Month: December 2006

Tony Barone Named Grizzlies Interim Coach

Post author By John Branston
Post date December 28, 2006

Grizzlies President Jerry West named Tony Barone Jr. interim head coach of the Grizzlies following the firing of Coach Mike Fratello today.

This will be Barone’s first head coaching stint, serving the past seven seasons as director of player personnel with the Grizzlies. He also spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies under former head coach Hubie Brown (2002-2004). Barone takes over a Grizzlies team with a 6-24 record.

For more details and Grizzlies dish, go to the Flyer‘s Grizzlies Blog, Beyond the Arc.

Music Music Features

Present Sounds

Post author By Chris Herrington
Post date December 28, 2006

After twelve months and hundreds of records devoured, we asked our music critics what 2006 sounded like. Here are their reports:

Chris Herrington:

1. Fishscale — Ghostface Killah (Def Jam): This epic album from the Wu-Tang Clan’s greatest MC artist comes at you in movements. In the first third, Ghostface proves he can spin gripping drug-trade yarns better than any new jack while never once trying to convince you he didn’t long ago rise above that world. The middle third is pure show-off: Luther Ingram-sampling endorsement of child abuse Ghost remembers as good parenting, Willie Hutch-driven battle of the sexes, explosive Pete Rock-produced rave-up. The final third he goes all “Old Jeezy” on us, bringing deep-soul wisdom and moral center to a newly resurgent subgenre (coke-trade rap) desperately in need of it. Throughout, you get a dense collection of grimy crime stories, offbeat boasts and exhortations (“Y’all be nice to the crackheads!”), soaring ’70s soul samples, random bursts of reality (our hero opens one song kicked back at the crib watching Larry King Live), and extravagant production that splits the difference between Bomb Squad and Kanye West. If you’re not a pretty serious hip-hop fan, you might struggle to find a point of entry. If you are a pretty serious hip-hop fan, you can get lost in it. Thirteen years after the debut of the posse classic Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers and 10 years too late, here’s the best Wu-Tang album since the first one.

2. Boys and Girls in America — The Hold Steady (Vagrant): “You’re pretty good with words, but words won’t save your life,” a woman advises poet John Berryman on the album-opening “Stuck Between Stations,” but songwriter supreme Craig Finn might be singing that line to himself. On Boys and Girls in America, Finn rachets down the verbosity that dominated previous records and gives more conventional song structures (and more conventional singing) a spin. The band also trades in their previous dense conceptualism for something breezier: a theme album about romance amid the kind of messed-up teenage lives chronicled on last year’s Separation Sunday. The result is as observant, compassionate, and subtly funny as rock-and-roll gets. Don’t be surprised that America’s greatest rock band is such a subterranean sensation: With rare exceptions, it’s been that way as long as there have been American rock bands.

3. One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This — The New York Dolls (Roadrunner): In a world rapidly turning into an ashtray, David Johansen sees superfluous beauty everywhere, including in the form of the 56-year-old high-heels-and-mascara-wearing man in the mirror. Down to two original members of the classic gutter-glam ’70s band and missing the careening guitar of the late Johnny Thunders, the New Yorks Dolls nevertheless concocted the greatest rock-band comeback album ever, bringing the band’s long-latent spirit of generosity fully to the surface. Where so many codgers making comebacks get hosannas for death records, this is a life record: mortal and eternal all at once. Oh, and my 2-year-old and I both insist “Dance Like a Monkey” is the song of the year.

4. Rather Ripped — Sonic Youth (Geffen): The most durable American rock band ever, Sonic Youth has been making music for nearly 25 years and with a career arc all their own — from free-formish noise to mainstreamish alt-rock to expansive urban-pastoral art jams. And as blasphemous as it may sound to longtime diehards, I’m not sure this outrageously tuneful little gem (studio full-length #14, if you’re counting) isn’t their best album. The prettiest, most bracing guitar album I’ve heard since 2002’s Specialist in All Styles, by Senegalese comeback band Orchestra Baobob.

5. The Devil You Know — Todd Snider (Hip-0): Though he saddles it with a bad song about a worse president, ex-Memphian Snider’s The Devil You Know is the “political” record of the year, a series of bone-deep and defiantly funny character sketches from the wrong side of “a war goin’ on that the poor can’t win.” And those songs are bookended by two personal testaments: In the first, he greets death with a shrug and a smile. On the last, he channels John Hurt with his guitar, tips his hat to hip-hop, tells a great corny joke, and responds to polarizing times with a hymn to uncertainty.

6. Pick a Bigger Weapon — The Coup (Epitaph): This doesn’t peak as high as Party Music, the previous album from this West Coast Marxist hip-hop duo, but it’s more consistent, with an elastic groove that matches the funny, fearless worldview: a desire not just to end the war and close the income gap but to spur a revolution you can laugh, love, and fuck to. Entirely typical verse: “Our pay is unstable and under the table/We like free speech but we love free cable!”

7. FutureSex/LoveSounds — Justin Timberlake (Jive): Epic, weird, luxuriant, sexy — it’s almost blue-eyed D’Angelo and pretty easily the best solo male R&B album since that MIA artist’s 2000 Voodoo. In terms of combining art and commerce — the record of the year.

8. Modern Times — Bob Dylan (Columbia): A beneficiary of the reflexive hype that anything Dylan-related gets these days, the assured Modern Times falls as short of the playfully visionary “Love & Theft” as it rises above the mildly overrated Time Out of Mind.

9. Over the Mountain, Across the Valley, and Back to the Stars — Jennifer O’Connor (Matador): This New York singer-songwriter’s smart, concrete, and evocative lyrics are the kind of plainspoken song-poetry I can get with; her slices-of-life about driving home from the airport after dropping off a lover or missing her sister the kind of commonplaces you relate to even without a lover or sister of your own. And though there’s sadness here, O’Connor never wallows in it.

10. Be Your Own Pet — Be Your Own Pet (Ecstatic Peace): On this 15-songs-in-33-minutes romper-room rush of a debut, 19-year-old Jemina Pearl’s voice-control goes haywire, with high-pitched woops erupting mid-lyric. Her teen band operates the opposite way: The songs usually start with a sound and spirit reminiscent of the way Who songs ended — as instrument-crashing finales — but hooks reach out through the clamor to pull the songs together. In conjunction with an endearing blend of snark and sincerity, the result to-tal-ly rocks.

Honorable Mention: Hell Hath No Fury — Clipse (Star Track/Arista); I Am Not Afraid of You and I Can Beat Your Ass — Yo La Tengo (Matador); Rabbit Fur Coat — Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins (Team Love); Standing in the Way of Control — The Gossip (KRS); Game Theory — The Roots (Def Jam); The Hardest Way To Make an Easy Living — The Streets (Vice/Atlantic); Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not — Arctic Monkeys (Domino); Crazy Itch Radio — Basement Jaxx (Astralwerks); Murray’s Revenge — Murs (Record Collection); Taking the Long Way — Dixie Chicks (Columbia).

Top 10 Singles: “Check On It” — Beyoncé; “Kick, Push” — Lupe Fiasco; “The Long Way Around”– Dixie Chicks; “Crazy” — Gnarls Barkley; “My Love” — Justin Timberlake; “Ring the Alarm” — Beyoncé; “Your Man” — Josh Turner; “Cheated Hearts” — Yeah Yeah Yeahs; “Goin’ Down” — Yung Joc; “Tim McGraw” — Taylor Swift.

Stephen Deusner:

1. Boys and Girls in America — The Hold Steady (Vagrant): This is the short-story collection after the best-selling novel: Craig Finn dumps the drug-epic storyline in favor of small song-length chunks of street narrative, with no loss of impact or quality. Amazingly for an indie band, the Hold Steady are completely unashamed to rock you, which explains why they amped up the Springsteen power chords and wrote “Chillout Tent” as Grease for hipsters. Dave Pirner never had it so good.

2. Everything All the Time — Band of Horses (Sub Pop): Following the collapse of Carissa’s Wierd, Ben Bridwell regrouped with Band of Horses and made the album that the upcoming Shins record will no doubt get compared to. Unfavorably. “The Funeral” in particular is an indie guitar anthem that manages to be more epic than the Arcade Fire and more intimate than Damien Rice.

3. FutureSex/LoveSounds — Justin Timberlake (Jive): The local boy’s album wasn’t hot because it reimagined Timberlake as the white, male Missy Elliott but because it reimagined boy-band pop as a loose pickup game where Three 6 Mafia’s nonchalant cameo sounds like they were just in the neighborhood and where the homoerotic flirting between Timberlake and producer Timbaland goes un-commented upon.

4. The Greatest — Cat Power (Matador): Chan Marshall returned to Memphis to record her seventh album, plus she cleaned up her act: She scheduled a new tour after nervously canceling early shows, allegedly stopped drinking, shilled for Lagerfeld, and showed she could be pretty funny. Her big year, though, was just a backdrop for The Greatest, which plugged into local history to create a new genre: indie soul.

5. Return to Cookie Mountain — TV on the Radio (Interscope): Too much New York boho/indie music never looks beyond the five boroughs, expecting the fly-overs to come to their streets. But TV on the Radio’s second full-length, which draws on doo-wop, jazz, hip-hop, ’90s indie rock, and psychedelia, captures the current life-during-wartime unease of dissident patriots across the country and admirably tries to take in the horrors of Katrina in “Wash.” In other words, Brooklyn’s too small for them.

Honorable Mention: El Perro del Mar — El Perro del Mar (Memphis Industries/Control Group); Writer’s Block — Peter Bjorn and John (Wichita/V2); Are We Not Horses? — Rock Plaza Central (self-released); Silent Shout — The Knife (Mute); Jag Vet Hur Man Väntar — Vapnet (Hybris).

Werner Trieschmann:

1. Rather Ripped — Sonic Youth (Geffen): Those of us fiercely devoted to the more mature, latter-day Sonic Youth have been rewarded with consistently good albums starting at Washing Machine and going forward. Rather Ripped, however, is a great album, a revelatory rock-and-roll artifact from the thrilling beginning (“Reena”) to the moody end (“Or”). Their guitars have never sounded better, and Kim Gordon, who usually contributes a clangy wad of tuneless noise, is out in front of “Turquoise Boy,” the prettiest song in the entire SY catalog.

2. Use These Spoons — Heypenny (self-released): Ben Elkins lives in Nashville and works as producer and performer on the margins of the indie-rock world. His debut CD under the moniker of Heypenny was one of the most overlooked of 2006. The clever and dreamy indie pop recalls Sufjan Stevens — only Elkins has a better voice.

3. Take the Long Way — Dixie Chicks (Columbia): I don’t care about the politics or the supposed move away from country or continued lack of radio play. The heart of this gorgeous album beats with domestic dramas that are, incredibly, no less compelling because the Dixie Chicks are enormous stars. Also, Natalie Maines just happens to be the best singer on the planet.

4. White Trash with Money — Toby Keith (UMG): Hey, Toby Keith on the same list as the Dixie Chicks? Huh? Sorry, put away your haterade for this artist who happens to be at the top of his game even if the majority of American music critics would rather bathe in acid than listen to his work. Nobody in country was celebrating the working stiff with as much wit, flair, and, yes, warmth.

5. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions — Bruce Springsteen (Sony) and 3121 — Prince (Universal): Two ’80s heroes return with records that build upon (in Prince’s case) and divert from (in Springsteen’s case) the signature sound that brought them riches and fame. Springsteen found his inner folkie (even if his huge backing band made a big supporting racket) and Prince kept making his own brand of weird funk.

Honorable Mention: No Rope — Chris Knight (Drifter’s Church); Let Me Wear Your Coat — Ho-Hum (Max Recordings); Boys and Girls in America — The Hold Steady (Vagrant); If You’re Going Through Hell — Rodney Atkins (Curb); FutureSex/Love Sounds — Justin Timberlake (Jive).

Andrew Earles:

1. Silver — Jesu (Hydrahead): To be kind, once I turned 20 or so, Godflesh wasn’t exactly “to my taste.” Justin K. Broadrick’s calling card from 1988 until 2002 (after leaving Napalm Death at age 16) was a long stretch of misfires with occasional greatness, which his latest project, Jesu, completely shames. Early Swans meets My Bloody Valentine meets perfect pop, and even though those three things have been around for a while, it’s never been done like this.

2. Pink — Boris (Southern Lord): Another case of bombast meets shoe-gazer rock. It’s odd that a band this brutal and heavy gets the amount of favorable press that Boris racked up in 2006, and for a reference point, they are far more unbridled and discordant than other heavy and brutal bands that get a lot of positive press, like Mastodon.

3. The Obliterati — Misson of Burma (Matador): The comeback album that’s better than the actual comeback album (they released the reunion On/Off in 2004), The Obliterati erases all other angular guitar rock, most of which is made by people half Mission of Burma’s age.

4. The Night Ripper — Girl Talk (Illegal Art): Party music made from 100 percent illegal samples. So dense that the craft and result is very similar to the traditional construction of pop music. Catchiest album of the year, hands down.

5. Since There Were Circles (reissue) — Bon Lind (RPM Records UK): An import at domestic price (check Amazon), Since There Were Circles was Bob Lind’s “lost” album from 1972, released and swept under the rug before Lind retired from music. This differs greatly from Lind’s two 1966 baroque folk-rock albums (those are essential as well) in that it carries a Buffalo Springfield country-rock vibe common to the time period. Features a guest performance by Gene Clark and Doug Dillard that no one seemed to know existed. It’s worth spending days or weeks obtaining this for the title track alone.

Honorable Mention: You in Reverse — Built to Spill (Warner Bros.); Don’t Fear the Reaper — Witchery (Century Media); Instinct: Decay — Nachtmystium (Southern Lord); Thunder Down Under — Hot Snakes (Swami); Ticket Crystals — Bardo Pond (ATP Recordings).

Best reissues

Andria Lisle:

1. Fonotone Records 1956-1969 — Various Artists (Dust-To-Digital): The limited-edition bottle opener, dozen-plus color postcards, and 160-page book are cool, but what truly makes this five-disc box set unique is the track listing: 131 songs hand-picked by musicologist Joe Bussard, including hollers, rags, and jug-band numbers which rival Harry Smith’s vision for the legacy of American folk music.

2. Rockin’ Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly — Various Artists (Rhino): From its pulp-fiction packaging to the sheer rarity of some of these tracks, this raucously raw four-disc set connects the dots between household names (and hometown heroes) like Presley and Perkins to lesser-known but just as fervent cats and kittens such as Jackie Gotroe, Barbara Pittman, Elroy Dietzel, and Pat Cupp.

3. What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves (1967-1977) — Various Artists (Rhino): Pure American pop culture — presented as the flipside to Rockin’ Bones — this is nearly 100 tracks culled from the Warner Bros. vaults, including monster tunes from Rufus Thomas and the Mighty Hannibal, Baby Huey, and Howard Tate. Unless you’re a serious DJ, forgo the record collecting and buy this box set.

4. Nashville Rebel — Waylon Jennings (Sony Legacy) and Live at San Quentin — Johnny Cash (Sony Legacy): The original outlaws of country music, comprehensively and stylishly presented. Jennings gets a career-spanning four-disc box which encompasses his early attempt at Nashville stardom and his rise to glory with hits such as “Highwayman” and “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way.” Cash’s ’69 jail recordings are newly scrutinized, analyzed, and dissected, with songs that once landed on the cutting-room floor deservedly restored to the set list.

5. There Is a Season — The Byrds (Sony Legacy) and The Complete Reprise Sessions — Gram Parsons (Rhino Records): From inception to swan song, 99 songs mined from the McGuinn/Clark/Hillman/Crosby catalog, illustrating not only the rise and fall of one of California’s best bands but the evolution of folk rock in general. Special kudos for including both sides of the Elektra Records single by the Beefeaters, a precursor to the Byrds. Cue this one up before playing Parsons’ solo oeuvre, lovingly restored and augmented with outtakes and rare audio interviews, and rediscover Americana once again.

Tags album, Review

Food & Wine Food & Drink

The Dish on 2006

Post author By Simone Wilson
Post date December 28, 2006

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

In 2006, we saw restaurants opening and restaurants closing and more than a few chefs shuffling. In other words, it was business as usual. Here are some highlights:

Midtown seafood restaurant Anderton’s opened the year by closing its doors on New Year’s Day. Diners who enjoyed Anderton’s oysters — prepared countless ways and just $4 per half-dozen! — are out of luck, but they should keep their eyes peeled for the restaurant’s much-loved nautical-themed bar, which could be resurfacing in another location soon.

Russian restaurant Café Samovar closed early in the year, with Mediterranean-inspired Meditrina, Ben Smith and Thomas Boggs‘ latest venture, opening at the site. Working the stove at Meditrina are executive chef Demitri Phillips and chef de cuisine John Pearson. Erika’s, another downtown landmark and Memphis’ only German restaurant, closed its doors during the summer. The downtown Pancho’s also closed.

In February, we noted seven new Mexican restaurants downtown and in Midtown. So how are they faring? El Pollo Grille and Mexican Cantina is now the Complex Grille — similar fare, expanded menu. Sgt. Jalapeno’s Tortilla Factory Co. inside the Comfort Inn on Front Street is closed. Quinto Patio on Beale Street across from the New Daisy Theatre seems to be in limbo as is Las Margaritas Mexican Bar and Grill inside America’s Best Inns & Suites on Union and Garcia Wells Southwestern Grill in Overton Square. Rio Loco’s on Union and Happy Mexican Restaurante & Cantina on Second Second are still open.

Among the new barbecue restaurants are the Alabama-based Jim ‘N Nick’s BBQ; Tango & Murf’s Place, run by Memphis In May Barbecue Cooking Contest champs; and Whole Hog Café from Arkansas. Opening a second, much larger location on Summer Avenue was Central BBQ. When President George W. Bush feted Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi about town, the pair took their ribs at the Rendezvous.

Local restaurateur Jimmy Ishii took on yet another project, turning Elvis Presley’s on Beale inside out. He re-opened the restaurant, now E.P. Delta Kitchen & Bar, in the late fall. Patrick Reilly, formerly of Swig, opened Majestic Grille in June in the old Gordon Biersch/Breckenridge Brewery space. The Viking Culinary Arts Center closed its downtown location to re-emerge farther east as Viking Cooking School. La Tourelle closed for re-modeling and re-opened under the culinary leadership of Tom Schranz, who also heads Café 1912.

Follow that chef: After close to 10 years in Memphis, Jorge Noriega (Erling Jensen The Restaurant, KOTO, Wally Joe, Meditrina) left the Bluff City to take a sous-chef position at the Bistro at Santa Barbara’s Bacara Resort; Robert Green came to Memphis in the spring to take charge of the kitchen at Boscos Squared; The Peabody‘s new executive pastry chef Konrad Spitzbart came to Memphis by way of Austria (his home country) and more recently Hollywood, where he reigned over the sweets at the Beverly Hilton; Benjamin Vaughn, a Miami native and most recently of Yia Yia’s Eurocafé, took over the kitchen at River Oaks; Scott Lenhart left Dish — in his place is Scott McQueen from Automatic Slim’s; Penny McCraw vacated the executive-chef position at the Brushmark, which was filled by Wally Joe and Andrew Adams. For a few months, McCraw wore the chef’s hat at McEwen’s on Monroe but has recently left. David Johnson of Jarrett’s will take her position at the beginning of 2007.

On a sad note, Blues City Café‘s longtime chef and local legend Bonnie Mack passed away in August. Harry’s Detour owner Harry Nichols, one of the more colorful figures on the Memphis dining scene, died from injuries he received after being hit by a car while crossing Poplar.

A reason to celebrate: Pancho’s marked its 50th anniversary in the area; Jim’s Place East hit 80 and opened Jim’s Place Grille in Collierville; and Automatic Slim’s Tonga Club recently celebrated its 15th anniversary. The Memphis Farmers Market at Central Station downtown had a successful first season and will likely return in May.

siba@gmx.com

Cover Feature News

Breaking with Tradition

Post author By Greg Akers
Post date December 28, 2006

Come all you sheiks, and lovers, too,Listen to what I’m tellin’ you;
I took a resolution New Year’s Day,Never to give nothin’ away!
— Ethel Waters, “Bring Me Your Greenbacks”

For millions of earth’s citizens, the changing of years is a time to critique the past, to fiddle with one’s formula and come up with a new plan of action and, on January 1st, declare to the world, “I resolve to … !”

Well, screw those people. I say New Year’s resolutions are for suckers who don’t have the intestinal fortitude to self-edit on any day of the year that isn’t January 1st. And let’s not kid ourselves: January Firsters never keep their resolutions anyway. Just like Bono said: “Nothing changes on New Year’s day.”

But New Year’s Eve embraces our human failings and rewards those who don’t kid themselves. It’s the Dionysian celebration of all that is good and sincere about not making resolutions. It’s a parade of vices; even if your only vice is not getting to bed at a reasonable hour, you’re already guilty. It’s the indulging in behaviors that polite society says should be given up or performed in moderation the next day.

So this New Year’s Eve, resolve to give up resolutions. Luckily, there’s plenty of folks in the Mid-South prepared to help you do so. Here’s a primer on some of the highlights of the evening. For a complete list of events, check this issue’s calendar and After Dark sections.

Sibella

Good luck, be safe, and be resolved.

I resolve to drink in moderation.

New Year’s Eve means it’s time to party like it’s your last night on earth. For most people that means alcohol, and lots of it. These clubs, bars, and other establishments are prepared to help you toast the New Year with the adult beverage of your choice. (Beware, however, tricksy libations that go by the name of “hunch punch” or “hooch.” They don’t play fair.)

Beale Street

The biggest party of the evening, at least in terms of humans per square feet, will be on Beale. The cobblestone street will be packed. It has to be seen to be believed and is highly recommended if you really, really don’t mind touching strangers. Eighty-five thousand attendees are expected this year, and among the goings-on outside are fireworks and live music at Handy Park. The strip of clubs and bars will be bursting at the seams, too. With good reason: great music and mucho licor will be flowing inside.

Beale Street.

Southland Park Gaming & Racing

Midnight comes at the same time in Arkansas as it does in Memphis, so don’t feel shy to get your Pig Sooie freak on in West Memphis and enjoy some gaming and live music from local rockabilly faves the Dempseys.

1550 N. Ingram, West Memphis, AR, 870-467-6182.

Jillian’s

Starting at 7 p.m., Jillian’s has as much going on as just about anybody in the city. DJ Abos will be on hand, and there’s live music, too; there’s a multi-course dinner with guaranteed seating; there’s a bottle of champagne per couple (and a toast at midnight); there’s a balloon drop with thousands in cash and prizes; there’s party favors and a $10 game card; there’s admission into the dance club Atlas; and then there’s the chance to start 2007 off particularly well with the $25,000 cash giveaway. All this and more is included in the $45 admission.

150 Peabody Place, 543-8800.

The Peabody

The Peabody has teamed with FM100 to throw a “New Year’s Eve Bash” at the grand dame of Southern hotels. Live music will play on three stages, with Cowboy Mouth in the Grand Ballroom, Rusty Lemon in the Continental Ballroom, and the John Felix Trio in the Corner Bar. Festivities take place from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., with entertainment commencing at 8 p.m. $45/person at the door.

149 Union, 529-4000.

I resolve to not overeat.

Every obesity study released in 2006 says Memphis is one of the fattest cities in the U.S. Well, when you’ve got food as great as we do, why not? This New Year’s Eve, overeat like it’s 1999.

North Mississippi Allstars

Boscos Squared

Boscos has cooked up some great food specials for New Year’s Eve celebrants to go with their always-fabulous regular menu and their handcrafted beers. Amy and the Tramps perform, too, beginning at 8:30 p.m. Reservations recommended.

2120 Madison, 432-2222 .www.boscosbeer.com

New Year’s Eve Brunch at The Peabody

Peabody chefs serve the final brunch of the year in the Continental Ballroom. Reservations required. Brunch, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. $35.95 adults/$15.95 children ages 5 to 12.

The Peabody, 149 Union, 529-3668.

Capriccio Grill

A four-course dinner at Capriccio is a perfect beginning to the evening’s festivities. Reservations required. Dinner, 5-10 p.m. $89.95/person.

The Peabody, 149 Union, 529-4199.

Chez Philippe

It’s never too late to have your best meal of the year: Chef Reinaldo Alfonso helps you end the year on a high note with a five-course dinner at his French-Asian restaurant. Dinner includes a wristband admission to The Peabody’s New Year’s Eve party. Reservations required. Dinner, 6-10 p.m. $125/person.

The Peabody, 149 Union, 529-4188.

Grill 83

“Wood-smoked,” “aged,” “Vermouth-roasted,” and “truffled” are just a few of the adjectives describing the four-course offerings from Grill 83. Reservations recommended. Dinner, 5:30-11 p.m. $80/person.

83 Madison, 333-1224 .www.madisonhotelmemphis.com/Events

MO’s Memphis Originals

Okay, there is one resolution for 2007 you should make: Eat all 12 of MO’s new burgers that will be introduced during the year. You can begin with the Blues Burger, unveiled this New Year’s Eve. There’ll be live music at MO’s, too: all-girl group Sibella from 8 to 10 p.m. and bluesman Dave Crowder from 10 p.m. to midnight. (The Blues Burger will be introduced during Crowder’s set.) Doors open at 5 p.m.

3521 Walker, 324-7892 www.memphisoriginals.com

TJ Mulligan’s

There’s no belly like a belly full of steak, and TJ Mulligan’s gives you several options to fill your gut this New Year’s Eve. TJ Mulligan’s-Pinch has a steak-and-potato special for $10.95, party favors, a champagne toast at midnight, and live music by 3-Way; no cover charge. TJ Mulligan’s-Quince has steak and shrimp for $15.99, party favors, and live music by Blue Gauge; $5 cover. At TJ Mulligan’s-Cordova, use the midnight champagne toast to cleanse your palate for the 1:30 a.m. breakfast buffet. $10 gets you everything from party favors to bacon. Roxanne Lemmon to perform; $10 cover includes buffet.

TJ Mulligan’s-Pinch, 382 N. Main,523-1453.

TJ Mulligan’s-Quince, 6635 Quince, Ste. 101, 753-8056.

TJ Mulligan’s-Cordova, 8071 Trinity, Ste. 1, 756-4480.

Dan McGuinness-Spottswood

Dan McGuinness hops on board the red-meat wagon too, with a steak-dinner special, party favors, a champagne toast at midnight, and live music by Transitt; $10 cover.

4698 Spottswood, 761-3711.

River Oaks Restaurant

The River Oaks menu will have you at Arkansas caviar, but the four courses also include delectable scallops, salmon roulade, Muscovy duck breast with Oregon truffles, lobster, Rock shrimp, and much, much more. Reservations recommended.

5871 Poplar, 683-9305.

I resolve to not listen to loud music.

Nothing takes away the hearing quicker than listening to some really loud music. Wouldn’t have it any other way. In addition to all of the other great acts playing around town New Year’s Eve, here’s a few more that promise to rock your ears off.

The Orpheum

The Bluff City Ball is arguably the premier event of the night. The Orpheum is gonna be shaking, with blues from the North Mississippi Allstars, Memphis faves Lucero, Cory Branan, and Drew Holcomb. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 to $45.

203 S. Main, 525-7800.

Rock Shows

Perennially great venues for live music, the Hi-Tone Café and Young Avenue Deli will not disappoint this New Year’s Eve. The Hi-Tone sees the return of the Reigning Sound to Memphis in a blast of garage-rock energy. The line starts behind me. Young Avenue Deli has a pair of the best groups going right now: The Secret Service and River City Tanlines. Each group has 2006 releases charted high in the Flyer‘s year-end local-music review (See p. 26). Put the two bands together, and they might have to call the state militia.

The Hi-Tone Café, 1913 Poplar, 278-TONE.

Young Avenue Deli, 2119 Young, 278-0034.

I resolve to carefully manage my money.

Life is a gamble. Of course, nowhere is that fact more acute than at a casino. But with the glut of great entertainment, food, and gaming this New Year’s Eve, the real gamble may be in passing up on Tunica.

Grand Casino Resort

All month long, the Grand has had a gingerbread village on display, including a nine-foot-tall golden castle. No, this isn’t some sort of Fear and Loathing in Tunica, this is just how things are done in the casino wonderland: bigger and better. More please! At the Grand’s LB Steakhouse, Chef James Hoyt has created a menu that includes roasted pheasant pot pie, sautéed salmon with a lemon dill beurre blanc sauce, and a mixed-berry cheesecake. The casino also will have champagne toasts and a balloon drop at midnight.

3615 Old Hwy. 61 N., Robinsonville, MS, 662-363-2788.

Horseshoe Casino & Hotel

The Horseshoe has one of those gingerbread villages too; theirs features a detailed model of the casino. I’ve never wanted to eat a casino so badly. At Horseshoe’s Village Square Buffet, $24.95 will get you duck with wild rice, rosemary roasted leg of lamb, and stuffed trout, among other delectables. This all-you-can-eatery goes from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. Chimes at midnight set off a balloon drop, with champagne toasts all around.

1021 Casino Center Dr., Robinsonville, MS, 800-303-SHOE.

Hollywood

For that couple looking to end 2006 with a bang, Hollywood has your bet covered. They’re offering a four-course dinner for two with champagne at Fairbanks Steakhouse for $125/couple. There’s also free entertainment in the Safari Bar Lounge with Andy Childs beginning at 9 p.m. More champagne, party favors, and a balloon drop at midnight on the casino floor round out the late-night/early-morning revelries.

150 Casino Strip Resort Blvd., Robinsonville, MS, 662-357-7700.

I resolve to act my age.

New Year’s Eve of course isn’t just for twenty- and thirtysomethings. It’s for kids of all ages. This December 31st, ignore your birth year, whatever it may be, and take advantage of the great fun these folks offer.

Children’s Museum of Memphis

Get a jump on the New Year’s celebration a day early with a countdown to noon in the Times Square exhibit at the Children’s Museum of Memphis. Festivities include a magic show, karaoke, balloon animals, face painting, and more. New Year’s events included with museum admission. Programs begin at 10 a.m., Saturday, December 30th.

2525 Central, 320-3170. www.cmom.com

Memphis Zoo

Kids ring in the New Year at this Zoo Snooze slumber party. Ages 6 to 12 only. Kids get up close and personal with animals, tour part of the zoo on a moonlight safari, and, of course, count down to 2007. $50 members/$60 nonmembers. 6:30 p.m.-10 a.m.

2000 Prentiss Place, 276-WILD.

Playhouse on the Square

You never have to grow up at Playhouse on the Square: Festivities kick off at 5:30 p.m. with food and drink, activities, and a special performance of Peter Pan beginning at 6:30 p.m. $35 adults/$20 children.

51 S. Cooper, 726-4656.

I resolve to kick back and take it easy.

Now’s no time to relax. Lazing is what you do in August when it’s too hot for ambulation. But New Year’s Eve is for cutting the rug, shaking your tailfeather, and waving your hands in the air like you just don’t care.

Irish New Year’s Eves

I feel a Riverdance coming on. Don’t fight it: Kick up your heels at Dan McGuinness’ Wicked Irish Dance Party and enjoy the party favors and champagne toast at midnight, too. Or, at Celtic Crossing, enjoy a multi-course meal, champagne, live music with the Bob Salley Band, and a dance party later with a DJ. It all commences at 7 p.m. Reservations recommended. $35/person.

Dan McGuinness-Peabody Place, 150 Peabody Place, Ste. 115, 527-8500.

Celtic Crossing, 903 S. Cooper, 274-5151.

Woodland Hills Country Club

Adult singles can have themselves a semi-formal-dressed good time, nosh on hors d’oeuvres, and jam to some great live music at this New Year’s Eve party and dance. $25/person.

10000 Woodland Hills Dr., Cordova, 754-2000.

Memphis Symphony Orchestra

I may have saved the best for last with this event, put on by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and held at the Cannon Center. It all kicks off at 8 p.m. as professional dancers instruct attendees on the ins and outs of waltzing. Next is a concert with the full symphony keeping with Old World traditions of music for New Year’s. Soprano Joanna Mongiardo sings. Next is a double string quartet performing as everyone waltzes, be they beginners or seasoned vets. There’ll be a flowing chocolate fountain — my favorite kind — and a champagne toast at midnight, Eastern Time. That’s right, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra wants to help you beat the Beale Street throng and escape back home, or to the next party, by recognizing the Times Square ball drop. The whole event promises to be the most romantic thing going on in Memphis for the next 45 days, so put on your waltzing shoes.

Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 N. Main, 537-2522.

Take a deep breath: The night’s over. Be safe getting home. Drink lots of clear, nonalcoholic liquids. Curl up in a fetal position and pray that that other thing Bono said is true: “All is quiet on New Year’s Day.”

Tags New Years, resolutions

Opinion

A Down and Dirty Year

Post author By John Branston
Post date December 28, 2006

There are ordinary sleazy years, and then there was Memphis 2006.

Between high-profile investigations of political corruption, drug dealers, and strip clubs, there was enough blue material to offend — or satisfy — just about everyone. And most of it was set out in graphic detail in trials, tapes, indictments, and affidavits of men and women behaving badly. It was like having Ludacris, Johnny Knoxville, and Borat over for drinks at Kathy Griffin’s and turning on a tape recorder.

In fairness, not all of this happened in 2006. Some of it happened last year or the year before and just became public this year. Let’s just say that Memphis, recognized this year as one of America’s most violent and least healthy cities, has a leg up on more laurels in 2007. Test your knowledge with this little news quiz.

When Rickey Peete said “That’s a good picture” to Joe Cooper, he was talking about: A) the “4K” Joe was writing on a piece of paper; B) Jackass; C) Jackass Number Two.

“Another shocking aspect of Tunica Cabaret’s criminality is the role of management in the perpetration and obfuscation of the crimes,” said a criminal affidavit. Most unspeakably shocking, however, was: A) the sex show featuring a daisy chain of naked girls on the dance floor; B) the guns and drugs in plain view; C) the food service.

“Nobody brings me funny stuff.” So said: A) Willie Herenton; B) Roscoe Dixon; C) Flyer editor Bruce VanWyngarden.

“I did not feel strong enough about it to fight about it.” Who said it? A) a MATA official explaining revisions to the FedExForum garage; B) Joe Frazier before getting in the ring with Willie Herenton; C) Herenton after realizing Frazier was drunk.

“‘Can you get us a contract with the state of Tennessee?’ I said, ‘Well, shit, we may have to just create some law.'” This comes from A) Andrew Jackson’s biography; B) the state constitution; C) Tim Willis posing as a representative of E-Cycle Management.

“Joe ain’t the big juice. The big juice is Lois DeBerry, John Ford, Roscoe, and Kathryn Bowers. That’s your heavy hitters right there.” Juiceless Joe would be A) Joe Cooper; B) Joe Towns; C) Joe Frazier.

The statement “You don’t come out of the Senate with 17, yo shit don’t fly” is: A) what Barry Myers told E-Cycle Management; B) written on John Ford’s old business card; C) so true.

Who got in big trouble for repeatedly saying “nigger”? A) government witness Barry Myers; B) domestic terrorist and white racist Van Crocker; C) comedian Michael Richards.

Watusi, Don Juan, and Sticky areA) nicknames of men indicted last week on federal gun charges; B) real names in obituaries in The Commercial Appeal;C) guys who hang with Lavender, Trinity, and Kitten at Platinum Plus.

“Free popcorn and tacos at the bar” is: A) a secret warning that undercover cops are raiding strip clubs; B) the holiday special at Huey’s; C) seven words you will never hear at FedExForum.

When he said “I’ll drum up seven or make somebody walk out,” Edmund Ford meant seven: A) City Council members; B) dead bodies for his struggling mortuary; C) years of prison time if convicted.

“They were all smoking marijuana in the kitchen of the Tunica Cabaret, where Vega and Youngblood were cooking food for customers.” This sworn statement should alarm: A) the DEA; B) the vice squad; C) the health department.

Who said, “I have done this world wide, and this is the wildest I have ever seen,” and “That’s the best show I’ve ever seen in my life”? A) an MPD officer working undercover at a strip club; B) a Grizzlies fan; C) a reporter who covers the City Council.

Before he said “Throw me one of them stacks, man,” Roscoe Dixon was: A) watching a 400-pound wrestler on television; B) calculating the odds that Tim Willis was working for the FBI;C) concocting his alibi.

Happy &***@#!! New Year.

Tags news quiz

Sports Sports Feature

Grizzlies Fire Fratello as Coach

Post author By John Branston
Post date December 28, 2006

Mired in a disappointing 6-24 season so far, Memphis Grizzlies’ coach Mike Fratello has been fired, and team General Manager Jerry West plans a press conference on Friday to discuss the firing. “We just felt it was time to make a change and move in a different direction based on our record and future goals,” West said in a statement.

Fratello had compiled a 95-83 record since taking over for Hubie Brown on Dec. 2, 2004 and had led the Grizzlies to two postseason appearances; like his predecessor, however, he won no playoff games.

Go here for more.

Art Art Feature

Riders of the Storm

Post author By Carol Knowles
Post date December 28, 2006

It was a hot year, literally and figuratively. Global warming became an unassailable reality as temperatures reached record highs. There was much inflamed political rhetoric and patriotic fervor, and modern weaponry and car bombs blasted into soldiers and innocent bystanders around the world. Closer to home, local and national artists tracked and tried to comprehend the political/social/cultural/environmental chaos with fierce, piercingly honest works of art.

Two venerable voices from the past weighed in on the current drama with ribald and unabashedly politically incorrect exhibitions that, rather than feeling exaggerated or dated, cut right to the heart of the matter. “Red Grooms: Selections from the Graphic Work” at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis and “Pattern Recognition: A Ted Faiers Retrospective” at Power House depicted humanity as misguided/deluded/wounded creatures engaged in millions of simultaneously running tragicomedies.

Local artists continue Grooms’ and Faiers’ legacy. Jan Hankins’ searing paintings at Clough-Hanson in the November exhibition “Sleepless” documented the passions and instincts that drive humanity and threaten to destroy the fabric of existence. There were slender threads of hope in Sleepless 2, a large oil on canvas that retold a classic tale of imperfect beings who yearn for relationship and beauty. Water roared across a devastated landscape and around a stitched-together Frankenstein monster that strained toward his bride strapped on an operating table. Beneath the table, a panther devoured a human heart. In this scene of raging emotions and thwarted desire, another bandaged creature (or another aspect of the feminine) rose from the bride’s chest and reached for a rose engulfed in light.

Many artists refused to see 2006 as apocalyptic. They looked for ways to curb the ethnic/religious/political rancor. In “Lapses To Kill,” Greely Myatt’s June installation at David Lusk Gallery, a Styrofoam sculpture, Formal Arrangement, depicted a woman in a mauve taffeta gown balancing on the head of a man dressed in a tux. The couple stared at an upside-down steel word balloon placed on top of another balloon. Like this couple contemplating upside-down thoughts, Myatt asked us to laugh at our cockeyed notions, to turn things over in our minds and to see things anew.

For years Pinkney Herbert’s thick saturate paints have roared across large canvases. Several of these works were exhibited in “Three Paths to Abstraction,” a group exhibition at AMUM. For the show “Recent Paintings and Drawings,” which ran concurrently at David Lusk in July, Herbert created some of the most minimal works of his career. A wing billowed by air currents or soft sheaths of rain flowing diagonally down a large canvas left most of the picture plane wide-open and white. With the addition of the graceful Zen-like painting Wing to his repertoire, in 2006 Herbert both depicted the fierceness of the times and embraced a more contemplative state of mind.

Even in the most abstract and ethereal of works, there were intimations of the times. At Perry Nicole Fine Art throughout November and at Clough-Hanson Gallery in a show that ran from January to the middle of February, the eerie reds of unshielded night lights and chemical greens of corporate crosswalks colored Susan Maakestad’s cityscapes. Swerving highways in most of her midsized canvases connected one painting to the next and created a shorthand world of artificial colors, speed, and concrete that left us wondering: When/if we ever slow down, what will remain of our sense of community and self?

At the L Ross Gallery in June, photographer Ian Lemmonds took us beyond the turmoil. With images of cheap plastic toys, sunlight, and translucent curtains that hung lopsided in windows, he created luminous worlds of possibility and joy where small white ponies galloped along window sills, materializing out of and disappearing into pure white light. In “Altered,” a November exhibition at the Jay Etkin Gallery, Pam Cobb explored dark places and produced some of the most powerful paintings of her career. A trace of light in Thistle revealed faint feathery weeds set against a background so dark one felt swallowed up by rich umber earth fertile enough to regenerate itself even after nuclear catastrophe.

Much of last year’s local artwork celebrated the potential and indefatigable spirit of humanity. For the exhibition “Origin” at the L Ross Gallery, Kurt Meer paired accomplished, ethereal landscapes with small figurative works. In Voyage III, a young woman, head tilted down, looked absorbed in the moment. The light and color that swirled around and inside her suggested that consciousness, fully engaged, could shape the cosmos.

She Spoke Softly, a self-portrait that was both Eden and primal scream summed up Memphis College of Art freshman David Gillespie’s eight-day sojourn on Horn Island. A blue-green human heart floated in an idyllic turquoise sea. A beautifully crafted ceramic torso sat on top of the painting. Its chest, throat, and mouth were wide open. Like many other artists in 2006, Gillespie became a channel for our times, opened up his heart, and roared.

Music Record Reviews

The Year in Memphis Music

Post author By Chris Herrington
Post date December 28, 2006

In the form of Cat Power’s The Greatest — recorded in Memphis with local musicians — and semi-local-boy Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSounds, Memphis could lay at least partial claim to two of the biggest records of the year — an underground sensation and a pop smash. But those two mega-events only lead a pack of true-blue local releases and great moments from Memphis music in 2006. We asked our four regular local-music writers to pick out the highlights. Here’s what we came up with:

Top 15 Local Records

1. The Service Is Spectacular — The Secret Service (Peabody Records): If titles such as “Camaro” and “Workin’ Too Hard” aren’t proof enough, the aural signifiers on this debut album are clear: the drummer counting it off at the top, blues-boogie guitar riffs cranked to 11, the bass player rumbling like a big rig down the interstate, vocals fueled by exaggerated swagger. These are the four corners of a world where durable but mediocre ’70s hard rock (think Bachman-Turner Overdrive) is given loving, confident reconstruction. It might sound easy, but it only works with a band that has the chops and sensibility to pull it off, and this one does. Though there are many reasons to like the Secret Service, the band’s function as a platform for Steve Selvidge to go apeshit with his guitar is all you really need.

— Chris Herrington

2. Flip Side Kid — Jack-O & The Tennessee Tearjerkers (Sympathy for the Record Industry): From the chugging chords that open “Flipside Kid” to the snarling, swinging lyrics of “I Want You,” Jack Yarber, aka Jack Oblivian, lays down yet another incredible rock record. “I don’t care what they say,” he growls on “Golden Age,” playing both guitar and drums and pushing “record” on the four-track himself, proving that real rock-and-rollers don’t need many creature comforts to survive. Aided by the remarkable revolving cast of characters who make up the Tearjerkers, Yarber makes music because he’s gotta do it, and he writes and plays in a feverish, hell-bent style.

— Andria Lisle

3. Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers — Lucero (Liberty & Lament/EastWest): On this sixth studio album, Memphis’ most durable rock band debuts a sound big enough to fill the arenas they don’t yet play: The drums boom; the guitar riffs reach for the rafters; and, in an unexpected twist for what has for years been a four-piece guitar-bass-drums band, rock-and-roll piano comes rising out of the mix (this last courtesy of local sideman/session ace Rick Steff, whose addition as a “fifth” Lucero member turned out to be a masterstroke). The resulting clarity and command of this record surpasses everything else in the band’s rich and by-now-bulging catalog. — CH

4. I’m Your Negative — River City Tanlines (Dirtnap): Over the last decade, singer and guitar player Alicja Trout has exchanged the sleek black S&M style she cultivated with revisionist new-wavers the Clears for a more casual, less manicured look while becoming the most versatile and prolific female performer in the great-big-boy’s club of Memphis rock-and-roll. With I’m Your Negative, she’s done that which is nearly impossible: making a nuanced studio recording that loses very little of the sweaty garage-punk energy that made the band’s previous recordings so much fun. “Looking for a Line” is a viciously addictive ditty, and it never hurts having John “Bubba” Bonds and Terrence Bishop, Memphis’ tightest rock-and-roll rhythm section, keeping your time. — Chris Davis

5. 12 Songs — Cory Branan (MADJACK): Some songs on this long, long-delayed second album from the Memphis-bred, now Arkansas-based Branan predate his 2001 debut, The Hell You Say (“Tall Green Grass,” “The Prettiest Waitress in Memphis”). But it’s great to finally have them on a disc that marks a welcome return of the finest songwriter in recent Memphis music. — CH

6. Gonerfest 2: Electric Boogaloo CD/DVD — Various Artists (Goner Records): A sprawling, four-day garage-rock festival gloriously captured for the ages: This is Electric Goneroo. Expect (and get) great performances from the Reigning Sound, Reatards, King Louie Bankston, Persuaders, Final Solutions, and more, plus drunks, blood, chicks, and hot dogs galore. — AL

7. Makeshift #4 — Various Artists (Makeshift): Practically an institution within an institution, the local indie-rock sampler Makeshift #4 no doubt benefited from the label’s exponentially higher profile this year, but it remains one of Memphis’ greatest acts of musical humanitarianism — a document of our rich underground musical landscape that shows the rest of the world that we are not a three-genre town.

— Andrew Earles

8. Aristocrunk — Lord T & Eloise (Young Ave. Records): Comedy rap is not a bad word (or two words), especially when it’s this funny. Lord T & Eloise have pulled a musical coup in that their absurdist “aristocrunk” is both clever and wildly popular not to mention constructed with a precision and catchiness that has everyone from casual show-goers to open-minded hip-hop heads nodding in the name of good times. When two guys in powdered wigs rap about class separation in the 1800s and manage to sell out the Hi-Tone for their debut gig, someone’s doing something right. — AE

Clarence Henry

9. Jungle Jim and the Voodoo Tiger — James Luther Dickinson (Memphis International): The formal audacity of Dickinson’s vision of “roots music” and his penchant for unearthing obscure songwriting gems is no great surprise. What makes Jungle Jim special is the easy intimacy Dickinson coaxes out of a “family band” that includes his sons, Paul Taylor, Amy LaVere, Jim Spake, and others. Recorded on the quick at Dickinson’s north Mississippi home studio, the result is a record bursting with music and humor and humanity. — CH

10. Oxytocin — Snowglobe (Makeshift): Snowglobe have made the full transition from Memphis’ token Neutral Milk Hotel into a band that’s able to stand tall on a unique template of psychedelic pop that could, based on chops and hooks, erase most of the faceless dreck clogging up the indie-rock world nationally. Memphis should be proud to have a band far superior to the sycophantically elevated, NPR-ready tedium made by the Decemberists or current-day Flaming Lips. — AE

11. In the Meantime … — Viva L’American Death Ray Music (New York Night Train): Once upon a time, Viva L’American Death Ray Music was a much bigger band with a much shorter name. And even when they bit, they were still pretty cool. But time has passed. The name is longer, the band smaller, the sound is tick tight, and In the Meantime delivers everything you could want from a band that should really consider calling itself the Reader’s Digest Complete History of Modern Rock, Condensed. Once you’ve heard “Same Suit, Different Tie,” you’ll know exactly what I mean. — CD

12. Light Up the Bomb — 8Ball (8Ways Entertainment): It’s Orange Mound, y’all: The M Gang’s all here for 8Ball’s latest solo effort, a Montana Trax-produced blend of gangsta rap and party grooves that threatens to upstage Ridin’ High, the long-awaited release by 8Ball & MJG, due next spring. — AL

13. Crook By Da Book: The Fed Story — Project Pat (Hypnotize Minds/Columbia): Six little words — “I ain’t goin’ back to jail” — are all you need to know about this joint, the latest from Juicy J’s older brother, Patrick Houston. Mixing urban nursery rhymes over a rapid-fire snare beat, ex-con Project Pat is back on top and as full of braggadocio as ever. — AL

Justin Timberlake

14. Evil Army — Evil Army (Get Revenge): In the late ’80s, crossover thrash was one of the more enjoyable and exhilarating offshoots of underground metal. Hardcore grew some hair and the Accused, Hirax, and mid-period D.R.I. happened. Evil Army took this influence, along with early Metallica, Megadeth, and the Misfits, and spat out a circa-2006 update that’s no throwback but perhaps the next band after Epoch of Unlight to put Memphis on the metal map. — AE

15. Residential Llama — Walkie Talkie (Makeshift): Memphis’ Walkie Talkie released Residential Llama, a beautifully crafted collection of wickedly clever pop songs, only to discover there’s another band nobody’s ever heard of named Walkie Talkie — and they’re awfully territorial about their name. To avoid conflict, our Walkie Talkie is reluctantly going with the name Two-Way Radio. But whatever you call the band, Residential Llama is a collection of lush microsymphonies filled with authentic wit and serious whimsy. — CD

Personal Bests

Chris Herrington:

1. Clarence Henry at Ponderosa Stomp: The great New Orleans R&B singer (best known for his 1956 hit “Ain’t Got No Home”) was a colossal charmer during his set on the final night of this relocated-from-New Orleans roots festival.

2. The Drive-By Truckers at the New Daisy: Fifteen years ago, Truckers Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley lived in Memphis, struggling to make their way in the music biz. Five years ago, I saw them test out material from their yet-to-be-released Southern Rock Opera in front of about 15 people at the Hi-Tone Café. So it was a triumphant night for Hood and Cooley when they packed the Daisy this year, a venue Hood worked at during his Memphis stint, dedicating a song to “Big Star, the Grifters, Lucero, and the Memphis tradition of rock-and-roll.”

3. “Lived in Bars”: Since “mopey, damaged singer-songwriter” is just about my least favorite pop subgenre, I wasn’t about to go gaga over the Cat Power record, local connection or not. But the single “Lived in Bars” is lovely, with a dreamy melody and a graceful performance from the Memphis Rhythm Band. And the low-tech, Robert Gordon-directed video, shot at quintessential Midtown dive the Lamplighter, is also entrancing.

4. Justin Timberlake at the New Daisy: The new King of Pop gave local fans a convincing live preview of his then-yet-to-be-released sophomore solo gem, FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Cat Power

5. Da Hater: Jason Harris, Whitehaven High School teacher and football coach and member of local hip-hop groups Kontrast and Iron Mic Coalition, went undercover this year as Da Hater, picking apart gangsta rappers, picking on his bandmates, and even dissing his own mother on an all-but-unavailable solo debut. The best — and certainly funniest — local record this year that no one heard.

Chris Davis:

1. Tom Waits at The Orpheum: “Singapore,” “Invitation to the Blues,” “House Where Nobody Lives.” Really, that speaks for itself.

2. Eddie Bond at Ponderosa Stomp: Long ago, I’d given up hope that I would ever see a good Eddie Bond show, but after his set at the Gibson, I’m convinced there are only two things standing between the flip-flopping daddy and a major comeback: Deke Dickerson & the Eccophonics aren’t his full-time rhythm section and Travis Wammack isn’t his regular guitar player. Yes, there were better shows at the Stomp (Syl Johnson, anybody?), but for sheer shock value, Eddie’s was extra special.

3. Jim Dickinson’s cover of “Truck Driving Man”: I suppose I expected an album titled Jungle Jim & the Voodoo Tiger to sound more like Screamin’ Jay Hawkins than Willie & Family Live, not that I’m complaining. Actually I am. Dickinson’s latest starts as strong as anything he’s ever done, the rest is merely good. But his cover of “Truck Driving Man” is so smooth, breezy, and totally free. We wouldn’t need truck drivers if New Orleans and Bakersfield were actually as close together as they sound in Jungle Jim’s interpretation of this honky-tonk classic.

4. Gonerfest on DVD: I officially became old this year because I really, really, really wanted to go to Gonerfest, but I really, really, really didn’t have time for the hangover. Thanks to Chris “Live from Memphis” Reyes and his helpers, I can now get rocked at home, whenever I want, with an ice-cold Geritol.

5. Becc & Hank’s “I Hear a Call”: Generally speaking, the album Trailer Park Lovin’ was a little too “outside the trailer park looking in” for my taste, but “I Hear a Call” is an angelic, existential dose of lonesome country gospel and, for what it’s worth, the most beautifully sung song of this year.

Andria Lisle:

1. Ponderosa Stomp: I’ve attended every Ponderosa Stomp since its inception; never did I figure on less than a six-hour drive to the party. Yet in 2006, the Stomp was in temporary exile in Memphis, with everyone from Scotty Moore, Travis Wammack, and Jerry “the King” Lawler to WEVL and chef Karen Carrier helping the New Orleans contingency feel at home. William Bell was incendiary, Clarence “Frogman” Henry unforgettable. If you missed it, you truly missed out.

2. Cat Power: With the help of Teenie Hodges, Rick Steff, Doug Easley, Susan Marshall, and others, Cat Power got back on her feet in Memphis, recording The Greatest at Ardent and returning — after losing a few of her nine lives — to make a music video at the Lamplighter with Robert Gordon and shoot a concert at Young Avenue Deli for cable-TV broadcast.

3. Gonerfest 3: Live eels, foreign garage-rock bands, and stellar performances from River City Tanlines, Rockin’ Enocky, and Viva L’American Death Ray Music — the guys at Goner Records know how to take a nothing weekend and make it seem so worthwhile.

4. Memphis Manatee video (YouTube): Manny the Manatee might be dead, but thanks to this absolutely genius music video created by Joe Sills, his memory will live forever. Local news footage cobbled together with images of Manny partying with Three 6 Mafia, checking out Graceland, and hangin’ with Grizz, all unwinding over a soaring power-pop anthem by Blue October, will make you wonder what might’ve happened had Manny survived. It’ll also have you laughing your ass off. Enjoy.

5. Hernando’s Hideaway: Some of the greatest nights of my life were spent in this South Memphis honky tonk, dancing to Bubba Feathers or tunes on the jukebox. Imagine my horror, then, when I pulled up to Hernando’s a few months back and discovered the business shuttered and the building repainted. R.I.P. to one of the city’s greatest treasures, lost in 2006.

Andrew Earles:1. Dinosaur Jr. at Young Avenue Deli: Being the superfan that I am, it’s odd that I was too lazy or broke to travel when the first round of Dinosaur Jr. original-lineup reunion shows was traversing the States. When the band finally hit Memphis in April, the performance lived up to earlier reports and exceeded expectations with an energy and mind-shattering volume that was simply unbelievable for a band whose heyday was in the late ’80s.

2. Big Business/Torche at the Hi-Tone: Another absurdly loud and rocking show, though far fewer people saw this one. The two fellows in Big Business are now two-fifths of the Melvins; as this incarnation, they are a bass and drums duo that will reestablish any lost faith in the power of the two-piece. And Torche make extremely catchy avant-metal out of the Melvins blueprint and, as such, are probably the loudest pop band in the world.

3. Backyard Shows: A couple successful shows at Two Chicks and a Broom/Light Years Vintage and lots of shows at multiple locations for the kid-friendly Rock & Romp series: Was 2006 the return of the backyard show? I sure hope so. Since Memphis no longer has a proper winter, we certainly have the weather for it. Laid-back, cheap alcohol, sonics unencumbered by troublesome “acoustics,” no smoke clogging up the room, and the ground softer than a club floor in case you need to fall down or become involved in a drunken brawl: There’s no more enjoyable road to passing out at 8 p.m.

4. Chopper Girl/Al Kapone/Lord T & Eloise (various performances): There were a lot of hip-hop shows with large crossover audiences this year. This is probably a far-removed result of Hustle & Flow, but harmony is to be enjoyed and applauded.

5. Film Music: The growing prevalence of local music in the Indie Memphis Film Festival, especially more underground examples like Brent Shrewsbury’s (silly but fun) Evil Army video.