Aaron Keith Harris
2006-12-22 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Even though downloading music is absurdly convenient, I still enjoy the tactile pleasure of buying an actual CD. I get a little hit of adrenaline when I unwrap one I’ve been looking forward to, slip it in the stereo and pore over the liner notes as I feel the music for the first time. Double-clicking just isn’t the same.

So let me recommend some of my favorite CDs of 2006. Pick one up as a stocking stuffer for someone else, and get a couple for yourself to take your mind off of the cold winter ahead.

I’ve bought every release from Van Morrison and Bob Dylan since I was a teenager, and each of them came through with nice albums this year. “Modern Times” has Dylan growling through new songs only he could write over a tumbledown groove of jazzy chords and sharp slide guitar. Van’s diverting classic country tribute “Pay the Devil” is worth it just for the truly stunning take on Rodney Crowell’s “Till I Gain Control Again.”

Legendary soul singer Solomon Burke, who has opened for Morrison some the last few years, also released a set of country covers, the remarkable “Nashville,” which includes a duet with Dolly Parton.

Beck is also on my must-buy list. I’ve only listened to “The Information” a couple of times, but I think it might be his best album.

Ray LaMontagne follows up his 2004 debut masterpiece “Trouble” with brooding whispered vocals, terse lyrics and rich production on “Till the Sun Turns Black.”

Ron Sexsmith continues his reign as the best Canadian singer-songwriter you’ve never heard of with “Time Being.” His American counterpart Darrell Scott offers up “The Invisible Man,” a magnificent ramble perfect for the car stereo during a long drive on a rainy day.

To take a break from the sad-guy-with-guitar stuff I’m all too fond of, reach for Madeleine Peyroux’s “Half the Perfect World” and Robinella’s “Solace for the Lonely.” Each woman has a unique, indescribably gorgeous voice that will make you forget about Norah Jones.

This year’s best vault release is Johnny Cash’s warm, intimate 2-CD set “Personal File.” Cash recorded these 49 hymns, originals, covers and folk songs between 1973 and 1983 using just his guitar, then left them in a plain box to be discovered after his death. “Lights of Magdala” and “If Jesus Ever Loved a Woman” are among Cash’s best songs, revealing just how closely his faith was tied to his love for June Carter Cash.

Finally, two bluegrass albums, one ancient, one post-modern. Ralph Stanley’s “A Distant Land to Roam: Songs of the Carter Family” has the 79-year-old Appalachian music guru interpreting the monumental work of the group that codified country music. Stanley’s delivery is both solemn and earnest, his voice grander than the mountains he sings of.

Chris Thile, the 25-year-old singer, songwriter and mandolinist who has had recent success with the group Nickel Creek, is probably the most virtuosic musician ever to touch his particular instrument. But little of his previous work hinted at the raw adventure of “How to Grow a Woman from the Ground,” which was recorded on simple equipment in a New York City apartment with a handful of other acoustic aces.

Thile turns The White Stripes’ “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground “ into hard-driving bluegrass, then gleefully deconstructs Bill Monroe’s arrangement of “Brakeman’s Blues.” His cover of The Strokes’ cathartic “Heart in a Cage” rocks much harder than the original without benefit of an amplifier.

There’s also plenty of Thile’s characteristically intricate mandolin work, resulting in a disc that changes mood and sound often. But each note Thile plays and sings sounds both carefree and urgent, making it the most exuberant and satisfying new album I’ve heard this year.

Aaron Keith Harris writes about politics, the media, pop culture and music and is a regular contributor to National Review Online and Bluegrass Unlimited. He can be reached at aaronkeithharris@gmail.com.