To the laziest constituents of music’s critical and consumer realms, each sparkle from Lil’ John’s grill represents the victory of style over substance, production values over quality songwriting. We are entrenched in an era when studio trickery can wax even the window-shattering squawks of Ashlee Simpson to an FM-ready polish. Despite the positive role of production advancements in the evolution of music, some still cling to artifacts from the edenic “classic rock” period, when music was supposedly free from technology’s original sin. The following list of great overlooked folk records from this year, however, shows that organic studio music never died, despite the allure of the King of Krunk’s diamond-encrusted incisors.
David Karsten Daniels: Sharp Teeth (Fat Cat)
On Sharp Teeth, David Karsten Daniels’ firstly widely-available album, cheerful meditations on the joys of life are followed by bleary-eyed ruminations on death. Daniels teeters on the edge between depression and jubilance without indulging fully in either, making Teeth one of the more balanced appraisals of the human condition you’ll find in the record store. Stream six of the album’s 10 songs here: http://fat-cat.co.uk/fatcat/release.php?id=215.
Phosphorescent: Pride (Dead Oceans)
Recalling the quivering delivery of archetypal folkster Will Oldham, Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent has concocted an interesting formula with Pride. The album combines Grizzly Bear’s chamber harmonies with subtle organ drones that creep in and out of audible range. The result is perhaps this year’s best soundtrack for moments of waking semi-consciousness. Listen for yourself: http://www.myspace.com/phosphorescent.
Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago (self-released)
My favorite of the bunch, Justin Vernon’s debut as Bon Iver likely won’t reach a wide audience. It should. The album’s backstory alone is the stuff of legends: Vernon wrote and recorded most of the songs while sequestered in a remote cabin for four winter months. Vernon fully inhabits the sparse arrangements of For Emma, hovering like a benign ghost just out of reach of the campfire’s light. Stream the entire album here: http://www.virb.com/boniver.
Seek out these records. Prove to yourself and others that songcraft is an art form that refuses to be pushed aside by the producer’s heavy hand.
