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From Wyatting to Wolf

December 25, 2006

Has anyone heard of the fad in Britain called Wyatting? Rober Wyatt played with the legendary Soft Machine during the late 60’s and 70’s and pioneered the rise of progressive-rock. Throughout the 70’s he he was the brain behind Matching Mole and contnues to make extremely impressionable music today. Some techy, music vigilantes in Britain have figured out a way to hijack jukeboxes so that no matter what the typical pub crawling freedom rocker selects after depositing his last five spot, all he gets is the longest most experimental Wyatt tune. The idea is almost too beautiful. Why? Well because a pub jukebox is but a microcosm of the sad state of corporate music these days. The listening audience wants a hit to soothe a momentary feeling of loneliness, and sometimes the right song at the right time seems to ease the pain. Big label execs want to prolong this wanting by promoting bands that seem to have the formula to fix these ills, but a new formula is always right around the corner, waiting to dumb you down some more. That’s why Wyatting is beautiful. It makes you live the pain.

The Kooks: Inside in the Inside Out
The last two songs on the Kook’s Inside In The Inside Out are the most honest and genuine. The rest of the albums plays like a menagerie of Billy Bragg, House Martins and Clash-y ska-ness. They bring the mostly in-your face, check-it-out-we-can- play-our-instruments-in-a-million-different-styles to a soft, closing time at the pub sound of vulnerability. I’m sure those last two tracks were pieces of larger compositions they had in mind, or even just didies they came up with in the studio to fill in the required Astralwerks contract, but they should have done more like ‘em. The first song has some of the vulnerability I seek. It’s a kind song with clear vocals and light acoustic guitar ala Oasis, but there’s something pushy about it that seems to say, ‘hey we can do love songs too!’ Overall, the Kooks are a decent act, just not one I’d want to play over and over. I could get a at least $5 at Amoeba for trade, no?

And yes, the time has come to create a list. This years 4F best of list comes to us from Dan Weiss. Here is part one of what he titles “how to fit the best music of 2006 on three 80 minute cds”:

  1. Rainbow Blood ñ Tim Hecker (from the album Harmony in Ultraviolet)
  2. Chips Ahoy! ñ The Holdsteady (from the album Boys and Girls in America)
  3. To Go Home ñ M. Ward (from the album Post-War)
  4. Mr. Tough ñ Yo La Tengo (from the album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass)
  5. Sewn Two ñ Mountains (from the album Sewn)
  6. They Took a Vote and Said No ñ Sunset Rubdown (from the album Shut Up I Am Dreaming)
  7. This Lamb Sells Condos ñ Final Fantasy (from the album He Poos Clouds)
  8. Kilo ñ Ghostface Killah feat. Raekwon (from the album Fishscale)
  9. I Love Creedence ñ Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (from the album Etiquette)
  10. Smash Your Head ñ Girl Talk (from the album Night Ripper)
  11. Pull Shapes ñ The Pipettes (from the album We are the Pipettes)
  12. 3000 Flowers ñ Destroyer (from the album Rubies)
  13. Funny Little Frog ñ Belle and Sebastian (from the album The Life Pursuit)
  14. You My ñ Lupe Fiasco (from the album Food & Liquor)
  15. Star Witness ñ Neko Case (from the album Fox Confessor Brings the Flood)
  16. The Funeral ñ Band of Horses (from the album Everything all the Time)
  17. Postcards From Italy ñ Beirut (from the album Gulag Orkestar)
  18. Weíve Got a Lot to Be Glad For ñ Rock Plaza Central (from the album Are We Not Horses)
  19. Sawdust & Diamonds ñ Joanna Newsom (from the album Ys)
  20. The Bonsai Tree ñ Peter and the Wolf (from the album Lightness)

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