January 2008 Best CDs

Of the CD's that arrived in the station in January 2008, my favorites were:

• Cramer, Hank. Caledonia.
  Good Scottish fare. Sea chanteys and the like.
• Kennedys, The. Better Dreams.
  I think there's some strong instrumental work on this album. The final track, Pacé, is especially interesting. It's an ambient instrumental piece, full of wildness.
• Oasis Acoustic, Volume VII, Number 16.
  
• Paxton, Tom. Comedians and Angels.
  Tom Paxton is classic. Of course his CD's will always make the best of the month lists. He has been around for decades, and he still keeps putting out good stuff. He writes in the liner notes that this is an album of love songs, and that he has a broader definition of love than he used to. Most of the songs are about his love for his wife. They are my preferred type of love song: love songs about long-lasting loves. There's also a song honoring generations of activists, and a song about his love for his adult daughters.
• Ulisse, Donna. When I Look Back.
  This one crept up on me. I thought it would not be very good and that I'd be able to dispense with it quickly. I liked the first song I listened to, but I thought that was just because it resonated with where I'm at in my life right now. But then I listened to more and more songs and kept thinking, "This one is pretty good too." During one song, I thought, "I like what they're doing with the bass." The bass line was very simple, and yet somehow it really added something to the song. Somehow, the vocals, instruments, and lyrics on this album just worked for me more than I expected at first listen.

And honorable mentions go to:

• Cowboy Junkies. Trinity Revisited.
  
• Newcomer, Carrie. The Geography of Light.
• Nicholson, Elizabeth, and Stringed Migration. Fly Not Yet.
• Schmidt, Danny. Little Grey Sheep.
  Somehow the specific songs didn't do that much for me, but I felt he had a good voice, good instruments, good harmony vocals, and good songwriting. Also interesting pictures in the CD case.
• Seeger, Peggy. Bring Me Home.
  Her music has never been quite my style, but it's good in its way. She wrote in the liner notes about how the songs on this album are songs that she sang as a kid with her family and that have been with her all her life. She wrote, "Like people, they may change shape and sometimes meaning. Unlike people, they are always there." That resonated with me. In these times of often unsatisfying humans, I find solace in the music that is always there for me. She also wrote, "Home, music, family: the blessed triangle of my life." That resonated with me too, at least the music and family part. I'm not really rooted in a home place at this point in my life.
• Taylor, Otis. Recapturing the Banjo.