So I have no idea when my next post will be and while I might eventually touch on some things that I’ve seen and done since last I blogged, I know better than to make any promises in that regard. However infrequently I might update this thing, though, coming up with a musical year in review is something I would like to keep up. I think I’ve developed a decent format for it that I can stick to, so I plan to at least do that. I was reminded not long ago about former Replacements manager Peter Jesperson’s yearly recaps, which he has apparently been writing since at least 1994, so it would be nice to have something like that to look back on years from now.

A few words, then, about musical matters…

I read a couple of things recently that caused me to reflect on listening to music at this particular moment in time. One was a thread on a message board that I’ve been known to frequent in which someone posted about realizing that he had bought too much music and not devoted enough time to really listening to what he had acquired. In a subsequent post, he announced a commitment to not buy any new music for a year in order to spend time listening to what he already had (though he left open the possibility that he would receive some new releases as gifts). His hope, in part, was to “restore that magical feeling I used to have before music was so readily available and affordable.”

Though I can’t see myself ever taking that drastic a step, I certainly can relate to the dilemma. Sometimes I look around my place and can’t quite believe the stacks of records and CDs I’ve amassed. (It certainly makes the prospect of ever moving that much more daunting.) Of course, I know this is my own doing. I still love having a physical copy of a recording, I want to hear as much different stuff as possible and I’m constantly on the lookout for interesting things that I’ve heard or read about. But at the same time, the sheer volume of reissues, compilations, box sets, deluxe editions, soundtracks, remixes, digital exclusives, podcasts, unreleased demos and live bootlegs — and the ease with which much of it is available, whether through BitTorrent sites, iTunes, Best Buy or the good ol’ local independent record store — is pretty overwhelming. How many of us (and I’m as guilty of it as anyone) are really doing a respectable job of listening to any given thing?

Notice that I didn’t even mention your run-of-the-mill new album or EP, which there seem to be more and more of each week. I have no data to support this, but I’m certain there are more people making and releasing music today than even 10 or 15 years ago simply because the technology exists to do so. And as a result, there’s hardly enough time for an average person (read: one who isn’t somehow paid to evaluate music) to fully absorb and appreciate more than a relative handful of releases. Which is something I struggle with, especially when it comes to compiling year-end lists.

That leads me to the other thought-provoking item I read a few weeks ago, a piece from the Chicago Reader about a Thai pop singer named Pamela Bowden. You have to stick with it through a somewhat lengthy account of the author trying to get the scoop about Bowden. But in the end, I think he makes a good point: “Certainly it’s fun to categorize and put things in order and make definitive pronouncements. … But it’s nice too to remember that it really isn’t possible to judge the totality of the world’s music, or even anything close to it. As C.S. Lewis put it, ‘Be comforted, small one, in your smallness.’ Whether or not I download that Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, the world is still going to be bigger than my list. Which is a reassuring thought.” Couldn’t have put it much better myself.

With all of that in mind, allow me to humbly present my annual recap of the year gone by as it pertains to my musical experiences. As I’ve discussed previously, I tend not to rank my top 10 list of new records. And I feel like on any given day, the next 10 I’ve listed as honorable mentions could also be “top-10 material.” Happy reading, then, and thanks to anyone who’s even bothered to read this far! Hopefully you’ll hear from me more frequently in the year (and, I guess, decade) ahead, though of course I can’t make any guarantees. Heh heh.

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Ten records I enjoyed listening to most in 2009

Neko Case, Middle Cyclone (Anti-)

When this album came out back in early March, I thought it had enough staying power to remain in the end-of-year discussions. And so it has, thanks to some extremely engaging melodies, an ambiance sustained by Case’s unmistakable voice and a theme of nature as a metaphor for human relationships (or is it the other way around?). I have to admit that I never got into Case’s last record, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, quite as much as most people did, so it was nice to connect with this effort from the outset. Kudos to Case for not falling back on the strength of her voice alone, but for continuing to also develop as a lyricist.

Favorite track: “People Got A Lotta Nerve.”

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Nels Cline, Coward (Cryptogramophone)

While I am an unabashed fan of his work with Wilco as well as his own group, the Nels Cline Singers, it was something of a revelation to hear Cline stripped down. Well, as much as he is ever stripped down. Overdubbing himself with both acoustic and electric guitars as well as a number of other stringed instruments, he takes the listener on what is ultimately a very personal journey through some of the thoughts and issues pertaining to his life. One need only listen to the record’s centerpiece, an 18-minute ode to a slain friend entitled “Rod Poole’s Gradual Ascent To Heaven,” to know this is a work that will require — and reward — repeated listens.

Favorite track: “Thurston County.”

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The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love (Capitol)

To be honest, I’m not sure how frequently I will pull this record off the shelf in future years and listen to it in its entirety. Don’t take that as an indictment, however. The truth is I admire the audacity displayed by Colin Meloy and his bandmates in putting out a concept album in a day and age when most people only download individual tracks and don’t have much of an attention span. It’s ambitious to say the least, but the Decemberists succeed by not compromising. Though I’m still not sure I got the entire story, it certainly helped my enjoyment of the record to see the full song cycle performed live twice with vibrant contributions by guest vocalists Becky Stark and especially Shara Worden.

Favorite track: “The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid.”

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Fruit Bats, The Ruminant Band (Sub Pop)

Definitely the most unexpected album to find its way into my top 10, edging out a few of my perennial favorites. I had liked the few Fruit Bats songs I had heard in the past, though not nearly as much as some people I know. So it was sort of surprising to find many of the melodies from their most recent offering lingering in my head. You hear words like “sunny” and “summery” a lot when people talk about this record and it certainly had a brightness about it that made it a pleasing listen. I guess I ultimately chose this over one or two other releases because it hung together better as a group of songs, thanks to Eric Johnson’s evocative voice and the simple, yet effective arrangements.

Favorite track: “Being On Our Own.”

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Joe Pernice, It Feels So Good When I Stop (Ashmont)

Technically, I suppose, it could be argued that this doesn’t really belong on a best-of-2009 list since all but one of the songs on it are covers. I’m including it, though, since I really liked listening to it. Ostensibly a “soundtrack” to Pernice’s novel of the same name — I haven’t had a chance to read it yet — this collection draws from songs (or songs by bands) mentioned in the book and I’m sure it helps to get a sense of what those songs sound like as you make your way through the story. For me, the chief attraction is Pernice’s voice; I love hearing it, whether he’s singing his own songs or others’. This charming record serves as a fine bridge to a new album of Pernice originals, which I know is coming soon.

Favorite track: “I Go To Pieces.”

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Dave Rawlings Machine, A Friend of a Friend (Acony)

Whether you think of this as a teaser to a new Gillian Welch album, an opportunity for Welch’s longtime musical collaborator to step to the forefront or something in between, there’s no denying that it’s a pleasure to listen to. Rawlings has long been known for his lovely and intricate guitar work, but here his singing and songwriting get a chance to shine (not to mention his skills as a producer). If there’s any criticism to be given, it’s that the record doesn’t break much new ground; if you’ve seen Rawlings and Welch live and enjoyed it, then you’ll almost certainly enjoy this album. I, for one, fully subscribe to the “if ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach.

Favorite track: “Sweet Tooth.”

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Martin Rivas, Sea of Clouds (BTA)

Full disclosure: Martin Rivas is a friend of mine, and it’s been one of the true pleasures of living in New York to be able to see him perform regularly. That said, this list is supposed to be made up of records I most enjoyed listening to in 2009 and such a list wouldn’t be complete without this release whether or not I knew the artist behind it. While there are probably individual songs of his I love more, I think this is easily Rivas’ strongest overall collection of tunes to date. It helps that he recruited so many of his talented friends to play and sing with him, helping to flesh out the arrangements and giving many of the songs a warmth that might otherwise have been missing.

Favorite track: “Heckuva Day.”

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St. Vincent, Actor (4AD)

Sometimes you see an artist perform live and you just get a good feeling about them, and that’s sort of what happened to me after first seeing St. Vincent (a/k/a Annie Clark) a couple summers ago. She and her band were still supporting her debut record, Marry Me, though they also played a couple of the songs that would wind up on Actor. One of those was “The Bed,” and to me, it captures some of the best qualities of Clark’s music, which is by turns languid, cinematic, gorgeous and disturbing. I love that on Actor she took her sound into a new, different direction without losing any of its unique essence.

Favorite track: “The Strangers.”

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Sara Watkins, Sara Watkins (Nonesuch)

Although I was a casual Nickel Creek fan back when the bluegrass group still played together as such, I really didn’t develop an appreciation and fondness for Sara Watkins’ voice until I heard her sing at the Los Angeles club Largo, where she is a regular. So it was a pleasure to learn that she was finally releasing a solo record that could showcase her singing. Produced by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, the self-titled collection is a mix of Watkins originals and covers by the likes of Jon Brion, John Hartford and Tom Waits. Her own songwriting still has some room to develop, I think, but her voice is fine right now.

Favorite track: “Long Hot Summer Days.”

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Wilco, Wilco (The Album) (Nonesuch)

Are you really surprised to see this show up on my list? The fact is it wouldn’t even make my top three Wilco records, but of course I’m hopelessly biased when it comes to this band. There hasn’t been much it has done over the years that I haven’t liked, or at least respected. So it goes for this pastiche of an album, which displays the versatility that I love and achieves the goal of sounding better than any previous studio release. So while it might not be he most cohesive group of songs ever assembled under the Wilco umbrella, it’s nonetheless another worthy collection with a handful of songs I have a feeling will stay with me for quite some time.

Favorite track: “I’ll Fight.”

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Honorable mentions:

• Lily Allen, It’s Not Me, It’s You (Capitol)
• Andrew Bird, Noble Beast/Useless Creatures (Fat Possum)
• Brakes, Touchdown (Fat Cat)
• The Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca (Domino)
• Flight of the Conchords, I Told You I Was Freaky (Sub Pop)
• Rhett Miller, Rhett Miller (Shout! Factory)
• Chuck Prophet, ¡Let Freedom Ring! (Yep Roc)
• Pronto, All Is Golden (Contraphonic)
• Smith Westerns, Smith Westerns (Hozac)
• M. Ward, Hold Time (Merge)

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Special citation:

7 Worlds Collide, The Sun Came Out (Sony Music)

It would have been just as easy for me to cite the intriguing Dark Was The Night compilation, the long-awaited Big Star box set or the slickly packaged Los Angeles Nuggets collection. (I’m not even going to get into the Beatles mono/stereo sets because I think they’re in a category unto themselves.) If I was more enterprising, I would have come up with an entire list of releases that didn’t fit neatly into the “album” category. But since I’ve forced myself to pick just one, I’m going to mention one of my favorite projects — Neil Finn’s occasional assemblage of musical talent in New Zealand under the 7 Worlds Collide moniker. After releasing a well-received live record in 2001, Finn brought most of the original participants back together in late 2008 and invited some new ones to create a proper studio recording. The lineup included two-thirds of Wilco and nearly half of Radiohead as well as Johnny Marr and KT Tunstall, yet the resulting double album of original material (the proceeds of which benefitted Oxfam) seemed almost overlooked outside certain circles. Which is a shame because there are some gems on it, including “Hazel Black,” “Too Blue” and “Bodhisattva Blues.” Moreover, these collaborations have already led to others — such as Wilco’s Glenn Kotche contributing to the forthcoming solo record by Radiohead’s Phil Selway and Liam Finn opening a leg of Wilco’s fall 2009 tour — and I suspect that will continue as time goes on.

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Ten albums I wish I had spent more time with (or some time with):

• Califone, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (Dead Oceans)
• Eels, Hombre Loco: 12 Songs of Desire (Vagrant)
• The Flaming Lips, Embryonic (WEA/Reprise)
• God Help The Girl, God Help The Girl (Matador)
• Kid Cudi, Man on the Moon: The End of Day (Motown)
• Magnolia Electric Co., Josephine (Secretly Canadian)
• Jim O’Rourke, The Visitor (Drag City)
• Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Glass Note)
• Sonic Youth, The Eternal (Matador)
• Yo La Tengo, Popular Songs (Matador)

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My favorite shows of 2009

It’s a little bit difficult for me to believe I could top last year in terms of both the number and quality of shows I saw, and as to the former, I can’t say for sure I did. Actually I can’t say I saw more quality performances, either. But I know that coming up with 15 (or so) shows didn’t take a tremendous effort, and I take that as a sign of something. Once again I offer the disclaimer that I’m probably leaving out something terrific. I just tried to come up with a list of musical experiences I would enjoy remembering someday. As usual, Wilco shows dominated my concertgoing so I’ve kept to my rule of listing just one or two performances by a single artist:

1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, 9-20-09, United Center, Chicago, IL: The first truly public performance of the Born To Run album in its entirety gave this night a special place in history. From the opening harmonica notes in “Thunder Road” to the dramatic conclusion of “Meeting Across The River” into “Jungleland,” the emotions felt from hearing that song cycle won’t soon be forgotten. And remarkably, that was just the middle of the show. (Getting to hear what may be the one and only complete performance of The River a couple months later also will be an enduring memory from last year.)
2. Wilco, 7-21-09, Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI: Near the end of a long summer tour of minor-league baseball stadiums and large, outdoor amphitheaters, this intimate, indoor and thoroughly energetic show provided a reminder of why some of us go to the lengths we do to see this band as often as possible.
3. The Music of R.E.M., 3-11-09, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY: As if an eclectic tribute to the pioneering band by 20 different performers (with Calexico serving as the house band) wasn’t enough, the honorees themselves showed up to close out the show with Patti Smith.
4. Nels and Alex Cline, 1-13-09, Sushi Performance Gallery, San Diego, CA: In just their third-ever performance as a duo, the twin brothers put their staggering talents on display before a rapt audience with fascinating renditions of compositions by — among others — Jimi Hendrix, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane.
5. (tie) Jon Brion, 8-14-09, Largo at the Coronet Theatre, Los Angeles, CA and Jon Brion, 9-4-09, Largo at the Coronet Theatre, Los Angeles, CA: Simply can’t choose between a night when Mr. Brion was joined by Neil Finn and one when he was joined by Gillian Welch (and later David Rawlings and Benmont Tench). Both nights were capped by unbelievably intimate second sets in the Little Room.
6. Rodriguez, 6-6-09, Barbican Hall, London, England: I’d been hoping to see this cult legend since he returned to semi-regular touring in recent years, but always seemed to miss him. This captivating performance made it worth the wait.
7. The Feelies, 3-14-09, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC: My first five-encore show, I think. They were one- and two-song encores, granted, but they did leave the stage and come back five separate times!
8. 25th Anniversary Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Benefit Concert, 10-29-09, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY: Only went to one night of this two-night spectacular and didn’t have an especially good seat, but how many times in your life can you say you saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Crosby, Stills and Nash (not to mention innumerable special guests) on one bill?
9. Charles Tolliver Tentet, 2-26-09, Town Hall, New York, NY: Almost 50 years earlier to the day, the Thelonious Monk Orchestra played its famous Town Hall concert and it was an absolute treat to be in the same room for this note-by-note recreation of that performance.
10. Kathleen Edwards, 2-3-09, Memorial Opera House, Valparaiso, IN: Never thought someone I really wanted to see would ever come to my hometown, so not even a freak lake-effect snowstorm could keep me away from this one.

Honorable mentions:

• Jeff Tweedy, 2-13 and 2-14-09, Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL
• The Wrens, 12-3 and 12-4-09, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ
• Levon Helm Midnight Ramble (with special guest Elvis Perkins in Dearland), 10-31-09, Levon Helm Studios, Woodstock, NY
• Leonard Cohen, 5-17-09, Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
• Van Morrison, 2-28-09, WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

For some reason, maybe because I started writing this in Tulsa (more on that, I suppose, in a future post), the Jayhawks song “Tampa to Tulsa” keeps going through my head while I try to compose this recap of our time in Santiago de Compostela and San Sebastián and the trip between the two cities. Admittedly, “Santiago to San Sebastián” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. But I guess for me, at least, the song evokes a long journey. And our 11-hour train ride across northern Spain was nothing if not long. It wasn’t entirely terrible, though. At any rate, I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

When we left off in Lisbon, we were about to catch a flight to Santiago. It’s the main city in Galicia in the northwest corner of the Iberian peninsula and, during medieval times, was one of the biggest pilgrimage sites in all of Christianity. Getting from Lisbon to Santiago was actually one of the big travel dilemmas of the trip — thanks, Wilco tour routing! — and we uncharacteristically left it unsettled until just a few days before. Our initial plan was to take a bus that would get us there relatively inexpensively, although taking about 10 hours to do so. Since we couldn’t buy the bus tickets in advance anyway, we waited to see if a potential car ride with a friend might materialize. When that didn’t work out, we were back to the bus. But after a quick Internet search and with a daylong train ride from Santiago to San Sebastián already looming, we ultimately made the grudging decision to trade some cash for a little peace of mind and booked ourselves onto a flight. In hindsight, I think it was probably a good move.

By flying instead of busing, we were able to explore Santiago’s famed cathedral a bit instead of only getting a fleeting glimpse at some ungodly hour. That would almost certainly have been our fate if we had decided to take the bus. And as we learned in Granada, it would have been a minor tragedy to visit a city with a famed attraction and not see it. I’m not going to say anything else about Santiago since my tag-team partner Brianne has already written a nice account of our time there on her blog and I doubt I could do better.

After Santiago, it was time to catch our train to San Sebastián. We initially planned to split a rental car with friends Dunja and Rob, but at some point, the decision was made to take the train instead. And although it was a long ride, weaving its way across the rugged Spanish countryside and stopping at any number of towns and cities, I have to say it was kind of enjoyable in a weird way. There was a café car nearby with a good supply of bocadillos and bebidas, and I just managed to finish the Jimi Hendrix biography I was reading, Also, I had made a surprisingly prescient purchase of a road map of Spain and it was interesting to follow our progress across the country.

What can I say about San Sebastián except that our two nights and one full day there were phenomenal? Part of that certainly had to do with the beautiful weather. And it also didn’t hurt that our hotel was literally a block from the crescent-shaped Playa de la Concha (pictured above). I’m generally a sucker for any place where you can seemingly be surrounded by urban hustle and bustle one minute and be swimming the next. San Sebastián, like Sydney, Australia, is one of those places. So despite having just a short time to do so, it was a treat to be able to take a quick dip in the Bay of Biscay and enjoy its exceedingly tranquil waters.

Other highlights of our time in San Sebastián included a very boozy evening with Dunja and Rob and Dunja’s parents on our first night in town. Much of the evening, for me anyway, will forever be lost in a haze of pacharán — a potent liqueur with flavors of sloe berries and anise — though I know that some incriminating photographic evidence exists. And we enjoyed a delicious prix fixe lunch in Martín Berasategui’s Michelin-rated Kursaal MB restaurant that, coincidentally, happened to be located at the concert venue. My main course, pictured below, was a Donostia-style stewed spider crab with a parsley foam (I believe it was actually called “parsley air.”).

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to explore much of San Sebastián beyond the triangle between the old town (the Parte Vieja) and its adjacent hill (the Monte Urgull), the general vicinity of our hotel and the area around the venue itself. It would be nice to be able to go back and spend a few relaxing days there.

But relaxing was not often in our vocabulary on this trip, and so after our ninth Wilco show — which I think I’ll honestly remember more for the ticketing shenanigans than the show itself — we were on the move once again. (People who had bought tickets through the fan club presale were assigned some very mediocre seats and there was a sort of free-for-all in the hours immediately preceding the show to try to obtain better seats; fortunately our new friends Bea and Juan, as well as Dunja and Rob, managed to reach a pretty satisfactory resolution and we also benefitted somewhat from their success.)

Anyway I can’t say that San Sebastián was the most memorable show of the tour, but it was indisputably one of the most memorable cities. Fortunately, we would conclude our time in Spain with what promised to be another highly memorable city, Barcelona. Of course, it wouldn’t be fitting for this trip if we had a straightforward journey there. But at least this one only involved a pleasant hour-long bus ride from San Sebastián to Bilbao and a subsequent flight to Barcelona. As we had learned, it could have been worse.

Wilco//6-01-09//Palacio de Congresos e Exposicións de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, SPAIN//support: none

Wilco (the song)/IATTBYH/Pot Kettle Black/A Shot in the Arm/Side With The Seeds/Handshake Drugs/Bull Black Nova/You Are My Face/War On War/Jesus, etc./Impossible Germany/The Late Greats/You Never Know/Hate It Here/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You/Hummingbird//e1: Misunderstood/Poor Places>/Spiders (Kidsmoke)//e2: Kingpin/Monday/Hoodoo Voodoo

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Wilco//6-3-09//Kursaal, Donostia-San Sebastián, SPAIN//support: none

You Are My Face/Wilco (the song)/IATTBYH/One Wing/Muzzle of Bees/A Shot in the Arm/Side With The Seeds/Handshake Drugs/Bull Black Nova/Jesus, etc./Impossible Germany/I’ll Fight/California Stars/The Late Greats/Hummingbird//e1: Via Chicago>/Spiders (Kidsmoke)//e2: Hate It Here/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You/I’m A Wheel

One of the truly unfortunate outcomes of our breakneck itinerary was that we barely had any time to spend in Portugal, a country in which I was fortunate to spend several days a few years ago and really, really enjoyed. Brianne had never been there, so I felt especially badly for her that we had essentially one afternoon to explore Lisbon before we were on the road again. Sometimes, I guess, such is the price of rock ‘n’ roll tourism.

Part of the reason we had such scant time in Portugal was that we had an epic journey from Seville to Braga, Portugal, where the next show was. Braga is a smallish city about 45 minutes drive northeast of Porto, which is about three hours’ drive north of Lisbon — I think you can see where this is going — which is about an hour-long flight from Madrid, which is about a two-and-a-half hour train ride from Seville. So it was literally planes, trains and automobiles; I think it was the trip both of us were simultaneously dreading and morbidly interested in seeing if we could actually pull off. Sure, we could have probably spent a boatload of money and found some sort of direct flight there, but what fun would that have been?

Recall that we hadn’t even gotten back to our hotel in Seville until nearly 4 a.m. because of the crazy late festival. Our train from Seville to Madrid — as it turned out, a very nice and highly recommended AVE — left at 8:45 a.m. So we were both a bit zonked by the time we finally pulled into Braga little more than an hour before that night’s show was to start. (Don’t even ask how we managed to find our hotel in Braga. We were armed with some generally unhelpful Google Maps directions and a tiny inset map that was part of the bigger map of Portugal we got from the rental car place. I recall a good amount of circling around and some silent prayer.)

Wilco certainly couldn’t have picked a more beautiful venue to make their debut in Portugal. The newly restored Theatro Circo was really nice, maybe the nicest venue we saw on the whole trip. I probably remember admiring the theater and wondering exactly who was going to come to this show more than the show itself, but it was a solid enough performance until the very end when Nels had either an amp or pedal malfunction and the show, which was probably about to end anyway, simply did.

Somehow we found a good restaurant still serving food after the show and, after being brushed off once, managed to get seated and actually eat a decent meal. (In the interim, we actually considered going to McDonald’s, which occupied a prime spot in Braga’s city center…but it was closing just as we walked up.) The next morning, we resisted the urge to sleep in and hustled out of Braga to maximize our time in Lisbon. Sorry, Braga.

That time turned out to be an afternoon, which is hardly enough time to spend in one of Lisbon’s three main sections much less get a feel for the city. Not to mention it was a warm Sunday, so the capitol was definitely in weekend mode. But we did our best, heading first to the Belém neighborhood about three miles west of downtown to visit sites like the Torre de Belém (Tower of Belém) and the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Monastery of the Hieronymites), two of the best examples of Portugal’s Manueline style of architecture. One place I definitely wanted to get back to on this trip was the Pastéis de Belém café, where they have been serving the most delicious little custard tart — its namesake, pictured at the bottom of this post — since 1837. It’s sort of like the Café du Monde of Lisbon, and I can’t think of too many things in the world I would rather eat than a plateful of those things sprinkled with a little cinnamon and powdered sugar.

After Belém, we headed took a cab up the narrow, winding streets of the Alfama district to the sprawling Castelo de São Jorge. I think you can see the castle from just about anywhere in the city — we certainly could from our hotel window (see below) — and it was a good starting point for a short walk down through the Alfama. The neighborhood, which is Lisbon’s oldest and mostly survived the 1755 earthquake that rocked the city, features some stunning views and charming old-world streets that make up sort of a small village within a city.

There was so much else to see and do in Lisbon, but alas not nearly enough time. We settled for a quick dinner on Lisbon’s notorious “eating lane” (Rua das Portas de Santo Antão), where you can’t walk more than a few steps without being approached by a menu-bearing waiter. Normally I wouldn’t have gone there to eat, but the venue for that night’s show was, by coincidence, on the same street. And what a fun show it turned out to be! Jeff had mentioned on several occasions in Braga about how there were “plenty of good seats” available for Lisbon and we again worried about how many empty seats there would be.

Our seats were some of the best that we had on the entire run, which probably had something to do with our enjoyment of the show. But for whatever reason, the band was especially loose and fed off the small, but spirited crowd. I think the moment I will remember most was two kids, a girl and a boy, coming down to the foot of the stage for the encore. During “Spiders,” Jeff leaned down to them with his guitar, handed the girl his pick and proceeded to have her strum for about 20 or 30 seconds while he changed chords with his left hand. Maybe you had to be there, but it was very cool.

Afterward, we went out for an unexpected, but fun, drink with some people we met in the lobby and called it a night. Our hastily booked, rather pricey flight to Santiago de Compostela — via Madrid, of course — beckoned early in the morning…

Wilco//5-30-09//Theatro Circo, Braga, PORTUGAL//support: none

You Are My Face/Company In My Back/One Wing/Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard/IATTBYH/Pot Kettle Black/Radio Cure/Bull Black Nova/A Shot in the Arm/At Least That’s What You Said/Via Chicago/Impossible Germany/Jesus, etc./Handshake Drugs/You Never Know/Hummingbird//e: Poor Places>/Reservations>/Spiders (Kidsmoke)/The Late Greats/Heavy Metal Drummer/Hate It Here/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You

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Wilco//5-31-09//Coliseu, Lisbon, PORTUGAL//support: none

Wilco (the song)/IATTBYH/Company In My Back/Kamera/Handshake Drugs/Bull Black Nova/Radio Cure/You Are My Face/Pot Kettle Black/War On War/Jesus, etc./Impossible Germany/Sky Blue Sky/Hesitating Beauty/Say You Miss Me/Heavy Metal Drummer/Hummingbird//e: Ashes of American Flags>/Spiders (Kidsmoke)/You Never Know/The Late Greats/Hate It Here/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You

Haven’t had much regular Internet access for the past week, or much spare time for that matter, so I haven’t been able to update as regularly as I had hoped. But I wanted to at least get one more post in before I fly back across the pond tomorrow, so here goes.

At last report, we were leaving Granada and heading to Seville. I have this theory — and Brianne insists that it stems from my indie snob/contrarian side, or at least that I must mention that I have such a side — that the popularity of certain foreign cities  with many Americans is fairly easy to explain. These are places, and they are indisputably charming, where Americans can feel like they are overseas, but where there are so many other English-speaking people around (and people and establishments that cater to them) that they don’t really have to struggle that much. Places like Barcelona or Prague or even Montreal. My point is that it’s understandable why these places have become destinations for Americans, especially of a certain age. They offer a different, and perhaps “exotic” setting, but essentially people do more or less the same things they would do anyway regardless of where they were.

In some ways, this was kind of the feeling I got from Seville. While eating dinner at the outdoor terrace of a so-so pizzeria/Italian restaurant one night, we probably heard more English spoken than Spanish. Several groups of what seemed like American college kids — perhaps celebrating the end of their semester/year abroad programs — drifted by. If not for the maze of narrow, old streets and the abundance of tapas bars, it could have been pretty much College Town, U.S.A.

If this makes it sound like I didn’t like Seville, let me attempt to dispel that notion. I think it’s a fine city with some beautiful sights. We managed to slip into the cathedral — known for its Moorish bell tower, La Giralda, as well as holding the tomb of Christopher Columbus — for a peek without paying the admission fee. And we took an interesting tour of the city’s famed bullring (pictured above) and made a slightly less interesting visit to the circa-13th century Torre del Oro. But the real charm of the city, as a friend who had spent some time there told me, was simply wandering around and getting lost in the small streets and alleyways — and we did plenty of that as well.

One added bonus of Seville was that we got to see a great lineup at the Territorios Sevilla festival. We were there to see Wilco, of course, but they ended up playing before the Jayhawks. What a treat to see these two bands together again! This was a very late festival, at least by American standards. (Wilco played from 11:45 p.m. to 1:05 p.m., and the Jayhawks from 1:40 until about 2:45 a.m.) Needless to say, we didn’t get very much sleep that night. But personally, it was fantastic to see the old Jayhawks lineup — with Gary Louris and Mark Olson, joined by Marc Perlman, Tim O’Reagan and Karen Grotberg — for the first time.

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Wilco//5-29-09//Centro Andaluz De Arte Contemporaneo, Seville, SPAIN//(Territorios Sevilla festival)

Wilco (the song)/Handshake Drugs/One Wing/IATTBYH/A Shot in the Arm/At Least That’s What You Said/You Are My Face/Bull Black Nova/Jesus, etc./Impossible Germany/You Never Know/Hate It Here/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You/Spiders (Kidsmoke)

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The Jayhawks//5-29-09//Centro Andaluz De Arte Contemporaneo, Seville, SPAIN//(Territorios Sevilla festival)

Wichita/I’d Run Away/Take Me With You (When You Go)/Up Above My Head/Waiting For The Sun/Red’s Song/Settled Down Like Rain/Leave No Gold/Two Hearts/Real Light/See Him On The Street/Nothing Left To Borrow/Martin’s Song/Tomorrow The Green Grass/Blue/Bad Time/Miss Williams’ Guitar

The week definitely got off to a sad start. Just before going to bed Sunday night, we heard a rumor that former Wilco member Jay Bennett had passed away. Of course it wasn’t long before the news was confirmed, and so it was a bit weird to be so far away and yet also share in the emotions of shock and tragedy that so many people felt. Since it was a Monday, already a slightly strange day since most museums and other attractions are closed, there wasn’t a lot of “tourist stuff” to be done. We wound up visiting the cathedral (nicknamed “La Manquita” because of its one tower; the other was never completed after funds ran out) and having a very memorable hike up a hill to the Castillo de Gibralfaro, a 14th-century Moorish castle with some interesting architecture and some great views of the city below:

Then it was onto Madrid for a very brief stay, which featured visits to the wonderful Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza — one of my favorite art museums in the world — and the massive Museo del Prado as well as a leisurely stroll through the Central Park of Madrid, the Parque del Retiro.

In keeping with the go-go nature of the week, we caught a train the next morning for Granada. The Alhambra awaited, but we wound up delaying our visit until the following day when we were able to book a tour. (Since so many people want to visit the Alhambra, we learned, you often have to secure a ticket first thing in the morning with some people camping out as early as 6 a.m. to wait for the ticket office to open. By booking a tour through the really nice parador where we stayed, we were able to bypass this step and also make a more informed visit.) It’s hard to do justice to the Alhambra and the nearby Generalife in a just a few words, but both are lovely, splendid and peaceful. I can see why the rulers of the Nasrid dynasty had these places built and enjoyed spending time there:

So that’s the latest update on what’s been seen and visited. Oh, and the Wilco shows so far have each been pretty memorable in their own way: Malaga, of course, as the first show following news of Bennett’s death; Madrid, with its venue sponsored by Haagen-Dazs and an energetic crowd; and Granada, with its odd, convention center-like venue and a relatively sparse crowd (perhaps due to the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United going on at the same time).

I’m interested to see what Seville has in store tomorrow. Then it’s onto Portugal. Who said this was going to be a vacation? Haha.

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Wilco//5-25-09//Teatro Cervantes, Malaga, SPAIN//support: Akron/Family

Ashes of American Flags/Company In My Back/You Are My Face/Wilco (the song)/A Shot in the Arm/IATTBYH/Pot Kettle Black/Handshake Drugs/War on War/Bull Black Nova/Jesus, etc./Impossible Germany/Via Chicago/Spiders (Kidsmoke)//e1: Hummingbird/The Late Greats/Hate It Here/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You//e2: Monday/I’m A Wheel/Hoodoo Voodoo

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Wilco//5-26-09//Teatro Haagen-Dazs Calderon, Madrid, SPAIN//support: Akron/Family

Sunken Treasure/Wilco (the song)/Hummingbird/Hell Is Chrome/Handshake Drugs/IATTBYH/Muzzle of Bees/A Shot in the Arm/At Least That’s What You Said/Bull Black Nova/Jesus, etc./You Are My Face/Impossible Germany/Via Chicago/Poor Places>/Spiders (Kidsmoke)//e1: Misunderstood/You Never Know/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You//e2: A Magazine Called Sunset/The Late Greats/Hoodoo Voodoo/I’m A Wheel

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Wilco//5-27-09//Palacio de Congresos, Granada, SPAIN//support: Akron/Family

Sunken Treasure/You Are My Face/Bull Black Nova/IATTBYH/Kamera/One Wing/Handshake Drugs/Jesus, etc./At Least That’s What You Said/Via Chicago/Impossible Germany/Hate It Here/Walken/Theologians/I’m The Man Who Loves You//e1: Misunderstood>/Spiders (Kidsmoke)//e2: The Late Greats/You Never Know/A Shot in the Arm/I’m A Wheel

My brief sojourn on Tenerife is just about over — I’m actually at the airport waiting for my flight back to the mainland — and it’s been an interesting couple of days. It’s a place I wouldn’t mind coming back to someday and exploring further. There are a number of things I wanted to but didn’t get to see, which I’m blaming mostly on my inability to drive stick shift and trepidation about negotiating some of the supposedly treacherous roads. Among them were the primary attraction here, the Pico del Teide volcano, as well as the native black-sand beaches and some of the rock pools I read about. I also didn’t get to the town of Garachico on the western coast (which had been recommended), nor the southern part of the island (where most of the tourists go).

Regarding the latter, I’m sort of glad I didn’t make it to the south. It sounds a tad tacky — an English-speaking friend I made here likened it to Atlantic City, and I don’t think she meant that as a compliment — and overcrowded with English and German tourists and the establishments that cater to them. By contrast, I spent my time (both by necessity and design) exclusively in the north, in La Laguna and Santa Cruz. The old town of La Laguna — primarily known a college town — is a Unesco World Heritage Site, so I was happy to walk around and admire some of the beautiful buildings. From there, then it was a quick tram ride to Santa Cruz, the biggest city on the island, where I spent another pleasant afternoon wandering around before seeing the kickoff of Wilco’s Spanish tour at the Auditorio de Tenerife that night.

What I liked (and found a tiny bit challenging) about Santa Cruz was that there didn’t seem to be many English speakers around at all. There aren’t very many foreign places I’ve been to where you don’t see or overhear some group of Americans or Brits at some point. But that was one surprising aspect of Santa Cruz for me: I heard virtually no English spoken. It seemed, for better or worse, like a city in which real people lived and worked. Perhaps that made it not the ideal spot for a tourist to visit, but that was refreshing in a way.

And ultimately, how many places can you sit next to a stunning venue where you’re about to see a show and, while waiting for the doors to open, read a book on a landing that looks out on the ocean toward Africa?

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Wilco//5-23-09//Auditorio de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, SPAIN//support: none

Wilco (the song)/Hummingbird/Hell Is Chrome/Handshake Drugs/IATTBYH/Pot Kettle Black/Ashes of American Flags/Bull Black Nova/You Are My Face/Jesus, etc./Impossible Germany/I’ll Fight/Poor Places>/Reservations>/Spiders (Kidsmoke)//e1: The Late Greats/Hate It Here/Walken/I’m The Man Who Loves You//e2: Misunderstood/I’m A Wheel

These are papas arrugadas con mojo, one of the signature dishes of the Canary Islands. They are essentially new potatoes boiled and served in their skins. (Arrugadas apparently means “wrinkly” in Spanish, so they are literally wrinkly potatoes.) I had them the other night at an awesome little place called Bodegon Viana in La Laguna, Tenerife. They really good, but quite salty. I wasn’t sure, at the time, which was the mojo sauce; subsequently, I learned that they both are.

If you’ve got unlimited financial resources or someone taking care of all the details, then I suppose travel is pretty easy. But if you’re trying to do it, more or less, on your own, then it gets tougher. Aside from the things I’ve already mentioned, you’re also worried about whether you’ve complied with all of the different luggage restrictions (weight, liquids, number of bags); about being able to function when you don’t really speak the primary language in a given country; about whether reservations and arrangements you’ve made on the Internet will all work out and what you’ll do if you don’t. And that’s on top of your normal travel concerns like being pickpocketed or otherwise robbed, losing or breaking something important and just getting around.

Then there are instances when you might do everything right and still run into problems. I witnessed this on a very small scale while waiting to clear security for my flight from London to Madrid. Right in front of me in line was a slightly harried Italian couple with a small child. They had with them what looked like a souvenir umbrella — a full-length one, with a wooden tip — still wrapped in its plastic sheath. Evidently, they had no problem carrying it on the plane with them in New York, but they were told they couldn’t bring it through now.  When the man protested, he was told, “That’s New York, this is England.” If they wanted to bring the umbrella with them, they would have to go back to the ticket counter, check it and then go through security again. To me, that would be the height of frustration because how are you supposed to know that? Ultimately, I realize I’m extremely fortunate to travel as much as I do, so don’t cry for me. But I think it’s also worth pointing out that being the proverbial stranger in a strange land isn’t a total cakewalk either.

UPDATE: Somewhat miraculously, my bag actually arrived without incident in Tenerife! I must commend British Airways and Iberia and the entire OneWorld alliance on this one. Muchas gracias!

About a month ago, I hit the road for a week in the South. A certain band I like did a short southern series of shows, of which I caught the ones in Athens, Ga., Asheville, N.C., Birmingham, Ala., Oxford, Miss., and finally New Orleans. I think my favorite venue easily was Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham. It’s an old ironworks turned into a National Historic Landmark where they now hold the occasional concert. I had pretty low expectations for this show, but the memorable setting seemed to energize the band. And when a member of their road crew surprised the band by coming out shirtless to play cowbell on the last song, well, it just seemed to put an exclamation point on the evening.

After the final show of the tour at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, I made my way up to Madison, Wis., via Chicago (haha) to see Flight of the Conchords with Brianne. I had seen both of their shows in New York, but it was nice to be able to focus on some specific aspects of the show since I sort of knew what to expect overall. And any show with “Albi, the Racist Dragon” is a winner for me. Brianne was gracious enough to have me over at her house for a few days and so I stuck around for Robbie Fulks’ 50-Vc. All-Stars show (with Jenny Scheinman and Nora O’Connor, among others) at the end of that week. I also went to Miller Park in Milwaukee for the first time to take in a Brewers game with some friends; visited the New Glarus Brewing Company and had a nice meal in that Swiss-tinged small town; and scored a nice vinyl haul at Strictly Discs, a very cool record store in Madison.

A brief weekend stopover in Chicago followed, where I attended my first Cubs game of the season (a win over the Florida Marlins on an absolutely gorgeous afternoon when the team retired the No. 31 jersey of Ferguson Jenkins and Greg Maddux). That night, I also caught the Old 97’s show at the Cubby Bear. It was one of two shows they did that weekend as the headliners of WXRT’s Cinco de Mayo celebration and I didn’t have very lofty expectations, but they dusted off some old gems such as 504 and W-I-F-E, so it was better than I thought.

Back home, I found out about St. Vincent’s free in-store at the Virgin Megastore Union Square in time to attend and get my pre-ordered copy of her new album Actor signed. It’s hard to believe that by the end of May, there will no longer be a Virgin Megastore in New York. The following night, I made it to three different shows — Tim Easton at Mercury Lounge, John Doe with the Sadies at City Winery and the last hour or so of Martin Rivas and Craig Meyer’s Wednesday Night Campfire at Prohibition. All were pretty stellar. A couple of days later it was off to Washington, D.C., for a couple of days to go to two shows by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings at the 9:30 Club with Heidi. We both love SJ and the DKs, so I had a lot of fun dancing (not onstage, of course) and hanging out with her. But it was a quick trip because I wanted to get back home in time for a rare solo set by Nels Cline at the Stone. Nels says he’s terrified of playing by himself, but I thought it was a strong effort even with some of his gear breaking down mid-set. It was Mother’s Day and he closed with “Cymbidium” from his latest record Coward, a piece dedicated to his late mother. It was really touching.

Shortly thereafter, I headed to Los Angeles for about five days. I hadn’t planned all that far in advance on making this trip, but things seemed to align on the Largo at the Coronet calendar with some shows I had wanted to check out. And thanks to the graciousness of Andrew and Evonne, who lent their couches, I was able to swing it. So I got to see Theresa Andersson, a New Orleans-by-way-of-Sweden singer-songwriter whose most recent album Hummingbird, Go! was a favorite recent discovery; Sara Watkins, whose new self-titled record is really solid; and, of course, Jon Brion. I’m really glad I got to see all three shows. Seeing Andersson live is quite fascinating because of all the looping she does to construct her songs. Watkins’ return to Largo for the first time since her record came out was, of course, a special occasion and she had a terrific band for this gig that included Benmont Tench and her brother, Sean, as well as Sebastian Steinberg and Greg Leisz. And Brion is trying some different things out lately, using some multimedia elements with film loops playing behind him on a screen while he puts music to them, for instance, and focusing on playing strictly by himself without his usual cadre of special guests.

Another reason why I decided to make this LA trip was an opportunity to catch a show by Scarnella (Nels Cline and Carla Bozulich) and Pronto (Mikael Jorgensen’s side project). They played at the Mint, a small throwback of a club in Hollywood. The Scarnella set instead became a Stained Radiance gig, as it turned out, because Carla couldn’t make it that night. Stained Radiance is a duo Nels plays in with the painter Norton Wisdom, who paints on a big, illuminated screen while Nels adds his unique brand of improvised sound. Pronto, which I had seen a few times back on the East Coast, continues to become more cohesive as a working band each time I see them. So it was a good night, all in all. During my stay I also got to see a free in-store by Steve Earle at Amoeba Records, where he was promoting his latest release, Townes. My only regret was not being able to stay in town longer to see a few of the other shows I wanted to, including a performance by Scarnella — playing along to the Lon Chaney silent film “Laugh Clown Laugh” — with an opening set by Bobb Bruno.

But I couldn’t stay because I had a (really expensive) ticket to see Leonard Cohen at Radio City Music Hall the following night. I could write a lengthy post just about that show, but suffice it to say, I’m glad I saw him at least once. He is a charismatic, elegant performer and even though I wasn’t tremendously familiar with his repertoire beyond the big “hits,” I found myself captivated for much of the show. He played for close to three hours and although I think the show was stretched out a bit more than it needed to be with some questionable arrangements — some lengthy horn solos were reminiscent of bad smooth jazz at times — how many times to you get to see a legend?

And finally, on one of my last nights in town before leaving for Europe, I got a chance to see two terrific shows: a semi-secret gig by Bill Frisell and his 858 Quartet at the tiny Barbes in Brooklyn and an all-original show by the Martin Rivas Band (hilariously dubbed, for this performance, anyway, The Crunchy Fudge-Nut Ice Cream Bar Boys) at the Bitter End. From what I understand, the 858 Quartet — a string quartet with Frisell on electric guitar in place of one of the violins in a traditional string quartet — hadn’t played together in quite awhile and I was grateful to have heard about this intimate performance from an inside source. And seeing one of Martin’s shows where he plays his own songs is always a great time. I think the songs on his forthcoming Sea of Clouds record sound better each time I hear them. It was a fitting way to close out a very busy few weeks.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I want to keep doing it, though I think I probably need to start running this thing like an actual blog. That is, update more frequently; make shorter posts; and not wait for a bunch of things to build up before writing about them, as I know I’ve done more often than not. I’m sure I’ve said most of this before, but for what it’s worth, I’m rededicating myself. With a busy couple of months ahead, including a jaunt to España over the next couple of weeks, there should be plenty to post about and I’ll endeavor to do so. Stay tuned. Or not.

If you do check in here every now and again, you’ll know tht I’ve repeatedly promised to “catch up” with updates of what I’ve been up to since last May when I last posted about current goings-on. (Embarrassingly I’ve had half of the May 2008 update written for months now, but never seem to get around to finishing it.) Anyway, since it’s been more than a year now and I’m certain no one — probably not even me — cares about what I did months and months ago, I guess I will officially cut the strings on the update plan. Maybe if the well really runs dry sometime, I’ll reconfigure the updates as a “looking back” series or something to that effect. But for now, in blogging as well as in life, I think it’s generally a good idea to not dwell on the past and live in the present.