The Third Annual Jaybee-bies, or It Wasn’t You, 2013, It Was Me:

Mrs. Jaybee hated 2013. 

I just found it kind of annoying. Nothing really awful happened, but I did have to leave a job I liked because my employer was going under. It eventually worked out okay, but managed to cast a pall over everything. So it wasn’t a bad year, but it sure did seem to be messing with us a lot.

I was a bit fatigued by music this year. And TV and books and movies. As usual, there was plenty of good, but not quite enough great, music. My fault. I was bummed with  the job change hanging over me, so I wasn’t fit for fun, and my choices weren’t quite on the mark.

When I would look at the many, many possibilities out there I’d get a bad feeling that I'd be underwhelmed.  xgau was partly absent and I missed his keen eye for separating hype from quality. Admittedly, it's occasionally too keen, and has kept me from getting to some great albums, but overall he’s saved me lots of time.

And speaking of time, how did I do with my 2013 resolutions? Well, I was no better to 2013 than 2013 was to me.

2013 Resolutions:

1. No CDs:

I got 14, if you count double CD sets as two, and 12 mp3s. So I’ve got a ways to go.  B-

2. Get at least 3 albums released in 2013:

I failed utterly. My amazon Wish Lists are overflowing with records that seemed interesting but that I could think of an excuse not to buy. It was a mental version of what I used to do in the record store.

So I had to get something. And if my math is right, the “average year” of the music I did buy was 1987, with the 1970s being the decade most represented. I sort of made up for it by burning down some itunes and amazon gift cards - I’ve already got five records this year - three from 2013! But that’s too little, too late. F

3. Get Less Music:  It may seem counter-intuitive, but I really do believe that less is more. That the more you have, the less valuable each one is, especially when, like with mp3s, you can’t even touch them. And I did it! Didn’t seem like it! But I did it! A-.

4. More music books! Well I got “Revolution of the Head” anyway. Totally worth it. But that’s all. C+

Which all works out to a C+ average overall.

But enough about what I suck at. This show’s running long already, so it’s time for 

The Jaybee-bie  Awards!

Most Plays (By Other People) That I Could Have Easily Passed On, but That Ended Up Making Me Like The Record More Than I Thought:

High Violet - The National

Thanks to Mrs. Jaybee and Son of Jaybee Michael, who liked it more than I did, and insisted on putting it on constantly, I did end up liking this record.

On the one hand this merely reinforces my delusion that I’m the Arbiter of Good Music (in my house) who brings it to the Masses (in my house anyway (well, technically, it’s still the bank’s house)).

On the other hand, I hate it when other people end up liking my music more than I do.  (Hmmm. Must buy something they’ll hate….)

Most Disconcerting Musical Experience:

Present Tense/Tongue Twister - Shoes

Which forced me to think about whether or not there is such a thing as having too much pop music.

Good News For Modern Man Award:

While none of his three records quite made it to the list, I’m now I’m putting on John Cale’s The Island Years for fun.

OK News For Modern Man Award:

For records that are better than I gave them credit for at the time,:

Pleasures of the Harbor - Phil Ochs (22 plays) - But not that much better.

The Creek Drank the Cradle - Iron and Wine (64 plays!!) which testifies to how easy it is to play this first thing in the morning.

Not So Good News For Modern Man Award:

Kleenex/Liliput (41 plays) and still not fun just yet.

And finally...

Best of the Year - Weasel Version:

Here’s my Top Ten. You may have noticed that I've included, where possible, indicate how many plays these albums got throughout the year. Let’s see if Plays = love.

Tied for first:

I couldn’t decide between:

Seasick - Imperial Teen

It’s Blitz - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (only 4 plays, but that doesn’t count the ipad or the van)

Celebration Rock - Japandroids (12 plays, because it’s just too intense for just any occasion)

Oh, and let's throw in Tame Impala’s Lonerism (40 plays on the desktop alone!) in there as well.  As mistrustful as I've been to the woozy/hazy and even synth-y sounds, (and I could swear I smell a joint being passed around), and on top of all that, the singing that I thought was a gal actually being a guy. When measured against how good it sounded - from beginning to end - on a long drive last month, these guys deserve to be here. They combine the worst tendencies of the sixties and seventies and somehow make it sound great.

Tied for second (okay, fifth):

Alien Lanes - Guided by Voices

Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd

Tallulah - Go Betweens

Superunknown - Soundgarden

Copper Blue - Sugar (23 plays)

The more discerning of you may have noticed (hmmm, the more discerning of you left already, but whatever) is that I don’t have ten records in my top ten. It was that kind of pain in the ass year.

10. So let’s throw in The Very Best of Grin, which technically doesn’t qualify because it’s a best of, but what the hell. It’s a delight from beginning to end. (The Fall comes close, but “delight” isn’t quite the word I’d apply to them.)

Artist of the Year:

Nobody. Unless you count Imperial Teen who’ve made two albums that are amongst this and last year’s best. Yeah, screw you too, 2013!

So How Good a Year Was It?

Some of the annoying things from 2013 have finally settled down. It turned out, in retrospect, to be a good year. This is not the same thing as being a good year while you’re experiencing it, which is more, you know, fun.

Onward:

I’ve already gotten five records this year. And they are, happily, all over the place. Which is how it’s supposed to be.

And Mrs. Jaybee is insisting that 2014 will be a good year.

You got that, 2014?

Why Can’t I Just LOVE Something Anymore: Sugar’s Copper Blue

Why Can’t I Just LOVE Something Anymore:  Sugar’s Copper Blue

For my fourth record this year (thank you amazon.com!) I needed something strong and bracing to get the initial Pleasures of the Harbor taste out of my mouth. (Up to that point, Iron and Wine had barely left a taste at all. But it’s okay now. We’ve worked it all out, and will remain friends!)

Sugar, Copper Blue

And Bob Mould’s post-Husker-Du/post-mellow-solo-records-new(at the time) rock-n-roll-band Sugar’s Copper Blue will definitely cleanse your palette. Mould pulls it all together here, as if to prove to everyone that Husker Du was HIM and not Grant Hart. And that after some mellowish solo records, he can still rock.  

And although it’s as consistent as any Husker record, I still prefer Sugar’s second: the shorter, sweeter File Under Easy Listening. But you do get the Bob Mould wall of sound guitar, a dash of keyboards, and, gasp, hooks.

So when compared to the very baroque Pleasures of the Harbor, you’d think it would be no contest.

Clearly a lot of craft went into this record. But so far I’m not hearing the passion.

Part of the problem is that my initial reaction to such an onslaught is, well, apathy.  As George Harrison would say, it’s all too much. But then came that little drum flourish about 3 minutes into “The Slim” that tells me that they mean it, man. So I’ve definitely moved into Like territory. But not love. Not yet.  

I guess being exposed to the Beatles early in life warps your expectations.  They’re the ones who got away.

It’s not you, Bob. It’s me. A-

Voice of the Narrator: Will Jaybee ever love (music) again? Stay tuned!

"If I Can’t Change Your Mind"

So Far:

1. Tame Impala

2. Sugar

3. Iron & Wine

4. Phil Ochs

Why Can't I Just Hate Anything Anymore?: Phil Och's "Pleasures of the Harbor"

Another dark night of the soul for Jaybee, my friends. Today's crisis: Why can't I just hate anything anymore? It seems if I give anything enough time, I can come to enjoy - or at least tolerate - it. The joyful catharsis of despising something now appears lost to me.

It's not like I don't try. When it comes to people, my disdain can barely be contained. Music? No such luck.

Here's the latest instance of my irrational Breaking Good:

Phil Ochs’ Pleasures of the Harbor,

Unlike Dylan, who had electrified Newport in 1965, Phil Ochs would stick to the protest-singer-with-just-a-guitar style for a couple of years more. But by 1967 everybody was experimenting. So it was time for a change. And the longer you wait, the more humungus change you better make. So Phil gets himself an orchestra.

And after an initial shock most of his fans would come around. Not so, a couple of years later, when he got a rock and roll band.

So, what's worse a switch orchestrations or Buddy Holly medleys?

My first listen would indicate the former. Here's my immediate reaction upon first listen:

... this may turn out to be the worst album I’ve gotten in a while. Phil goes with full orchestrations - tinkly piano and swooning strings crammed into every little nook and cranny - this time out. They suit melodic songs like “Flower Lady” but are atrocious on otherwise masterpieces like “The Crucifixion”, the acoustic version of which, on 'Chords of Fame' is far superior. Instead of cloaking his frail voice - which sounds fine with more sparse arrangements - the strings actually highlight it. It remains to be seen which way the unfamiliar songs fall from here, but it’s looking anything but pretty. Horrific, actually.

I immediately downloaded another album to get the bad taste out of my mouth.

And yet, here I am a couple of weeks later:

Not so bad. "Small Circle of Friends" is great, of course. Several songs are too long, but only "Crucifixion" is outright bad. There are nice melodies, which get me through side one. The title song, was far better live. But it’s growing on me. 

Now this might just be yet another illustration of how my first listen to any album is no indication of where it will eventually end up. Or it proves I can get used to anything.

Final Verdict on the Record: Good, but a better first stop to check out Phil Ochs is the missing in action Chords of Fame.  B+

Final Verdict on Me: Given enough time most of my records ratings will move to the fine-but-not-brilliant (or the pleasant-and-thus-no fun) A- to B+ territory. Which leads me to suspect I'm headed for a future in Hooray for Everything. C

I apologize. I will try to do worse next time.

"Outside of a Small Circle of Friends"