Wildy's World Top 60 Albums of 2010: 40-31

We're back for another day of the Wildy's World Top-60 of 2010.  We're moving quickly to crown the top album of the year on New Year's Eve, as well as the Artist of the Year and Song of the Year.

40. Dana Wells – The Evergreen EP

Brilliant debut EP from the Washington D.C. based singer/songwriter with a bright future.

39. Alesa Lajana – Secret Garden

Lajana is an amazing songwriter who creates magic with her voice and on guitar.  Perhaps one of the best all around-talents in Indie music.

38. The White Ravens – Gargoyles And Weather Vanes

Brother and sister Amy and Will Bennett are a duo on the rise.  The chemistry and sound here are unforgettable.

37. Mike Farris – The Night The Cumberland Came Alive

The former Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies front man continues to impress with a mix of Americana and Gospel in an inspired performance given in the wake of the great flood in Nashville.

36. Darius Rucker – Charleston, SC 1966

Rucker's seemingly improbably rise as a country music star continues with perhaps his most poignant and subtle songwriting to date.

35. Kate Rusby – Make The Light

Rusby's voice is the fabric of dreams.

34. Fozzy – Chasing The Grail

Chris Jericho and Fozzy bring the muscle on a heavy hitting album full of distinctive pop sensibility.

33. The Flutterbies feat. Maureen Davis – The Flutterbies

Broadway diva Maureen Davis shows she can rock.

32. Halie Loren – Stages

The first (likely of many) live album from the engaging voice of Halie Loren.  The best live album of the year.

31. Kate Miller-Heidke – Curiouser

Yes, this album was first released in 2008, but it took until 2010 for Curiouser to drop in the Western Hemisphere.  A brilliant mix of songwriting, dance beats and kitsch.  Miller-Heidke has an operatic voice and a saucy tongue, a combination that has icon written all over it.

Kate Rusby - Make The Light

Kate Rusby - Make The Light

2010, Pure Records

Yorkshire, England’s Kate Rusby has been recognized as a special talent since early in her career.  The folk singer/songwriter was nominated for the Mercury Prize in 1999 and was named one of the Top Ten Folk Voices of the Century.  Labels came calling with contracts in hand, wanting Rusby to cut a pop record, but Rusby kept the faith then as she does even today; staying true to her musical roots.  Rusby’s ninth album, Make The Light is her first entirely composed of original tunes, and offers on display with soulful, sultry and wonderfully interpretive voice that has made Rusby a staple on the folk circuit for over a decade.

Make The Light opens with “The Wishing Wife”, a song about magic and our ability to overcome our own circumstances.  Told in allegory amidst a wonderfully uncluttered arrangement, the song shows off Rusby’s gorgeous voice perfectly.  It’s a brilliant start with a distinct Celtic feel.  “The Mocking Bird” is a sketch in song using a lovely, traditional folk setting.  “Let Them Fly” is a protest song of sorts that’s built around a tremendous hook.  Rusby takes on dishonest politicians and their tendency to overcome our concerns with smiles and handshakes.  “Only Hope” is a touching song that quests for love.  Rusby creates a sweet moment with real emotion and a melody that practically insinuates itself into your mind.

Rusby unearths melancholy regret on “Lately”, a rumination on the passage of time and the sorrow that can accompany this.  Rusby finds the threads of beauty amidst the sorrow she expresses and highlights them for the listener in dulcet tones.  “Shout To The Devil” explores an ambivalence between falling in love and staying single so she won’t get hurt.  Rusby’s performance here is wonderfully artful, displaying a quiet vulnerability that is both hopeful for what might occur and fearful of the same.  This is Rusby at her best.  “Green Fields” details the gentle escape of the world around us; a sort of Celtic “Strawberry Fields” moment that’s full of beauty.  “Walk The Road” is a song of devotion set in a lovely arrangement with a gorgeous melody line that will stick with you.  Rusby closes with “Four Stars”, a sweet and gentle goodbye that is an apt bow for Make The Light.

Kate Rusby is one of the defining voices of modern British Folk Music.  Give her another twenty years and pundits and fans alike will be using terms like icon and legend.  Rusby’s touch as a songwriter and story-teller is almost as refined as her voice.  Make The Light is nothing short of breath-taking in its best moments.  Even with a couple of more mundane offerings on the disc, Make The Light will turn out to be one of the best folk releases of 2010.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Kate Rusby at www.katerusby.com or www.katerusby.com.  Make The Light is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available from iTunes.