2008: Joan Baez, Calexico, Aeoliah
Adventures beyond the coolstream.
Listening to hundreds of albums instead of 20-30 really helps one to not care a lot about what was hot or hip in a given year.
Joan Baez. Day After Tomorrow.
United States, September 9
It is not enough merely to have a great voice – you must also have a vision for what to do with it and the stamina to see your vision through. My respect for Joan Baez’s later, wearily-voiced albums stems from the strength of her vision and her stamina in making it manifest, both of which shine strong even after she has had to adjust her voice to a lower register and accept its limitations. And by the way, new register or not, she still has a great voice.
Calexico. Carried to Dust.
United States, September 9
Road trips are many things and sometimes they are lonesome. This album starts on its cover, where a woman drives an old-fashioned car down a long road alone. That sepia-toned solitude suffuses “Victor Jara’s Hands” and “The News About William,” then runs all the way through the concluding “Contention City.” There’s a hollowness that hangs around the fringes of a lonely life, and it hangs around the edges of these fifteen songs as well. The instrumentals are a comfort for how they evoke the road instead of the loneliness one feels driving the road.
Aeoliah. The Liquid Light of Healing.
Germany, September 9
Music for spiritual experiences taking place in slow motion. Music for letting a stream’s water filter gently through your outspread fingers. Music for videos of time-elapsed photography – leaves changing color, spores expanding, etc. Music for waking up at dawn on your back in a meadow, well-rested and gently confused. Music “in the harmonic intonation of nature.” Music for flying in lucid dreams.