[ aquarius records — Country Folk Blues No Depression ]

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Showing results 251 through 300 of 393.

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Palace release features some of the prettiest songs Will Oldham has ever written, as well some of his oddest lyrics (and this is one of the tame ones): > to see in me a promise of what i could give > and i to see in her a reason to live > which was past just a symbol of woman and luck > that i would never be lacking for something to fuck

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SORRY. 2 songs from 1993.

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SORRY. A new release on lo-fi stylemakers cassingleUSA label, but don't be mistaken -- this is much more than a cassingle. Papercuts give us 13 songs, soft, sweet and bittersweet, this would not be out of place next to Music Tapes or Casiotone For The Painfully Alone. As a matter of fact, our dear pal Owen of Casiotone plays on track #4.

Haunting and lovely avant-folk recording from French multi-instrumentalist Emmanuelle Parrenin. Recorded in 1977, Parrenin's fascination and adeptness with ancient traditional stringed instruments such as the harp, hurdy-gurdy, spinet, and dulcimer, gives a unique spin on her more forward thinking compositions. Often compared to Vashti Bunyan and Linda Perhacs due to her sweet multi-tracked vocals which accompany about half of the songs, we think the later recording date puts her more in line with Kay Hoffman's Floret Silva (another progressive folk masterpiece recorded the same year) or the kosmiche pastoral vibe of Popol Vuh due to the layered Celtic-inflected droning harmonies she evokes from her instruments. Beautiful and so recommended!

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Newly Reissued on Vinyl!!!!! The enigma of Gram Parsons remains ever elusive. Considered the Father of Country Rock by pioneering the concept of a rock band playing country music through his contributions with The Incredible Submarine Band, The Flying Burrito Bros, and The Byrds later output, namely Sweetheart of the Rodeo. But it's Parson's two solo records on Reprise, G.P. from 1972 and Grievous Angel from 1973 that cemented his legend and legacy... due to his untimely death from a morphine and tequila overdose near the Joshua Tree National Monument only weeks after the Grievous Angel sessions were completed. He was 27 years old. Previously only available as a two-fer cd, these absolutely essential solo albums have now been given room to breathe and stand up as two completely individual listening experiences. So utterly heartbreaking. The only happiness that comes from these sessions is the magical presence of EmmyLou Harris who was introduced to the world with these records and was an equal partner in their making, and without her, the legacy of these recordings would not shine as brightly.

Rhino releases a very nice anthology covering the broad swath of Gram Parsons' short (he died in his mid-twenties) but brilliant career, thru almost all the bands he took part in, including the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, and the Flying Burrito If you don't already have his solo records and the single Byrds album he appeared on (Sweetheart of the Rodeo), then why not give this anthology a try. It's got one previously unreleased Int.Sub.Band outtake (that's quite good), copious liner notes, including notes on each song included, plus lots of photos of Parsons in his Nudie suits that I'd never seen before, some words from Emmylou, and it's all packaged in a very nice slipcase. Recommended. Note: we always carry the two solo albums he made -- GP and Grievous Angel -- which have been released on one disc.

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Gentle lilting SF roots rock weighted by a heavyheartedness is what this full length by Mr. Danny Pearson is all about. Joining him on one tune "Be Here Now" is Mark Kozelek (Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon), and you might say that The Oblivion Seeker is very much in the same vein as Kozelek, as well as American Music Club. In fact, Pearson covers the Mark Eitzel penned tune "Vulture And Hyena", and Sun Kil Moon/AMC's Tim Mooney recorded the album. See, it's all connected! And yet, we may also mention how akin to the lush earthy prettiness of The Czars this is too -- particularly on the songs graced by warming strings, Hammond organ, and ghostly harmonium, but even more so on the two which feature some very soft velvety female backing vocals that offer some light in Pearson's world weary atmosphere. Indeed it's this pair of songs along with the Kozelek-accompanied number mentioned above that are the highlights of this album. Very nice!

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As artistically immersive in music as his father Anthony Perkins was in film, singer/songwriter Elvis Perkins sings beautiful folk pop songs that are blistered gently by electric guitar. Very reminiscent of The Kinks, Rufus Wainwright, Jeff Buckley, Ron Sexsmith, and Elvis Costello. Absolutely dreamy and achingly heartfelt. Recommended.

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Joe Pernice, formerly of the Scud Mountain Boys, and Big Tobacco, and now the Pernice Brothers is turning out to be one of the most important singer songwriters of our time. It sounds like hyperbole, but Joe Pernice has managed to find a sound all his own,

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With bandleader credits under the monikers Scud Mountain Boys, Big Tobacco, and Chappaquiddick Skyline, perennial AQ-favorite Joe Pernice offers his third as the Pernice Brothers. Yes, this is the most polished and radio-ready of all his records, but that doesn't mean it is watered down at all. Moving away from his country rock explorations with the Scuds, the Pernice Brothers explore the world of pop, albeit very melancholy, achingly bittersweet, emotion-drenched, sincere singer-songwriter pop. His near 'n dear influence remains the same as ever -- Bread. Wonderful Bread, who share with Pernice a love for delicately, carefully, quietly sung vocal melodies and sympathetic instrumentation -- warmly strummed guitars (at times reminiscent of The Smiths even!). Pernice's music has gotten me thru more than one broken heart... Now if you haven't heard Pernice before we'd recommend you start with Scud Mtn Boys' Massachusetts or the Big Tobacco album, but if you're already a fan we certainly recommend Yours Mine and Ours. MPEG Download: "How" [/audio/pernicehow.mp3] MPEG Stream: "How" [/audio/pernicehow.m3u]

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Like A Moth, the follow-up to SF singer/songwriter Garret Pierce's debut, reveals fresh development and depth. He's made good on the promising-ness of his self-titled cd-r, honing his songcraft into something considerably more focused, as well as fleshing out his palette of instruments. Simply check out the easygoing confidence in "Northern Stare" and "The Fireworks Were Fish Exploding". It definitely makes for a lusher, more fully realized overall picture. Warm and comfortingly familiar.

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Following the rather unsettling "Anthology of American Literature" collaboration between the PVCs and Neal Pollack that we reviewed in the last AQ List, Jon Langford gets things back on track. On this new album, they - as described right on the cover -

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You might already be familiar with the PVCs from their own albums or their recordings with fellow Bloodshot-er Kelly Hogan. They are, by the way, an alt-country supergroup whose membership includes the Waco Bros' Jon Langford and Steve Goulding, Tom Ray of

We often wonder why members of bands strike out on their own, and then end up making solo records that sound pretty much exactly like the band said member is taking a break from, but it happens all the time, and in most cases, nobody minds, cuz the whole reason we're interested in the solo record by that artist, is cuz we love the band they're from. In some cases, we imagine it's cuz they don't get as much input as they'd like, which makes it even more ironic when their solo record sounds so much like their actual band. Anyway, what we're getting at, is that this new ep from Poor Moon, which features two members of Sub Pop folkies Fleet Foxes, sounds quite a bit like Fleet Foxes. The biggest difference to these ears is the vocals, as obviously FF is defined by the dulcet tones of mainman Robin Pecknold, and a sound that is a bit more washed out and reverby. But otherwise, we might have even believed that this was in fact a new Fleet Foxes record, as it delivers the same sort of softly psychedelic folkiness, acoustic guitars, lush vocal harmonies, lilting and dreamy, opener "Illusion" is a serious gem, with some cool background noise delivered in soft swells behind the strum and croon, and a gorgeous vocal melody, sounds like a song, that could easily have been a FF jam. The rest of the record plays out similarly, woozy, washed out, dreamy and druggy, lots of shimmer and sun dappled reverby drift, with a serious sixties hippy vibe, but the band does occasionally get their rock on, like the classic jangle pop of "People In Her Mind", which sounds like some lost classic sixties garage jam, and there's the lilting twang flecked dream pop of "Once Before", but the record returns to the classic country folk sound for the dreamy loveliness of closer "Widow", which really IS a dead ringer for Fleet Foxes. Needless to say, fans of FF will want this for sure, but anyone into that sort of washed out sixties sun dappled country folk should definitely lend an ear...

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Huh, now this is a pretty cool, totally unexpected collaboration! Austria's Radian, longtime aQ faves who specialize in their own unique strain of instrumental, improvised, computer-processed post rock, have teamed up here with Tuscon-based indie singer-songwriter Howe Gelb of Giant Sand fame (both artists are Thrill Jockey alumni, that's probably the connection). So you get the desert-country-folk-Americana stylings of Gelb, set amidst the abstract, electronic, glitch-and-distortion infused, fractured soundscapery of Radian. Aesthetically & methodologically, this record is definitely Radian's; yet Gelb's acoustic guitar, piano, and especially voice are crucial components, spiced and edited into Radian's atmospheric, oddly rhythmic sonic constructs. It works really, really well, Gelb adding a very human, ghost-in-the-machine element to the proceedings, with his melodies, hushed spoken commentary and non-sequitur storytelling. Always intriguing, often moodily beautiful, with a sometimes-sinister undercurrent, this reminds us a bit of mysterious UK post rockers Reigns at times, also a bit of Bill Callahan's recent dub album, in a way. Highly recommended!!

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Have the usually completely d.i.y. folks Ray's Vast Basement thrown open their secret subterranean workshop to welcome other like-minded burgeoning music makin' folks? Sure seems so, and the results are nothing short of wonderful. The RBV sound is so burnished, earthy and rustic that if they do indeed have a basement, then we'd imagine it's nestled amid the roots of a great redwood instead of beneath a building somewhere here in the city. Their new album comes to us by way of young Bay Area indie label Howell's Transmitter which is home to the likes of Michael Zapruder's Rain Of Frogs, Modular Set and Black Fiction. It's a perfect fit. The music on Starvation Under Orange Trees grew forth from a soundtrack composed by band leader Jon Bernson for the Actors Theatre Of San Francisco. Each song is inspired by one of the literary works of John Steinbeck -- Of Mice And Men, Grapes Of Wrath, Cannery Row, East Of Eden, and Tortilla Flats. All are infused with an overcast gravity befitting Steinbeck's pervading themes of common man hardships. Bernson is joined by guests Tim Cohen (Black Fiction), Sean Coleman (Kelley Stoltz), Larry Crane (Tape Op Magazine), Enzo Garcia (Jolie Holland), Matt Greenberg (Charles Atlas), Nate Query (The Decemberists), and Michael Zapruder (Michael Zapruder's Rain Of Frogs). Together they strike a balance between their old intimate, crafty charms and some newer, more ambitious compositions. Recommended!

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Sunny local French ex-pat singer / songwriter Helene Renaut has been playing around San Francisco for a few years now, touring with the likes of Ruthann Friedman, Bart Davenport and Sean Smith. We've always been fans, and before her new record comes out next year (recorded by Jason Quever of Papercuts), we've managed to get a handful of her self-released debut from a couple of years back. Inspired by British folk and French pop, she weaves her delicate guitar playing through wistful and melancholic original songs with a couple of covers, one a beautiful rendition of John Martyn's "Run Sally Run". Perfect for these last few warm weeks of fall! Fans of Sibyelle Baier, Ruthann Friedman, and Francoise Hardy take note!

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Jim O'Rourke's "Bad Timing" seems to have become a seemingly influential album, oddly because at the time of its release it seemed to mostly notable as a John Fahey parody. Yet, it opened the ears of indie and alt.country fans not only to the works of Fahey and Souled American, but also the floodgates for a handful of interesting experimentations with folk & country aesthetics, such as Loftus, Tim Foljhan's Two Dollar Guitar albums, and now this collaboration between Rick Rizzo (from Eleventh Dream Day) and Tara Key (from Antietam). Interludes of farfisa and guitar distortion fit snugly in this sleepy album of delicately played instrumental folk. A strong showing.

Digital compendium of Jack Rose's (of Pelt fame) two most recent lps on Eclipse. Gorgeously fingerpicked Appalachia in the Tokuma tradition, the spirit of Fahey, Kottke, and Basho flow richly through this man. From spare six string guitar work to dense 12 string / slide guitar epics to drawn out hypntoic ragas. So so beautiful. Features extensive liner notes and guest performances from Mike Gangloff from Pelt and Glenn Jones of Cul De Sac.

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Not only are two of the band members brothers of a musical family (Dallas and Travis of the Good Family), but The Sadies as a whole are a formidable branch of a bigger musical family which includes the likes of Neko Case (whom they back up on her own live album The Tigers Have Spoken), Kelly Hogan, Blue Rodeo, Jon Langford, members of Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet and Rick White (of Eric's Trip, Elevator, etc.) not to mention many Bloodshot Records brethren. All of them along with Jon Spencer, Gary Louris (of Golden Smog and the Jayhawks), Steve Albini and a whole slew more got down to business on this live recording which took place over two nights at Lee's Palace in Toronto back in February. Whew! Whoa! As you might already be aware, the core Sadies all by their lonesome kick some serious wall to wall ass live each and every time. So entertaining. So lanky'n'loose and razor-sharp at the same time, effortlessly roaming from Morricone western soundtrack to frenetic surf guitar to murder balladry and back. Now with all the other folks in tow, hot damn, they very well cause a meltdown. 2 discs, 41 tracks, 110 minutes!

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Known to veer wildly from style to style, tempo to tempo, mood to mood, those lanky Canadian troubadours The Sadies keep things at a relatively dour faced, slow creep this time around. Less sprawling too, notably absent on New Season are their trademark excursions into Hawaiian guitar, garage rawk and Morricone spaghetti western territories. Still they're as great as ever because these boys know just how to hit that perfect so-lonesome-you-could-cry pace'n'vibe time and time again. Awesome effortless musicianship, slightly tweaked and twisted takes on age old musical traditions injected with an ever affecting spookiness.

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No, this isn't a new release, it's the fine album which preceded this Toronto quartet's most recent Tremendous Effort which we reviewed recently. Rooted in rollicking twang that gives a hearty, respectful nod to surf guitar king Link Wray, their music can swell to Morricone spaghetti western proportions then swagger along the glinting edge of a murder balladry. Along the way they also tackle some traditional country and gospel songs ("Higher Power" and "Walking Ground"). The four fellows - brothers Dallas and Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky (who's also played with Jale and Pernice Brothers) - kick out their tunes mainly on guitars, upright bass, keyboards, fiddle and drums. Their live show, fueled by Marlboros and whisky, is absolutely electric, leaving band and audience fully spent. On record however, their sounds expands to include dobro, banjo and harmonica and an array of additional vocalists. Keep an ear out for guest turns by Kelly Hogan, Catherine Irwin (of Freakwater on "Eastwinds"), and Don Pyle (Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet). Capturing their fiery energy, this album was engineered and mixed by Steve Albini.

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Another full length from those tireless, sharply suited gents, and who's complaining?! Whether they're in one of their loping or galloping moods, it just doesn't matter 'cause they smoke either way. The Sadies will hit you one way or another like a stampede of cattle or a stiletto knife in the back. Often labelled simply as a country or garage or surf band, this Canadian quartet is all of this and more. While they can definitely deliver the goods solidly in any of these departments alone, unlike many bands these days they don't just regurgitate a style. They incorporate aspects of one into another, making music that echoes of a different time, but sounds distinctly of the Sadies. Visions of the ol' west with its trusty steeds, dusty desert sunsets and ten gallon hats may come to mind but are swept away by images of scorned lovers, shifty speakeasy figures with smoking guns.

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These lanky Canadians have been known to assume the form of Neko Case's backing band The Boyfriends, and actually Dallas Good's tingly reverb-laden guitar stylings can also be heard on her new album Blacklisted. However, The Sadies are so much more than that! Kicking up the dust with this their third full length (the follow-up to 1999's excellent Pure Diamond Gold), they continue to unfurl their particular sonic blend: the sinewy twang of spaghetti western soundtracks, the more epic Morricone grandeur, the rawness of garage surf rock, the whisky-soaked, careening, hillbilly barn burners, and the smouldering, intense murder balladry (Dallas alone cuts a very striking, lean 'n' suave Nick Cave-esque silhouette). They do each of these styles so well that they could just stick with one and be quite impressive, but no, that's not what The Sadies have in mind. That said, they definitely don't shift gears as radically from one song to the next as much as they used to, this album is much more cohesive. And yet even still, their musical pendulum's swing shears a distinct and refreshing path through the predominantly 'alt-country' Bloodshot Records roster. Very cool!

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We've just received two terrific self-released cd-rs by this solo artist from across the pond -- History+3 and this one! First impressions of Danny Saul's music stir a traditional folk singer/songwriter stance, but delving deeper you become aware that there's more layers to his songs. Each one moves through subtle mood shifts and occasionally some startling dissonance. Alternately intimate and expansive, he captures a nice counterbalance between bristling electric guitars and slow smooth minimal piano strokes. Definitely check out the title track and the final one "Tracks". Great stuff! Fans of Badly Drawn Boy and Arab Strap, don't miss!

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We've just received two terrific self-released cd-rs by this solo artist from across the pond -- Balance and this one which includes a fine cover of Jandek's "I'm Ready"! First impressions of Danny Saul's music stir a traditional folk singer/songwriter stance, but delving deeper you become aware that there's more layers to his songs. Each one moves through subtle mood shifts and occasionally some startling dissonance. Alternately intimate and expansive, he captures a nice counterbalance between tremolo'd electric guitars and warm picked acoustic guitars. Great stuff! Fans of Badly Drawn Boy and Arab Strap, don't miss!

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... but lazy are not the Scattered Pages! The new full length from these three troubadours from Houston, TX comes swiftly on the heels of their fine cdep This Is Where The Story Ends, and even in that short time the band has evolved and fleshed out their sound tenfold. Their not so secret weapon is the combined songwriting force of Kurt Coburn and Brandon Hancock, both have proven themselves to be quite the richly imaginative storytelling lyricists and crafty songsmiths. Many of the songs here reminded us quite a bit of The Hidden Cameras or Belle And Sebastian, but more rootsy folk inclined. An engaging listen.

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Bay Area label Three Ring Records expand their roster by a third with four impressive new releases by Rykarda Parasol, Frankel, Tom Thumb & The Latter Day Saints and these three Texans who call themselves Scattered Pages. Three Ring has already got fine releases by the indie rock/pop likes of Elephone, Soltero, Ebb & Flow and D.W. Holiday and Scrabbel, but with this recent outpouring they bolster their country and folk branches. Scattered Pages' male vocals exude the sort of mellowness that you'd imagine was the result of the golden warmth of whisky. These are earthy country tunes that sway in the breeze while the burnished amber light of dusk fades. Nice. Despite the band's name, the band itself seems to be in anything but disarray. And despite the album's title, it seems that their story's only just beginning... and in a very promising, self-assured fashion.

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For the latest PlusTapes release, the mysteriously monikered Shadow Drifter (aka James Probiega, aka Little Howlin' Wolf) offers three versions of this long form slomo folk-blues epic , "Ol White" recorded at various times between 1968 and 2002. The longest version clocks in at 17 minutes while the shortest hovers around 12. Recorded with just guitar and harmonica and the Drifter's deep slow free associating drawl, he draws upon Greek myths, life on the fringes and other odd bits of tall tale and surreal wordplay. Also included are two versions of "Wooly of The Wild" recorded at different times and one other beautifully haunting track titled "Rose of Silence". Weirdo Americana indeed! LIMITED AS ALWAYS TO 100 COPIES!!

The Empty Heart Of The Chameleon is the debut from Liam Singer. His soft, faint vocals have already drawn comparisons by a few AQ customers to Elliott Smith, but his solo piano and theremin that take turns accompanying his voice create altogether different lonely moods and solitary atmospheres. As well, on occasion, Singer's voice is contrasted with more classically trained sounding female vocals that climb to dramatic, operatic heights. Everything is ultra hushed and delicate, brittle around the edges, in danger of vanishing or being crushed under the emotions they bear. Much like autumn leaves that fall slowly one by one, this music is spartan and contemplative, allowing an achingly sensitive vocal phrase or simple note sequence to linger in the air. Starkly beautiful.

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We've long been champions of Mr. David Eugene Edwards, in both of his swampy apocalyptic folk ensembles, first the late great 16 Horsepower, and then later, his more personal, and seemingly more spiritual Woven Hand. As long time readers of the aQ list know, Edwards is like a modern day revivalist, conjuring up demons and darkness, death and pestilence, but simultaneously light and hope and sometimes even redemption. With a sound that shifts from stripped down and intimate, to dense and heavy and ominously rocking, the music of Edwards is easily some of the most powerful and passionate we've heard. Woven Hand played the aQuarius SXSW showcase, and our first impression was holy shit, these guys are HEAVY. And loud. And so intense. In fact, considering how many actual metal bands and super heavy rock bands played that showcase, it's pretty remarkable that WH might still have been the heaviest band in the lineup. Secret South is one of our favorite 16HP records, originally released way back in 2000, and out of print for AGES, this was their first record after leaving their major label, and thus seems to be infused with an extraordinary amount of anger and darkness. This record is FIERCE, the classic 16HP lineup is on fire, the vocals incredible and impassioned, the guitars raw and rough, the drumming powerful, the bass thick and enveloping, strings moaning and singing, but the magic of 16HP is how all those elements are woven together, it's difficult to imagine a mere band could evoke this sort of ominous atmosphere, this sort of dread and darkness, this is so much more than music, it's energy in sound, it's sweat and blood rendered in notes and melodies. A swampy mysterious gothic folk, but infused with elements of classic bluegrass, dramatic cabaret, plenty of doom and gloom... You can check the aQ site for other reviews where we rave on and on and on about both 16HP and Woven Hand, needless to say, both bands are all time favorites around here, and Secret South ranks right up there as one of the best by either. Both the cd version and the lp comes with a bonus dvd featuring the whole record in 5.1 surround sound DVD audio.

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Third album from Denver cowpunks who don't sound punk but you know that in the privacy of their living rooms they treasure their Black Flag and X records. Jello Biafra (who issued this record on his own label), calls Slim Cessna's Auto Club "the country band that plays the bar at the end of the world", and that's pretty accurate. Like Mekons in their honkytonkin' days, or Nick Cave if he went country and started wearing all white silver sequined duds. A little hokey, but very catchy. Everytime we play it in the store, someone wants to buy it.

Pretty genuine sounding country twang from these Denver boys. Former punk rockers (we think, but aren't they all) kicking out gorgeous twangy classic sounding country rock complete with yodelling, spoken word breakdowns mid song, awesome pedal steel and

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Could a band have a more perfect name? And an album a more perfect title? In this case, no. Slomo's The Creep is EXACTLY that. Creepy, creeping, slow motion music. One hour, one track, improvised and recorded live with minimal overdubs and "zero eye-contact" (it kinda sounds like it was recorded in total darkness, in fact). The ominous subterranean echoing seismic sounds of Slomo are the work of the UK's Chris McGrail and Howard Marsden. McGrail, as you might have guessed, is also the main guy behind heavy psych-dronesters Holy McGrail, whose Collecting Earthquakes was highlighted here last list. This heavy-lidded, cave-dwelling creature is a different, more somnolent beast, but if you liked that Holy McGrail disc we think you might like Slomo's The Creep too. It's something akin to a narcotized Earth or Black Boned Angel, but played with the spacious, quiet restraint of Bohren & Der Club Of Gore. The crunchy feedback on offer is both spooky and soothing. Appropriately, the cd booklet contains an old rhyme on the subject of this duo's namesake, a folkloric character known as Slomo for his generally slow and slothful ways. The final line says of Slomo: "Whose detractors do call static... but whose champions call Ecstasis?" Clearly McGrail and Marsden are of hold to the latter opinion, as do we. This is a professional duplicated cd-r with quite lovely artwork, released in a limited edition of just 100 copies on Julian Cope's own cd-r label. We did get a bunch, but that's it, when they're gone we won't be able to get any more...so you'd better not be a Slomo yourself if you want one!

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We'd been hearing a lot about this here fella (and how could you forget a name like Micah Blue Smaldone?) but until now we'd never actually heard him, and we're please to say, this stuff is pretty dang great. Yet another steel string wrangler tossing his hat into the already crowded neo-Appalachia ring, but if it's good there's always room for more. Smaldone's M.O. is not an unfamiliar one, dreamy laid back steel string guitar, jaunty melodies, deft fingerpicking, dreamy melancholy arrangements, but Smaldone's tracks have a distinctly old timey twang to them. Not quite Vaudevillian, but that sort of dusty old crackly 78 sort of feel. Plus, unlike most of his sonic contemporaries, he sings. And quite nicely too. A crooning, sometimes cracking sort of classic country voice. Warm and familiar, but definitely distinctive. Add some record crackle and some tape hiss and it wouldn't be tough to convince us that this was a reissue of some long lost sixties Takoma lp! Fans of Jack Rose, John Fahey, Robbie Basho and the like will totally love Mr. Smaldone. Super deluxe thick cover, some seriously heavy vinyl, and a cool, hand screened lyric book insert.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

Yeah yeah yeah, everybody LOVES Wilco. Critics, Fans, everybody. So experimental. So creative. Such heartbreaking magical music. Hey, we love Wilco too. But there was a time, not all that long ago, when Jeff Tweedy, the man behind Wilco, was at least to most of us, the weaker half of the only alt country band that ever mattered. The band whose first album's title (No Depression) became the new name for alt country. Tweedy was merely the whiney vocal foil to Jay Farrar's world weary, whiskey soaked drawl. Sure Tweedy sang some great songs, but Farrar was the voice that MADE Uncle Tupelo, the band he shared with Tweedy. After Uncle Tupelo split, Tweedy went on to front Wilco, and Farrar went on to form his own group, Son Volt. The first Son Volt record was amazing, sort of an extension of Uncle Tupelo, Farrar's voice still so perfect and stirring, framed by kick ass country rock, sometimes soulful and stirring, acoustic and laid back, sometimes rambunctious and rocking. Tweedy's Wilco headed in decidedly more experimental directions, and it suited them, they got weirder and way more interesting, with the band and the songs and the sounds providing the focus, while Tweedy's vocals became just a part of the big picture. But as Son Volt progressed, something started to go wrong, the slow songs sounded too syrupy, the rocking songs began to sound cheesy, the attempts at sounding experimental sounded forced. But the thing was, every record contained at least two or three perfect jems. Gorgeous modern takes on classic bluegrass, full on Crazy Horse style rockers, all with Farrar's amazing vocals, emotive and laconic, soulful intense. Serious classics! So this comp is practically perfect. If it wasn't a compilation, it might just be the ultimate Son Volt record. In fact it sort of still is! Included are the four best tracks from Trace (the first Son Volt album), the best tracks from all the rest, as well as compilation tracks and a handful of unreleased tracks and demos. Loads of photos and liner notes. Both Cup and Andee have been playing this constantly in the store! So good!

MPEG stream: Drown
MPEG stream: Windfall
MPEG stream: Route
MPEG stream: Rex's Blues