By David Okamoto, KERA Commentator
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-811398.mp3
Dallas, TX –
2008 was a relatively quiet year for Texas music. There were a few major-label breakthroughs, like alternative band Forever the Sickest Kids and blues-rockers Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights. But many of our veteran stars were between albums and stayed out of the spotlight.
And for some reason, the best Texas music turned out to be more reflective than raucous. Maybe it was election-year anxiousness. Maybe it was the looming recession, or maybe it was something more personal. But the artists that produced my top 10 Lone Star albums were all digging deeper and seemed to be searching - for love, for answers, for hope.
At No.10 is Getting to the Point Is Beside It by I Love Math, a Dallas collective fronted by John Dufilho of the Deathray Davies. Twangy gems like "I've Seen Better Days" and the gorgeous "Josephine Street" may be pastoral in mood, but they are melodic in spades.
Austin band Future Clouds and Radar comes in at No. 9 with Peoria, which fleshes out leader Robert Harrison's indelible Beatles influences with ambitious textures and what may be the first-ever use of the word "sarcophagus" in a love song. Dana Falconberry of Austin tiptoes in at No. 8 with Oh Skies of Grey, a haunting hybrid of Appalachian folk and jazzy harmonizing.
Houston native Beyonce'sI Am...Sasha Fierce stands at No. 7, thanks to the year's most irresistible radio hit, "If I Were a Boy." Like Outkast's "Hey Ya" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy," the song defies categorization as Beyonce demonstrates the power and newfound poise that separates true artists from mere divas.
Blame It on Gravity by the Old 97's is my No. 6 pick. Their first project in four years retains their freight-train intensity but grounds such rockers as "Dance With Me and "My Two Feet" with darker shades of introspection and angst.
At No. 5 is Cave by Austin's Kacy Crowley, a remarkably unflinching singer-songwriter who elevates resilience to an art form. Her strength comes from recognizing her vulnerabilities. Her most compelling songs come from realizing that's not always enough.
No. 4 is Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, Part 1, a dazzling parade of intoxicating beats and honey-thick grooves that fuel her poetic politics. Austin's Okkervil River fulfills the promise of their 2007 masterpiece The Stage Names with a stirring sequel called The Stand Ins, which ranks at No. 3 on my list.
Centro-Matic's Dual Hawks, a double-CD shared with their ethereal alter-ego South San Gabriel, comes in at No. 2. Leader Will Johnson's songs veer between tenderness and turbulence, proving that moving music can sound glorious without sounding pretty.
But Alejandro Escovedo's Real Animal emerges as my favorite Texas album of 2008. In between autobiographical tributes to his former bands, tracks like "Always a Friend" and "Sister Lost Soul" rock with the tenacity of a 57-year-old who may not know all the answers, but after a near-fatal bout with Hepatitis C, understands what really matters.
David Okamoto is a content production manager for Yahoo! in Dallas and a music critic whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, Ice magazine and the Dallas Morning News.
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