SCOTT COX: Movies, TV and music kept 2011 interesting
| Wednesday, Dec 28 2011 05:27 PM
Last Updated Monday, Jan 16 2012 01:04 PM
Overall 2011 was a pretty weird year. My favorite grocery closed, followed by my favorite bar/music venue. My friend Charlie Napier passed away, as did my daughter's fish, Parallax. (I attended Charlie's service, but wasn't invited to the fish's).
But rather than focus on the negatives, I thought I'd think back on the year in entertainment. There were a few highlights: Hollywood gave us "Moneyball" and "Cedar Rapids," "Thor" and "Captain America," and the totally underrated "Paul." Keep in mind that all that movie goodness was balanced out by "The Green Hornet," which may well be the worst movie I've ever seen. Overall, it was a pretty weak year at the movies. It should be noted that I really want to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie, but every time I ask my wife to go, she says she's busy. And yet she finds time to watch "Chopped" about 200 times a week.
Speaking of television, there were a few notable bright spots this year. "Boardwalk Empire" just kept getting better and better. That show is amazingly well-done. "Weeds" was great, but the season seemed like it lasted about 20 minutes. "Dexter" may have lost a step, but it still kept my interest, right through to the season finale. I watched with great interest the pilot for HBO's "Luck," because it was written by David Milch, who wrote "Deadwood." I can't say that I was that impressed, but it's still early. My favorite new show (new to me, anyway) was "Workaholics." It's one of those shows that my friends kept after me to watch, and they were right. It's clever, irreverent and, most importantly, it's funny. The year's best TV show? Easy. "Archer" remained the most well-written, most laugh-out-loud funny thing on TV in years. It's coming back in January, and I can't wait. If you haven't seen it, get it on DVD. If you get it on DVD and don't like it, send it to me.
I might go to the movies a couple of times a month, and I can easily skip a day or two of TV, but music? That's an everyday kind of thing for me. And fortunately, 2011 was an excellent year for it. My top three records of the year, in no particular order, as they're so unbelievably good that I just couldn't do it:
Steve Earle, "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." This guy has made genius-caliber records for so long that I expect each one to be great, and this one still amazed me.
Carrie Rodriguez and Ben Kyle, "We Still Love Our Country." This record is just about perfect. These two can sing. And write. And play. And this record reminds anyone who hears it why country music used to be great, and gives us hope that someday it will be again.
Hayes Carll, "KMAG Yoyo (& other American stories)." When Hayes made "Trouble in Mind" in 2008, I thought it might be too good, that it was some kind of fluke. Nobody is that good. Well, I have never been so happy to be wrong. "KMAG Yoyo" is every bit as good, if not better. This skinny Texan writes crazy-good songs, then plays and records them perfectly -- beautiful musicianship that is never overproduced. Now I'm worried that Nashville is going to snatch this guy up and ruin his songs like they do everything else. Until then, we have a world-class talent to enjoy, and no record collection is complete without his latest.
Also well worth a listen are: Gillian Welch's "The Harrow & The Harvest," Tom Waits' "Bad As Me," The Black Keys' "El Camino," My Morning Jacket's "Circuital," Drive-By Truckers' "Go Go Boots," Lucinda Williams' "Blessed," Eric Church's "Chief," Buddy Miller's "Majestic Silver Strings," Robert Plant's "Band Of Joy," Alison Krauss' "Paper Airplane," Gregg Allman's "Low Country Blues," Emmylou Harris' "Hard Bargain," Cody Canada and The Departed's "This Is Indian Land," John Hiatt's "Dirty Jeans & Mudslide Hymns," Tedeschi Trucks Band's "Revelator," Dave Alvin's "Eleven Eleven," Joe Ely's "Satisfied At Last," and The Band of Heathens' "Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster's Son."
I guess the other entertainment component by which a year is measured must be live performances. And 2011 did not disappoint. Cody Canada and The Departed rocked the Crystal Palace, as did The Band of Heathens. I loved those shows because so many people who hadn't heard them before were exposed to these two fantastic bands. Fishlips served up a brilliant selection of artists, but I think my favorite was the great Dave Alvin, who lost a couple of longtime friends and bandmates this year, which seemed to give him added depth, if that's possible. Then we had the big farewell show this month with Mento Buru, Grant Langston & The Supermodels, Paul Chesne, Dub Seeds and more. That was a night I'll never forget. Another megashow was Joe Bonamassa's phenomenal set at the Fox Theater earlier this month. People walked out of there just floored by this kid's talent.
Seeing live shows is a huge deal to me, and a few of the high points happened in a single week. In a quick swing through Texas, I saw Ryan Bingham, Cody Canada, Stoney Larue, The Trishas, Jason Boland and Ray Wylie Hubbard, all topped off by Bakersfield's own Monty Byrom, who tore it up at the legendary Gruene Hall. Mix in James McMurtry at the Continental Club in Austin, a few Shiner Bock beers and more than a few pints of Blue Bell ice cream, and that was a week for the record books. Which, as I look back on it, 2011 pretty much was, too. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store.
