Rolling country 2007 thread

Interesting how, with Southern rock bands, it always takes me a few listens to figure out whether they belong more on this thread or on the rolling metal thread. Renegade Rail and Glenn Stewart belonged more here, probably. Laidlaw belong more there, it turns out, but I'll repeart this here anyway:

Speaking of funky hard rock protest songs (and come to think of it, the funk is one thing that REO's "Golden Country" had in ways that Journey could never manage, which is part of why they rocked harder, my nervous system says), Laidlaw have a couple of their own -- "Revolution Is Coming" (top song on their myspace page) and "War Machine," both in the great incoherent-but-that's-part-of-the-fun hippie tradition of "Golden Country" and Grand Funk's "People Let's Stop The War." Along with the comparably boogiefied "Austin City Wendy" and "Nascar Superstar," these are two of my favorite Laidlaw tracks, I think. Which is to say I not surprisingly prefer them in '70s rock (plenty of Bad Company in there too) mode to Collective Soul/Black Crowes mode, though I don't mind the latter. (As for their Zep mode, the lyrics of "Swan Song" turn out to be made up entirely of titles of Zep songs, which is uninentionally very dorky, but sort of endearing too.)

Pulled that new Greencards CD back out today to, inspired by Edd's raves about it. Figured I'd kept it just 'cause it was "pretty good for a bluegrass record" (faint praise in my book), and assumed Edd was overstating his case, but turns out the CD is way better than I'd remembered, so maybe he's right after all. It's not a totally consistent record -- the songs Carol Young sings have a definite end over the songs sung by whichever guy it is that sings -- but high points like "All The Way From Italy" and "Travel On" (one of two Kim Richey songwriting credits, which helps a lot) are so catchy and beautiful that they carry the weaker cuts. Plus, the opener "Waiting On the Night" is almost pop, and the second song "Here You Are" is almost prog in its fiddle etc orchestrations. And "Mucky the Duck" is a real good closer.

Actually, the Greencards' guy singer (which one is he?) sounds kind of like Ricky Skaggs come to think of it. Sounds fine in "Lonesome Side of Town."

"..have a definite EDGE over..." (not end)

[i[lyle says that it was written by charlie chaplin, that cant be right?[/i]

it's quite true. charlie wrote a lot of music, in fact.

Xhuxk, here's my review of the Stooges' "My Idea Of Fun" (band surprisingly powerful, Iggy unsurprisingly unpowerful). People on the Rolling Snap Thread were savagely but inarticulately disliking the Rich Boy album; I like "Throw Some D's" and love "Get To Poppin'" (my number two single of 2005, wedged between "Since U Been Gone" and "La La"), though more on the basis of the sample than the rapping, and the remix f. Pitbull might be the best version but I only recall it from the local (now-defunct) reggaeton station. Haven't heard anything else by the guy. Like Xhuxk, I thought the previous Pat Green was best at its most Cougarish and when Green was doing the Kenny Chesney thing of celebrating college as a place to drink. Haven't heard the most recent. And I agree on placing the Dixie Chicks in the category Probably Alt Turned Mainstream 'Cept None Of Us Except For Don Has Heard The Stuff From When They Were Possibly Alt. Gary Allan might well be alt turned meanstream, except again I haven't heard him early, and I might be overplaying the fact that he like Yoakum got an early boost from the L.A. punk scene. What about Pam Tillis? (Again, her early rock and punk days are unheard by me.)

Speaking of Iggy (but not country), I'm listening to and liking Praga Khan's live version of Iggy's "Lust For Life," raw slamming techno - maybe we can call this style bosh punk.

Dixie Chicks pre-Natalie, right? I can see Gary Allan being an alt-fave under favorable conditions, but have never heard of that happening. I guess it's a who-claims-what thing, with alt claiming honky-tonk & then mainstream saying, Naw, honky-tonk's ours, at least this year. Yoakam, I wonder if he was aiming for the mainstream or the select at the outset. Some artists seem to aim for an alt-audience from the get-go, while others think, why wouldn't everyone love me? And then there's the Maybe everyone would love me if I tried doing songs that sound more like the stuff everyone already loves types.

What about Pam Tillis? (Again, her early rock and punk days are unheard by me.)

I've got Above and Beyond the Wall of Cutey (Warner Bros., 1983) on vinyl (on the cover she looks very new wave wacky -- somewhere between Lauper and Benatar, maybe, though closer to, I dunno, maybe Jane Weidlin in the Go-Gos or Suzanna Hoffs in the Bangles {they were they wacky ones, right?} with a funny hat), but as I recall she looks more punk and/or rock than she sounds. Haven't played it in a while; I'll check it again soon and see.

Yoakam, I wonder if he was aiming for the mainstream or the select at the outset.

Not really sure what you mean by "select" here, but my impression when he put out his debut EP on Oak Records (wish I still had my copy on that label, sigh), Dwight was aiming for and getting a Southern California cowpunk crowd; i.e., his fans, I thought, were Rank and File fans and Jason and the Scorchers fans and Blasters fans, and then maybe some L.A. bizzer caught him and thought he could be bigger? I could be completely deluded, though.

the Greencards record is really good. better than the Duhks or the Stringdusters or any of those folk(ie)s' records. it is a bit too compressed, aurally, for my taste, but that's 80 percent of Nashville records these days. their first two records got a bit precious for my taste, too much fucking fiddling and mandolin playing. this one puts Eamon and Kym where they belong, in the background, give them each a song or two and let them rip off a solo. (they're really cool, nice people, all of them--I interviewed them for a Nash Scene profile that runs this week.) most of it, like Chuck mentions "All the Way from Italy," is first-rate post-Nashville songwriting, too, and Carol Young has a way about her. this isn't a record I'd return to real often except for the opener and "Italy," both of which are just prime 2007 tracks already on my list, but it's sure nice. and their previous records ain't bad at all--I like them best when they're doing honky blues as on "Movin' Out."

now. damn, if I were a well-paid country songwriter with gonnegtions, I could use that line of Anthony's about "fondling the breasts of a fat dyke in a diaper." great.,

got the new Dale Watson finished CD today. he's looking bad-ass on the cover in a graveyard with a headstone that reads "Country Music RIP." I am not overstating when I say that I love the record, and Yuval Taylor put his "I Ain't Been Right Since I've Been Left," from a year or so ago, on a mix CD. also great.

got promo for new Gretchen Wilson, and plan to listen to it over beers tonight...

my impression when he put out his debut EP on Oak Records (wish I still had my copy on that label, sigh), Dwight was aiming for and getting a Southern California cowpunk crowd; i.e., his fans, I thought, were Rank and File fans and Jason and the Scorchers fans and Blasters fans, and then maybe some L.A. bizzer caught him and thought he could be bigger?

i don't know about the LA bizzer bit, not knowing how that stuff works, but when dwight put out that EP (and i still do have my copy!), i don't think it occurred to anyone that you could be a major commercial star making records like that anymore than you could be a major commercial star making records like, say, chronic town.

the gretchen wilson single is awful.

Does anyone mind if I chime in here? I've been browsing this thread for a while, but just registered, finally.

On the subject of Dwight, I first saw him opening for Lone Justice at the Palomino, believe it or not, probably at least a year before either had a record out. I'm not a Dwight historian, but my impression is that he made a stopover in Nashville on the way to L.A. and didn't find things to his liking there--but his intention was always to be a country star, or at least mainstream contender. He loved being part of that Blasters/X/Lone Justice crowd, but he sure never envisioned that being more than a stop in the road, I'm sure. I don't know if he had a master plan for how to regain Nashville's attention by being in L.A., but I'll bet he had some backup plans that didn't necessarily involve hanging out with Dave Alvin.

Of course, Dwight IS a major egghead--and I don't mean that in the male pattern baldness sense, though I suppose it applies--so his time in the mainstream was never destined to last.

The new No Depression has a nice lead review (in the reissues section) of "Guitars, Cadillacs" that all but attributes the invention of alt-country to him. It may go a little far in that regard, because I don't think Dwight ever imagined himself being alt-anything, except maybe in the sense that he was forced to find alternatives to having a record contract for a while.

I still have my original EP... Those were the days. Wish I could go to the Palomino on a typical 1984 night tonight.

--Chris W.

big & rich's "lost in this moment" is either a sappy hard-rock power ballad or a lost yacht rock album track or a bruce springsteen love song circa 1998 or an nsync/alabama collaboration with more guitars. and i think it's as bad as the gretchen wilson single.

on the subject of dwight as alt-country inventor, i'll note that he was the first contemporary country singer i ever paid attention to, and i have a feeling that, as a northeastern indie-rock kid, i was far from alone in that. even if his sound and style didn't specifically predict alt-country, the fact that replacements fans liked him, and wanted to explore further, probably counted for a lot.

Does anyone mind if I chime in here? --Chris W

Welcome, Chris! By all means, you should start posting here all the time. And you should send me a copy of Rednecks & Blue Necks that your publicity person promised me two years ago but I never got, heh heh.

he was the first contemporary country singer i ever paid attention to,

Mine was a couple years earlier: Joe Ely, maybe? Obvious punk connections with him, too. But yeah, Dwight definitely had the new wave stamp of approval in those days. (Hell, I even liked Elvis Costello's Almost Blue back then! Haven't listened to it in decades; was it actually any good?)

Almost Blue? I saw Elvis the C on that tour and of course had the record. It's not any fucking good is what I think. I'm down on Costello's stuff in general after mid-'80s. I think he did Stax better on Get Happy!!!. Or rather, his band did. By that time when he decided to go country I was already listening to country music and had been, pretty much, but obviously I was more comfortable with Gram Parsons and Joe Ely and that sort of thing. Rank and File. Costello however was good with George Jones, I saw that clip of them doing "Stranger in the House" recently, and that's a kick. Mark Nevers told me that he thought Costello sang better than he has in a while on the new Charlie Louvin record; it's not as strained, I guess, it's OK. But I mean nobody on that record sings as good as George Jones, although I really love hearing Bobby Bare and Tom T. Hall on that one cut. (Bobby Bare Sr., as one must clarify in Nashville.) I think we were talking about pub rock above and it seems to me the early Americana shit and the general canonization of '50s and '60s country partially started with pub rock, because then when you listen to Nick Lowe and Edmunds and those guys, they're direct descendents of the Burritos and all that proto-alt stuff. In that sense Dwight Yoakam was definitely like a punk version of country who somehow made it in the mainstream. Through videos, and Pete Anderson, mainly. Rock crossover move only made possible post-post-punk?

New Ry Cooder is something of a chore to sit through. Various modes of antiquity, some interesting guests like Jon Hassell, Roland White, Van Dyke Parks. Kinda like his early stuff, Into the Purple Valley and Paradise and Lunch. Not sure why he had to make his travelin' hobo a cat or his critique of a world that doesn't appreciate the Solidarity of Labor a fable. Some nice moments, but I never thought Ry's voice bore much real weight. One thing that sounds much like Beefheart blues circa '68. Last one, Chavez Ravine, I thought was actually real good--like he was going back to his L.A. Pachuco-rock roots. Nice package, comes with a book and everything, and I mean Buddy the Cat looks cool, I like cats.

I thought Elizabeth McQueen's version of "Almost Blue" was one of the best things on her "pub-rock" record. Hard to think that McQueen will ever make a great album, though, unless someone else is totally in charge. She's got a very nice voice, but she seems to lack an artistic killer instinct, so results run from nice to nice, without much else. I've paid astonishingly little attention to Costello over the years, but my guess is that he's somewhere the opposite of McQueen: does have the killer instinct but doesn't have the voice. But then, when I was listening to him back in the "This Year's Girl" days, I thought his musical instincts evaporated when you went beyond his voice and songs; which is to say that the Attractions could jab you but they couldn't rock you, they didn't manage (or the producer - Nick Lowe? - failed to capture) the basic voluptuousness of music. So he was like the Franz Ferdinand of his day. (I like Franz Ferdinand, a funny glammy take on postpunk, but the band's basic herky-jerk undercuts its viscera.) Then, barely paying attention, I got the feeling that Costello was reaching out and embracing a whole bunch of things that his voice couldn't do justice to.

The bits I've read about early Yoakum match up with what Chris said: he was playing honky-tonk in L.A. country bars in the Valley for patrons who'd rather have heard Kenny Rogers; then the cowpunks found him or vice versa and they were willing to listen and applaud.

Sure, Chuck, I will get you a copy. I remember having two conversations with the publisher's publicist about getting one to you when the book was in the bloom of youth, so I don't know what happened. But I bought a stash for purposes just like this. Actually, I should have waited--I see there are now remaindered copies on Amazon going for cheaper than what I bought 'em for from the publisher a few months ago.

Count me in among those who "discovered" country via "Almost Blue" (not counting childhood viewings of "Hee Haw" and a copy of "Cattle Call" that was the one country record in our household). I love Costello--as in, 98% of everything he's done--beyond most standards of reason, so I should probably refrain from defending him to non-fans, lest I just get apoplectic. But "Almost Blue" was probably never one of anybody's most beloved EC records; if any of his LPs should have had "Stiff" on the spine, it should've been that one. But I love it even if it puzzlingly stuck too close to some sort of remembrance of what Billy Sherrill should do for its own good (after the one raucous cut, the opener). And I think "Good Year for the Roses" is still rightfully remembered as a great single, in the UK, where it was a hit. Anyway, "King of America" was Costello's great "country" record, sort of. There's still more material there waiting to be covered by some brave artist, even though Johnny and Rosanne Cash both got to individual tracks.

On the subject of Dwight, last time he played L.A., he raged from the stage about Brooks & Dunn appropriating his "Hillbilly Deluxe" title (though he didn't mention them by name). Made me wonder... does he pick a bone about that every night?

Thanks, Chris! (Believe it or not, I even put your book on my Xmas list last year, but sadly nobody bought me the copy I'm too cheap to buy myself.)

I personally have never comprehended the attraction of any Costello after Trust, but I've admittedly become lazier and lazier over the years about trying to keep up with the old cuss. Never really connected with Get Happy, either -- if it's Stax, it's Stax with tall he funk taken out, as far as I can tell. (Ha, here's a good question: What is Elvis C's funkiest song ever? I pick "Getting Mighty Crowded," which is a Van McCoy cover, I believe, on the underrated early odds-and-sods collection Taking Liberties, but maybe I'm missing some obvious competition.) On the other hand, I think Frank kind of underrates the Attractions' rocking on This Year's Model.

In fact, so far, I'd say the Attractions rock harder on that album than the Stooges do on their new album. I need to listen more, but so far, I'd say the band sounds almost as thin and drowning underwater as Iggy does. Though maybe I just need to get past Albini's typically self-defeating production muffle, who knows. Either way, though, Iggy pretty much sounds awful. A couple of the songs ("ATM," which may or may not be better than Girls Against Boys' "Cold Cash Machine"; "I'm Fried") do kind of sound like songs though, at least. And I have been loving Steve Mackay's sax blurts in I think "I'm Fried" and the otherwise very shitty and hookless "She Took My Money," which I didn't expect. So far, the track I hate most is "You Can't Have Friends," though competition may emerge as I listen to it more. (On the other hand, I don't get either the people who complain or the people who rave about the allegedly "stupid lyrics." They're just sound like...lyrics.)

This more-or-less random cdbaby Southern-rock CD rocks harder than Weirdness too, as far as I can tell so far. Singer's a little too Steve Earle for my tastes, but "Rebels and Cadillacs" and "Devil Knows His Name" and "I Ain't Him" ["Him" being Jesus] and "Can't Hide the Tears" really kick:

(Oops, cdbbaby down now. Album is Pete Berwick, Last Train Outta Nasvhille. Also liking another new cdbaby CD, by a big-voiced gal named Shawna Corder. Especially liking "Real Good Time" and "Chevy Impala." She tries to reclaim "I Will Always Love You" for country, too, though I get the idea she grew up on Whitney's version rather than the Dolly one herself. I'll post links to these once the site is done doing its Saturday maintenance.)

Also wish I heard a fifth as much rock'n'roll on that new Stooges album as I hear in Neil Sedaka's new The Definitive Collection on Razor & Tie this morning, which is wonderful, way better than I would've expected. I've loved "Laughter In the Rain" and "Bad Blood" and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" before, but this album really makes the case for Neil as a great high-voiced pop-rocker. And the closer, "Junkie For Your Love," is diva disco!)

Okay, already! Pete Berwick:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/berwick2

Shawna Corder:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/shawnacorder

So far, the track I hate most is "You Can't Have Friends,"

Okay, the band rocks passably on this I guess. But Iggy makes it sound like a Jane's Addiction song, I just realized! I don't know if that's good or bad.

So far, though, nothing on the album except MacKay's sax has come close to kicking my ass. I don't know how much more time I should waste on it.

I am going to shut up about the Stooges album on this thread from now on, though, unless I notice country on it. Future comments: Metal thread only.

More Southern Ohio pretty-gal pop-country! (See also: Shawna Corder):

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=48008592

Promo CD single has "I Break", which is first on her myspace page, and which is slow and not bad, at track #2, but much more importantly "Husband 2," which is fast and really great, at #1.

Also listening tonight to 2004 chitlin-circuit cdbaby soul (as in: everything from blues to disco to absolutely unabasedly schmoove-jazzed schmaltz) by Bobby Wayne; "This House is Haunted" sounds the best so far, but "Homestead Greys" (despite sounding curiously singer-songwriterly) rules by virtue of being the most blatant Negro League tribute I've ever heard:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/bobbywayne

And also also listening to the newly released soundtrack to the apparent circa 2003 German movie Schulze Gets The Blues, which compiles all kinds oof apparently unknown acts (Bobby Jones Czech Band! Jackie Callier & the Cajun Cousins! Brachstedter Musikanten! Zydeco Force! Chorgenmeinschaft 'Sang & Klang' Angerdorf! and draws the most explicit connections between
polkas-and-oompahs and zydecos-and-cajuns of any album I'm aware of; I can't find a track listing on line, but these pictures describe the mood nicely:

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=schultze+gets+the+blues&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Plot summary:

Schultze is a retired lignite miner living in an East German village and a passionate Polka musician on his accordion. One night he listens to a Zydeco tune in the radio, which changes his taste of music radically. Notwithstanding his complete ignorance of the English language he starts a trip into the heart of the Zydeco; to Louisana

"On The Drift" is Bobby Wayne at his most country; "Time" is Bobby Wayne at his most jazz; and "Dig Yourself" (basically a check yourself before you wreck yourself with some other woman advice-type song) is as good as "This House Is Haunted."

From the Joisy/Philly axis, not as "Tex-Mex" or "country-rock outlaw style" as his cdbaby page sez he is. Also way more ridiculous than he probably he thinks he is. Reminds me of Huey Lewis, for some reason. Just not as good:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/jimmielee5

Okay, I dunno, I'm kinda liking "Saloon Girl," actually -- has a real early '70s Top 40 soft-rock cheese feel. So I won't give up on Jimmie Lee yet.

From Arkansas (via Savannah, Georgia, where she apparently goes to college), seeming bubble-country potential, and some promising song titles ("The Dating Game," "Forever Green"), but something missing: Like tunes, maybe? Or more likely, production. Though her voice is too average, maybe:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/scoutfinch

Wait, there is some Tex-Mex in Jimmie Lee's sound! I spoke way too soon. "Hey Trina" could be the beginning of "Switchin' to Glide" by the Kings via Joe "King" Carrasco, almost, and it quotes "Steppin' Stone" and has early '60s style cornball Jersey/South Philly Italianate doo-wop backup falsettos. I dig it!! And "Steel Guitars And Whiskey" is really catchy too -- The guy has a way with a hook; no wonder he gets all those girls! I'm still not sure why he thinks his music is "country rock," but who cares??

(i.e., the "Hey Trina" chorus reminds me of when the Kings used to go "Hey little Donna, ya still wanna? You said to ring you up when I was in Toronta"; everybody remembers that one on good AOR stations back in 1979, right?)

And his "Homewrecker" sounds like "I'm A Girl Watcher" (who did that song?) as covered by George Thorogood, or somebody. (Maybe early '60s rock'n'roll is country rock by now? Plus he does sing about steel guitars and whiskey, and "Saloon Girl" = "Whiskey Girl," maybe? Why not?)

Actually, he does sound country-rock, in a way. But it's the '70s-pop everywhere there's signs messin up the scenery breaking my mind hitchin a ride gotta get me home to my baby's side she took me by the hand and we made love in my chevy van and that's all right with me kind--which I guess doesn't initally hit me as "country" or even "rock." Though of course it is.

So ha, after all that (which nobody was paying attention to, apparently), I'd now call Layin' Down the Law by Jimmie Lee one of my favorite albums (or EPs, whatever: seven songs; runs maybe 22 or 23 minutes I guess -- perfect!) of the year. I like every song! And supposedly this is Jimmie Lee's dozenth album, or thereabouts! (Well, his cdbaby page actually says "'Layin' Down The Law' marks his 12th CD release this spring
of 2007," and I doubt he's really put out 12 different CDs this spring, seeing how spring is only a couple days old now, but I think I know what he's trying to say.) Though no doubt hiring a producer (David Ivory) who's produced Patti Labelle and Philly sleaze-rockers Silvertide before didn't hurt. But I like Jimmie Lee's attitude, too -- it's sort of like that one song I was talking about above on the new REO Speedwagon album that reminded me of Electric Six: Especially in "Homewrecker" and "Muscle Money and Glory" (an excellent '70s radio style hard rocker like nobody knows how to pull off anymore) this dude's what Dick Valentine only pretends to be. His apartment's very messy, he's got whiskers on his chin, he's gone on country music, and he always plays to win. (Actually, he's clean-shaven. But still.)

This thread done died? Again? Sad...

Shawna Corder cdbaby CD linked to above has basically three songs I like enough to probably want to hear again of ten: "Real Good Time," "Chevy Impala," "My Kinda Man" (who cooks her dinner). Don't mind "Home Run" (about running a home, I gather) or the "I Will Always Love You" remake, either. And some of the ballads certainly bust an impressive gut, vocal-wise.

Pete Berwick CD is better; just wish his singing wasn't so Steve-Earle-flat.

Great ambient.shoegaze.pop.psychedelic.rock.country record from Courtney Tidwell called Don't Let Stars Get Us Tangled Up. I love this record so much I want to take it out behind the junior high school etc.

I ain't dead. Trying to finish up a couple particularly challenging pieces this week, and fighting a cold. Filed a profile of Rodney Atkins that oughta run soon, and I interviewed Pam Tillis yesterday, which was interesting. Just as I thought, she consciously made this record to sound like a 1973 Gram Parsons album. She's nice.
Got an LP copy of Buddy Emmons' Sings Bob Wills, from '78. Great playing from all involved, but he's not much of a singer. He's one amazing steel player, though.
The Cortney Tidwell record is real good. I wrote about her last month, saw her play in Nashville. She's opening some dates for Andrew Bird. She belongs on this thread; might've mentioned before that she's a real native Nashvillean--rara avis these days--and that her mother, Connie Eaton, was a minor country star in the '70s, as was her grandfather, Bob Eaton. What's interesting about her record, and a lot of stuff coming out of Nashville's indie scene, is how ten-years-ago it is, like her triphop moves, which I find somewhat unconvincing. (Hands Off Cuba, composed of some of her backing musicians, sounds just like Tortoise in 1997; Lone Official, ditto, sounds just like Pavement or the Sea and Cake or someone. These bands are all influenced by Pavement, and also by the Louisville/Chicago bands of, er, ten years ago.)

xps

A livejournal friend linked this the other day:

Dolly and Cher

Rodney Carrington's "Show Them To Me" = Not as good as "Boobs a Lot" by the Holy Modal Rounders. (He lost me at the word "funbags.")

Not feeling these guys, though their nation of origin (Norway) and their name (reminiscent of '80s Poguesalikes who I once owned an EP by The Men They Couldn't Hang) led me to have high hopes. But they just sound dull:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/tmtcs

Drawing a blank on so far: New CDs by Jack Ingram, David Lee Martin.

Haven't even put on yet: New CD by Gretchen Wilson.

Liking so far (but not quite country, at least so far): New CD by Mary Weiss.

Also liking so far (but only country in that it's crunk): New CD by Crime Mob.

Oops, his name's DANIEL Lee Martin. Apparently.

yeah, I'm supposed to be writing about Mary Weiss but somehow her peeps won't send it.

still haven't found time to listen to Gretchen, or to this tribute to June Carter Cash I got, featuring the usual suspects: Costello, Paisley, Lynn, Billy Bob Thornton...

did attend to Southern Culture on the Skids' Countrypolitan Favorites. They actually kinda make me like them or at least not hate them (the band, not the mostly cool songs they choose to cover, like T. Rex' "Life's a Gas" and "Tobacco Road" and "Te Ni Nee Ni Nu," the latter which was covered far better by Alex Chilton). But it's still just kitsch and I don't see the point of their devotion. Yes, some of us live in houses and others live in trailers but we all share our martinis on Saturday night and then the most adventurous of us slip behind the barn for a snort of moonshine or crystal or Krystals (no cheese) or a girl named Krystal. Kinda tired shtick.

The Alternate Routes' Good and Reckless and True is a species of overstated country-rock; they also sound like a '90s band like the Gin Blossoms, guitar overload, a singer whose very self-involved tenor reminds me of Rufus Wainwright's (don't think they wear anything but jeans, and they're pictured on the CD cover at dusk silhouetted against the sky, but they do have a song called "California" which isn't as good as Wainwright's song of the same name). Some real nice dynamic shifts and pauses and they get off the occasional good line about how they wrote this song on the back of a coaster. Two or three really pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good songs (as Larry David might put it), and the whole thing is a mannerism. "Are You Lonely" does effectively balance a relatively dirty-sounding verse with an intriguing chorus. Pretty good. They seem like one of those bands who, if they'd just cut loose and get looser, would be even better, and I do like the way they simulate straining at the form. And to my ears they demonstrate the influence of that Mr. The Edge-style guitar non-chordal conception on country-rock, big heroic quarter notes and a cool harmonic ambiguity I wish they'd go further with.

Oh, and I felt good the other day talking to Pam Tillis, who was nice. My first thought about her new 'un was that it was a direct lift from those Gram Parsons records. First thing she said was that she was consciously emulating the sound and feel of GP and Grievous Angel. Has anyone heard her record of all Mel Tillis-associated songs she did a few years ago? I went back and listened to some of her '90s stuff like "Cleopatra, Queen of Denial." Pretty, pretty, pretty....

the mary weiss isn't particular country, but it is particularly good. not to sound like an old man or anything, but it puts all of the current "-ettes" bands to shame. fave songs so far: "stop and think it over," "i don't care."

liking a lot: tim mcgraw single "last dollar (fly away)," which sounds particularly joe walsh-y.

The song I'm liking most on this Tim McGraw album is "Put Your Lovin' On Me." It sounds like it might be a typical "Hard Day's Night"-style song about getting' some good lovin' at the end of a hard workin' day, and it almost is. But there's something about the fact that it's about 70% sorrow and only about 30% sensuality that intrigues me. For somebody whose audience is predominantly female, McGraw is pretty good at picking these male angt songs, of which there are several more on the record.

i went to a fundraiser tonite, for a xian ranch, with a singer, who was the worst hat act i had encountered yet, no modulation, fake drums, and mushy stories about the dead. shiver.

Just picked up a rentacar for a week-long road trip down through Delaware/Maryland/Virginia and back up, and gave cursory listens on the way back from Manhattan (where Avis is) to Queens (where my apt and luggage is) to both Jack Ingram and Daniel Lee Martin, and they were both sounding better than I expected. Ingram actually has more than a little squireely Tom Petty powerpop in his sound, and the Hinder-cover cheating song is okay enough that it makes me wonder if I should go back and listen to Hinder's version, and he does this funky Eagles-I-think-riff rocker where he replaces the word "fuck" with "love" all the way through. Martin's more the rugged outdoorsman, apparently, but I really like the rocker about the girl born into a family whose business is moonshine, and the outdoorsy anthem about why tall buildings in cities are why God made rivers, and the song about it depends which way you look at it with the dark hard opening riff that reminds me that Bob Dylan's "Hurricae" was pretty dark and rocking song, and the pastoral introduction to the John Denver cover which I haven't otherwise listened to yet. First few songs on post-Rancid Poguesalikes Filthy Thieving Bastards' new CD sounded promising too. So I guess I'll take all three of those on the road with me (along with enough other CDs to fill my carrying case.) Kings Of Leon, whose new album I decided didn't sound absolutely horrible but also didn't sound very good (lotsa Counting Crows in it, some early U2, some fake reggae, not a pinch of the Southern and/or garage rock people claim -- okay maybe a speck of Strokes?) will not make the cut.

Didn't know there was a new Gretchen but thought her version of "The Midnight Oil" ruled the Mandrell comp, had Gretchen's force without her jabbing elbows. I also quite adore the Eurobosh rave happy hardcore make 'em mokum crazy neofreestyle or whatever it is remix of "Redneck Woman" which I assume is unauthorized and not on the new album or everyone would be swooning or sputtering over it already.

Only've heard the the MySpace tracks and 30-second clips of the rest of the Mary Weiss. Her voice has adult richness, but it also seems a lot more rigid than that of the wailing teen we formerly knew her as. Maybe this is a defensive reaction on my part when rehearing a former flame, to immediately think "Oh, it's not that good" - to get a jump on my own potential disappointment and therefore not really feel the disappointment. So I may take a while before reaching a balance in my appraisal, but I am disappointed. "Break It One More Time" does seem a strong song but weighed down by the singing.

Read in the NY Times that "Last Dollar (Fly Away)" was written by Big Kenny; think it would make more sense for him to have sung it. The words still throw me, maybe 'cause I want for something that evokes both "King Of The Road" and "Like A Rolling Stone" to simultaneously be footloose and care-worn, so an opportunity seems lost.

that makes sense about "last dollar." I'm sorry, but I think it's one of the worst and most annoying songs I have ever heard. I'm not a Tim McGraw fan at all, find his voice dishonest and wheedling. And of course, I'm jealous he's got Faith...
catching up after a month, it seems, of stuff designed to keep me from doing what I need to be doing, which is listening to music. I did listen to the new Wilco, which is country-rock, right? I've never been a big fan, but it works. They imitate someone imitating Dr. John on one tune, and there are plenty of cool guitar solos and Tweedy seems to have a sense of humor about his moroseness. Still find myself unmoved by Elizabeth Cook's new one; "Sometimes It Takes Balls to Be a Woman" is kinda great, the cover of "Sunday Morning" is a good idea but I mean they should've done "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" off Loaded.

The Alison Krauss alb is streamed over on the AOL Listening Party (but so's the new Timbo, so that's where my ears have been).

"What Light," the one song I've heard from the Wilco, makes me sneer at its dull thudding platitudes, and it needs something more tuneful/musical in the sound itself - I mean, it's designed so that you have no choice but to attend to the platitudes - but the singing is reasonably bearable and the playing good. (Haven't totally made up my mind about it, actually, since the platitudes touch on, like, real human issues.)

(Timbo just quoted Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks.")

thanks for the tip on Krauss. as for Wilco, seems like Tweedy has developed some sense of humor about his sad-sack-ass life. his voice is full of self-pity, but someone knows how to construct music that's interesting. I swear, Sky Blue has moments where they sound like the Move, those big lumbering riffs and ridiculous drum fills, just like Bev Bevan on Shazam!. but a lot of the songs start off as strummy folk shit, and I thought, oh, god, this is awful, but then it turns into something else, they even do some twin-guitar moves. so I dunno, he took all his money and bought every Wishbone Ash record and sat around smoking better pot than we can get here these days.

and since I'm here, I thought I'd mention that the Mary Weiss record is a dog, retro, and the songs and the singing just lie there inert. terrible production values. she looks good, though, I mean she's nearly 60 and she don't look a day over 42, and she sounds exactly like Joey Ramone in drag.

I don't mind the retro on the Weiss (interesting that she'd try to girl groupify a Yardbirds song), but I think you're right, unfortunately. There's some good songwriting, but her singing brings everything down. (Never was a Reigning Sound fan, either.) Maybe if she'd worked hard and resurrected her chops, or used Auto-Tune, this could have worked, 'cause the character of her voice is OK. And she used to sing in tune.

Btw, some very good singers from the original era had trouble staying in tune - Ronnie never had perfect pitch, and Shirley of the Shirelles could go way off - without this hurting their effectiveness. I wonder why it's sometimes a problem and other times not. Hard rock singers can often be good out of tune, but that doesn't explain how the sweet Shirelles managed it.

Wrote this on the teenpop thread (in response to Greg's being puzzled by one of my American Idol posts):

"I Who Have Nothing" is nice - not close to being up there with Carrie covering Tiffany and sounding totally Carrie in doing so; but it was a good version of the song

Greg, I meant that Jordin's "I Who Have Nothing" was a good performance of a good song but not nearly the great American Idol moment that (at least on retrospective evidence from YouTube) Carrie Underwood's cover of Tiffany's "Could've Been" was. Carrie really nailed and wailed the song and made it warm and mature without losing its spark and sounded herself even while venturing off her usual country terrain. I've now listened to a whole hunk of Carrie's idol performances, and "Could've Been" and "Sin Wagon" are my two favorites; I like "Alone" too, which you linked above; she did a reasonable job on "Independence Day" but didn't deliver either the terror or self-righteousness; hard to run up against Martina McBride at her absolute best.

(Also, her song choice wasn't so docile. "Sin Wagon" was one that the Dixies hadn't dared release as a single; and I don't think that in early '05 it was clear that singing the Dixies wouldn't have potentially alienated people in Carrie's future fan base. I wonder if this was on her mind at all, and what the fact that she likes songs like "Sin Wagon" and "Independence Day" says about her, whether there's any kind of statement there. She sang "Goodbye Earl" on pre-Idol demos.)

Oh, I'm wrong, the Dixies' "Sin Wagon" was a single, but it flopped, stalled at 52 on the country charts, I'd guess because of radio station squeamishness.