My 50 Favorite Albums (continued)

Sometimes there’s an artist who produces albums of such quality that its impossible to prefer one from another.  And any one of them produces the exact experience you were seeking when you put it on.

For me Gillian Welch and her partner Dave Rawlins are in that category.  Gillian is one of many musicians that the Gotham Gal discovered for both of us.

Three discs of Gillian’s are favorites of ours; Soul Journey, Time (The Revelator), and Revival are all fantastic and “must listen” records in my book.

A friend of mine manages Gillian.  He feels that Time (The Revelator) is her best work.  And with songs like I Dream A Highway, and April the 14th on it, I must agree.  So Time (The Revelator) goes onto my 50 favoritre list.

Not many musicians are making such hauntingly beautiful music as Gillian and Dave right now.

Comments

[wma]

I was astonished by the entry of being glad you were "missing" the Tsunami disaster. Sorry but the pink elephant is waiting in the living room when you return.

There are 5000 of your countrymen "missing" life. That is twice the number of people who died on 911. Those of us who are not in Africa (and can afford it; as well as those of us who can't afford it) are sending our next vaction's budget (or our kid's are donating their allowances) to buy medicine, water and other basic life saving needs. You may be too insulated on this trip from the impact on both the global conscience and man's ability to dig deep for fellow man.

We stood behind NY'ers and the families of 3000 victims. For a moment in time we were all New Yorkers. It would be nice to see it reciprocated. Don't become fodder for the next set of Dylan inspired lyrics. I am certain your caring will go beyond missing a favorite resort on a Patong beach.

Still a fan.

[druce]

One thing that makes Gillian Welch so amazing is no vibrato, perfect pitch. Makes her sound very primitive and haunting. (I think vibrato is what you call it when the singer brackets around the perfect pitch, making it easier to get feedback and hit it right, and sound cool)

regarding the previous comment, well, email can be a tough medium to get emotions across. also, when war or disaster is something you get accustomed to experiencing regularly on TV, it becomes hard to put in perspective, until something like 9/11 happens and you experience it personally. it takes on the media storm experience and people seem to either be numbed to it, or there's a blog-storm and people get sucked into one-upmanship about who cares/donates more. sometimes it might be because the meme is n times more contagious, not because it's n times worse than Rwanda/Qum/name your favorite disaster. not a criticism of anybody, or saying this isn't a catastrophe, just one more reminder that 'the medium is the message'.

[jackson]

I don't know Gillian, or 'wma' for that matter, I'm still in heaven because Sabbath got in!