Best Albums of 2013: 3/4 Report

1. John Moreland - In the Throes

2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

3. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

4. Drew Kennedy - Wide Listener

5. Austin Lucas - Stay Reckless

6. The Band of Heathens - Sunday Morning Record

7. Run the Jewels - s/t

(free if you click "Get It Now")

8. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose

9. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life

10. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes & Angels

Country Day July '13 Parody Covers 1: Casey Donahew Band, Willie Nelson, etc.

Five Years of FTM - 5 Top 5's

Today, Farce the Music turns 5 years old. Thanks for sticking around and giving me the inspiration and reason to keep fighting the fight and hatin' the hate-worthy. Also, a big thanks goes out to Jeremy Harris, Kelcy Salisbury, Matthew Martin and others who have contributed to FTM in recent years/months!

As a small celebration, here are 5 new Top 5 lists... 2 serious, 3 seriously stupid.

Top 5 Most Common Injuries Suffered by Fla-Ga Line Fans

5. Sprained ankle from tripping on wallet chains

4. Cuts and abrasions from trying to scrape off misspelled tattoo

3. Broken fingers from punching radio when real country song comes on

2. Sliced fingers from broken (store bought) moonshine jars

1. Tetanus from doing the nasty in a rusty truck bed

Trailer's Top 5 Favorite Albums of All Time

5. The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.

4. Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger

3. Johnny Cash - At San Quentin

2. Son Volt - Trace

1. Guns n' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Top 5 Potential Gilbert/Kramer Wedding Themes

5. Brass knux and butterflies

4. Ed Hardy

3. Pre-Antebellum vintage

2. Camo and Chrysanthemums

1. Trailer chic

Top 5 Best Songs of 2013 So Far

5. Son Volt - Angel of the Blues

4. Shooter Jennings - The Gunslinger

3. John Moreland - Blacklist

2. The National - I Should Live in Salt

1. Jason Isbell - Elephant

Top 5 Things Joe Diffie is Doing to Fit in

With Hick-Hop Culture

5. Sagging his Sansabelt jeans

4. Throwing "dawg" and "bruh" into everyday conversations

3. Putting a chrome brushguard and a roll bar on his 1975 Ford F100

2. Going heavy on the Acqua di Gio

1. Mixing his Ensure with Grey Goose

Best Albums of 2013: Halfway Report

1. John Moreland - In The Throes

2. Jason Isbell - Southeastern

3. The National - Trouble Will Find Me

4. Sturgill Simpson - High Top Mountain

5. Shooter Jennings - The Other Life

6. Ashley Monroe - Like a Rose

7. Son Volt - Honky Tonk

8. William Clark Green - Rose Queen

9. Fifth on the Floor - Ashes & Angels

10. Quaker City Night Hawks - Honcho

Honorable Mentions: Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park, Run the Jewels - s/t, JJ Grey and Mofro - This River, Jimbo Mathus - White Buffalo, QOTSA - ...Like Clockwork, Water Liars - Wyoming.

Album Review: John Moreland - In The Throes

A man seeks purpose and redemption that always seem as far away as the horizon. That's the overriding theme of John Moreland's remarkable In the Throes, and one that could be monotonous if not for Moreland's razor-sharp pen, soulful muse, and too young to be so damn world-weary vocals.

Whether he's lamenting lost love, struggling with faith or ...well,  that's pretty much the balance of the subject matter... John viciously nails every song into your heart. There's not a throw-away line on the entire album, much less a throw-away song. Every verse is crafted to take you back to a particularly painful day in your life and rub your nose in it, and you'll love every minute of it. In the Throes is gloriously and joyfully heartbreaking.

"Nobody Gives a Damn About Songs Anymore" questions the reasons a songwriter keeps pouring his heart out in a world where so few seem to place real value on music. "Should I go to Texas or Tennessee?" sings Moreland, pondering the motivations for his craft.



"Break My Heart Sweetly" is a song of such perfect sorrow, it burns like the whiskey that gets a broken man through that first lonely night. It's a song that is so authentic in its sadness, it feels more like an eternal truth than a song.

In the album's closing track, "Blues & Kudzu," Moreland tries to "leave behind yesterday" on a Mississippi highway. There's no chorus, only a confessional bridge that "I'm getting tired of tellin' God that I'm pissed at him." It's a song that almost feels incomplete, but it perfectly sums up the arch of the album: a bruised young man with an old soul trying to find something that makes him whole.

In the Throes is immersive. The commitment and engagement are so strong, at times it feels like the songs are coming out of you, not John. Moreland puts every drop of blood on the page and every tear in the song. This, my friends, is what songs are for.

RIYL: Bruce Springsteen, Chris Knight, Townes Van Zandt, Jason Isbell.

--------------------
In the Throes is available on iTunes, Bandcamp and Amazon.

John Moreland - Break My Heart Sweetly

From his INFRIGGINCREDIBLE new album In the Throes, here's John Moreland with "Break My Heart Sweetly." Kindly ignore the crowd noise, because this is a helluva soulful performance.