Kacey Musgraves - 2013 Anticipation

"late to the party"is a really sweet song -- nice to hear a straight up love song from her

"pageant material" and "this town" are a bit of a speed bump but otherwise i think this is pretty strong -- not as good as same trailer but also enough of a sidestep that i think it works on its own terms

it's a sweet and graceful album

I've got a discussion on my FB wall with a few critics about McAnally, Clark, Musgraves, queer in country, the lapse into cuteness, etc.

"Miserable" is my favorite today.

i didn't like the first few songs i heard - so much strummyness - so i'm just gonna let this happen when it happens

j0rd otm.

If you set a low bar I guess she's cleared it, sure

think this album is straight up great ... i don't think it sounds like same trailer!! i wonder if people would be making such a connection if we didn't know it was written at the same time

i also can't understand all the hate... 'miserable', 'die fun', 'dime store cowgirl', 'good ol' boys club' are as great as some of the best moments of 'same trailer'. and listening her with willie nelson in the end is gold.

idk why i thought "pageant material" wasn't good, the first 4 tracks are literally perfect

I haven't read any "hate" for this album. It's tuneful and disappointing.

it doesn't sound like same trailer. the arrangements are way more relaxed

Song for song, it's catchier and richer than ST. Like lex, I have a problem with how on the nose these songs are, how she (sill) relies on the cutes. "Cup of Tea" is the nadir. It’s 2016, rural America’s changing, and changing fast enough so that Musgraves can be less indebted to a wink-wink conceit.

*still

one-listen take: i am quite relieved that this is nowhere near as bad or predictable as i had feared it would be from "biscuits," which may be the worst cut on the album other than maybe "cup of tea." i haven't been unusually struck by any of its lyrics the way i was on hearing same trailer for the first time, but the songs are still quite a pleasant listen and many of its arrangements are gorgeous. yeah, i probably won't like it as much as same trailer in the end (which is kind of a high bar anyway), but it's certainly not enough of a step down for me to be disappointed either.

the two bad songs i mentioned aside i was also way off the mark in thinking that the album would just be a bunch of safe retreads. yeah lyrically she does sometimes rely on some of the same tricks which is getting eyeroll-inducing/tiresome but idk, otherwise (esp. sonically) she's definitely venturing somewhere new for her. whether others have done better in similar territory is another story (obv they have) but it still sounds good so i find it hard to complain ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There's something happening in Biscuits that makes it work.

Anyone worrying that hipsters will start listening to Kacey Musgraves has never lived in America.

good to see P4k is gonna start reviewing country records:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20679-pageant-material/

A lot of country is about singing about what you aren't (or rather "ain't")

gross

circa-2004 hip-hop problem

wait hip-hop had a problem circa 2000?

feels like we've reached the point where if an artist is Important - which kacey certainly is - they need not actually be good, their existence is enough

Blah article in which Mugraves and Jason Isbell save country music because bros and countries and cars

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/814-jason-isbell-kacey-musgraves-and-the-duality-of-the-southern-thing/

oh one of those

written by the exact person i expected

We were without one for a week. Overdue!

all this stuff seems so prepackaged considering how poorly this narrative fits 'pageant material'

Yeah, if anything the album feels a tad wan for playing it too safe.

wait hip-hop had a problem circa 2000?

feels like we've reached the point where if an artist is Important - which kacey certainly is - they need not actually be good, their existence is enough

― lex pretend, Wednesday, June 24, 2015 4:42 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The problem was that nerds were drooling all over Madvillainy instead of Petey Pablo and Shawnna. Guess this is like 2004 after all...

Timbaland should get on this country thing.

"white tee" is an incredible song, too -- and it has a narrative!

xpost way ahead of u

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoYymnKUhZQ

really enjoyed the sneak "white tee era was devoid of content" diss from the site slobbing on young thug's knob like it's corn on the cob

Oh, shit, how did I forget about Bubba? Bubba, what happened, your second album was great, get back to me!

hey bubba was a buddy of mine in college! good dude.

pics or it didn't happen

sry, we weren't super close, but this was pre-timbo and he used to play a song of his that sampled country boy can't survive at parties.

hah, nice

http://www.stereogum.com/1810529/the-week-in-pop-instead-of-going-big-kacey-musgraves-goes-home/franchises/the-week-in-pop/

great piece

But Musgraves has refused to carry the burden that she was poised to assume

ehhhhhhh okay

hmmm yeah seems a little harsh

what I heard of the new Isbell really paled in comparison to his last album

anyway I am not familiar w/ Musgraves at all but I like a few songs on this, the bookends especially.

2/3 of that piece was really excellent but comparing the pageant imagery to lily allen's "hard out here" is bizarre and tone-deaf. also, at the risk of coming off "IT IS NOT A BEAUTY PAGEANT IT IS A SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM" the whole "pageant material" thing is as much about personality and class (someone's got to pay for those walking lessons and fees to actually do the swimsuit portion that earns 20% of your points and $1000 interview suits that you're never going to wear anywhere else because they're fucking light blue) networking than about looks.

also, so what if kacey musgraves was in a pageant as a kid? lots of people in the south are, especially if they're remotely involved in the performing arts.

Lex, you're tripping

what because i said an article was good, pelase elaborate

like I said, the first two-thirds or so was good, it just sort of went off the rails with that IMO. (I never did pageants myself but my sister did throughout high school so I am very familiar with all the trekking and prepping and endless people singing martina mcbride

I missed out on buying one of those smart Martina tomato t-shirts.

Carl Wilson: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2015/06/kacey_musgraves_new_album_pageant_material_reviewed_the_follow_your_arrow.html

THIS article is excellent.

Pageant Material looking to do 55k the first week, which is only a little more than Same Trailer did (although Same Trailer finally reached 500k this month).

i don't like that Wilson's lede suggests a false binary where she wasn't on track to be Country For People Who Don't Like Country thanks to "Merry Go Round," which was #25 on the Pazz & Jop singles poll before she had an album in stores.

I'd never heard of her before yesterday and listened to Merry Go Round just now which was okay I guess. Would I like these albums? idk but that whole Wilson piece makes me not want to care, not interested in picking sides in some culture war

THIS article is excellent.