Welcome back to my Top Ten albums list of 2007 ... so far. Yesterday, I wrote of an amazing Young Galaxy — from Canada, not outer space — and the glorious reunions of Dinosaur Jr. and Buffalo Tom. But, the album that's No. 1 in my heart, at least so far this year, is The Shins' Wincing the Night Away.

Today, the rest of my 10 best will be revealed. The envelope please ...

6. Meat Puppets - Rise to Your Knees (Anodyne Records) - Moody and gorgeously textured, Rise to Your Knees is dark, desert psychedelia for cowboys with a taste for mescaline. The strange, wonderful imagination of Curt Kirkwood is still working overtime.

7. Love - Blue Thumb Recordings (www.Hip-OSelect.com) - More confirmation of Arthur Lee's genius, the Blue Thumb Recordings empty the vaults of Love's post-Forever Changes, lost psych-pop glory. There's incredible variety here, a little bit of folk, some freewheeling rock and a whole lot of gorgeous, sometimes loony, melodies Lee must bought from the devil. It was a bargain.

8. Maps - We Can Create (Mute, www.mute.com) - A space-pop epic, wildly ambitious and otherworldly, Maps' We Can Create is an amalgam of breathy, electronic cool and psychedelic radiance. It's Spiritualized, My Bloody Valentine and Moby all floating in the milky way, creating sonic architecture that's huge, smooth and glassy, but never boring.

9. John Phillips - Jack Of Diamonds (Varese Sarabande) - It's not folk, but Jack Of Diamonds proves that Phillips could move beyond the acoustic ghetto to create beautiful, timeless music that defied categories. Country, rock, folk and even the blues influence his songwriting, but in Phillips' hands, they're mere tools used to shape and paint his highly textured, wind-blown pieces. A collection of lost recordings that should have seen the light of day in their time.

10. John Doe - A Year In The Wilderness (Yep Roc, www.yeproc.com) - Handsome rascal that John Doe, sort of a Paul Newman for the punk set, and like Newman, Doe has a body of work few artists can match. Tough, world-wise duets with Kathleen Edwards highlight the set, but the grit and realism of Doe's songwriting is felt throughout and provides the edge to burnished melodies that would shine like gold if not for the hard life they've lived.

At the risk of being labeled unpatriotic, it seems Europe has the right idea about a lot of things — one being universal health care, but that's a debate for another day.

No, where the Continent really has us Yanks beat is in its attitude toward music, and especially in its radio programming. Unlike in America, radio across the pond isn't ruled by Clear Channel, and therefore, it isn't so compartmentalized. Here, you've got your Top 40 station, your Classic Rock station, your Modern/Alternative rock 9or whatever they're calling it nowadays) station and your hip-hop station, etc.

Over there, radio stations play it all. There's none of this "one station for this, one station for that" kind of nonsense. Slowly, that mentality is killing music in this country, creating these fragmented gangs of music lovers that can't trespass on each other's turf without getting glares of suspicion from the arbiters of taste on every side.

In talking the other day to Roger Glover, bassist and a founding member of Deep Purple, you get the idea that Europe is a place where anything goes, where people are into all kinds of music and being a fan of Classic Rock doesn't mean you can't find something in common with the indie crowd.

For its part, Deep Purple is doing very well overseas, selling out various venues and striking a chord with the youth of different countries.

"It's been very good for us in Europe, and France especially," says Glover. "Germany's always been a stalwart supporter of Deep Purple, but France has come alive in the last couple of years. They really took to Rapture of the Deep (Purple's last studio album), and the audiences ... we just did a couple of months ago a big French tour, and we sold out everywhere, and the audiences were all around 20 or under, because in Europe, there's not quite the perception there is in the States. They don't have radio stations with categories, like rock stations or hip-hop stations ... or whatever. It's just music, so you don't get categorized quite so much, and I find that healthier."

So do I. And, if I had to make a diagnosis, I'd say Deep Purple is as healthy as its ever been. In May, the band released They All Came Down to Montreux: Deep Purple Live at Montreux 2006 (Eagle Rock Entertainment) as a 187-minute, two-DVD set (including a show at London's Hard Rock Cafe) and CD. Then, in late June, an HD-DVD version was released. Gorgeously shot, the DVD concert footage is a celebration of all things Deep Purple, with the band plowing through testosterone-fueled, proto-metal rockers like "Highway Star," "Space Truckin'" and, of course, "Smoke On The Water" with power and zeal. Guitarist Steve Morse, who's been with the band 15 years now, provides a variety of stunning, imaginative solos and heavy riffs, and Ian Gillan's vocal display raised pulses.

As everyone knows, Deep Purple and Montreux have a long history together. It was where the band's classic Machine Head album was recorded. The story of that album's creation will be published in an upcoming issue of Goldmine, so stay tuned.

If you're interested in the Live at Montreux release, head on over to www.eaglerockent.com for purchasing information.

The Purple is still on tour this summer. Remaining dates are listed below:

July 28            Montreal, QC         Bell Centre
July 31            Boston, MA            Bank Of America Pavilion
Aug. 2             Wallingford, CT      Chevrolet Theater
Aug. 4             Atlantic City, NJ     House of Blues
Aug. 7             New York, NY        Radio City Music Hall
Aug. 9             Bethlehem, PA       Musikfest  

As great as the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream was — likewise for Gish — it's hard to escape the fact that Billy Corgan can generally be a jerk.

Which is too bad because the first single off the group's new album, "Tarantula," feels like a return to form for the Pumpkins. But here's where Corgan loses credibility with those independent-minded folks like you and me. The Pumpkins' new album Zeitgeist is being released in four different versions for some reason, with Best Buy and Target getting a version with an exclusive bonus track. And iTunes has one with cover versions of Pumpkins song by the Bravery, Panic at the Disco and a bunch of other crappy bands that turn teens into dithering idiots.

So, if you want all of this booty — and if you're a slavish Pumpkins smasher, you probably will — you'll have to buy them all. If that isn't a big middle finger to the indie record stores, I don't know what is. Um, Billy, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but remember how all of us indie record store shoppers practically made you a millionaire many times over? Thanks for screwing us over.

That said, Zeitgeist has entered the Top 5 in the charts of just about every civilized nation on the planet. It sold almost 150,000 copies in the U.S. alone in its first week of release, and "Tarantula" is #2 on the Billboard hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and #9 on the publication’s Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. When is instant karma going to bite him in the butt? Of course, that doesn't mean that I can't wait to get my hands on Zeitgeist. Still, for once, and this totally goes against my usual philosophy (you need to buy the albums people!), I hope someone can burn me a copy because I really don't want to give this guy any more of my hard-earned cash.

Or maybe I'm just bummed that he turned us down for an interview.

Need more information on what the Pumpkins are up to, visit www.smashingpumpkins.com <http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/> and www.myspace.com/smashingpumpkins <http://www.myspace.com/smashingpumpkins>.

Flying underneath the radar suits the veteran alternative-rock outfit Buffalo Tom (photo at right by Liz Linder) just fine.

With the song "Taillights Fade" and the unlikely success of the album that spawned it, Let Me Come Over, the rootsy Boston-area band with ties to the likes of Julianna Hatfield and Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis seemed poised for big things in the '90s with the slickly produced followup, Big Red Letter.

Though the song "Soda Jerk" got some radio and MTV play, it didn't vault the band to superstardom. And that's okay with bassist/vocalist Chris Colbourn.

"We're pretty comfortable as the JV team," said Colbourn. "It's a good place to be. You're the underdog. And people are like ... they give you a shoulder, like a little brother thing. It's very easy to create then. Literally, there's no jets, no Mercedes to buy. You just buy a Jetta or something."

Known for writing pristine pop songs with loads of hooks and wistful, world-weary lyrics, Buffalo Tom has just released its new record, Three Easy Pieces. Teary ballads like "Pendleton" mingle with country-tinged rave-ups like "Bottom of the Rain" on an album that's solid from top to bottom. And it all begins with "Bad Phone Call," the kind of heartfelt, soul-searching cloudbursts of guitar-based pop that's won Buffalo Tom a strong cult following.

But it begs the question: Why isn't Buffalo Tom as big as ... say, the Goo Goo Dolls? They both go about their business pretty much the same, even if the Goo Goo Dolls may have sold their souls to the almighty soundtrack. Colbourn isn't so sure the Goo Goo Dolls deserve to be labeled "sell-outs."

"I don't have the self-confidence or rock-star guy in me to ever think, 'Oh, I should have been it,'" says Colbourn. "Like the Goo Goo Dolls are a good example. We did a little tour with them. I gotta say, they write great songs. People are always critical of them, but you know what, they do what they do. It's like being critical of Elton John. It's like, 'What?' Like he's great. [John Rzeznik) writes these beautiful melodies, and he matches them with his lyrics. It's very heartfelt. There's nothing embarrassing about that. I mean, I might be into something more indie-rock, but that doesn't mean the Goo Goo Dolls necessarily suck. I thought they were really nice people ... they were really reaching out to people. Like when I grew up, I was a big fan of the Stones and the Kinks. They were just pop bands. There's no embarrassment to like really catchy songs. So, I kind of defend the Counting Crows and that kind of thing. I guess it's not at the end of the day in my record collection, and I understand why people say Sonic Youth is cool, but I don't think there's any big difference between high art and low art."

To read more about Buffalo Tom, check out the Aug. 3 edition of Goldmine.



 

Having "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" director Michel Gondry in your corner is one thing, as is getting a Top 50 album of the year nod from Rolling Stone, but that all pales in comparison to getting a four-star review from Goldmine. Am I right?

Surely, the Willowz's cup runneth over these days. Now comes word that the band, led by singer/guitarist Richie James Follin and bassist/vocalist Jessica Reynoza, is gearing up for a summer tour with the Detroit Cobras. It's Cobras vs. Willowz in a knock-down, drag-out, rock 'n roll party in the streets!

Working psychedelic magic into their potent, thick-as-molasses and loud-as-thunder rock sound, the Willowz merge mountainous, classic-rock guitar riffs with country sass on Chautauqua, the band's latest and greatest. It's raw, it's filled with greasy sonic cholesterol and it's good for you.

And the Cobras are a red-hot act in and of themselves, so get in your hot-rod Lincoln and ride to these dates:

Wed July 11                      Covington, KY                                 The Mad Hatter
Thu July 12                      Columbus, OH                                  Little Brother's
Fri July 13                      Millvale, PA                                       Mr. Smalls Theatre
Sat July 14                      Cleveland, OH                                    Beachland Ballroom
Sun July 15                      Buffalo, NY                                       Mohawk Place
Tue July 17                      Philadelphia, PA                                 The Khyber
Wed July 18                      Washington D.C.                                The Black Cat
Thu July 19                      Baltimore, MD                                    Ottobar
Fri July 20                      Cambridge, MA                                  T.T. The Bear's
Sun July 22                      Hoboken, NJ                                        Maxwell's
Tue July 24                      Carrboro, NC                                     Cat's Cradle
Wed July 25                      Knoxville, TN                                        Blue Cats
Thu July 26                      Nashville, TN                                         The End
Fri July 27                      Atlanta, GA                                                 Earl
Sat July 28                      New Orleans, LA                                       Parish
Thu August 9                  Houston, TX                                             Rudyard's*
Fri August 10                  Dallas, TX                                 The Palladium Showroom*
Sat August 11                  Austin, TX                                 Emo's Alternative Lounging*
Mon August 13                  Tucson, AZ                                                Plush*
Tue August 14                  Tempe, AZ                             The Clubhouse Music Venue*
Wed August 15                  San Diego, CA                                     The Casbah*
Thu August 16                  West Hollywood, CA                                Troubadour*
Fri August 17                  San Francisco, CA                                         Slims*
Sat August 18                 San Jose, CA                                     The Bank Club*
Mon August 20                  Portland, OR                                 Doug Fir Lounge*
Tue August 21                  Seattle, WA                                         Neumo's*
Wed August 22                  Boise, ID                                            Neurolux*
Thu August 23                  Salt Lake City, UT                             Urban Lounge*
Fri August 24                  Denver, CO                                    Bluebird Theatre*
Sat August 25                 Kansas City, MO                             The Record Bar*
Mon August 27                  St. Louis, MO                                 Creepy Crawl*
Tue August 28                  Iowa City, IA                                     Picador*
Wed August 29                  Minneapolis, MN                             Triple Rock*
Thu August 30                  Milwaukee, WI                                 Mad Planet*
Fri August 31                  Chicago, IL                                             TBD*
Sat Sept 1                      Detroit, MI                                         Magic Stick*
*Dan Sartain joins the tour

For more information, peep these web sites: thewillowz.com; myspace.com/thewillowz; and dimmak.com