afever. This is just a collection ofsingles, but it’s sick, sick business.

8. ROD LEEVol. 5: The Official | MorphiusBaltimore club is God’s dancemusic: combining cold Detroit-

tech stasis, jackin’ house, and thenasty boom of southern bounce, itmeets all your needs in a singlesong. Asses are clapping in heaven.

9. PELICANThe Fire in Our Throats Will Beckonthe Thaw | Hydra HeadLush instrumental metal thatappeals equally to fans of EggHunt and Iron Maiden. Severalsongs here clock in at around 11minutes, but they could all standto be two or three days longer.

10. COMMONBe | GOOD/GeffenThe musical counterpart to BellHooks’s The Will to Change:Men, Masculinity, and Love—self-examination and a love ethicas an antidote to mainstreamhip-hop’s apocalyptic patriarchy.

Monica KendrickThe notion of ranking my favoritemusic is incomprehensible to me.First I think, “Is this album ofrootsy hillbilly blues better thanthis album of black-hole drone?”And then I think, “What the hellkind of question is that?” Inalphabetical order, then:

CROOKED FINGERSDignity and Shame | MergeThis dark, quirky, and very com-poserly singer-songwriterrecord had me at hello—or atthe very least at the asking-for-directions part.

DALEKAbsence | IpecacEver wondered how weird hip-hop could get if it were set free ofthe expectation that normalhumans should be able to dance toit? Dalek shows us one possibility,wrapping skittery beats in searing,droning goth-industrial guitar.

DEAD MEADOWFeathers | MatadorThese D.C. psychonauts have aswoopy, sludgy sound thickenough to pour on pancakes, with rhythms like slow-swayingseaweed and lyrics that might aswell be Robert Plant cutups—butunlike many other bands flourish-ing under the “stoner rock” growlights, they hardly hint at post-1975 metal. Nor do they tainttheir lumbering riffs with a sur-

plus of aggression: they soundheavy, hammered, and happy.

MARIANNE FAITHFULLBefore the Poison | Anti-Possibly her best since BrokenEnglish back in 1979. She’s beenworking that singular voice—thejaded older woman with herwicked wisdom—since she waswhat, 19? And it sounds evenbetter now that she’s aged into it.

HIGH ON FIREBlessed Black Wings | RelapseI didn’t think dense, smart,unhyphenated metal neededanyone to defend its honor, butI’m still happy to watch theseguys leave all the other would-bechampions in the dust.

IRON & WINEWoman King | Sub PopEvery so often you hear a song soperfect it gives you goose bumps,like this EP’s title track—eerie,hermetic folk that’d earn the disca spot on my list even if the restof it sucked.

MODEY LEMONThe Curious City | BirdmanThis trippy, tribal, manneristneogarage, undoubtedly theproduct of ill-advised whackjobambition, succeeds in spite ofsounding like it’s constantlyfalling apart—just like about 87percent of my favorite rockrecords ever.

SUNN O)))The Grimmrobe Demos | SouthernLordLike being in the womb, only bet-ter. And louder. (No offense, mom.)

TRAVELING BELLScatter Ways | Secret EyeOn her drony, elegant solo debut,Kathleen Baird of Spires That inthe Sunset Rise sounds steely andfierce—like a dryad in a spiked treewaiting for a lumberjack to makeher day. Think Nico’s Desertshorewithout the desperation.

WILLIAM ELLIOTT WHITMOREAshes to Dust | SouthernThere are a lot of whippersnap-pers on Fat Possum who wishthey were this guy—or if theydon’t, they should.

Peter Margasak1. BETTYE LAVETTEI’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise | Anti-Would’ve been the comeback of theyear if LaVette had ever gone away—perfect production, classic soularrangements, and material by thelikes of Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple,and Dolly Parton that soundsshockingly great in her hands.



2. AMADOU & MARIAMDimanche a Bamako | NonesuchWunderkind producer Manu Chaokeeps the swirling arrangementsand hypnotizing beats small, lettingthe outsize personalities of thisblind Malian couple shine through.

3. DAVE DOUGLASKeystone | GreenleafThe trumpeter crafts his bestelectroacoustic jams yet—assound tracks for some of FattyArbuckle’s forgotten silent films.

4. DEERHOOFThe Runners Four | Kill RockStars/5RCDeerhoof fuses twee pop and noiserock organically, with a thousanddelicate connections—and thoughthis album is the band’s most im-mediate and streamlined, that care-fully balanced yin and yang hasn’tlost a bit of its bushy-tailed energy.

5. SEU JORGECru | WrasseThe David Bowie songs he sangon-screen in The Life Aquaticmade him a celebrity, but thesestrikingly original, stripped-downsambas will make him a star.

6. M.I.A.Arular | XL/InterscopeMaya Arulpragasam’s charismatransforms this composite offamiliar forms—hip-hop, electro,bhangra, grime, favela funk—intosomething fresh and irresistible.

7. CAMILLELe Fil | VirginThis French chanteuse, betterknown as one of the singers from theNouvelle Vague project, uses multi-tracked vocals—from melodies tomouth percussion—to create a slypop masterpiece that flirts withchanson, funk, and doo-wop.

8. ATOMICThe Bikini Tapes | JazzlandFive of Scandinavia’s finestimprovisers, captured here on a

three-disc live set, bring theintensity and adventurousness offree jazz to carefully composedpostbop tunes—even the searingsolos are controlled and concise.

9. DOMENICO GUACCERODa Cantare | Die SchachtelThis Italian composer wrote thesemind-blowing vocal works between1951 and 1983. Some of the materi-al sounds like insane-asylum opera;elsewhere Guaccero abandons allpretentions to genre, layeringweird, blocky percussion atop har-monically berserk choral singing.

10. MARCUS SCHMICKLER & JOHN TILBURYVariety | A-MusikGerman laptop wizard

Marcus Schmickler alter-nately caresses and dices the minimalist figures of AMMpianist John Tilbury in thisserene but startling impro-vised set.

Bob MehrThere’s a dead heat for the number one spot, so my 2005list actually goes to eleven.

1. RICHARD HAWLEYColes Corner | MuteFormer Pulp guitarist capturesthe late-night magic of FrankSinatra, Lee Hazlewood, andScott Walker on this set of nostalgic pop numbers.

DAN PENN & SPOONER OLDHAMMoments From This Theatre |Proper AmericanTwo of music’s greatest story-tellers—and one of its greatestsongwriting teams—run throughtheir back catalogs in front of anawestruck Dublin audience.Moments has been available as animport since 1999, but was finallyreleased in the U.S. this year.

2. EDGAR “JONES” JONESSoothing Music for Stray Cats | ViperCheeky, brilliant pop from theformer leader of the Liverpoolband the Stairs, combiningsounds from jazz, doo-wop, andclassic R & B—and recordedalmost entirely on a digitaleight-track in his home.

3. EDDIE HINTONBeautiful Dream: Sessions Vol. 3 |ZaneA collection of unreleased gemsfrom the late lamented southernsoul man and session ace.

4. CAST KINGSaw Mill Man | LocustThis recently rediscovered coun-try songsmith and onetime SunRecords prospect released hisastonishing debut album at theripe young age of 79.

5. REIGNING SOUNDHome for Orphans | Sympathy forthe Record IndustryGreg Cartwright and his garage-rock gang retrofit a clutch oftheir favorite tunes as gloriousMemphis country-soul.

6. OUTRAGEOUS CHERRYOur Love Will Change the World |Rainbow QuartzOn its seventh full-length, MatthewSmith’s Detroit combo toughens upits jangly 60s fuzz pop with barbedlyrics and lean arrangements.

Clockwise from top: Sleater-Kinney, Sufjan Stevens, Common, Edan



Best Music

7. PHANTOM BUFFALOShishimumu | Rough TradeThe year’s most offbeat andinventive psych-pop record wasoriginally pressed in a tiny run in2003, back when this groupfrom Portland, Maine, was stillcalling itself the Ponys. RoughTrade gave it a widespreadrelease last winter.

8. VARIOUS ARTISTSCult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up |Numero GroupAnthology of reggae, R & B, andpop produced by artists from thetiny Central American nation inthe 1960s and ’70s.

9. BETTYE LAVETTEI’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise |Anti-Producer Joe Henry helmed thisexcellent studio comeback fromthe old-school R & B diva.

10. SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGSNaturally | DaptoneOn their second disc, Jonesand her nimble band plungeinto soul so deep you can’tsee the bottom.

Bill Meyer

1. VARIOUS ARTISTSAmerican Primitive Volume 2 |RevenantBefore he died, John Faheyplucked these 50 gloriouslyeccentric obscurities from 78smade at the dawn of Americanrecorded music.

2. JACK ROSEKensington Blues | VHFThe best of the new generationof American Primitive guitaristsinfuses his lyrical rags, blues,and ragas with remorseless rockheaviosity.

3. THE FALLThe Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 | CastleA six-CD set that’s both a troveof rarities and an invaluablecondensed history of this can-tankerous English postpunkinstitution.

4. ROGER SMITH & LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLOThe Butterfly and the Bee |EmanemThe title is a play on the phrase“insect music,” long used todescribe (or dismiss) Englishfree improvisation, but it dou-bles as a metaphor for this duo’s unusual sound: Smith’slight, prickling acoustic guitaradroitly balances the muchheavier tones of Moholo-Moholo’s percussion.

5. HOOD Outside Closer | DominoLyrical, lo-fi indie rock, treatedto hip-hop-inspired productionand expressing a deeply Englishrural melancholy.

6. KONONO NO. 1Congotronics | Crammed DiscsThis Congolese dance band usesa sound system built from junk,auto parts, and repurposedmegaphones to amplify thumb-piano grooves past the point ofdisintegration.

7. WIREThe Scottish Play: 2004 | Pink FlagThese legendary art punks provethat angry young men don’talways mellow out with the pas-sage of time.

8. LAU NAUKuutarha | LocustRough-hewn, rustic Finnish acid folk.

9. THELONIOUS MONK QUARTETWITH JOHN COLTRANEAt Carnegie Hall | Blue NoteThis 1957 concert recording, lostfor nearly half a century, turnsout to be the most complete por-trait of the brief but momentousassociation between these twojazz giants.

10. LOWThe Great Destroyer | Sub PopThe quietest band in rock turnsit up—way up.

Brian Nemtusak

1. MEAT BEAT MANIFESTOAt the Center | Thirsty EarElectro-dub-industrial trail-blazer Jack Dangers charts abold new course on this ele-gantly jazzed-up outing. A shotgun blast of antivenin fortoday’s poisoned brains.

2. BROADCASTTender Buttons | WarpAddition by subtraction: James Cargill and TrishKeenan drop their supportingcast and produce their mostdelicate and gripping album to date. A wild, fluttering rush, like a clockwork wax-wing crashing through win-dowpane after windowpane.

3. PONYSCelebration Castle | In the RedJered Gummere and companysoar to desperate new heights,alighting on the aerie whereSonic Youth and Joy Division arereimagined as one another.

4. EPOXIESStop the Future | Fat Wreck ChordsEven better than the Rezillian fareon their breezy and blistering debut.Everyone from the Faint to GwenStefani could learn a thing or twofrom these guys about how this neo-new-wave thing oughta be done.

5. CARIBOUThe Milk of Human Kindness | DominoDan Snaith, served with cease-and-desist from Handsome Dickregarding the Manitoba moniker,finally works off his debt to Boardsof Canada with his first full-lengthas Caribou. Psychedelimotorikexcursions to the subarctic reachesof the glitchtronica frontier.

6. LADYTRONWitching Hour | RykodiscThis disturbed dance music could bethe sound track for a lost Deodatofilm—it pulses with a palpable, deli-cious unease that’s like a photo neg-ative of 604’s synthetic euphoria.

7. GORILLAZDemon Days | VirginI like a few tracks on the first albumbetter than anything here, butDemon Days is a more cohesive

effort—it’s even impossible to hatethe song from that iPod commercial.

8. FRANZ FERDINANDYou Could Have It So Much Better |DominoFor my money, still the best(and most likable) of the post-Strokes boy bands. On their sec-ond disc, tongue-in-cheek art-rock dandy Alex Kapranos andcrew simply dish up more of thesame Roxy rock—but when it’sthis good, who cares?

9. AMON TOBINChaos Theory | Ninja TuneThe reigning lord of the other-worldly soundscape—whose basaltplateaus teem with metallizedinsectoid legions, marching in theglare of exploding stars—does thesound track for a first-personshooter, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory. Can you say “duh”?

10. KAISER CHIEFSEmployment | UniversalI was initially pretty dismissive ofthis album, but it’s grown on melike all hell. Even the less juiced-

up songs, which at first seemedlike above-average filler, now feelas strong as the hits—I guessfalse modesty is as classically dif-fident a Britpop pose as any.

J. Niimi1. M.I.A.Arular | XL/InterscopeShriekin’ Sri Lankan makes post-terrorism dance pop from Atariglossolalia, talking toy machineguns, and a whole lot of dance-hall hustle. With a militant Tamilseparatist for a dad, she’s soauthentic she makes Ice Cubelook like Jello Biafra.

2. LCD SOUNDSYSTEMLCD Soundsystem | DFA/CapitolAffectless dance-floor electronicagets a snarky sense of humor.Irony will free your mind, andyour ironic ass will follow.

3. ELECTRELANEAxes | Too PureProgrammatic post-rock withheart and balls as well as the req-


Clockwise from top: Vijay Iyer, Iron & Wine, Hold Steady, Cocorosie, Low


uisite brains, wringing suspenseand drama out of its sonic plotarc like a good film noir.

4. DANGERDOOMThe Mouse and the Mask | EpitaphThe Shel Silverstein of rap joinsforces with the Grey Album’s furryrabble-rouser and realizes that thedecline of narrative in hip-hop freeshim up to talk about stuff besidesnines, Escalades, and pussy.

5. THE FALLThe Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 | CastleA fitting tribute to both the Falland the late great John Peel. Theworld would be a noticeablycrappier place had neither ofthem existed.

6. JENS LEKMANOh You’re So Silent Jens | SecretlyCanadianSensitive Swede nominates him-self to be the Scott Walker ofindie pop. Warm, lonely musicfor bus stations at 3 AM—like“Midnight Train to Georgia,”except from the point of view ofthe guy who’s pawned all hishopes for a ticket to a simplerplace and time.

7. COMET GAINCity Fallen Leaves | Kill Rock StarsThese Brits lean hard on thecanonical C86 sound, especiallythe way domesticated amp clat-ter catalyzes the ugly beauty ofconfessional cockney speak-song.

8. WILDERNESSWilderness | JagjaguwarBaltimore boys show up late tothe early-aughts postpunk yardsale and get stuck with the partof PiL nobody wanted: thevocals. They make lemonade.

9. BASEMENT JAXXThe Singles | XLPixelated dance-pop outfit swallowsclub-culture flotsam—styles, singers,samples, timbres—like it’s some sortof magical food that makes you hun-grier the more you eat.

10. KELLEY POLARLove Songs of the Hanging Gardens |EnvironCroatian violin prodigy getsexpelled from Juilliard for whathis label claims was a “riot” dur-ing his master’s recital, thenbecomes a postmashup club star,

fusing pop melodies played onclassical instruments to anabolicdisco beats.

Miles Raymer

1. SPOONGimme Fiction | MergeThe long wait for Britt Daniel tostop making merely goodalbums and put out somethinggreat is over—this tense, creepypostpunk pop sounds like a 70sAM radio signal bounced off alonely satellite.

2. HOLD STEADYSeparation Sunday | FrenchkissPossibly the year’s best work ofliterature, and you know no onein the New York Review of Bookssounds like the E Street Bandgone feral.

3. KONONO NO. 1Congotronics | Crammed DiscsThe world’s best street musiciansmake Powerbooks andsequencers look bad by bangingout the year’s densest, ass-shakingest dance record onhomemade thumb pianos.

4. MAKE BELIEVEShock of Being | FlameshovelLyrically, it’s probably the mostrelevant record of the year, andprobably still will be when every-one else catches up to MakeBelieve’s next-level tweakcorestyle sometime around 2011.

5. COMMONBe | GOOD/GeffenWith a little push from Kanye,Common dropped the record-geek navel gazing and got backto writing raps that shout outfeminism as fiercely as otherMCs rep their clothing lines. On“Go” he even got folks to danceto John Mayer.

6. CELEBRATIONCelebration | 4ADGothic and vaudevillian andsteeped in slapback, this albummakes me picture one of thosecartoon bands of skeletons whoplay music on their own bones—except it’s actually scary.

7. M83Before the Dawn Heals Us | MuteEpic in its scope and sadnessand impossible to box into

just one genre. Like the soundtrack to the dystopian sci-fimovie that 2005 sometimesseemed to be.

8. BLOC PARTYSilent Alarm Remixed | ViceUnderground dance-floortastemakers rip apart an OKBritpop record and stitch it backtogether into something thatlives up to the hype.

9. DAVID BANNERCertified | SRC/UniversalOne part conscious rapper andtwo parts strip-club hedonist,Banner makes Dirty Southbangers with a pissed-off politi-cal bite to match their tear-up-the-club rowditude.

10. VARIOUS ARTISTSThe Sexual Life of the Savages:Underground Post-Punk from Sao Paulo, Brasil | Soul JazzSao Paulo’s early-80s postpunksinjected hot blood into thegenre’s ironic poses—furtherproof that Brazilians can makeany style of music exponentiallyfunkier.

Ann Sterzinger

1. MOMUSOtto Spooky | American PatchworkSometimes I think Nick Currie isone of them real live geniusthings, but what do I know?

2. MARGOT & THE NUCLEAR SO & SO’SThe Dust of Retreat | StandardRecording CompanyYou could call these self-described“scarf rockers” precious, or youcould quit resisting their wistful,wintry tunes and let your tearswash the crud from your soul.

3. DMBQThe Essential Sounds From the Far East | EstrusThis vortex of wild, psych-drenched blues-punk would’vemade my list even without thecompassion points I awarded theband after the death of their bril-liant drummer in a van crash.China Mana, R.I.P.

4. INVISIBLE BALLETEscaping Light | NilaihahI usually have to track downsynth-pop records and order

them myself, since the labels thatrelease this stuff aren’t makingenough money to send promocopies to folks like me. I’m sureI’ve overlooked a few worthycontenders as a result, but LinChen’s silky, sinewy, soulful voicemakes this the best example Ifound all year.

5. DEADLY SNAKESPorcella | In the RedNick Cave has the Beatles overfor a barbecue and servesthem . . . to Satan.

6. ANTONY & THE JOHNSONSI Am a Bird Now | Secretly CanadianIf Antony’s androgynous cabaretdoesn’t make you weepy, youneed an empathy transplant.

7. EPOXIESStop the Future | Fat Wreck ChordsIf you don’t fall in love with new-wave goddess Roxy Epoxy, youmight want to check your libidofor leaks.

8. LAST TARGETOne Shot, One Kill | BYO RecordsHas there ever been a bad yearfor Japanese punk? Not since Ihit puberty at least.

9. VAZThe Lie That Matches the Furniture |NarnackJust when you’re getting jaded inthe indie-metal haunted house, areal live loup-garou pops outfrom behind a giant foam-rubbertombstone and gives you the BJof your life.

10. TENEMENT HALLSKnitting Needles & Bicycle Bells |MergeChris Lopez, of the dearlydeparted Rock*a*Teens, multi-tracked this almost-solo disc ofraw but delicate garage—remi-niscent of the Thrills, if theysounded less canned and tidy.

Neil Tesser

1. VIJAY IYERReimagining | SavoyThe clearest statement yet ofthe pianist’s Indian-Americanfusion: he stitches mathemati-cal theories and ancestralmodes into jagged, powerfullylyrical music that excites bothhead and heart.

2. MESHELL NDEGEOCELLOThe Spirit Music Jamia: Dance of the Infidel | Shanachie The superb bassist opens up tojazz both past and present—thearrangements recall electricMiles, and the guest musiciansinclude Don Byron, Neal Evans,and Wallace Roney—and in the process points to a fertilepossible future.

3. KEITH JARRETTRadiance | ECMSolo piano, but a lot more cuttingthan the pastoral stuff you expectfrom Jarrett. Two Japanese con-certs recorded three days apartand combined into one kaleido-scopic, 17-part treatise.

4. DAVE DOUGLASKeystone | GreenleafIn case you just can’t believe that the silent films of the long-discredited Fatty Arbucklecould’ve inspired the year’s bestfusion disc, this release includesa DVD where Douglas’s musicprovides an obliquely comple-mentary sound track to the on-screen chicanery.

5. JOHN HOLLENBECK LARGE ENSEMBLEA Blessing | OmniToneHaving recently revitalized cham-ber jazz with his Claudia Quintet,the drummer and composer rein-vents the jazz orchestra, nodding toCharles Mingus, Aaron Copland,Thad Jones, and Steve Reich.

6. THELONIOUS MONK QUARTETWITH JOHN COLTRANEAt Carnegie Hall | Blue NoteThis technically superior record-ing of an artistically superior1957 concert provides the mostvaluable window yet into theshort-lived Monk-Coltrane part-nership—and its discovery wasjazz’s feel-good story of the year.

7. ERNEST DAWKINS’S CHICAGO 12Misconceptions of a DelusionShades of a Charade | DawkWritten by local saxist ErnestDawkins to commemorate the35th anniversary of the ChicagoSeven conspiracy trial, thispiece captures much of the lively burlesque (both intendedand not) of that time and place,with its anger, pathos, and helter-skelter anarchy.continued on page 24


Best Music

8. RICHARD GALLIANO NEW YORK TRIORuby, My Dear | DreyfusGalliano plays accordion, and itspeaks to his virtuosity andmusicality that you won’t betempted into a single LawrenceWelk joke.

9. ANTHONY BROWN’S ORCHESTRARhapsodies | Water BabyBrown has already transformedthe music of Ellington andMonk, and to complete the trip-tych he’s rescored, reharmonized,and restructured Gershwin’sRhapsody in Blue, incorporatingAsian influences and instru-ments and a touch of Latin fla-vor. Scandalous, heretical!—untilyou hear it.

10. FREDRIK LUNDIN OVERDRIVE“Belly-Up”: The Music of Leadbelly |StuntThis Danish saxist leads his big band in an inventive trib-ute to the American folk-bluesicon—and doubles the ante by dedicating each arrange-ment, in spirit as well as inname, to an American jazzgreat, from Charles Mingus to Gil Evans.

David WhiteisGiven the range of subgenresand styles represented, I haven’tranked these—consider each thebest of its kind that I encoun-tered in 2005.

EUGENE “HIDEAWAY” BRIDGESComing Home | ArmadilloBuoyant but tasteful guitarblues, technically flawless anddeeply soulful—even the mostexuberant good-timey tunessound refreshingly adult.

GOSPEL KEYBOARD TRIOHeavenly Keys | The SirensChicago keyboardists WillieJones, Leonard Maddox, andDwayne Mason proclaim theirfaith in a set of churchy hymns,up-tempo shouters, and statelyspiritual songs, both solo and asa trio—it’s virtuosity infusedwith an uplifting earnestnessand joy.

BUDDY GUYBring ’Em In | SilvertoneLately this Chicago blues leg-end has developed a distres-sing tendency toward over-wrought performances, espe-cially in full-band settings, but he imbues the updated 60s soul tunes here (and theoccasional pop number, likeDylan’s “Lay Lady Lay”) with emotional depth and good taste.

HERMON HITSONYou Are Too Much for the HumanHeart | Soul-Tay-ShusA compilation showcasing thisalmost forgotten 60s soul singerfrom Atlanta. Hitson was ham-pered by second-rate productionfor most of his career, but at hisbest he packed an emotionalwallop to rival James Brown’s orOtis Redding’s.

DENISE LASALLEWanted | EckoOdes to womanly prowess, bothin and out of bed, from a veter-an soul-blues stylist, laced withher trademark take-no-prison-ers raunch and leavened withgood humor.

BETTYE LAVETTEI’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise |Anti-LaVette can extract more feelingfrom a single phrase than mostsoul singers get from an entireset. You may need to lie downafter this one.

AARON NEVILLETell It Like It Is | Empire MusicwerksWhen this angelic croonerunfurls his quavering falsetto ona ballad like this set’s classic titletune, hearts melt for milesaround—but he can also sharpenhis voice to match the streetsysignifying on jumpy R & B num-bers like “A Hard Nut to Crack”and “Space Man.”

DAN PENN & SPOONER OLDHAMMoments From This Theatre |Proper AmericanIt takes a hell of a singer to pulloff a line like “Go back home, see the old folks / They’ve allhad heart attacks and lightstrokes,” but blue-eyed soulbrother Dan Penn is a hell of a singer. He and SpoonerOldham, who wrote and pro-duced some of the most memorable R & B of the 60s,reprise some of their best tunes in gritty, graceful country-folk versions.

BOBBY RUSHNight Fishin’ | Deep RushThis time Rush mixes his usualtales of backdoor shenaniganswith songs like “We Had Love,” athoughtful meditation on achildhood enriched by old-fash-ioned family values—a welcomeglimpse of the serious-minded

philosopher behind his trick-ster’s mask.

JAMES BLOOD ULMERBirthright | Hyena Aided by producer Vernon Reid,Ulmer creates the feel of a bar-ren, haunted landscape on thisferocious solo acoustic record.His adventurous playing andnaked lyrics—about sex, race,and religion—both invoke andtranscend the deepest roots ofthe blues.

Douglas Wolk1. LCD SOUNDSYSTEMLCD Soundsystem | DFA/CapitolJames Murphy is the best danceproducer in America, and hemakes a pretty great rock star too.

2. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERSTwin Cinema | MatadorThe Canadian power-pop legionsets a new world record forhooks per unit time.

3. VARIOUS ARTISTSOne Kiss Can Lead to Another: GirlGroup Sounds Lost & Found | RhinoFive hours of magnificent 150-sec-ond epics from the 60s, packagedin a hat box. A hat box, people.

4. THE FALLThe Complete Peel Sessions 1978-2004 | CastleTwenty-seven years of statusreports from a marble-mouthedavant-garde poet and his riff-crazy backup bands.

5. SUFJAN STEVENSIllinois | Asthmatic KittyIt’s not just his songs, as smartand tender as they are—it’s thoseravishing arrangements.

6. JUDEE SILLDreams Come True | WaterThis hopeful anticipation of the apocalypse, recorded in1974, would’ve been the singer-songwriter’s third album ifshe’d lived to see it finished; it was finally mixed andreleased this year.

7. SLEATER-KINNEYThe Woods | Sub PopVeteran Portland trio cranks upthe amps to “pulverize” and bar-rels off into terra incognita.

8. THE MOUNTAIN GOATSCome, Come to the Sunset Tree |self-releasedThe LP-only edition of JohnDarnielle’s taut, compassionatevalediction to an abusive stepfa-ther, with home-recorded ver-sions of the songs on the CD.

9. SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGSNaturally | DaptoneAs far as this joyful funk band isconcerned, it’s 1971 and they’reglued to the top of the R & B charts.

10. PRINCESS SUPERSTARMy Machine | !K7A science-fiction hip-hop operain which motormouthedConcetta Kirschner turns allother celebrities into “dupli-cants” of herself.


By Jessica Hopper

T he first time I stole arecord it was because Iwanted to be in a girl

group. It was easy. I went to thelibrary, picked up a copy of 25Years of Motown, cut out themagnetic alarm strip with arazor, slipped the five-album setinto my large schoolbag withthe spray-painted peace sign onit, and headed home to listen to“Reflections” by the Supremes afew dozen times in a row. I wasobsessed with Diana Ross, MaryWilson, and Florence Ballardand desperately wanted to bethem all. That wasn’t the normamongst 11-year-old Minnesotagirls in 1988, but my fandomwas immutable. Much as theirharmonies killed me, what Ireally loved was their aesthetic:Mary had the better voice andbouffier hair, but Diana was myfavorite because she alwaysseemed to be wearing twice asmuch eyeliner. They were themost majestic representation ofyoung womanhood I knew, soprincesslike, and I bought intothe dream of it completely.

The four-disc genre retrospec-tive One Kiss Can Lead toAnother: Girl Group SoundsLost and Found (Rhino) is amonument to that dream: theromantic fever dream ofteenage-girl narratives writtenby adult songwriters. In the pre-Beatles days of the early 1960sgirl groups came to dominatethe charts, supposedly due tothe vacuum left by the overseasdeployment of Elvis and thedeaths of Eddie Cochran,Ritchie Valens, and BuddyHolly. Trios and quartets of highschool- and college-age women,many of them black, supplantedslick-haired boys on the radioand got a chance to tell their

side of the story—sort of.Crooning and cooing about thetriumphs and travails of younglove (and little else), wagginggloved fingers in time to theirhoney-sweet three-part no nonos, the girl groups profferedthe inverse of the thrusty rebel-lion and innuendo that hadbeen codified by men: the ultra-chaste longings of a bunch ofpurported virgins in satinyevening gowns.

Looking back, girl groups seemthe epitome of the gender pre-scription of the time: that womenand girls should be guileless andpure, doting and servile, neverfully women unless validated bythe love of a man. In song aftersong, the promise of romanceand the redemption it brings is

strong: “Please find it in yourheart / To make all my dreamscome true / Let me get close toyou,” sings country star SkeeterDavis on her girl-pop turn “LetMe Get Close to You.” Over asnare crack that sounds like acannon shot and a bed of perfect-ly harmonized bum-she-bum-ooo-eee-ooo-aaa, the Chiffons’ JudyCraig booms with pride, “I have aboyfriend / Met him a week ago /He’s mine forever / Last night hetold me so,” on “I Have aBoyfriend.” Then, so we don’tthink she’s some good-night-kiss-ing hussy, she adds, “Somedaywe’ll walk down the aisle / So inlove.” Their physical desires canbe safely expressed only throughdouble entendre, and when theystray—as with “bad girl” groups

like the Shangri-Las—things endin tragedy.

The girls are never true aggres-sors; rather, they are t-r-u l-u-vhopefuls, keeping the heartflames alive somewhere beneaththeir bullet bras. For these girlsthere’s just one kind of boy—theOne and Only—and their love,it’s Forever and Always. As fortheir love objects, they’re badboys, other girls’ boys, ex-boys,and next boys, and they’re allelusive. Whether he’s a commit-mentphobic cad, a cheater, anabuser, or a dude with a drag-race death wish, she wants onlyto make him happy—and all hecan do is disappear. She canshoop shoop shoop all nightlong, but he ain’t coming back.In the end she’s left with noth-

ing but a tear-stained pillowand poetic metaphors: “All I can see on the beach / Is a pieceof driftwood / And it somehowreminds me / Of the twistedmemories / Left in my mind”goes the dramatic spoken interlude of the Bitter Sweets’“What a Lonely Way to Start the Summer.”

But One Kiss Can Lead toAnother is more than just anexhaustive tribute to brokenhearts and high-tease hairdos:it’s a chronicle of how the girl-group sound impacted rock ’n’roll. Many of the girls camefrom gospel backgrounds andbrought along the soul-hollerand hand claps. Phil Spector’sproduction for the Ronettes notonly created the template forthe girl-group sound—forcefulvocals cut with gunshot snares,pizzicato string stabs, andreverb by the metric ton—butupped the ante for other pro-ducers who sought to compete:Brian Wilson, Spector arrangerJack Nitzsche, future Breadfounder David Gates, andMotown’s resident genius teamHolland-Dozier-Holland. Theymade symphonic pop and madeit loud as hell, a cavernous cav-alcade of harps, timpani, andorchestra-size string sectionswith occasional tracks of audi-ble sobbing. The sound is astimeless as the sentiments oflovelorn teens and still holds updecades after the genre’s finalyears, represented here by theLovelites’ 1969 teen-pregnancyclassic, “How Can I Tell MyMom and Dad?”

Much as the sound of popmay have changed, the subjectmatter—love and how to sufferit—is still intrinsic to the soul-

Music

ReviewsCHICAGO READER | JANUARY 6, 2006 | SECTION ONE 25

Girls, Girls, GirlsAnd you thought “women in rock” had it rough.

Books

VARIOUS ARTISTS ONE KISS CAN LEAD TO ANOTHER: GIRL GROUP SOUNDS LOST AND FOUND (RHINO) EVIE SANDS ANY WAY THAT YOU WANT ME (REV-OLA)


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Nik Cohn’s Triksta REVIEW BY ROBERT MENTZER

Harry Stephen Keeler’s

The Riddle of the Traveling SkullREVIEW BY JOHN MARR

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Rhino’s latest girl-groups box and

Evie Sands’sAny Way That You

Want MeREVIEW BY JESSICA HOPPER

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jones - chicagoreader.com · by pawel pawlikowski was pro-moted for its lesbian romance, but...

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