Best local CDs of the year

Another year is nearly over and with that there's an opportunity to look back on some of the best CDs of the year from regionally traveling acts. Here are my top five picks from the year.

5. FOX Japan: "Glory, Glory Hallelujah"

The fourth studio release from the brothers Wilmoth and Andrew Slater ("Slater-Wilmoth") is at once more welcoming, appealing and catchy as a follow-up to last year's "Reenactment," almost making that great record seem almost lo-fi compared to the rich, near-orchestral arrangements on this 12-song November release.

Singer-guitarist Charlie Wilmoth's irreverent, insightful lyrics, on subjects ranging from the personal/religious to the cultural/political, (just take the first three songs, "Casual Sex," "On Christmas," and "Not My Car," the subtly disguised title track, as fine examples) make FOX Japan one of my favorite bands. Think Talking Heads-meets-The Pixies and you're kind of close. Released just in time for Christmas, it has the warm feel of something you'd rock out for the holiday season. Or, any season.

Standout tracks: "Casual Sex," "Above This City," "On Christmas," "Not My Car"

4. The Demon Beat: Bulls*** Walks

The fifth release in as many years from these three Shepherdstown dudes is arguably their best. Following up on last year's eight-"movement" concept record "1956" with 10 songs worth of soulful, bluesy, hardcore garage rock, that incorporates some of the more retro tones from the most recent release, Adam Meisterhans, Tucker Riggleman and Jordan Hudkins continue to embody not only rock and roll like it used to be, evoking something like The Who, The Stooges and MC5, but the band embraces a totally DIY aesthetic as well.

Recorded by Meisterhans, released on Riggleman's Big Bullet Records label and on vinyl in conjunction with Caustic Eye Productions, "Bulls*** Walks" only builds on and adds to the band's impressive discography, and further cements the band as West Virginia's hardest workers and hardest rockin' as they are even now in the studio recording new stuff.

Standout tracks: "Give Me All Your Money," "Get It," "Bang," "Totally Blissed Out," "I'm Not Really There"

3. Southeast Engine: Canary

Calling "Canary," the fourth Misra Records release from the Athens, Ohio-based folk rock four-piece Southeast Engine "rustic" is close, but almost a disservice. Singer-guitarist Adam Remnant, with brother Jesse on bass, drummer Leo DeLuca and oh-by-the-way Morgantown's Billy Matheny on piano and organ, capture the feel and paint a picture of life in Depression-era Appalachia over 11 "rustic" yet rockin' songs.

Songs like "Cold Front Blues," "1933 (The Great Depression)," and the beautiful "Adeline of the Appalachian Mountains" and "Canary" as a whole remind me of Wilco's "Being There" in that it's deliberately roots-oriented, mainly acoustic-based with great melodies, but not at all minimalist, and is a great concept record to boot without some contrived feel. Really one of the best records I heard all year.

2. The Phantom Six: "Plastic Rain"

Since one band (AC30) in the top 10 is named after a Vox amplifier, it's fitting that The Phantom Six takes its name from a 60s-era Vox guitar. Formerly known as Moon, Mark Poole's Morgantown-based power pop five-piece starts fresh on this 13-song effort that, if nothing else, should help them make a new name for themselves.

With Poole joined by talented musicians and songwriters like Billy Sheeder, Woody O' Hara and Clint Sutton, not to mention Billy Matheny, making this, his third appearance on a band's CD in this year's top 10, playing bass and providing sweet vocal harmonies, Poole's songs stand out as evoking something like Matthew Sweet jamming in some awesome garage band with British Invasion nods here and there, singing mainly songs about love. Poole, describing The Phantom Six's musical output in an interview as "catchy songs that rock pretty hard," sums it up best for those unfamiliar with the band.

Not only has Poole been fronting various incarnations of Moon for more than 20 years, Poole no doubt helped steer The Phantom Six through his Zone 8 Studios. As great as the richly arranged songs are, and they're all pretty much standout tracks, the production captures an energy and a raw feel that helps make this arguably the best record of the year from a West Virginia rock band.

1. Dream The Electric Sleep: "Lost and Gone Forever"

They say the best things in life are free, and such was the case in March when I was clued into the free download that Dream the Electric Sleep had made available.

Some bands are around for years and years, and don't come up with such a coherent vision for a concept record. That DTES did this as a debut effort, only a year after singer-guitarist Matt Page and drummer Joey Waters welcomed Huntington native Chris Tackett (Chum/Hyatari) into the band is even more impressive.

To say that "Lost and Gone Forever" though, is epic, is almost an understatement.

"Lost and Gone Forever" is as much a story as it is a record. Told in three acts, Page weaves the split narrative of Clementine and Jack, an Eastern Kentucky coal miner into and over 14 songs worth of vast, stunning sonic landscapes that may bring comparisons to something like Pink Floyd, only heavier, with nods to Radiohead and Muse.

As the story, recalled originally by Clementine on her deathbed, unfolds from young love, marriage and hope into a desire to leave the danger and hard life of the coalfields, the fear of the unknown, of leaving Appalachia, and evolves into Jack's untimely death in a mining accident, it seems on its face plainly a heart wrenching, well-told tragedy. Listen to it repeatedly, even if you're not from Appalachia and don't know any coal miners, and you'll find it's really a treasure.

With samples from the documentary "Harlan County, USA" sprinkled throughout, through the story of Jack and Clementine, with album art that masterfully captures the very real world that Page and DTES have pulled out and shown to listeners, few concept records are so deftly woven together into such a complete, beautiful picture; sonically, lyrically, visually, and emotionally.

Reviewing CDs at the end of each year, sometimes you can catch yourself liking the more recent releases. When it became clear after hearing "Lost and Gone Forever" for the first time back in March or April, the scope of what Dream the Electric Sleep had done, I knew it wasn't likely just going to be number one on my list, it was one of the best records I had ever heard.

It's appropriate that they gave away something so sublime for free.

Nick Harrah is a freelance writer who specializes in covering West Virginia bands.

Courtesy of Dream the Electric Sleep

The Lexington, Ky.-based band Dream the Electric Sleep will perform Saturday, April 9, at the V Club in Huntington. The show starts at 9 p.m.

Courtesy of Dream the Electric Sleep

The Lexington, Ky.-based band Dream the Electric Sleep will perform Saturday, April 9, at the V Club in Huntington. The show starts at 9 p.m. The group's soon-to-be-released album is called "Lost and Gone Forever."

The Herald-Dispatch

Courtesy of FOX Japan

The band FOX Japan