2005 was a good year for '60's soul

Bettye LaVette, "Joy"
It's already happened to some extent, but my guess is that, in the future, Rick Rubin's production of Johnny Cash's American Recordings will be looked back on as one of the most groudbreaking moments in music history. It was the first major time when a producer realized that technology could be used to give you a clean sound, but that you didn't have to polish everything so that it was no longer recognizable as played by human beings. It was the acknowledgement that a lot of music, especially music by older artists, sounded better with some grit, with a clear, clean human touch.

Jack White did a phenomenal job on the Loretta Lynn album last year, but it still frustrated me a little that it was only country that was getting a dose of production reality. It's soul's turn now, and it's about time. Bettye LaVette, a singer that I had (frankly) never heard of, gets the perfect production by Joe Henry. Her voice is cracked and aged, but still full of life, and simple room production brings that out perfectly. The emotion is plain and powerful in every note she sings. It's astounding.

And the bonus is that Lucinda Williams--the biggest phony in modern music--is probably squirming at how much better her song sounds sung by someone who actually feels real emotion.

The Quantic Soul Orchestra, "Pushin' On (featuring Alice Russell)"
It's funny how different it feels when there's a throwback soul record that's not recorded by someone who actually was in the original era. It's almost like when someone sings with an accent that's not their own. You think, what's wrong with your own era, you own culture? Why do you have to put on someone else's?

But like with the Bees, why second-guess it? Why not just enjoy the fact that in spite of the fact that someone looked to emulate something that wasn't their own, they still did it expertly? The production of this song is a rip-off, but it's one of the best ripoffs I've ever heard.