The greatest thing about year end reviewing is that nobody sets any sort of rule about how long I’m supposed to spend with an album before I can attest to its value. Nobody’s technically allowed to question or argue my assessment process or evaluation techniques, right? It’s my list, so buzz off (hypothetically). As a teacher, I create evaluation rubrics to score student achievement. I evaluate data, I look at trends, I streamline assessments so that they effectively test student knowledge. I suppose music can be scored the same way, or at least an attempt can be made. As I’ve moved through the first year of this blog, I’ve often wondered if there’s a super rubric that can systematically evaluate art and complexity. Of course, no such thing exists, and if you’ve not caught onto my sarcasm just yet, it might be best to carry on with whatever you were doing when you began reading. Of course, the idea of evaluating musical merit on some sort of scale is daunting, and more importantly, degrading to art in the first place. Nonetheless, for some reason, we feel like we need approval before we buy something. We turn to “experts” or “point systems” to somehow project this art’s value over that art’s value. Who, then, are we actually evaluating? The unfortunate thing is that we end up evaluating the evaluators. If Bill says it’s good, and Bill has a nifty rating system and vast knowledge, it therefore must be noteworthy. This is all horseshit, and Bowerbirds’ 2009 release, Upper Air creeped on me like no other, soaring with beautiful and classical harmonies and soul-baring melodies. You can evaluate me if you wish, but I have no point system or solid scoring guide to describe this album’s merit. I simply know that it makes me feel. Very few albums did this to me this year. That’s saying something, I think.
Upper Air was a huge part of my summer this year. While on tour with Megafaun throughout most of July/August, Bowerbirds rocked The Beachland Tavern, and needed a place to crash. I rounded up a case of beer, three pizzas and we had a blast hanging out with both bands. When Brad Cook of Megafaun was trading old DeYarmond Edison tapes on my staircase with Phil Moore, I think I knew I was hosting some killer musicians at my house that night. The tricky thing is that, ashamedly, I had really gone to see the show that night to catch Megafaun. Gather, Form and Fly was all I was spinning at the time, and while that record is on our list, it took a little while for Upper Air to sink in. A week later, we covered the Pitchfork festival, and the trio stunned me. Shortly thereafter, Pichfork also threw up some vids of them playing in an old cathedral (see below). The rest was history for me. This album has been with me in the car, through two breakups, and all of my travels back and forth for the holidays. It’s introspective, gorgeous, and ambitious. Well worth all the acclaim it receives and was not worthy of my initial brush off. Hopefully this makes amends.
“Chimes” may be my favorite track of the year, hoisting a near vaudevillian sound with Beth Tacular’s accordion wails, sitting underneath a darkly strummed classical guitar. Most tracks move this way, but this track is the moneymaker. The album moves through beautifully arranged nu-folk brilliance on tracks like “Northern Lights,” “This Day,” and “Teeth.” Much of this album is about the gut-wrenching haunt that Moore and Tacular’s vocals present. It’s incredibly easy to fall into its clutches, but it probably won’t happen on the first listen. For me, it took quite a few spins in the background before it fully came to life. This certainly isn’t a knock on the album, but more of a nod to its consistent aura. Once the overriding mood sinks in and the songs begin to pop, that’s when the incredible beauty of Upper Air resonates. I’m not sure if any other album in 2009 got this kind of consistent attention from me. “Northern Lights,” for example, manages to inspire me and also lull me into peaceful, lucid moments of complete ease. Sometimes art isn’t an 8.2 or three stars out of four. It’s simply therapeutic for its audience. Word.
Check out the rest of our slowly building “Best Albums of 2009″ list.
THANKS FOR SAVING ME WITH MUSIC