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The end of the year was a natural time to review Stuff I happen to have heard recently, starting with Earl:

More stuff I happen to have heard recently, thanks to Kazaa's renewal of my file-sharing addiction:

Jewel - This Way

As much as I like the single "Standing Still," I have to say that much of the rest of the album it's from is, like the rest of Jewel's output, uneven at best. When she's good, she's very, very good. When she's not quite there, the result is usually worthy of the "banal" label.

Paul McCartney - Driving Rain

Paul's 1997 album, "Flaming Pie," was a hard act to follow, and the album he delivered between then and now - so memorable it was, I've forgotten what the heck it was called - just didn't strike my fancy. This is more like it. And as silly as the September 11th tribute "Freedom" is in a few places in the lyrics, c'mon, it's Paul. Very good stuff which I still need to listen to some more to really absorb it, but I like it so far.

Russell Watson - Encore

Once an up-and-coming British tenor, poor Watson is now forever doomed to be a Trivial Pursuit answer to the dreaded question, "Who sang the theme song to the Star Trek spinoff Enterprise?" That said, this very eclectic album is worth a listen, and yes, it does include that song (as the last track), and the more I listen to it, the more I like it. Then again, I'm one of only five people off the Paramount Studios lot who seems to like it, so what do I know? The other stuff, particularly the tracks with more operatic leanings than pop, are very interesting - Watson occasionally sounds a bit like Sting. And there's nothing wrong with that - just like at what sounding like Sting has done for Sting.

Wow, I better split before this circular [lack of] logic makes me dizzy.

WXPN, the greatest radio station in Philadelphia, gave Dave and Pattie plenty of fodder to respond. First Dave:

Thanks to the wonderful people at WXPN and their Top 50 Albums of 2001 Countdown, I have happened to hear a large number of albums recently. Unfortunately, I know very few song titles from these albums, so here are some of my vague impressions:

Ryan Adams - Gold: This album has the already-mentioned-in-this-thread "New York, New York," which I gotta say I like more every time I hear it. The rest of the songs are pretty good, too, but it struck me as a wee bit on the slow side.

Dave Matthews Band - Everyday: The album that proves I definitely am not hearing what other people are hearing. I still think Dave and crew have lost the energy, rhythms and instrument combinations that make Under the Table and Dreaming such a great album.

Jonatha Brooke - Steady Pull: I can only think of one or two songs off of this, but I do recall it being darned good singer-songwriter rock. Nice guitar work, the songs move, and she sings pretty well.

Bob Dylan - Love and Theft: I gotta give this one another listen. It had the same problem as the Ryan Adams album for me -- a couple of real great songs from a mixture of genres, with a lot of slow songs that either dragged on or flat-out depressed me.

John Hiatt - The Tiki Bar Is Open: Hiatt's country/blues/rock is skillfully done here, and Hiatt sings and plays with a lot of passion. The title track has some terrific guitar work, and "My Old Friend" blends nostalgia with the-old-guys-still-have-it determination. For some reason I can't quite get into the whole record, though; this is an album I want to like more than I do.

Natalie Merchant - Motherland: Why does Natalie have a recording contract, while it seems like 10,000 Maniacs don't? This album is just dull.

John Mayer - Room for Squares: This one's gonna get a full review from either Pattie or me, but for now, let me just say it's a damn fine record.

Alison Krauss & Union Station - New Favorite: I may have to start listening to more bluegrass music, or at the least, I may have to buy this album. I enjoyed listening to this a little more than I enjoyed listening to the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, which I guess means I'm more of a neo-bluesgrass person than a traditionalist.

Travis - The Invisible Band: I really like the song 'Sides,' which has a nice melody and some nifty vocal work, but too much of the album sounds the same.

Raul Malo - Today: I'll let Pattie rave about this one in more detail, but man, can this guy sing. He also manages to blend genres really, really well.

And now Pattie:

What Dave did not mention about the Top 50 Countdown (and just in case some of you don't follow the link) is that they play the entire album when the get to it on the countdown. As a result the countdown takes several days to go through but it's worth it.

Now, Re: Raul Malo - as I've mentioned elsewhere, he was the voice behind the group the Mavericks in the 90's. He also helped write most of their stuff. Their music was, at times, impossible to classify though it most often popped up on country radio. He's got one of the music industry's truly great voices and a willingness to sing just about anything. Today has more Latin overtones than many might be used to but it's still a very accessible album for those not into Latin music.

Speaking of Latin music, Kirsty MacColl's Tropical Brainstorm also came in on the countdown fairly high. This album is heavily influenced by Brazilian and Cuban sounds (pretty interesting for a former punk singer). Tracks like "In These Shoes?" and "Us Amazonians" (a woman's anthem in the making if there ever was one) prove that, in addition to a great singing voice, she also had one hell of a sense of humor. Believe me, I was envisioning a duet with Raul Malo but that will never happen. This was, unfortunately, Kirsty's last album. She was killed last year in a boating accident shortly after finishing the vocals.

Finally, I've heard more of Jonatha Brook's Steady Pull than Dave has so I'll add something - DAMN GOOD WORK! All the stuff I liked about Sarah McLaughlin's earlier work but happier and with more energy. That's the best way I can describe it and it really isn't doing her justice. This woman can sing. As a bonus, I've heard that this CD is loaded with DVD extras.

Most of Bob Dylan's Love and Theft is my new cure for insomnia - sorry Bob, that's the way I feel. And Lucinda William's Essence is, for me, right up there with sauerkraut on the "nausea-inducing" scale.