Posted: 09/05/07

The Naked best of summer
The music edition

Jon Taylor l managing editor
jtaylor@smcvt.edu

Some Mad Hope – Matt Nathanson

San Francisco-based musician Matt Nathanson’s latest release – Some Mad Hope – is a lush record that accentuates Nathanson’s strongest features, including his unabashed earnestness. Nathanson’s fans griped about his previous studio release, 2003’s Beneath These Fireworks, claiming that its production drowned out the vulnerable emotion and lyrical strength that his songs conveyed live.  These issues are of no concern on Some Mad Hope, which finds common ground among production value and sentiment.

This balance is perfected on Falling Apart, which is quite possibly the best singer/songwriter track of the past five years.  Over simple piano arpeggios, Nathanson waxes poetic about lost relationships, building up to a layered explosion of swelling guitars (à la U2) that’ll literally blow the 12"s out of your speakers.  The same goes for Gone (which will be one hell of a single) and Bulletproof Weeks, which use simple lyrics to express some of the most heart-wrenching lines of Nathanson’s catalog, including:

I fold, don’t want to be holy then
Don’t want to be sold again, the way I was with you
I’m short of breath, I’m sure
(Excerpt from Gone)

There’s no doubt Some Mad Hope will launch Nathanson into the world of music videos and Billboard charts.  Much like Heartbreak World, which is being featured in Palo Alto, a small independent film, you’ll be hearing Nathanson’s tunes all over radios and TVs during the next year or so.  You should bet on it.

You’ve Gotta Hear: Falling Apart, Gone, Bulletproof Weeks, Heartbreak World

GPA: 3.9

Sky Blue Sky – Wilco

Regardless of what some jaded hipster critics may say about Sky Blue Sky being too upbeat for a Wilco album, the band has found a compelling path with its music on this record. Wilco finds harmony within several different styles on Sky Blue Sky, and does it without much weak material.

On the stellar Side with the Seeds, it sounds as if Tweedy wanted to  blend Motown organs and the alt-country panache that Wilco is famous for.  You Are My Face finds Wilco channeling mid-70s Grateful Dead with ferocious staccato guitar work from guitarist Nels Cline that is both dazzling to hear and see live.  In an interesting twist from his usual sad bastard vocals, Jeff Tweedy opens up on Hate It Here, transforming a basic ballad into ruminations about boring chores around the house as a 40-something, including “checking the phone” and “running out of shirts to fold.”

Now that Tweedy has found his happy place – minus the addictions he had when he entered rehab in 2004 – hopefully, we can look forward to much more amazing work from this now-prolific band.

You’ve Gotta Hear: Side with the Seeds, You Are My Face, Hate It Here

GPA: 3.4

Glitter in the Gutter – Jesse Malin

Every few years or so, a songwriter comes from the streets of New York and garners praise from already hardened music vets.  Lately, this attention has been focused on Jesse Malin, a native of Queens who has been performing in-and-out of different bands for close to three decades (most recently from the glam punk band D Generation).   His latest, Glitter in the Gutter, features some impressive guest work from artists like Bruce Springsteen and Ryan Adams, who’ve already broken their ways into popular music culture.

Malin, 39, still writes like he’s in his mid-20s and suffering from a deep gash in his romantic psyche.  The first single, Broken Radio, is an unconventional duet between Malin and Springsteen, featuring intense lyrics that tug at even the hardest of hearts:

Your baby loves you more than you know
Raised on rivalry and rock and roll
Moving to the Motor City soul
She takes hold, on the radio

On hard rockers like In the Modern World, Malin digs from his hardcore roots, using volatile guitar licks and pounding drums to perpetuate youthful ideals.  The same goes for Black Haired Girl, which couldn’t be a better theme song for a teenager’s last wild summer with a high school fling.  But Malin inevitably finds himself back at the piano towards the end of the record, showcasing his lyrical ability on ballads like Happy Ever After (Since You’re in Love 2007).

Glitter in the Gutter may not bring Malin out of his shell too much, but with help from music legends like The Boss, his next record could be radio gold.

You’ve Gotta Hear: Broken Radio, In the Modern World, Black Haired Girl, Happy Ever After (Since You’re in Love 2007)

GPA: 3.2