best albums of 2014: #3

anna tivel – before machines (fluff & gravy)

one of my biggest criticisms of humans is the attempt to simplify life by implementing technology that only further complicates life. anna tivel’s before machines can be put into the category of concept albums of being serious about simplicity. not sure if there are other albums in that category, so consider this a one-of-a-kind.

before machines is about the basics of survival. it’s about escaping trouble, which is discussed in map of the stars. it's not about running from trouble, but about having already escaped it, somewhat effortlessly. the album itself has a feeling of effortlessness, but getting across complex ideas with basic words and arrangements is a painstaking task, kind of like living a basic, yet complex life. don’t expect any five-dollar words from anna, much less acknowledgements of things like smart phones. anna seems to have read through the entire “urban dictionary” finding only highway and satellite as the most modern concepts of any use.

in an era when folk music is about to implode on itself, anna tivel is the freshest voice in, probably, forever. still, this album is orchestrated a bit more than a “folk” album. anna has written songs, cleverly layered with sparse, musical accompaniment just present enough to give the few breaths needed to complement the subject matter, such as the soft, dark bass of midnight on a monday, the dancing fiddle on the free, the disparate, electric guitar searching on map of the stars, or the fiddle-singing-lullabys winding the album toward its closure on for emily asleep. while the music is superb, it’s merely an eerily quiet backdrop to the masterful vocalist. anna’s delivery is one that leaves the listener enraptured. she sings with a fiery conviction, yet an innocent tenderness – at the same time, compelling the listener, as much as forcing them, to keep listening.

the album starts with a *pop* song, five dollar bill, that shows a playful, sassy persona that walks into a creaky old house and gleefully lies down a welcome mat. the only other song that resembles pop music is grace and gasoline. still, it only takes about three spins until the listener is trying to sing back all of the album’s lyrics more guiltily than any michael jackson song. by about the thirtieth spin, the listener realizes that, though they may know all the words, they can never catch up with the depth of the literary content. so much for simplicity. just for fun, pick out any random stanza, from the middle of the album, such as…

“and this is just a motel, with a bell in every room,
where they speak in only riddles, yeah the speak in unison.
i hollered out i’m lost here, on a hunt without a kill,
a thousand people moving, but you are standing still.”

the entire album is so considerate of the basic concept. it’s only the genre that changes from song to song. topics flow from plain truths, to finding strength and the way to redemption, to longing for more beyond one’s reach. surely, as much life is considered in before machines as in the tao te ching.

the album closes with a goodbye song, i’ll be home, that shows a stubbornness to ever change from the roots that created the album. though the singer gives some suggestions of vulnerability, she is comfortable in own skin, loves her creaky house, and needs nothing more than what she has.

of all the albums on the top 14 list, this figures to be the most enduring. grandiose in its simplicity, before machines has a timeless quality that is beyond being one of the best albums of the year. i’d take this if i were banished to a 110-year-old house in the middle of nowhere with only ten albums, but that may be a small step since i already live in a 110-year-old house in the middle of nowhere.

------------------------------

i’ve seen many musicians live three, four times in a year. i’ve seen several musicians on back to back nights. anna tivel (along with moorea masa) must certainly be the first musician i’ve seen play three nights in a row. i’ve no idea which one was the best, but if she did a residency in la grande for thirty straight days, i would attend every one and if anyone tried to utter so much as one word of distraction, i would have them bound and gagged. that’s probably why the show at LG brewskis with moorea masa and foster haney (10/17) was the best. the house was packed, but the silence was so haunting throughout the performance that a pin could be heard – the day after it was dropped. but the show she did with gregory rawlins at the deep (8/26) was probably the most lively and entertaining. however, it's hard to forget the opening set she and moorea did for test audiences and finn riggins at BGB (10/18). whatever type of scene suits you, anna can fit snugly into it.