Top 20 of 2009: #20-11
Posted on | December 30, 2009 | 2 Comments
Here is some of the music that struck me in 2009. In case you missed it, read the manifesto for this site. It might help you understand where I am coming from. If you didn’t see the Bird List, now might be a good time to check it out.
#20: Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women
Dave continues a great late-career run. Come to think of it, his “run” has never stopped, or really even slowed. Read a single review.
Reverent enough to know when to leave the song alone, but restless enough to know when to shake things up.
There is country music that is funny outside of “She Left Me For Jesus”. Most of it is here.
Mining that Canadiana sound, BoH comes up with something fresh. Good songs and great voices. Read a single review.
This should probably be filed under “educational” rather than “country”. Read a single review.
Wry humor and stripped down execution from the Great White North. Read a single review.
A beautiful sounding record, with great songs to back it up. Possibly his most consistent. Read the original review.
This sounds old, worn in, and gorgeous. I don’t think people are used to quality of this level anymore.
#12: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
His departure didn’t kill the Drive-By Truckers, but gave us double the output. DBT also put out a rarities record, and Isbell had the best song (”TVA”) on it. Read the original review.
One thing you can say about Robert Keen is that he always sounds like he is having fun. Read the original review.
Corb Lund – “A Game In Town Like This”
Posted on | November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment
1. When I covered Corb Lund earlier this year, I mentioned that his music might be better described as rural rather than country. His latest single “A Game In Town Like This”, from his new record Losin’ Lately Gambler takes a different approach to that homemade genre, exploring the intricacies of small town life. Like Adam Carroll, Lund has a way with creating characters of incredible depth, often by describing their situation rather than their person. His subtle plot details the song’s breezy rhythm contribute to its immediate appeal.
2. Lund finds himself deep in a game of “crazy pot size” against Asian dealers who, “with all that tax free money/ have deeper pockets than I do”. Though unable to keep up with the action, Lund finds himself naively amused to be playing at all. Later, finding himself in traffic, he reminisces to when his lover would wake upon his early morning return, asking how he came out. Noting that he would “sometimes just say nothing”, he then alludes that he is “livin’ with what [he's] done, leaving the door open for interpretation as to whether that extends beyond his poker losses. He explains, as his “up-all-nighted eyes” mistake a diamond for a heart, and he goes belly up for the last time.
3. He reveals that he left town after that game, but stopped back through to “donate a couple thousand”, noting that he now “knows the cost”. His lovable loser tale fits well with his friend and frequent touring partner Hayes Carll (who he recommended in his 5 Records With interview), who learned the art of the simpleton character from John Prine. Lund’s keeps it simple with the music, and his frank Canadian drawl make this song as easy to like as the character he conjures.
Corb Lund – A Game In Town Like This
Corb Lund – “Long Gone Saskatchewan”
Posted on | October 5, 2009 | 1 Comment
I talked to Corb a few weeks ago about the music he loves. Read that interview here.
1. To call Corb Lund’s music “country” is absolutely appropriate, if not a bit of an understatement. However, with his fixation on horses, steers, and ranch life, his music might be more accurately labeled as rural. Corb comes from a family of ranchers — both of his grandfathers were cowboys, he grew up listening to them (and Marty Robbins) sing handed-down cowboy songs. On his latest single “Long Gone Saskatchewan” from his first New West release Losin’ Lately Gambler, Lund shares in near-technicolor the joy of leaving the unforgiving city and galloping back to the wide open plains of home.
2. With a click-clack rhythm straight out of Cash’s Tennessee Three, Lund tackles two lost arts at once: humorous country music and the talking blues. Leaving behind the idea of melody for the verse, he packs this rambling yarn full of wordplay, rattling on about leaving his woman (so he can have room for smokes) and heading back to where he can have five times as much land for the same price. The gift of wit is elusive — Robbie Fulks and Rhett Miller seem to have it down, and Corb proves his own aptitude here. Often taking a lighter approach to his music (his last album was a concept record about the horse cavalry), he avoids being corny, recalling Roger Miller and Buck Owens with his droll, tongue in cheek delivery. Lund’s cowboy heritage bleeds through to the countrier-than-thou twang of his music. His fine-tuned band the Hurtin’ Albertans backs him here, with guitarist Grant Siemens pulling together Luther Perkins and Don Rich to narrate the journey back home.
3. Corb Lund continues to define himself as an absolute individual, willing to take chances and follow his muse down any path. “Long Gone Saskatchewan” is a wholly entertaining slice of music that shows no variation from that career trajectory — a refreshing stance in a time where many seem willing to pander to gain an audience.
Corb Lund – Long Gone Saskatchewan
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