Rolling country 2007 thread

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_bw3aDSOI

xp

For the record, my top 3 singles were Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down," Hank Jr.'s "That's How They Do It In Dixie," and Carrie's "Before He Cheats" - I wonder if the last might win the poll, but then remember that the Chicks are likely to sweep it, sadly. (I'm of the their-politics-got-in-their-music's-way camp.)

I'm surprised though that nobody else seems to like Rodney Atkins' "If You're Going Through Hell." It stomps near as hard as "Kerosene," his vocals--which usually annoy me to no end--get the laughing at disaster tone right, and has a mean hook on the chorus. And as support-the-troops-sublimations go, it's crafty. Then again, I neglected to mention it till now, oh well.

Single--at least on the advance promo I have. But 20 songs, which is probably twice as long as the stodgy old cuss deserves, unless the thing was a lot more well-chosen than this one seems to be. Let's see...I remember liking "Here's A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)," "Country Club," and "Lord Have Mercy On The Working Man" in their day; if there are seven more approaching that level (and I don't LOVE any of those), I'll be surprised. Always kinda hated "T-R-O-U-B-L-E," but maybe that's just 'cause I was a grump back then. I feel like he's had minor hits I've liked more than these whose titles I don't see on here, but damned if I can remember their names.

TOP 10 COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2006
5. Rodney Atkins – If You’re Going Through Hell (Curb)

TOP 10 COUNTRY SINGLES (OR TRACKS OR WHATEVER) OF 2006
2 Rodney Atkins – “Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy)” (Curb)

"If You're Going Through Hell" is, at best, the album's fourth best song -- behind the one I voted for, "These Are My People," and "In The Middle." And while he's got his cloying moments ("Watching You," about his little boy learning to say naughty words and pray just like Daddy, gag), the words there not his voice are the culprit.

His debut album was good, too, though not quite as good as the followup (which for a while I was considering for my Pazz & Jop ballot, though it slipped a bit on my list in '06's waning weeks):

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0350,eddy,49290,22.html

http://koganbot.livejournal.com/11711.html

Bill Kirchen's album is more rock and soul and blues than anything I've heard by him before. Great title (and rocking title track): Hammer Of The Honky Tonk Gods. He does "Devil With A Blue Dress On" as a slow shuffle, closes with an Arthur Alexander song.

-- xhuxk (fakemai...) (webmail), November 17th, 2006 12:04 PM. (xheddy) (link)

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This is like Freaky Friday or something. Totally agree with xhuxk on the new Kirchen. Good song selection too.
-- Roy Kasten (rfkaste...) (webmail), November 17th, 2006 2:50 PM. (Roy Kasten) (link)

Well, actually...Freaky Friday must be over now because the Kirchen album's sounding a lot duller to me today than it was a couple days ago. Just kinda stodgy and slow and colorless, and the title track doesn't really kick all that hard after all, and why the hell would anybody want to slow down "Devil With a Blue Dress On," come to think of it? So right now, I'm on the fence, but maybe it'll kick back in, or maybe it won't.
-- xhuxk (fakemai...) (webmail), November 19th, 2006 12:53 AM. (xheddy) (link)

"One More Day" on the Kirchen album does have a nice Dock Boggs era white country blues feel to it, I guess. And I do like the Arthur Alexander cover. So I haven't written the thing off quite yet.
-- xhuxk (fakemai...) (webmail), November 19th, 2006 1:45 AM. (xheddy) (link)

"Working Man" and "Soul Cruisin'" very nice on the Kirchen album too. I should just shut my mouth and stop second-guessing everything.
-- xhuxk (fakemai...) (webmail), November 19th, 2006 2:25 AM. (xheddy) (link)

Kirchen's "Hammer of The Honky Tonk Gods" title cut kicks (or at least "signifies kicking") in a Junior Brown kind of way, I guess. There's something sorta deluded about it -- half of Nashville rocks harder; hell, Kellie Pickler might rock harder -- but it's not bad.

-- xhuxk (fakemai...) (webmail), November 19th, 2006 2:54 AM. (xheddy) (link)

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And my new maybe-favorite on Kirchen's CD is "Skid Row in My Mind."

-- xhuxk (fakemai...) (webmail), November 19th, 2006 3:19 PM. (xheddy) (link)

So yeah, in the end, I'd say the Kirchen album squeaks by more on its real good song selection than its better-than-competent performances (and singing). But it still bats at least .500 in my book. I even wound up liking the track called "Heart of Gold," which is not a "Heart of Gold" I've known before. (It's credited to one T. Johnson). Best original is "One More Day," which turns out to be more Bob Wills than Dock Boggs, more Western swing than white blues. Anybody know who Blackie Farrell, who wrote "Skid Row In My Mind," or J. New, who wrote "Soul Cruisin'," are? They're both really great. "Devil With A Blue Dress" is totally dreary in this version, though maybe I'd forgive it here if I didn't grow up on Mitch Ryder.
-- xhuxk (fakemai...) (webmail), November 19th, 2006 10:45 PM. (xheddy) (link)

great comp, on Time/Life: "Gloryland: 30 Bluegrass Gospel Classics." Don Reno/Red Smiley, Rhonda Vincent, Country Gentlemen, The Seldom Scene, two discs, mighty nice Sunday-morning music.

...namely their "Missing You 2007" remake, which is now at #43 on the country singles chart

Depends how you define country, but either no country finished in the album top 40, or five or so did (Dylan, Neko Case, Jenny Lewis, Band Of Horses, Dixie Chicks, Bruce Springsteen). Todd Snider came in 61st, Johnny Cash 68, Rosanne Cash 85, Drive-By Truckers 89, Calexico 110, Bonnie "Prince" Billy 135, Jerry Lee Lewis 162, Vince Gill 168.

Singles, Band of Horses was 19th (I'm not claiming they're country, but I think they're considered Americana-related or something, though I'm not sure about that, even), Dixie Chicks 23, Dixie Chicks (again) 56, tied w/ Jenny Lewis and a buncha others, Neko Case 72, Neko Case (again) 84, tied w/ Todd Snider and a buncha others, and I'm not going to go further since we're down to six votes, except that "Before He Cheats" got a measly three votes. Marit Larsen's "Only A Fool" got five (her "Don't Save Me" got seven).

http://www.idolator.com/jackinpop2006

(I was distressed at how few people wrote comments; the dearth of commentary was probably due to the rushed deadline. Unfortunately my comments therefore stand out. I'm rather embarrassed by the nastiness at the start of my ballot, though I like the analysis that follows. If anything, Idolator is worse than what I said, but I really should have found another way to say it. Also disappointed by no lists from Rob Sheffield and Joshua Clover and Edd S. Hurt and Greil Marcus, and by Xgau's only voting one single.)

I posted this in a couple other places already, and as far as I know it has nothing whatsoever to do with country, but what the heck:

(And I had no idea til I read Michaelangelo's essay that Destroyer are considered "trad." Also, I swear I never even heard of Peter, Bjorn & John or Justice or Rhythm & Sound or Midlake before today. I'm pretty sure I heard of Camera Obscura before, but I had no idea that anybody liked them.) (And, oh yeah, the biggest surprise to me in the album finishers is Belle & Sebastian at #10. I have nothing more against them than I ever did, but I kinda figured even their fans didn't care about them anymore.)

1) Marit Larsen - "Only A Fool"
2) Carrie Underwood - "Before He Cheats"
3) Texas Lightning - "No No Never"
4) Julie Roberts - "Men and Mascara"
5) LeAnn Rimes - "And It Feels Like " (questionable eligibility)
6) Sara Evans - "Coalmine"
7) LeAnn Rimes - "Some People"
8) Toby Keith - "A Little Too Late"
9) Ashley Monroe - "Satisfied"
10) Rodney Atkins - "If You're Going Through Hell (Before the Devil Even Knows)"

This is a pretty solid top 10, even though there is stuff I didn't hear, like I said. I, as always, have a huge soft spot for Sara Evans, though "You'll Always Be My Baby" was not good at all.

Just played Alan's Like Red On A Rose again this morning, first time I've put it on since I bumped it from by Nashville Scene ballot. Which was stupid -- if I had to do it over again, I'd have bumped the Mandrell compilation instead, and Alan probably would have more in the running for my Jackin' Pop as well. It really is a beautiful record. Jazz album of the year, easy! But one thing I figured out is that it sort of blands out in its second half, after the first six tracks or so. My bumping probably over-emphasized that.

I'd say the weakest album of Montgomery Gentry's career was their debut album, and probably rank Some People Change second or third best. Either way, there's been no more consistent musical act this decade, in any genre. I'm not even sure who would come close.

Well, not counting Toby Keith's jazz album, if that counts. But better than Kenny Garrett, Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet, or David Ware (all of which I found extremely listenable regardless) for sure.

In other news, Don Allred forwarded me this yesterday. Interesting!!

Club Connection Announces Top Ten Country Dance Hits Of 2006

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 8, 2006) -- For the third year, Marco Promotion's Club Connection surveyed over 200 country nightclubs and dance instructors nationwide to determine the most played and most requested dance titles of the past 12 months.

Steve Holy blasted into 2006 with this year's number one club track, "Brand New Girlfriend." The single, which also earned Holy his second #1 radio hit, was released in February with a remix sent exclusively to clubs and dance instructors in November.

Trace Adkins dominates this year's top ten by earning the number two and number six spots with "Swing" and current radio single "Ladies Love Country Boys" respectively. Both tracks are on his 2006 Album Dangerous Man.

The number three spot belongs to Rodney Atkins and his breakout single "If You're Going Through Hell," the title track from his sophomore album on Curb Records.

CMA Award Winners Rascal Flatts capture the number four spot for their Jeffery Steele, Tony Mullins, Jon Stone penned "Me And My Gang." Brad Paisley rounds out the top 5 with "The World."

Toby Keith made his third straight appearance on the top ten with his single "Get Drunk And Be Somebody," charting at number seven.

Country newcomers closed out the 2006 top ten. Pittsburgh, PA natives the Povertyneck Hillbillies chart at number eight with their debut single "Mr. Right Now." The number nine spot belongs to Curb Recording artist Tyler Dean with "Built For Blue Jeans," a track that was released exclusively to clubs and dance instructors. Completing this year's list is Eric Church's "Two Pink Lines," the second single from his debut album Sinners Like Me.

2005's number one dance hit, Trace Adkins' "Honkytonk Badonkadonk," continued its' momentum into 2006 earning the highest re-current rotation. Bomshel's "Bomshel Stomp," which earned the duo the number six spot in 2005, took the number two re-current position. Big and Rich's club mainstay "Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy," a single that topped the 2004 club hits list and appeared as 2005's number one re-current, earned the third highest re-current rotation in 2006.

Club Connection's Top Ten Dance Hits Of 2006 are:
1. Steve Holy "Brand New Girlfriend"
2. Trace Adkins "Swing"
3. Rodney Atkins "If You're Going Through Hell"
4. Rascal Flatts "Me And My Gang"
5. Brad Paisley "The World"
6. Trace Adkins "Ladies Love Country Boys"
7. Toby Keith "Get Drunk And Be Somebody"
8. PovertyNeck Hillbillies "Mr. Right Now"
9. Tyler Dean "Built For Blue Jeans"
10. Eric Church "Two Pink Lines"

Marco Promotion's Club Connection is a division of Nashville-based publicity and promotions company, AristoMedia Group. Capitalizing on the resurgent popularity of country dance clubs, Club Connection provides services that allow artists to impact larger audiences and increase product awareness. Club Connection has created successful promotion packages for artists including Trace Adkins, Dierks Bentley, Big & Rich, Montgomery Gentry, Toby Keith and Bomshel. For more information about Marco Promotions' Club Connection, please visit www.marcopromo.com or www.marcoclubconnection.com.

That's overstating things a bit, and I think the defining Garth-as-Garth has as much to do with his mega-image and arena shows, which he obviously couldn't do behind a debut. But "The Dance" is one of his biggest and most Garth songs; "Tomorrow Never Comes" and "Alabama Clay" are good too. He's always been an under-rated singer.

garth, hmm, the first one, '90, w/ "friends in low places," i always liked because it was a bit more relaxed, pre-mega-success. i guess i think "in pieces" is the best of all of them except the first greatest hits package. one of those guys i wish i could divorce the music from that silly-ass way he always cavorted around on stage and so forth. definitely some kind of genius of assimilationist nashville, oklahoma. give me john anderson any day, though, or even keith whitley.

jackson "jazz album of the year," eh? that's the rub, and what a lot of reviewers just seem to have missed. i was talking about charlie rich, and certainly jackson has affinities. rich always gave you a piece of himself, vocally, though, and jackson remains a bit of a cipher, but i guess i say the less "personality" in jazz-pop these days, perhaps the better. a really over-the-top singer might've ruined "like red."

xps

Here's my Scene stuff:

TOP TEN COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2006:

1. Alan Jackson – Like Red on a Rose
2. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat
3. Julie Roberts – Men and Mascara
4. The Wreckers – Stand Still, Look Pretty
5. Blaine Larsen – Rockin’ You Tonight
6. Rosanne Cash – Black Cadillac
7. Dixie Chicks – Taking the Long Way
8. Vince Gill – These Days
9. Toby Keith – White Trash with Money
10. Keith Urban – Love, Pain & the Whole Crazy Thing

TOP TEN COUNTRY SINGLES OF 2006:

1. Faith Hill – “Stealing Kisses”
2. Sara Evans – “Cheatin’”
3. Carrie Underwood – “Before He Cheats”
4. Kenny Chesney – “Summertime”
5. The Wreckers – “Leave the Pieces”
6. Blaine Larsen – “I Don’t Know What She Said”
7. Toby Keith – “Get Drunk and Be Somebody”
8. Billy Currington – “Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right”
9. Dixie Chicks – “Not Ready to Make Nice”
10. Julie Roberts – “Men and Mascara”

COUNTRY MUSIC'S THREE BEST MALE VOCALISTS OF 2006:

1. Alan Jackson
2. Toby Keith
3. Vince Gill

COUNTRY MUSIC'S THREE BEST FEMALE VOCALISTS OF 2006:

1. Julie Roberts
2. Neko Case
3. Carrie Underwood

COUNTRY MUSIC'S THREE BEST LIVE ACTS OF 2006:

1. Tim McGraw/Faith Hill
2. Dierks Bentley
3. Kenny Chesney

COUNTRY MUSIC'S THREE BEST SONGWRITERS OF 2006:

1. Lori McKenna
2. Arlis Albritton
3. Robert Lee Castleman

COUNTRY MUSIC'S THREE BEST DUOS, TRIOS OR GROUPS OF 2006:

1. The Wreckers
2. Dixie Chicks
3. Deadstring Bros.

COUNTRY MUSIC'S THREE BEST NEW ACTS OF 2006:

1. The Wreckers
2. Blaine Larsen
3. Jamey Johnson

COUNTRY MUSIC'S THREE BEST OVERALL ACTS OF 2006:

1. Alan Jackson
2. Julie Roberts
3. Rosanne Cash

I'm sure you guys probably talked about this last year, but thoughts on "Brand New Girlfriend"? I think it's great: I love the unabashed heart-on-his-sleeve giddiness, but I can also see someone could find it annoying. None of you voted for it. A little surprised that Frank was the only one who voted for Taylor Swift's "Tim McGraw," too. Not surprised at all that we all seem to agree on the excellence of "Before He Cheats."

I'd like to hear more country this year. I didn't really hear anything until late 2005, and even last year I probably only heard about a dozen or so songs, not including the Dixie Chicks record, which I thought was just okay.

"bible song" is kinda brilliant, though.

so I gotta give a listen to Jason Michael Carroll's "Waitin' in the Country" promo. anyone heard it yet? beyond "Alyssa Lies"? he does a duet with our new Star, Jewel...

5 Country Albums I liked in 2006, in no particular order:

1. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
2. Alan Jackson - Like Red On a Rose
3. Rosanne Cash - Black Cadillac
4. Hannah Montana - Hannah Montana Soundtrack
5. Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way Around

Five in one year means it's a pretty good year for me for country music. Most years have one country permanent addition to my iPod, if any at all. Unclear if Hannah Montana will be a permanent fixture (though 'Best of Both Worlds' will likely be) or Rosanna Cash, though her album strikes me as beautiful at the moment. The other 3 are no doubt permanent additions.

Amazing moments from these five albums:
1. "John couldn't read it (John couldn't read it) / Get on repeat it / John couldn't read it / Holy, Holy to the Lord" - can you hear Johnny B. Goode?
2. "at the end of the road is another town where the people want to hear a man who sings the blues."
3. "it was a black cadillac that drove you away -- one of us gets to go to heaven, one has to stay in hell" -- can you hear this and not think of joni's yellow taxi?
4. "Living two lives is... a - little weerd!"
5. " And how in the world / Can the words that I said / Send somebody so over the edge / That they'd write me a letter / Saying that I better shut up and sing / Or my life will be over."

---

Actually, Frank gave me a reason why Hannah Montana isn't country, but I wonder if anyone can give me some reasons why she is? Or could be? I'm curious, outside of the television show (in which she's called a hillbilly regularly), why I'd think there was something countryish about her.

the one with jewel is totally bleh--"no good in goodbye." the best one is maybe "honky tonk friends," about a guy who hangs out with his suburban neighbors and his co-workers and even with his Godly Friends (steeple-people), but who only really loves his h.t. friends.

he gets that macho astringent deep baritone slide up to nasality quite well, and the title track, and especially "sleep when i'm dead" rock pretty good--the latter is, like, about 4 songs all jammed into one, with some amazing twists and turns and that great guitar lick. "anywhere u.s.a" was already done by jason aldean and many others--some of this is big & rich, too, he almost raps, it's a typically wordy nashville country album. not bad!

Come to think of it, Toby Keith comes close. (And I haven't even heard his early albums, so it's possible he even surpasses MG.) And Craig Finn might come close if you count Lifter Puller stuff I guess. Who else?? Pink has four CDs on my shelf, but I can't say I love any of them. Field Mob have three; third one not great. Um...
Actually, the Dixie Chicks would be up in top five or so, probably. (Oh wait...Lil Wayne! Trick Daddy! Brooks & Dunn, though I only even know three '00s albums by them -- guess I need to research backwards from Steers and Queers. Gore Gore Girls, though they only have two albums and an EP. Eminem's off the list by now... and I might be starting to lose track of Lil Wayne and Trick Daddy.)

I need to give Jason Michael Carrol another shot (and had planned to; was just procrastinating.) I'd taken him for something of a wuss on first listen. (Not that being a wuss is necessarily always bad.)

DR. HOOK, Greatest Hooks -- I voted for this in my #5 reissue spot in my Nashville Scene ballot, even though their coked-up schmaltz is frequently unbearable. But "Cover of The Rolling Stone" is one of the funniest songs ever written anywhere and therefore what Nickelback's "Rockstar" (which has nonetheless been growing on me even more since I saw its goofy video) should be, and "Sylvia's Mother" is like OutKast's "Ms. Jackson" only better, and I honestly think Dr. Hook's later country-disco sellout-sleaze period (best exemplified by "Sexy Eyes" and the very funkily riffed "Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk", though the Ray Parker Jr. imitation "Girls Can Get It" is cute too) may stand up as a completely original hybrid that should have turned into its own genre but somehow never did. Otherwise, "A Little Bit More" appears to concern sexual stamina, "Sleeping Late" appears to concern masturbating, and "A Couple More Years" appears to concern being older than your partner (not that she's a little teenage blue-eyed groupie or anything of course.) But I'm pretty sure she dumps him anyway.

FINN AND THE SHARKS -- Weirdly, the the last song on Breakfast Special, an apparent gospel singalong apparently called "Down to the Well" or something, opens up with guitar chords from "Cover of A Rolling Stone," but then it always lets me down by not being "Cover Of A Rolling Stone." "Rhythm and Ruin," meanwhile, opens with guitar chords from "Smokin' In the Boys Room," so I guess these seeming Teddy Boys actually grew up on '70s AM radio (I bet Fonzie and Sha Na Na were inspirations, too). Also, some of the better tracks ("Tell Your Mama," especially, and "Growing Up Evil") are really more dark sleazy AOR blues-rock than rockabilly, and "I Don't Want To Die Unknown" has a monster hard rock riff and reminds me of the MC5, and "Drugstore Cutie" sounds like a '70s hard rock band going new wave in 1979, always a good thing. But some of the more obvious greaser-jitterbug revival stuff ("Rockabilly Bop," gawd) is more so-what, and "Every Day" annoys me even more by reminding me of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies/Royal Crown Revue '90s swing revival (which reminded me a little of the Blasters itself, so that kinda makes sense.) Still, more hard stuff ("Fed Up" is another fast tough one) than wussy stuff here, and the Led Zeppelin cover kills.

ATOMIC BITCH -- Tuneful self-released La.-via-L.A. band, led by a strong-voiced gal named Ursulla, plenty of glammy '80s Cali pop and glammy '80s Cali rock color in their sound (I liked the EP they put out in '06 too); not a lot of country on Promnite, but one of the best songs (at least partially about lemon merengue pie and getting tied up) is called "Hillbilly Swing," and it has a bit of a twang to it (along with some Bowie glam in the high notes), so that's a way in. I also like "Suspicious Hair Dryer," which is a good fuzzy dancey song (with some Blur or Pavement in its woo-hoos but not in a bad way) about a household appliance (possibly used as a weapon), with brand names (Maytag, Sunbeam) and pink hair curlers adding speficity. And in another song Ursulla shares a leather jacket with a boy, and in "Easy There Tiger" she tells a boy to slow down. And "Rock'n'Roll High School" is not a Ramones cover but that's okay, as is the fact that the hooks might pop out more if they were more slickly produced.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=3619977

ELIZA NEALS -- Husky-voiced self-released rustic-soul pop singer from Detroit via N.Y.; I liked her previous record as well. Triangulates somewhere between Sheryl Crow, Joss Stone, Melissa Etheridge, maybe. "Motown legend Barrett Strong Jr." gets a few co-songwriting credits. Melodies partially come from "Ain't No Sunshine" (in "About Her") and "To Love Somebody" (in "Let Go"). The cover of Neil Young's "Southern Man" has a really cool guitar buildup. "Forgotten Town" seems to be about homeless people abandoned on Detroit's desolate streets. Hard powerchords in "Snakes," some jazziness in "U Can Bet," but I still wish the songs were hitting me more; nothing here totally grabs me, at least so far.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=27994940

>>since download and social networking sites frequently do keep precise >>count of how many plays X and Y tracks get

Doesn't align. Too much pooching, the oxygen of the Internet, going on.
How many people stick around on their own sites, logging in through anonymous servers, or just deleting their browser caches, to pump up their numbers? Everyone. Those who say they don't are liars.

Plus, I've found that if I actually take the trouble to download something I want to listen to, I don't listen on the PC, I burn it and play it in the stereo later. That means downloads can get played hardly at all before I delete them, depending on my opine.

And then there's the phenom, unquantifiable but common to all parts of the digital world, of downloading free and pirated stuff just for the sake of having a big pile of stuff. And lots of that doesn't get listened to much at all, if at all, I reckon.

Xhuxk, I do like Cole Deggs, or, that is, liked him when I played months ago and instantly forgot him, then liked him again when I played him again this week. He has a light touch on fast rockers that doesn't prevent the guitar lines from whipping out at you, and he can also do some gentle jazz-tinged smoochers; oddly, that description makes him sound like Toby Keith, whom I find not-the-least forgettable. Anyway, I think Deggs needs more good songs. His lightness is fine, when lightness is what I want, but he probably could use more distinctiveness. Or maybe he just needs more listens from me.

"not-the-least forgettable" = I never forget his stuff

But a lot of people on this thread seem to be forgetting Toby this year, as Xhuxk's the only one who's had much to say about the record. So I only finally searched it down today. And I think it's good. The single is strong, so are the rock-along rock 'n' rollers (though oddly this year's most intense Chuck Berry move comes from Rihanna on "Lemme Get That," which is one of the most ambitious-strange songs I've heard this year). I'm listening to "High Maintenance Woman," and one of the reasons I like it, I'm realizing, is that its riff reminds me a lot of Cinderella's "Gypsy Road" (which Xhuxk once listed in Radio On as his number one single ever, iirc), a fierce but cheery guitar line.

Problem is that last year's White Tra$h With Money was lovely from start to finish, whereas I'd call this one likable most of the way (with a couple of dull spots), and it doesn't elicit nearly the same passion from me. But "Walk It Off," which Xhuxk was rather meh about upthread, achieves a bit of the slow storm loveliness of White Trash, without losing its walk. Nice album. Don't know if it'll make my chart, though.

I'm realizing that, unlike last year, I've got more than ten country albums I want in my top ten list. There's also a lot of parity; last year my number seven album was Montgomery Gentry's very good Some People Change but there was no way it was interchangeable in quality with the albums above it, whereas my number seven at the moment for this year, John Anderson's Easy Money, could easily rise to number two, or fall off the list altogether. Last year I included a Totally Country comp to pad the list. This year I'll probably declare Ashley Monroe ineligible (given that her album never was released) to free up an extra space, but there are four or five albums that could compete for that one space (Toby, Little Big Town, Kid Rock (but I'll probably declare him ineligible), Black Angel (whom I'm deciding are eligible as "country" because it's not like there are a lot of <i>other</i> markets for their Stonesish choogle-groove)(not that country is a market for them either), and all those albums from earlier in the year that I've forgotten what they sound like (John Waite, Richard Thompson, Jack Ingram).

But anyway, my real puzzlement is singles. It's not that I can't find ten I like, but that I get the feeling that there's a lot more out there.

Also, a question similar to one I posted on the teenpop thread (except there it wasn't about country):

What surprised you in country music this year?

My lack of interest in it, to be honest. But that's not really a helpful answer.

Sugarland. I never thought I'd like their record more than just about everything else I listened to this year. There were only two other "new" pieces I probably enjoyed a bit more. Foghat's Live II -- which isn't strictly Foghat but which nontheless killed -- and The Sirens' More is More.

I like the Sirens (though they push the competence-envelope; good groove though, especially their Slade cover)! I can't remember when last I heard Foghat. I haven't heard this year's Sugarland, but I'm skeptical.

Another Christmas album I've been playing is from late last year. Especially good when the ritual visitors keep trickling in (last blast on New Year's Day, whoopee)(deadlines trickling in, but so is my diligence): Christmas Time Again, by the The dBs & Friends. It's been reissued several times, with bonus tracks of quality trickling in too. Moody, vibey, horny in several senses, Jack Daniels in the eggnog if you please. And simpler sugars. Big Star and solo Chilton: one track each, familiar enough and available elsewhere, but that's part of what we got at (and gave for)Christmas. Just a bit of low-budget Spector echo (with girls up front, and Stamey gets them twice!); Don Dixon doesn't overdo the Prima bits; stray Whiskeytown re letters in the attic (Ryan without much Caitlin, and about the best from him or them I've heard); good self-pity from Marshall Crenshaw; you can read more about it and still hear the spotlight track:
http://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=373

On that same page is a link to a rat nice 'un Gorge picked last year, "Pease Daddy Don't Get Drunk," by Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison:
http://www.paperthinwalls.com/singlefile/item?id=357

Jessica Simpson Going Country On New Album
Jessica Simpson

Billboard, December 28, 2007, 11:15 AM ET

by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Believe it: Jessica Simpson has decamped to Nashville to begin work on her debut country album, due sometime in 2008 via Columbia Nashville.

Simpson declined to name songwriting collaborators, but tells Billboard.com she will most definitely be involved in the creative process. "Writing is a release for me," she says. "It's a way for me to tell my story. That's not to say I wouldn't record a song that I didn't write. It's just that it has been a while since I have opened the book."

But why country, and why now? "I am a country girl," she says. "I grew up in Texas, and country music was what I listened to. I always wanted to make a country album, but I wanted to wait until the time was right."

"I think there is a strength in female country artists," Simpson adds, citing Martina McBride, Shania Twain, Faith Hill and Reba McEntire as some of her inspirations.

Asked what has surprised her most since starting the follow-up to 2006's "A Public Affair," Simpson says, "Nashville is a very warm city. The people are friendly and kind. There is a sense of community, which thrives on music. There is no animosity ... only respect for one another's talent."

It's unclear if Simpson will hit the road in support of the as-yet-untitled country project, but she says, "Since the record is in the beginning stages, there hasn't been much talk about a tour just yet."

Is there nothing Jessica Simpson cannot do? I can only hold my breath until she decides to take on global warming, malaria and the tragic problem of raging obesity in American school children.

>>The people are friendly and kind.

Particularly so when you pay them.

But she couldn't help the Cowboys beat the Eagles. (Maybe she was secretly in cahoots with the Eagles.)

Country stuff that surprised me this year:

1.) Better Bellamy Brothers and Kid Rock albums (assuming the later counts as country) than I'd ever thought I'd hear again in my lifetime; John Anderson too, I guess. (Maybe I should throw in Drive-By Truckers' imminent early '08 album too, but I'm bored by a lot more of it than I thought.)
2.) Better Travis Tritt and Brad Paisley albums, this late in the game, than I'd ever heard before period (and I still don't like Travis's anywhere near as much as Frank does, or Brad's anywhere near as much as lots of other people seem to.)
3.) Country bands (though not all of them are technically as self-contained as I at first thought) on major labels, with hints of having hits, almost.
4.) Big N Rich surprised me twice -- first, by making a worse album than I'd ever expected they would; then second, by making me like it anyway.
5.) Most recent surprise: Listening to Amanda Shaw's new album (which, granted, doesn't come out until January '08) again the other day, I realized that who she really reminds me of (at least in her more new wavey moments) is Rachel Sweet, who also put out her nationally distributed debut when she was 16.
6.) Also wound up liking the '06 albums by Alan Jackson and Taylor Swift more than I'd expected I would when '06 ended. Voted for Taylor, who accrued most of her sales and chart action in '07 anyway, on by Idolator and Pazz & Jop ballots (but not my Nashville Scene ballot, since their release date requirements are much more strict.) Didn't vote for Alan Jackson this year; that would have been silly --I just lamely came late to it, is all. If I had to do my '06 ballots over, though, it'd probably be on there. (And since Alan had never even hinted at doing anything even approaching that level of ease and warmth and beauty and humanity and playability before, Like Red On A Rose still ranks as one of the country surprises of the decade, easy.)

Mentioned Mechanical Bull a few paces upthread; like them even more now. Advance CD sleeve shows a young hipster looking guy (apparently Adam Widoff on guitar/bass/ drums/B3/clavinet/shaker) and young hipster looking girl (apparently Avalon Peacock -- great name, or annoying one, take your pick) from Woodstock, NY; so maybe they're considered a duo, but the cover credits also list six more musicians (on mandolin, pedal steel/dobro, guitar, guitar/vocals, dums, banjo/sax), plus John Medeski (jazz/fusion/jam band guy from Medeski Martin and Wood who I've never really listened to, right?) playing B3 on the song "Luke Warm Coffee," which is one of the ones Avalon sings, or rather purrs, and is an attempt at a seedy sort of smokey-lounge torch ambience ("lukewarm coffee and a filter cigarette" -- I don't smoke, but doesn't that just mean one you didn't roll yourself?), and therefore cornball by definition, and one of my least favorite songs on the album, but that said I still like it okay; it does the ambience as well as, I dunno, Amy Winehouse or Devil Doll or Sarah Borges do, maybe better.) But on this album, it is also, fortunately, atypical. And Annette (who does ethereal to the male singer's earthy -- good match) only sings a few of the songs (incluing "Desert Air," where she manages a good Grace Slick quiver amid some ominous spaghetti western psychedelia and the chants turn almost Gregorian by the end, so yeah, they get a good desert sound indeed); the rest are sung by a guy, who I had been assuming was Adam until right this second but I just noticed that "vocals" are not among his credits, so maybe it's Chase Pierson? Need to check, I guess. Whatever; whoever it is has a good deep voice with plenty of gravity -- reminds me of Cooley in the Drive By Truckers (yes, I am finally able to tell the DBTs' voices apart; sorry it took me so long.) And Southern Rock guitar jams like "Crazy Lady" would doubtlessly appeal to Truckers fans, too, but the other act the male voice and songs keep bringing to mind are much less authentic Brit techno-country collective A3 (at least on their late '90s-ish debut album that had the Sopranos theme on it), except without the techno. (The hipster boy/girl duo acting rustic thing might also put Mechanical Bull in the White Stripes/Kills/ Raveonettes genre, whatever that's called these days, but I don't really hear sonic similarities to any of those acts.) Anyway, songs I like I a lot (1) "Debts" ("...that no honest man can pay" -- that's a cover, isn't it? Though here, like most of the other songs, it's credited to guitarist-vocalist Chase Pierson, who okay, if he writes the songs, I wouldn't be surprised if he sings them too, and maybe that's even him not Adam in the photo, which is really confusing seeing how Adam's name and all his multitudinous credits are right under the photo); (2) "The End" (existential country -- I just made that probably meaningless subgenre name up; it also includes certain early Joe Ely songs like "Bhagavad Decree" and "I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown" and yeah some A3 too, okay? -- about how you're good at starting things but not finishing them); (3) "Find A Home" (more existentialism about how "I don't look for trouble/trouble finds me on its own," very Cooley actually and the guy ain't got no home); (4) "Biggest Nerd In The Class" (closest thing to a blatant novelty joke here, except it's not, really; concerns the eternal high school popularity contest and the kid who gets picked last for kickball and carries the big bookbag falls in love with the girl who doesn't pay attention to what anybody thinks of her and they both wind up attactive people; very Revenge of the Nerds obviously and maybe Nada Surf's "Popular" too I'm not sure and okay there's probably some connection to White Stripes' walk-to-school songs on their first couple albums too come to think of it); (5) "Left Turn in Jersey" (= nearly impossible just like understanding the girl the singer is singing to: great metaphor, and "you've got your barbs in me like a porcupine" is a great line; anyway, this two-step is the second most blatantly "funny" song on the album and it's funny to me anyway and by the way did I say that these mostly all have really good melodies? well, they mostly all have really good melodies -- with hooks and energy and plenty of prettiness attached); (6) "Million Yesterdays" (good wistful memory drone with more Gregorian sighing in it; Avalon is watching the children in the park going round and round on their merrygoround while she herself goes round and round on the windmills of her mind and voices in her head as tears go by -- too bad Lee Hazlewood died; he would have liked this song I think); (7) "Goodbye Woodstock" (nice summers but harsh winters there and every year is the same so where will they move now? -- reminds me a little of that song on the new Vampire Weekend debut album, only song I like on there really, where they leave Cape Cod, but this song is better). So anyway, those are my notes, and sorry there are so many of them. Good album. Their myspace page, again:

http://www.myspace.com/mechanicalbullpen

(Actually, those two songs I call Joe Ely songs are quite possibly actually Butch Hancock songs, but Ely's versions are the ones I know, assuming Hancock ever actually sang them. Also, with the Bhagavad one -- assuming I even spelled it right -- I realize that conflating Eastern religion with existentialism may well be a contradition in terms, but so be it. It still feels existential to me, somehow.)

And okay, Mechanical Bull's myspace page (which for some reason also only shows two people in its photo) says the lead male singer is definitely Piersen:

Band Members CHASE PIERSON-Lead Vocals/Guitar CHRIS ZALOOM-Steel Guitar/Electric Guitar ADAM WIDOFF-Electric Guitar/Bass/Drums DAVID MALACHOWSKI-Electric Guitar GEORGE QUINN-Electric Bass JBIRD BOWMAN - Drums/Vocals AVALON PEACOCK-Vocals

Influences Dysfunctional marriages, alcoholism and the american dream

By the way, I also noticed yesterday that Sarah Buxton, who Frank was raving about last week, also is the person who dueted with Cowboy Troy on "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" on his debut album a couple years ago. Does that mean she is a Muzik Mafioso too?

And I've also been wanted to proclaim my love, or at least like, here for the upcoming early '08 album by the Horror Pops, lady-led Eurogothskasurfabillies on Hellcat; as with labelmates Tiger Army earlier this year, they'd never hit me before but somehow seem to have finally come into their own. Good glam-rumble bottom underneath, and the singer (sorry, don't have her name in front of me) does a good Lene Lovich hiccup on top, and she likes exciting movies (as evidenced by the excellently surf-guitared "Thelma and Louise" and the somewhat torch-kitsched but still real good big ballad "Hitchcock Starlet" as in "tonight I'll die in black and white like a Hitchock starlet") and other tales of girls living or at least driving fast and dying young ("Highway 55," probably my favorite), and "Missfit" has cool Madness "Our House" quotes and "Boot To Boot" has cool oi! shouts and "Horrorbeach Part 2" has cool Link Wray style guitars and "Kiss Kiss Kill Kill" has a cute '80s modern-rock melody, and the schtick dates way back to the Cramps at least but all told I sure don't recall No Doubt ever being this much fun. (Qualifies for thge country thread thanks of course to the rockabilly element, which No Doubt lacked.)

Apparently the singer's name is Patricia Day; HorrorPops is only one word; they are from Denmark but currently based in L.A.; and have Warp Toured:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=6058446

This Is Chris Cagle, 10-song press promo best-of; I wonder how many of these Captiol sent out, and of those, how many writers they actually expect to listen to the thing, especially this time of year, and especially when Chris supposedly has an actual album coming out soon even though now I'm wondering whether his tabloid headline a couple weeks ago might postpone said record. (Wikipedia: "On December 13, 2007, Cagle was cited by Tucson, Arizona police for assulting a man after a benefit concert at a local Tucson night spot. After the concert, Cagle signed at least one autograph for the man's girlfriend. She became aggressive after he declined to sign anymore for her, which led both the woman and her boyfriend to call Cagle names. The boyfriend declined to press charges and police reported that Cagle and his manager were both cooperative with the investigation.") Anyway, who cares; it's a good record, probably the best Chris Cagle album you'll ever hear if you ever manage to find a copy. (Though how would I know? I've only heard a couple of his albums. Just a hunch.) Opener "My Love Goes On and On" sounds a lot like John Anderson's "Black Sheep" and while it doesn't rock as hard (or smart) as said song it rocks hard and smart enough; "Laredo" isn't as good as Joe Ely's Laredo song but is stil Western border cowboy country with nice windswept guitar; "Chicks Dig It" is another rocker about playing the fool and maybe even auditioning for Jackass (not that he says that explicitly) by crashing into mailboxes (ghost ride the whip!) because, uh, that's why ladies find attractive (a deluded theory, I'm guessing, but who cares, demolishing mailboxes is always worth writing songs about): "Hey Y'All" (tough heartland rhythm-rock about blasting Skynyrd and saying "hey y'all")/"Wal-Mart Parking Lot" (high school social geography lesson about competing cliques etc.)/brand new "What Kinda Gone" (another tough heartland rhythm-rocker wherein Chris talks about the many competing and ambiguous definitions of said adjective) sound real good one after the other. Most of the rest is fairly competent ballads I have trouble caring about, some of them building up with a smidgen of oomph and at least one of them ("What a Beautiful Day") with intriguing orchestrations and lots of three-digit numbers (counting blessings or days since he met somebody I gather) in its lyrics, but it's still a good batting average. No copies on amazon.com or ebay.com (I just checked)--so: a collector's item!

i just got the new trisha. xcited.

I got the Cagle too. Like the uptempo numbers, not so hot on the slower ones myself, just like Chuck says. I haven't heard whether his little contretemps will delay the record.

Conversation continues on the Rolling Country 2008 Thread.