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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The Wildy's World Top-40 of 2009: #27-33

The Wildy's World Top-40 of 2009: #27-33

Day two of our Top-40; a day closer to #1. Let's get started!


#33 Rosanne Cash - The List


When Rosanne Cash told her father she wanted to make a career of music, he gifted her with a musical syllabus of 100 songs she had to learn as part of her musical education. The list has been much discussed over the years and has become something of a musical legend. With The List, Cash reveals some of the songs from the list Johnny Cash gave his daughter. The CD may be significant as a historical document for some, but the performances are filled with more than a little of the love a daughter has for her father.

#32 The Dimes - The King Can Drink The Harbor Dry

Educational music that's fun and frisky: that may be an apt way to describe the creations of The Dimes, the Boston-based band responsible for The King Can Drink The Harbor Dry. Folks familiar with Mike Ford's musical works incorporating elements of Canadian history will have an idea of what they're getting into here, although The Dimes focus on US History through the eyes of Boston and its environs.

#31 Monte Montgomery - Monte Montgomery

Monte Montgomery's guitar style is nothing less than intense. His propensity to break guitar necks actually inspired Alvarez to design a guitar with a reinforced neck in Montgomery's honor. Aside from the potential side-show, Montgomery was named one of Guitar Player's "Top 50 All-Time Greatest Guitarists" in 2004, and won "Best Acoustic Guitar Player" at SXSW for seven years running beginning in 1998. While Montgomery may have slowed his pace a bit in recent years, his intensity and songwriting talent haven't suffered, as indicated on his self-titled eighth studio album, released late in 2008.

#30 Kevin Hearn & Thinbuckle - Havana Winter

Anyone who has heard Kevin Hearn knows his talent is almost as boundless as his kind nature. The Barenaked Ladies keyboardist/songwriter/singer has done time with Look People, Corky & The Juice Pigs and The Rheostatics, as well as recording several solo albums both on his own and with his band, Thinbuckle. Hearn's latest offering, Havana Winter, expands the sphere of Hearn's signature brand of spacey, melodic Pop. Hearn is a singular voice in the Alt/Indy world.
#29 Derek Byrne - Seize The Moment

Derek Byrne might be based in Milwaukee, but the spirit of his homeland in Kildare Ireland runs through his music. Seize The Moment is one of those albums whose sum is greater than its individual parts. Byrne sings each song as if he's living it, and creates some beautiful melodies along the way.


#28 Bunmi Adeoye - Paper Dolls Glass Houses

Part Tracy Chapman, part Ani DiFranco and part Carole King, Toronto's Bunmi Adeoye will surprise you with adept lyrics and melodies that sink into your brain and won't let you go. Paper Dolls Glass Houses grabs listeners slowly but doesn't fade like many albums with time.


#27 Willy Porter - How To Rob A Bank

The devilishly talented and uniquely styled Willy Porter has tasted real commercial success in the past, but these days he writes and plays more the purity of his craft than for the big wave he chased in the early 1990's. How To Rob A Bank may be his best work to date, showing off both his distinctive fingerstyle guitar playing and his propensity for free-form creation. How To Rob A Bank is a treat for the ears.

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