Kacey Musgraves - 2013 Anticipation

Yeah KM is also the pick for those for who love country music but whose tastes run more to KM than Miranda Lambert or whoever - that's just the way taste runs. If Kacey also appeals to people who aren't that interested in country, that's cool with me.

I think Kacey is pretty country, at least as much as Monroe/Lambert/etc., all of whom have been pushing at the boundaries of pop and rock in imo more aggressive ways than the more chill Musgraves.

I think so too - tbf Alfred didn't say she wasn't, Alfred said KM was the pick for people who found Brandy Clark and so on too country - I am guessing Alfred knows or reads such people and isn't strawmanning on some authenticity-is-better kick, because that's not really his game AFAICT.

Authenticity? Moi? I'm wearing Target boat shoes.

Musgraves is Western swingier than the others, none of whom have been Austinites to my knowledge, and has alt/pop aspirations, but not sure why those are necessarily any less country/traditional than Lambert's rock tendencies or Monroe/Presley/Clark's sometimes-countrypolitan, which can sound particularly folky in Clark's non-Southern voice.

If we must rank, then I do prefer Monroe and Lambert a little bit (for different reasons) (Clark and Presley a little less - though I loved Wrangled from last year), but I think there's a risk of acting like all of these performers are doing the same thing, or focusing on the surface level stylistic differences rather than some of the more subtle differences between them. The biggest reason I can imagine someone loving Musgraves most of all is that (at least on STDP) she is arguably the tightest songwriter of the five, there's a "just so" elegance to tunes like "I Miss You" that really stands out to me at least; some listeners might dislike that of course, but it doesn't really map onto a more/less country continuum IMO.

(although based on the above-cited comment from Kacey about resisting wrapping up every lyric "in a little bow" this may actually be less true of her forthcoming album)

oooh Like a Rose is as tight if not tighter, I think.

IT's not that they're doing the same thing necessarily; they share songwriters and producers, though, which means a certain aesthetic concordance. Tom Petty and George Harrison and Roy Orbison were vastly different performers and songwriters, but Jeff Lynne's production made them sound like brothers, or at least Wilburys.

Not the greatest recording, but she posted a couple minutes of "Rainbow" from Glasgow. Missed this as the closer on the tracklist.

“Rainbow” will be on the new album March 30th 🌈☔️ I love this song so much. Was my Memaw’s favorite before she passed and we played it at her funeral. It’s for anyone with any kind of weight on their shoulders. pic.twitter.com/sXvLoKhmKL

— K A C E Y M U S G R A V E S (@KaceyMusgraves) March 13, 2018

This is an older tune. Here's a couple of solo performances from 2013 and 2015:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kWHBJ7TsMg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfMZ6G0ztiI

yes i remember her performing that one when i saw her in 2013. it is a really nice song :)

fuckin

excuse me????

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fjfo256p6s

from these three songs: album of the year

hahahahaha ... i knew she was slow playing the non-country stuff. this gives me great hope.

song sounds good but I don't think the lyrics go to well with the vibe

"High Horse" makes it two for three for me

OMG

nice

whoaaaa

(3 for 3 imo!)

That's like Phoenix doing country.

yeah the first few seconds sound like air france or something

lol otm

a bit 'Love at First Sight' too

this song is def an outlier on the album in the sense that it's her doing something experimental in a very specific way. the album in general more or less sounds nothing like the other two but in ways that i think are more natural & organic. "high horse" does give an idea of how fun the production on the album is tho.

love at first sight was what i thought of too or daft punk...it gives me country futurism vibes through its use of country signifiers which is funny

awesome song

I meant through its use of RETRO signifiers. not country

its odd how certain retro signifiers convey 'futurism' in a country space, what i mean

This is kind of what I'm hoping Kylie's Golden will sound like?

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/26/595765776/first-listen-kacey-musgraves-golden-hour

this is so good

there's an occasional clunky line but man this just sounds so good

otm

definitely get J0rdan's comment re. "high horse" after my first listen. phenomenal album still though.

album is good but jesus if i have to see one more comment about "transcending country"

oh good i'm glad i don't read the internet

I haven't seen much of that crap yet, to be honest, and NPR got Jewly Hight, one of our best writers about country.

or should I say "best writers" because she transcends country

her writing on this album definitely made me check her other articles

yeah, she's great!

the sound of this record is so rich

love the fleetwood mac groove and gleam on "lonely weekend"

taking the moment to give Pageant Material another chance & it's much stronger than I remember. I get annoyed by the attempts to redo "Follow Your Arrow" ("Biscuits", "Family Is Family", to a less extent "Good Ol' Boys Club") but the rest of the album is outstanding.

i knew this album was gonna fuck my shit up when i heard the drum fill on “lonely weekend” for the first time

there's an occasional clunky line but man this just /sounds/ so good

I know I'll warm up to it sometime this week.

kinda interesting to imagine how thos would've been received if this was the follow up to "STDP" instead of "PM"

also been noticing a general trend of people having kinda "slept on" or overlooked "PM" upon release and only giving it a fair listen now, interestingly.

feel like - from a Building a Career Arc Narrative pov - it was a bit of a wrong move to follow up "STDP" with it. that said, i am one of the late comers to appreciating it, so i am clearly biased.

i always felt the 'PM' was way underappreciated. it's almost as good as 'STDP'.

maybe i am just excited but i feel like this sounds pretty much perfect

i don't normally post my writing on ilx but for fans of this record i think there's some good stuff in here about how it came together https://www.spin.com/featured/kacey-musgraves-golden-hour-march-2018-cover-story/

lots of good stuff, thanks!

can't wait to read that piece today, thanks j0rd