Is it rolling Bob
― dow, Thursday, 2 January 2020 02:24 (four years ago) link
Now then: Chuck Eddy's account is still messed up, despite requests---mods too cool---so here's his Nashville Scene ballot re 2019:
Chuck sez:Sent in my ballot a few weeks ago, before I heard the album by Mike and the Moonpies, which may well have made my list if I had.
TOP TEN COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2019: 1. Miranda Lambert - Wildcard (Vanner/RCA)2. Heathen Apostles - Dust To Dust (Ratchet Blade)3. The Rails - Cancel The Sun (Psychonaut Sounds)4. Kalie Shorr - Open Book (Kalie Shorr)5. Tom Russell - October in the Railroad Earth (Frontera)6. Tara Thompson — Hillbilly Christmas (TDT Enterprises)7. Granville Automatic - Radio Hymns (Granville Automatic)8. Reba McEntire - Stronger Than the Truth (Big Machine )9. Billie Davis - Rosie's Cantina (Market Square)10. Tone Bringsdal — Prologue (Mother Likes It EP} TOP TEN COUNTRY SINGLES OF 2019: 1. Blanco Brown - “The Git Up”2. YelaWolf - “Opie Taylor”3. Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus - “Old Town Road (Remix)”4. The Highwomen - “Highwomen”5. Merle Hazard - “(Gimme Some of That) Ol’ Atonal Music”6. Michael Salgado - “Honky Tonk Education”7. Meat Puppets - “Nine Pins”8. Paul Cauthen - “Cocaine Country Dancing”9. Dillon Carmichael - “99 Problems (Fish Ain’t One)”10. RaeLynn - “Bra Off” TOP ONE COUNTRY REISSUE OF 2019: Lone Justice - The Western Tapes, 1983 (Omnivore EP)
― dow, Thursday, 2 January 2020 02:27 (four years ago) link
Seems kind of perverse to not rank The Highwomen album (a better LP than Miranda’s, by any measure); and to choose the one song from that album which is essentially a rewritten cover of a “classic” tune... but whatever.
― the beer of champagnes (morrisp), Thursday, 2 January 2020 03:05 (four years ago) link
My ballot, as sent---the blogged version (with comments, although most so far were on RC 2019) will prob have some adds, incl. some from Chuck's list, most likely):
TOP TEN COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2019:(just in the order they come to mind)1.Tyler Childers: Country Squire2.Rodney Crowell: Texas3. Caroline Spence: Mint Condition4. Willie Nelson: Ride Me Back Home5.Kalie Shorr: Open Book6. Sturgill Simpson: Sound & Fury7.Kelsey Weldon: White Noise/White Lines8. Justin Townes Earle: The Saint of Lost Causes9. Allison Moorer: Blood10. Patty Griffin: s/tHon. Mention: Bruce Robison & Kelly Willis: Beautiful LieAbout Half Good (60-45%), in descending order of Goodness or goodness:Maren Morris: Girl, Highwomen: s/t, Hayes Carll: What It Is, Tanya Tucker: While I’m Livin’
Trivial Pursuit: Miranda Lambert: Wildcard
Milk Dud: Amanda Ann Platt & The Honeycutters: Live at the Grey Eagle
TOP FIVE COUNTRY REISSUES OF 2019:(in descending order of relevance)1.Bob Dylan (Featuring Johnny Cash) Travelin Thru, 1967-1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15(Cash incl. In credit on bobdylan.com listing)2. Reggie Young: Guitar Session Star3. Sir Douglas Quintet: The Complete Mercury Masters(digital-only re-reissue https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M6X5HJ8/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp)(scroll waaay down for re-reissue date)4. Link Wray: Rocks (Bear Family beast).5. RELATED:1.Sheryl Crow: Threads2.Hot Club of Cowtown: Wild Kingdom3. Matana Roberts: Coin Coin Dance Chapter Four: Memphis4.Lillie Mae: Other Girls5.Arthur Russell: Iowa Dream6.Lost Bayou Ramblers: Asteur7. Peter Stampfel & Atomic Mega-Pagans: The Ordivician Era
― dow, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 04:01 (four years ago) link
My take on that Link Wray collection was posted on this redoubtable thread, which I recently discovered:Rockabilly - essentials?
― dow, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 04:05 (four years ago) link
(a better LP than Miranda’s, by any measure)
you got this backward, hoss
― alpine static, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 20:10 (four years ago) link
or at least put an "imo" somewhere
― alpine static, Wednesday, 8 January 2020 20:11 (four years ago) link
Feel free to mentally place an implied "IMO" into every one of my posts, "hoss" ;)
― Don’t yell ‘Judas!’ in a crowded theater (morrisp), Wednesday, 8 January 2020 20:22 (four years ago) link
I so suck for typo in Kelsey *Waldon*'s listing on sent ballot. My Matana Roberts comments are on Rolling Jazz Thread 2019My and other comments on, good discussion of AR's latest here: Ok . MORE Arthur Russell (But This Is Great)
― dow, Thursday, 9 January 2020 04:41 (four years ago) link
Post more Top Tens!
― dow, Thursday, 9 January 2020 04:44 (four years ago) link
My most strictly thread-relevant Reggie Young comments are on RC 2019, but these are def. Related---from the Sweet Soul Music thread:
First listen to Reggie Young's Guitar Session Man has my headphones spinning: so much to take in, so much goodness coming at me from all directions, and would be so even if there weren't 24 tracks on one CD. Most thread-relevant elements noticed so far:The only Muscle Shoals-recorded track is Little Milton's '02 version of Vince Gill's '90s country hit "Whenever You Come Around," here with a questing soul orchestra, layered and strong as the ones released like hounds in '60s Memphis, on the Box Tops' cover of Hank Snow's "I'm Movin' On" and Elvis's run with Percy Mayfield's "Stranger In My Own Hometown."Most of this is from Memphis, incl. duh Dusty Springfield's performance of Gerry Goffin & Carole King's "Don't Forget About Me," which was on a single w the Fritts-written "Breakfast in Bed."Fritts' KK bandmate Billy Swan rolls out of Nashville with a fast version of his own "Lover Please," a big late-doo wop hit for Clyde McPhatter :this take is more like what Ringo was doing at his 70s solo peak.We also get the prime of James Carr, Solomom Burke, Bobby Blue Bland, and many others---my absolute fave rave at the moment is Jackie DeShannon's departure with "I Wanna Roo You," here a fast crashy waltz, mostly (slowing down for the bridge, but it's a set-up, like the mellow verses on "I'm Movin' On), and she's often, though not always, wailing the chorus as "I want to ruin ruin ruin you. Ruin you tonight."
― dow, Monday, October 21, 2019
Wow
― Beware of Mr. Blecch, er...what? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, October 21
Yeah! And Ace Records annotator Bob Dunham mentions Young's hot solos on the Swan track as prob not the sort of thing released on Nashville product since Mac Gayden's previous work with Area Code 615, which reminds me that this selection is immediately followed by the Gayden-written "Morning Glory," vigorously presented by James & Bobby Purify---they and the Box Tops also did versions of "I'm Your Puppet," right?
― dow, Monday, October 21,
Yes. They had the hit on that one.
― Beware of Mr. Blecch, er...what? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, October 21,
thanks discogs:
Tracklist1 –Eddie Bond & His Stompers* Slip, Slip, Slippin' In2 –Bill Black's Combo Carol3 –Bobby Bland A Touch Of The Blues4 –Jerry & Reggie* Dream Baby5 –The Box Tops* I'm Movin' On6 –Willie Mitchell The Champion - Part 17 –Solomon Burke Meet Me In Church8 –Joe Tex Chicken Crazy9 –King Curtis & The King Pins* In The Pocket10 –James Carr More Love11 –Dusty Springfield Don't Forget About Me12 –Elvis Presley Stranger In My Own Home Town13 –Jackie DeShannon I Wanna Roo You14 –Dobie Gray Drift Away15 –Sonny Curtis Rock'N Roll (I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)16 –Delbert McClinton Victim Of Life's Circumstances17 –Billy Swan Lover Please18 –James & Bobby Purify Morning Glory19 –J.J. Cale Cocaine20 –Merle Haggard I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink21 –Waylon Jennings / Willie Nelson / Johnny Cash / Kris Kristofferson Highwayman22 –Natalie Merchant Griselda23 –Little Milton Whenever You Come Around24 –Waylon Jennings Where Do We Go From Here
― dow, Monday, October 21
The Joe Tex track is not up to several of his hits mentioned in the notes, where Dunham says they would have picked "Skinny Legs and All," but it's already on another Young-inclusive Ace comp, Memphis Boys. Damm it, whiiiine
― dow, Thursday, 9 January 2020 18:25 (four years ago) link
Re single from upcoming Brandy Clark album, with link to video:https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/nashville-cream/article/21109697/brandy-clark-releases-who-you-thought-i-was-album-details
Also advance track from Ashley McBryde:https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/nashville-cream/article/21110103/tensions-boil-over-in-ashley-mcbrydes-martha-divine
― dow, Tuesday, 14 January 2020 20:08 (four years ago) link
yooo this little big town record
― american bradass (BradNelson), Friday, 17 January 2020 15:37 (four years ago) link
Big thing on them in yesterday's Wall St Journal, which I haven't read yet.Here's this: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/cover-story/article/21110118/20th-annual-country-music-critics-poll
― dow, Friday, 17 January 2020 16:22 (four years ago) link
"throw your love away" on the little big town record is so fucking good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCYsnofk3K4
― J0rdan S., Friday, 17 January 2020 17:57 (four years ago) link
yeah this album is so good
leans hard into the "lost in california" vibes <3
― überweiss, Friday, 17 January 2020 23:33 (four years ago) link
it's produced by the golden hour duo
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 18 January 2020 00:03 (four years ago) link
Weed & Cannabis?
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 18 January 2020 00:44 (four years ago) link
hehe
― J0rdan S., Saturday, 18 January 2020 02:10 (four years ago) link
Merle Hazard - “(Gimme Some of That) Ol’ Atonal Music”
ok, my music geek kids got a huge kick out of this
― that's not my post, Saturday, 18 January 2020 05:39 (four years ago) link
Long, interesting article:https://variety.com/2020/music/opinion/women-country-radio-tweet-reignites-firestorm-kacey-musgraves-kelsea-ballerini-1203472923/
― stop creeping my instagram storiez (morrisp), Monday, 20 January 2020 03:31 (four years ago) link
other amazing songs on the little big town record:
next to youtitle trackover drinkingquestionsthe daughtersriver of starssugar coattrouble with forever
ok most of 'em
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 20 January 2020 16:09 (four years ago) link
re: "sugar coat"
and one of these nights i'll meet you in the drivewayand tell you to go to hellgo to hell
― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, 20 January 2020 16:20 (four years ago) link
the first 5 songs go so hard i've had trouble getting to the rest of the album
― J0rdan S., Monday, 20 January 2020 19:28 (four years ago) link
the lord did bless us with another wonderful song titled "bluebird" tho
― J0rdan S., Monday, 20 January 2020 19:35 (four years ago) link
'river of stars' is so beautiful
― Nourry, Tuesday, 21 January 2020 22:37 (four years ago) link
Effective immediately all music video hours on CMT and CMT Music channels will have complete parity between male and female artists. That means 50/50. #CMTEqualPlay— CMT (@CMT) January 21, 2020
― dyl, Wednesday, 22 January 2020 15:04 (four years ago) link
Wonder if that will have any impact on country radio ( where stations can’t even play 2 songs in a row by female acts)
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 23 January 2020 16:48 (four years ago) link
Howdy, Edd Hurt here. Wrote a couple things about Reggie Young, mentioned above, last year: https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/nashville-cream/article/21044397/reggie-young-19362019 and this (listen to "Mercy," referenced below, good example of Young's tact):
Reggie YoungSession guitar legend
Reggie Young, who died in Leiper’s Fork on Jan. 17 at age 82, played guitar on a huge number of recordings that have become country, pop and soul classics. Young added his fluid licks to Dusty Springfield’s 1969 album Dusty in Memphis, and he played on sessions with Elvis Presley, Joe Tex, James Carr, Billy Swan and Dobie Gray. Many of Young’s best-known recordings feature a lick, invented by Young, that defines the performance. Like his fellow Memphis rhythm-guitar masters Teenie Hodges and Bobby Womack, Young was a structural thinker.
Young was born Dec. 12, 1936, in Caruthersville, Mo. He made his name in pop and country, and he lived and recorded in Nashville for decades. But I like to think of him as a quintessential Memphis musician. Like Hodges, who devised unforgettable licks for records by Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell, Young knew how to lay back in a rhythm section. You can hear his restraint on an obscure 1967 Willie Mitchell record, “Mercy,” in which Young plays strict rhythm guitar behind Memphis ax man Clarence Nelson’s brief, stinging lead.
I saw Young demonstrate some of his signature inventions at a 2008 program at the Country Music Hall of Fame. He played his intro to Swan’s 1974 track “I Can Help,” and he made it look easy. For Young, it was about the total effect — he never showed off, because he didn’t have to. —Edd Hurt
― whatstalker, Wednesday, 5 February 2020 21:59 (four years ago) link
Didn't know he'd died, damn!
From Mary Gauthier's Feb. enewsletter:
David Olney1948-2020
The world lost a great artist on January 18th. We songwriters lost a dear friend. David Olney was a man with genius and wide-reaching vision. He was the master of perspective. Point of view in his songs was forever original and brilliant. Unparalleled Mastery.
He wrote from the viewpoint of the Iceberg in "Titanic." From the point of view of the huckster ripping people off on the hill next to Jesus in "Jerusalem Tomorrow." From the viewpoint of the dummy, talking to the ventriloquist, in "Who's The Dummy Now?"
I cannot pick a favorite Olney song, but I do come back to this one over and over, written from the viewpoint of a French prostitute, in "1917."(if this doesn't show up here, it's on youtube)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoqXmR_npUs&fbclid=IwAR3BH3ggKomdimJR-KE9zKjcd16ClpZewwILACnFIWTVcBxRR2lnMnh9TeE
― dow, Friday, 7 February 2020 20:27 (four years ago) link
Wow to "Throw Your Love Away"! Excited to hear the rest of the album.
Here were my 2019 favorites in roughly the order I'd rank them:
ALBUMSMichaela Anne - Desert Dove*Miranda Lambert - WildcardIan Noe - Between the CountryJon Pardi - Heartache MedicationEmily Scott Robinson - Traveling MerciesThe Highwomen - s/t
SONGSEmily Scott Robinson - The Dress*Jon Pardi - Old HatMadison Kozak - First Last Name*Miranda Lambert - Mess With My HeadJon Pardi - Heartache MedicationJoy Williams - The Trouble with Wanting*Tyler Childers - All Your'nHailey Whitters - Ten Year TownMike & The Moonpies - You Look Good in NeonMaren Morris - The FeelsAshley McBryde - One Night StandardsMidland - Let It RollLuke Combs - Even Though I'm LeavingIngrid Andress - More Hearts Than MineJoshua Ray Walker - CanyonCaroline Spence - Mint Condition
*Gut-punchers
― Indexed, Friday, 7 February 2020 20:44 (four years ago) link
Just put on the LBT. Holy hell "Next To You"!
This is p cool:
“I’ve really never seen any four people work as well together as they do,” says singer-songwriter Lori McKenna, a longtime collaborator. “I’ve also never seen four people write songs to the harmonies. When I watch them write a lyric around a note that they all can sing, it’s mind-blowing. It’s almost like a kind of sign language; they use their hands, point to one another. I don’t know if they know all the names of what they’re doing [when they work together]. But together, when they sing, they flow like water, like liquid.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/little-big-town-new-album-tour-dates-946655/
― Indexed, Friday, 7 February 2020 21:17 (four years ago) link
"next to you" is amazing
― J0rdan S., Friday, 7 February 2020 21:53 (four years ago) link
also i interviewed LBT once for a story that wasn't about them and they were very generous w/ their time even when they didn't need to be, so that makes me like them a little extra
― J0rdan S., Friday, 7 February 2020 21:54 (four years ago) link
LBT is one of the bigger acts not to have their own ILM thread which makes sense bc i think they're underrated round these parts and maybe operating in a style that isn't one to cross over to other audiences. despite them being generally extremely good especially on their past several albums, which i rarely put on but always enjoy listening to.
― omar little, Friday, 7 February 2020 22:00 (four years ago) link
i first was impressed w/their chops on Pain Killer, which was among other things evidence that whatever type of song they wanted to pull off, they could do it. in addition to their way with close harmonies they can really tear shit up when they choose to do so.
― omar little, Friday, 7 February 2020 22:02 (four years ago) link
When my wife and I did our Southern road trip to Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Clarksdale, and Memphis, Little Big Town were on the multi-act bill at the Grand Ol Opry. Impressive harmonies. At times a bit too polished for me, but I generally like their country meets Fleetwood Mac sound.
When we were just up in NYC, they were at the Apollo for a couple of shows! We just noticed it after the gigs had already happened when we were touring the Apollo.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 7 February 2020 22:48 (four years ago) link
@RScountryWhitney Rose previews her new album 'We Still Go to Rodeos' with a compassionate spin on the cheating song in "Believe Me, Angela" https://rol.st/31tidvk Cosmic Canadian cowgirl rolls on
― dow, Monday, 10 February 2020 21:27 (four years ago) link
Anyone have a recommendation for a country station, podcast or show worth streaming?
― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Monday, 10 February 2020 21:41 (four years ago) link
New York's Country, 94.7: Haven't listened a whole lot, but seems okay, am told it's usually pretty good; Maura posted link on a previous RC---and hey, commercial-free Mondays!https://newyorkscountry947.radio.com/blogs/joe-cingrana/commercial-free-mondays-on-new-yorks-country-947?utm_source=second-street&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sam+Hunt+Tix%2c+Martina+Tix%2c+CFM%2c+Troops%2c+Miranda+News%2c+Aldean+News%2c+Oscars+Best%2c+Listen+App
― dow, Monday, 10 February 2020 23:28 (four years ago) link
Thanks!
― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Tuesday, 11 February 2020 15:19 (four years ago) link
Grady Smith's youtube channel is worth keeping an eye on
http://www.youtube.com/GradySmith
― Indexed, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 15:36 (four years ago) link
Maren Morris “The Bones” is the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 since Taylor Swift “You Belong with Me” in 2009, per @chartdata on twitter
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 17:56 (four years ago) link
X-post- for a guy with hundreds of thousands of YouTube followers, that Grady Smith guy didn’t seem that smart or charismatic in his episode on country music TikTok. He seemed clueless that young folks would do karaoke like videos there, and he mocked country songs that have rap inspired vocals .
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 18:22 (four years ago) link
Can't say I've seen that one but I used to read his writing in The Guardian and thought he had a good ear for talent and an unpretentious style. Now primarily follow him on Twitter but occasionally watch his album review videos.
― Indexed, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 19:28 (four years ago) link
He’s unpretentious, which is good, just has those flaws I mentioned.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 11 February 2020 20:12 (four years ago) link
new jason isbell is predictably greathttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPek7jto9l0
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Sunday, 16 February 2020 04:47 (four years ago) link
After spending a week with New York 94.7 (thanks, dow!), I wanted less "10,000 Hours" so I looked for local owned stations and came across KBST in Big Spring, Texas. Pretty good station with waaay more character that so far seems to only be about 1/2 current hits. The stream doesn't sound as good, but that seems appropriate. Plus local ads for laundromats and mineral rights consulting!
― j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Tuesday, 18 February 2020 18:11 (four years ago) link
Cool, and speaking of Texas, should have thought of https://kutx.org/about-kutx-music
― dow, Tuesday, 18 February 2020 22:39 (four years ago) link
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, February 11, 2020 9:56 AM (one week ago)
this is not correct. it's the first solo song by a woman to hit #1 on country airplay AND go top 10 in all-format airplay since "you belong with me"
other songs by any artist to have done the same since "you belong with me":
lady antebellum "need you now" (2010)florida georgia line (ft. nelly) "cruise" (2013)sam hunt "body like a back road" (2017)bebe rexha ft. florida georgia line "meant to be" (2018)dan + shay "speechless" (2019)dan + shay & justin beiber "10,000 hours" (2019)
and now "the bones". so this stat is more about crossover than acceptance at country radio alone (which, yes, is paltry for women, but not quite THAT horrendous)
― dyl, Wednesday, 19 February 2020 06:24 (four years ago) link
Feel like I never got around to a lot of the big country albums this year. What should I prioritize / what are the top albums you all would recommend?
My short list would be:
Katie Pruitt - ExpectationsLori McKenna – The BalladeerZephaniah OHora – Listening to the Music
Sam Hunt, Ashley McBryde, and Brandy Clark didn't do much for me, sadly.
― Indexed, Tuesday, 8 December 2020 23:22 (three years ago) link
If McBryde and Clark didn't do it for you, hard to say, maybe just look at comments on this thread, but possibly Marshall Chapman, Songs I Can't Live With Out (familiar titles, but def done her way), The Night You Wrote That Song: The Songs of Mickey Newbury, by Gretchen Peters (speaking of balladeers!), Whitney Rose, We Still Go To Rodeos, Margo Price, Perfectly Imperfect At The Ryman (but I never got with most of That's How Rumors Get Started), Cam, The Otherside, The Tender Things, How You Make A Fool, Willie Nelson, The First Rose of Spring, Pam Tillis, Looking For A Feeling (glorious return of PT), Waylon Payne, Blue Eyes, The Harlot, The Queer, The Pusher, and Me (also speaking of balladeers).
― dow, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 00:20 (three years ago) link
Oh yeah, and even more (after midnight) ballads: Shelby Lynne's s/t.
― dow, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 00:23 (three years ago) link
Thx Dow - really enjoyed the Jake Blount recommendation. Keep it coming.
― tobo73, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 00:25 (three years ago) link
Thanks! This is the only old-tymey etc. album I've heard this year, pretty good:Doc Watson and Gaither Carlton is a new album of old-time music produced from archival recordings by two legendary musicians. These largely unheard tapes were recorded at Doc Watson’s two earliest concerts, presented in New York City’s Greenwich Village in 1962. Those shows were among the rare appearances Doc’s father-in-law, fiddler Gaither Carlton, made outside of North Carolina. The instrumental pieces, including Gaither’s signature tune “Double File,” include intricate musical interactions developed through years of family music-making. On the songs and ballads, Doc’s instantly recognizable baritone voice is accompanied by his own guitar and Gaither’s fiddle, or by the traditional combination of fiddle and banjo. Shortly after these recordings were made, Doc Watson embarked on a career as one of America’s premier acoustic guitarists, earning the National Medal of Arts and eight Grammy Awards.creditsreleased May 29, 2020https://docwatsonandgaithercarlton.bandcamp.com/album/doc-watson-and-gaither-carlton
― dow, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 00:39 (three years ago) link
Only *other* old-tymey etc.
"Dicked Down in Dallas" is better than it should be. Actually a pretty ripping guitar sound.
― The New York Times' effect on man (Sund4r), Wednesday, 9 December 2020 03:08 (three years ago) link
Hailey Whitters made the top 15 for Washington Post critic Chris Richards
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 16:37 (three years ago) link
oh man, i've been sleeping on this Nicole Atkins album haven't i.
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 9 December 2020 21:37 (three years ago) link
Brandy Clark: Your Life Is A RecordGillian Welch: Boots No. 2: The Lost Songs, Vol. 2Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: ReunionsKatie Pruitt: ExpectationsWillie Nelson: First Rose of Spring
I saw RED DOG the movie and it's a good time!
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 9 December 2020 21:38 (three years ago) link
John Anderson?
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 9 December 2020 21:53 (three years ago) link
I'm getting to the Katie Pruitt at last.
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 9 December 2020 21:59 (three years ago) link
It starts well and gets better, one of the more awesome debuts of the decade. xp John Anderson's album seems pretty uneven to me, but some keepers.Good thing I hadn't heard Waylon Payne before I started yon Folk Alley Top Ten---dunno who I would have kicked out of the lifeboat.I wanna see Red Dog too!
― dow, Wednesday, 9 December 2020 22:37 (three years ago) link
The Tender Things are gonna end up in my top 5 EOY, Zephaniah is a solid jam-in-the-car-sing-along album but more like top 20 for me
― black dice live ft. jerry garcia (rizzx), Thursday, 10 December 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
The Katie Pruitt album is my favorite of the year I think, country or otherwise.
― erasingclouds, Friday, 11 December 2020 04:49 (three years ago) link
it's up there. would like to mobilize the ILX crew to vote for it in the yearly poll for sure.
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 11 December 2020 05:40 (three years ago) link
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71YE7tpRLBL._SY355_.jpg
This title will be released on February 26, 2021.
― dow, Saturday, 12 December 2020 04:16 (three years ago) link
Honoring the enduring inspiration of Frank Sinatra, That’s Life is Willie Nelson’s second album of classics made famous by The Chairman Of The Board. Willie’s first ode to Frank, 2018's My Way, earned Willie the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Solo Album, and That's Life finds Nelson (who has penned a few standards himself) inhabiting 11 more of the most treasured songs in the Great American Songbook including the title track, "Luck Be A Lady,” "Nice Work If You Can Get It," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "You Make Me Feel So Young," and "I Won't Dance" (a duet featuring Diana Krall). Produced by Buddy Cannon and Matt Rollings, That's Life was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood--where Frank Sinatra, created a string of album masterpieces--with additional recording at Pedernales Studios in Austin, Texas. Willie delivers 11 new studio performances, coming alive in a musical landscape animated by lush string and vibrant horn arrangements on an album mixed by recording industry legend Al Schmitt (who's recorded and mixed more than 150 gold and platinum albums and won more Grammy Awards than any other engineer or mixer). The album cover features a brand new painting of Willie and his iconic guitar, Trigger, standing in the glow of a twilight streetlamp, evoking classic Sinatra album covers of yore. With one of those Gene Krupa cigs.
― dow, Saturday, 12 December 2020 04:18 (three years ago) link
this motherfucker is immortal
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Saturday, 12 December 2020 04:20 (three years ago) link
xxxpost reminder(THIS EVENT IS FREE TO WATCH WITH RSVP*. PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING THE KESWELL SCHOOL BY MAKING A DONATION.)LUCK PRODUCTIONS & CITY WINERY PRESENT: 6TH ANNUAL JOHN HENRY'S FRIENDSA BENEFIT FOR THE KESWELL SCHOOLOn December 13th, 2020, Luck Productions, City Winery and Steve Earle will join together to host the 6th annual John Henry's Friends benefit concert to raise funds for children diagnosed with autism. In this first virtual fundraiser, Steve Earle & The Dukes will be performing, along with sets from an incredible lineup of guest artists including Warren Haynes, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Josh Ritter, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Shawn Colvin, Matt Savage and The Mastersons for an unforgettable night of music.*RSVP yall:https://luck.stream/johnhenrysfriends?utm_source=Mailing+List&utm_campaign=ab4c45c0e5-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_12_11_02_23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9d7f017887-ab4c45c0e5-415586925&goal=0_9d7f017887-ab4c45c0e5-415586925&mc_cid=ab4c45c0e5&mc_eid=3ce2be0c08
― dow, Saturday, 12 December 2020 05:00 (three years ago) link
Hailey Whitters made the top 15 for Washington Post critic Chris Richards― curmudgeon, Wednesday, December 9, 2020 10:37 AM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, December 9, 2020 10:37 AM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink
The lyrics on "Ten Year Town" impressed me in 2019, but the album's got some serious hooks. "Dream, Girl" sounds a bit like Maren Morris. Great record.
― Indexed, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 16:32 (three years ago) link
Yeah this Whitters album was the knock out I was sure was out there that I'd slept on. Was thinking, wow "Janice At the Hotel Bar" sounds a lot like Lori McKenna's best tunes, and then "Happy People" came on -- didn't know that was cowritten by Whitters. There are also apparently cowrites with Brandy Clark and Hillary Lindsey, but I can't find detailed credits.
Anyway, RIYL: Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Lori McKenna, Brandy Clark, etc.
#1 on Marissa Moss's list: https://www.stereogum.com/2110043/best-country-albums-2020/lists/year-in-review/2020-in-review/
― Indexed, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 17:24 (three years ago) link
Any other good country-specific/heavy year-end lists you've seen?
Rolling Stonehttps://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country-lists/best-country-albums-2020-1095488/
Bitter Southernerhttps://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2020/best-southern-albums-of-2020
SCM Album & Song OTY Nomshttps://www.savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-music-2020-album-of-the-year-nominees/https://www.savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-musics-2020-song-of-the-year-nominees/
― Indexed, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 17:29 (three years ago) link
"Janice at the Hotel Bar" is "Humble and Kind" redux in the best of ways:
And stay off the pillsBut get on the pill if you ain't ready to start a familyAnd pay all your billsBut give some awayAll that money won't make you happyMake good love, good companyDrink good wine, make good coffeeKeep your chin up, but every once in awhileHave a good cryGo on and make a good livin' girl, don't forgetTo make a good life
I also like the "Heartland" double meaning - kind of thing Kacey Musgraves would do.
― Indexed, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 22:55 (three years ago) link
Her voice actually reminds me of Kacey's
― bunny slopes, Wednesday, 16 December 2020 23:06 (three years ago) link
Unless Musgraves is increasingly your go-to guru, and/or The Golden Hour is your touchstone or wellspring or Sgt. Pepper's, I'd say not to waste time with most of this---although "Red White & Blue" is a keeper: here she actually seems to push back against her chronic sluggishness, in a way I don't think I've ever heard (that wordless, rec cry is not a hook in the usual sense, but keeps me waiting for its return), and "Dream, Girl" is a little sneaky, and "The Devil Always Made Me Think Twice" has that stalkin', smokin' beat and riff, the kind of thing she needs way more of---or a sax solo, steel guitar, hick-hop beats--anything to distract from the drab vocals, trite tunes, triter advice, that the people who might possibly benefit from are not likely to hear, because not enough sweetening for the pill to go viral---also, does she really listen to herself? "Happy people don't cheat"? Well, maybe if the cheatee has already made them happy and ready to take things further---but then, also, just to touch all the bases, "do whatever makes you happy"---so that includes, I dunno, cheating, mass murder, shoplifting, gtfo RIYL: Maren Morris, Miranda Lambert, Lori McKenna, Brandy Clark, etc I do, but this don't.
― dow, Thursday, 17 December 2020 00:22 (three years ago) link
Sorry yall, it's just hitting me rong (been listening all afternoon, per your recs)
― dow, Thursday, 17 December 2020 00:32 (three years ago) link
i will try whitters but i wanted to say a big THANKS for the Jake Blount album, which hit on all cylinders. Solid lo-fi, down homey bluegrass all the way through with some very able playing and just the right attitude. Aces stuff, makes for a great companion to the Tyler Childers album.
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Thursday, 17 December 2020 03:51 (three years ago) link
Dunno dow - it's right in that Musgraves/Morris/Pruitt pocket of young upstart songwriter with lots to prove; smart and sly lyrics with a clear pov; and loads of hooks. I like that she mixes sounds and styles and would hate if the whole thing was your typical Nashville overproduced mess. The simplest tunes ("Ten Year Town" and "The Faker") are two of the best, but the new wave influence on "Dream, Girl" and the Stapleton swagger of "Devil" keep things moving.
As for the trite advice, as I mentioned upthread I think this is a hallmark of McKenna ("Humble and Kind") and crops up in the two songs they cowrote, "Janice" and "Happy People." Maybe a bit on "The Days," too, but that feels more like her take on Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow."
If I've got a gripe it's her voice is very thin and doesn't touch Morris/Pruitt; though I agree with bunny slopes that Musgraves is closer, she stays in more of a pocket, and some places on the Whitters definitely grate a bit like the overdubs on "Heartland."
― Indexed, Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:59 (three years ago) link
Pruitt album is solid, though lugubrious. Maybe I'm not built anymore to endure a song like "Normal."
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 17 December 2020 15:01 (three years ago) link
xxp glad you enjoyed Jake Blount, forks---I still need to check this year's Childers set (have you heard Country Squire? That's the one that really sold me on him). Also Sturgill's current bluegrass chunks, right there on bandcamp---but so far I've liked his unmistakably country voice and attitude the more contrasty thee setting, esp. last year's Sound and Fury, wnich I tagged as "illin' ZZ Rex." The great example of that in 2020 is xpost Elizabeth Cook's post-sadcore silver spacesuit tequila surveyAftermath. And don't sleep on the lyrics, which come across best (or at least benefit from confirmation) on her site--wotta sound, though.xpost Yeah, if you really like recent Musgraves and that side of McKenna's writing, Whitters is okay, although we agree on the thinness of her voice, the need for more production solutions to that.Pruitt's voice tends to remind me of Ronstadt's, and this is all new to her, part of her big upfront earnest breakthrough testimonial, still in early chapters----Chely Wright and Waylon Payne are considerably older, and on record the gayness is more allusive, part of the world view in their mood rings---hard to imagine Pruitt getting to that any time soon---will she be more like, say. Taylor Swift for girls who like girls---?
― dow, Thursday, 17 December 2020 18:37 (three years ago) link
pruitt sounds fucking great to me. i can understand hearing "normal" as po faced but it's also tremendously heartfelt; she's coming from an honest place i think.
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Friday, 18 December 2020 04:41 (three years ago) link
Good list of 2020 songs here:https://dontrocktheinbox.substack.com/p/dont-rock-the-inbox-issue-3
I nom'd and will be voting for Emily Scott Robinson's "Time for Flowers" in the ilm song poll -
“Time for Flowers,” Emily Scott Robinson: An exquisite meditation on how to find the strength to keep going when it feels like the walls are crashing down (or holding us captive), “Time for Flowers” is also a reminder that the good things always come back around, if we wait patiently - but we have to make sure we tend to the garden, because beauty can only grow out of despair if we give it what it needs to thrive. —MM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d1Xp1wzWZM
― Indexed, Friday, 18 December 2020 16:50 (three years ago) link
Oho, didn't know about this song or list, thanks. Yeah forks, i can understand hearing "normal" as po faced but it's also tremendously heartfelt; she's coming from an honest place i think.
― dow, Friday, 18 December 2020 17:39 (three years ago) link
Time will tell whether she's said it all here, but still.
― dow, Friday, 18 December 2020 17:41 (three years ago) link
Whoah---just now played Kelsey Waldon's covers EP, which is not one of your covid-alibi barebones potboilers: it's well-produced, swirling around and further shading, supporting her deftly deployed Appalachian inflections---and dig this track list:1.The Law Is For Protection Of The People 04:332.Ohio 04:013.Mississippi Goddam 04:544.Sam Stone 04:295.They'll Never Keep Us Down 02:516.With God On Our Side 07:307.I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free 03:11So the righteous weary narrator of "The Laws" is too close to home, ditto Kent State and the whole of MS, where now I'm especially struck by how this "hillbilly"-tagged Kentucky woman audibly relates to Yes you lied to me all these yearsYou told me to wash and clean my earsAnd talk real fine just like a ladyAlso Dylan's entrophic balladeer setting out on a new day's slog:Oh my name it ain't nothin'My age it means lessThe country I come fromIs called the Midwest7:30 minutes of that, no more or less relentless than the razor detail of "Sam Stone," remembered, as a matter of fact, by the local junkie's offspring, with a brittle briskness more effective than the relative weepiness of Prine's original track---would like to see her do more by him, for sure.Ends with the atypically upbeat "I Wish..." providing some refreshment, but not letting nobody off the hook: https://kelseywaldon.bandcamp.com/(The inner warpage of continuing citizens here reminding me of several on Johnny Cash's recent Easy Rider: Best of the Mercury Recordings, incl. some that might be The Man In (or near) The Diner, getting head set for another visit from the New York Times---not all of the material is equally good, but it's all done his way and pulled me right through)(incl. some speedy remakes of Sun-era classics)
― dow, Friday, 18 December 2020 19:18 (three years ago) link
Should have edited this before posting on savingcountrymusic.com, where some are going after Maren Morris etc. etc.:
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
CMA set itself up for all this via inconsistency: on the one hand, testing and , maybe, exclusions (though no doubt some of those would have happened anyway, with the more cautious performers staying home), on the other, televised lack of social distancing and masking, onstage and off (seems likely that’s why the AP photog wasn’t allowed to take lasting evidence). If they’d had a mask mandate, would have been trouble with that audience, but a virtual event (though taken as an insult by many) would have saved them from the present controversy, and won new defenders, representing the saner side of country. *some* new defenders, but still catching it from the kneejerks and worse.
― dow, Friday, 18 December 2020 21:58 (three years ago) link
Just listened to Pruitt's album againL holy crap, what a *sound.* So many facets, right off---some have associated it w Fleetwood Mac, but here's how to assimilate and *learn* from that (Margo, producer Sturgill), as you're rolling along your own path. Always to a purpose, which is never just a show of strength, though that's part of it, rallying herself as much as anyone, while dealing with the doubts and other shadows, like "How did I get through all that, how am I still getting through it, and yet here I am with you, how did and does that happen---like this!"So the well-chosen details, incl. still-recent memories, come to the foreground and confirm impressions of the words that found their way through the boom-boom of the first half, and "Normal" sounds forthright, incl. the problematic "If I could be normal, trust me, I would." Not abject, not anything reassuring, either, just how it is in her.But right now, wow: https://rounderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/expectations
― dow, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 06:03 (three years ago) link
one of my great covid concert regrets of 2020 was the cancellation of her tour
― the serious avant-garde universalist right now (forksclovetofu), Tuesday, 29 December 2020 19:47 (three years ago) link
Emily Yahr on Charley Pride and Covid issues in country music in Washington Post. Here's part of it:
A CMA spokeswoman said: “Out of respect for his family, we do not have further comment.”
And yet it’s hard to imagine country music’s year in the pandemic ending on a worse note. The genre has made a slew of unflattering headlines over the past 10 months, from Chase Rice’s not-socially-distanced summer concert to Morgan Wallen being dropped as the “Saturday Night Live” musical guest after violating the show’s coronavirus protocols. Then there was the strange tone of the CMA Awards, the format’s biggest night in the national spotlight to celebrate music known for capturing real life and “three chords and the truth,” trying to project an image of cheerful normalcy in a tragedy-filled year.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/country-music-covid-charley-pride/2020/12/26/ac51bd2e-4566-11eb-975c-d17b8815a66d_story.html
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 30 December 2020 05:13 (three years ago) link
Not sure how I missed this but Ingrid Andress had a cover of Charli XCX's "Boys" on the deluxe edition of Lady Like that's surprisingly good! I guess Andress was a cowriter of the song? Curious to know more about how she got looped in on that project if anyone knows more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCMMYXvWvpA
― Indexed, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 16:25 (three years ago) link
cool, thank you!
― sean gramophone, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 16:29 (three years ago) link
Mandolin a surprisingly good replacement for the Super Mario Bros coin sound
― Indexed, Tuesday, 19 January 2021 16:43 (three years ago) link
https://www.nashvillescene.com/music/cover-story/article/21145509/21st-annual-country-music-critics-poll-the-results
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 January 2021 17:27 (three years ago) link
: 1. Mickey Guyton, “Black Like Me” (Capitol Nashville)2. Chris Stapleton, “Starting Over” (Mercury Nashville)3. Ashley McBryde, “One Night Standards” (Warner Music Nashville)4. The Chicks, “Gaslighter” (Columbia)5. John Prine, “I Remember Everything” (Oh Boy)6. Eric Church, “Stick That in Your Country Song” (EMI Nashville/Big EC)7. Tyler Childers, “Long Violent History” (Hickman Holler/RCA)8. Mickey Guyton, “What Are You Gonna Tell Her” (Capitol Nashville)9. Miranda Lambert, “Bluebird” (Vanner/RCA)10. Sam Hunt, “Hard to Forget” (MCA Nashville)
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 January 2021 17:28 (three years ago) link
Lists go further , but here’s cut and paste of top 10 album choices
Albums1. Ashley McBryde, Never Will (Warner Music Nashville)
2. Chris Stapleton, Starting Over (Mercury Nashville)
3. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Reunions (Southeastern)
4. Brandy Clark, Your Life Is a Record (Warner Music Nashville)
5. Margo Price, That’s How Rumors Get Started (Loma Vista)
6. The Chicks, Gaslighter (Columbia)
7. Waylon Payne, Blue Eyes, the Harlot, the Queer, the Pusher & Me (Carnival)
8. Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions (High Top Mountain)
9. Elizabeth Cook, Aftermath (Agent Love)
10. Hailey Whitters, The Dream (Pigasus)
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 January 2021 17:31 (three years ago) link
More on the 2021 thread
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 23 January 2021 17:34 (three years ago) link
god, "Hard to Forget" still slaps so hard
― bon ivermectin (Murgatroid), Monday, 2 August 2021 23:25 (two years ago) link
i just realised that justin townes earle is dead. kind of reeling from it. his songs feel so personal, it feels like i know him.
― Tracer Hand, Monday, 15 May 2023 13:09 (eleven months ago) link
You do.
― dow, Monday, 15 May 2023 18:46 (eleven months ago) link