Mar 3, 2010
Mar 2, 2010
Texas Day III
Thanks to Brody Vercher of The 9513 for the Josh Abbott and Brandon Rhyder covers!!!!! Also, a shout-out to Rita! Go check out her new blog. She's stirring stuff up in the Lonestar state.
Mar 1, 2010
Top 10 Things Easton Corbin is not more country than
10. Kudzu salad
09. A one-eyed coon on a hot tin roof in south Alabama
07. Ashton Shepherd's drawl
06. This
05. A velvet Bocephus
04. This
03. The corner of Jr. Ward and Duffy Grizzle Roads in Lumpkin County Georgia
02. Charley Pride
01. This
Feb 28, 2010
Regular Guy Reviews: Great American Taxi - Reckless Habits
In the history of Farce the Music, I've only done about three proper reviews of albums. Usually, I'm laying on the derision and snarkiness and generally making a fool of myself and my subjects. In the past, I've felt as though doing reviews would be a sellout of the premise of FTM, but this year I've resolved that if I'm going to continue pointing out the shortcomings of mainstream music (country in particular), then I'm going to have to be a tiny bit of the solution as well.
Never you fear, FTM will not become a review site, a vehicle for genre promotion or a shill for any band that emails me an album. I just want to take a moment each month to let you know about some good music that's out there, usually beyond the mainstream.
You don't expect "the usual" from FTM, so don't expect the usual reviews. I doubt many of them will exceed twenty sentences. There will be no Pitchforkian references and no music-snob contempt for the reader or people who'd dare listen to commercial radio. There will be few five-dollar words. There will be no butt-kissing, despite the fact that I'll only be writing about stuff I enjoy.
While I did well in my college English courses, I am not a trained writer, nor a music historian by any stretch of the imagination. I just love good music. As such, you can expect pretty "regular guy" reviews here. The only difference is that my taste skews a little left of center from the average joe... but that's where a lot of the best music is. I know what I like and I'll try to convey that to you and hopefully you'll find something you never knew you'd enjoy!
As I stated earlier, these will only be once or twice a month, tops. Here's the first!
Great American Taxi - Reckless Habits
Release: Tuesday, March 2
This is good-time music... sitting at a Bourbon Street bar, sipping a pale ale with sweat dripping down your cheek, tapping your foot to the tune without a worry in the world music.
It's a laid back and loose session, skillfully reined by great musicianship. Country, bar rock, jazz, bluegrass, country rock and jam band are all hanging together under the big tent of Reckless Habits. There's a little twang for the hicks, a little sonic stew for the hippies and a lot of fun for us all. I hear 70's Jimmy Buffet, Grateful Dead by way of The Byrds, some Dr. John and early Wilco in their music.
"One of These Days" leads off the album with an ode to the Big Easy. It's a piano plunking, trumpet punctuated singalong that rolls along like the paddlewheel of a riverboat. Speaking of Wilco, Great American Taxi turns in a fantastic take on (members of Wilco's former band) Uncle Tupelo's "New Madrid," giving it a more thoughtful emotional context. "Unpromised Land" wouldn't sound out of place on a Steeldrivers album, with its rollicking, banjo-driven newgrass. The title track is a steel guitar laden country song that wouldn't sound out of place on a honky-tonk jukebox. Even the most lightweight song on the album, "Tough Job," still makes you want to get up and shake a buzzed leg.
Reckless Habits is a swampy boogie, entertaining enough to likely be accessible to all but the most mainstream of tastes. Fans of the Black Crowes, Widespread Panic, Old Crow Medicine Show, Delbert McClinton, Gram Parsons and Dr. John should definitely grant this record an ear.
Free, legal download: One of These Days
Favorites of 2010 So Far: February
1. Joe Pug - Messenger
2. Kasey Anderson - Nowhere Nights
3. Retribution Gospel Choir - 2
4. Great American Taxi - Reckless Habits
5. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
6. Tim Barry - 28th & Stonewall
7. Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave
8. Reckless Kelly - Somewhere in Time
9. Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)
10. Butch Walker and the Black Widows - I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart
11. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig
12. Freedy Johnston - Rain on the City
13. Rogue Wave - Permalight
14. I See Hawks in L.A. - Should've Been Gold
15. The Brothers Comatose - Songs from the Stoop
16. Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
17. Whispering Pines - Family Tree
18. Spoon - Transference
19. Vampire Weekend - Contra
20. The Honey Dewdrops - If the Sun Will Shine
Feb 26, 2010
Feb 25, 2010
John Rich's Songwriting Tips #30
Don't sell out. Set your writing principals right up front and stand by them. Believe it or not, this one's set in stone for me. I will never compromise myself from the belief that you should only write schlock, dreck, trite crap... whatever it takes to keep them royalty checks filling up your gold-plated mailbox at the end of your dogwood lined brick driveway. No way in the pit of Hades would I stoop to writing story songs, Americana, alt-anything or something with literary references. Porn references maybe. Live by this creed: Dance with the bitch that brung ya.*Not actually written by John Rich.
Feb 24, 2010
Feb 23, 2010
Feb 22, 2010
.99 Review: Emily West
.99 Review: Emily West - Blue Sky (feat. Keith Urban)
The People's Take:
AhhhMAzing! (5 Stars) - LOVE IT! LOVE HER!I live in Nashville and see so many unappreciated, amazingly talented artists that deserve to be heard...Emily West is one of them. I think her time has come and she is on the verge of being a big, big star!!!! Such a beautiful song!!! GET THIS SONG NOW!!!!! PS if you ever get the chance to see her live - GO! She is so much fun and great in convert!!!!
- Hunk Of Burnin' Love
Calm Down.... (3 Stars) - Emily West is the next Faith Hill! But she has horrible stage presence. Saw her open for Luke Bryan at Joe's in Chicago and she was extremely hard to take seriously. Amazing vocals. Just wish she'd calm down and let the audience enjoy it. Can't wait to see what she grows into though. Keep an eye on this one!
- Anonymous5124
My Take:
A new female artist releasing a sparse, sad ballad at a time when new female singers aren't exactly filling the Top 40 is a questionable career choice to say the least. Adding Keith Urban as a backup vocalist (and a prominent name on the song title) doesn't hurt prospects, but still, if it's not an exceptional song, one of this ilk would likely be on and off the charts inside a month.
Happily, this is an exceptional song, well written and beautifully performed by one of Nashville's most engaging young talents. Emily West has become known early in her career as funny and frankly honest, so one might expect her to be more suited for Brad Paisley-style laughers and chick-attitude songs. With Blue Sky, she proves to be quite adept at a tearjerker without artificially pulling the heartstrings with overdone high notes and overwritten lyrics.
Here, West informs a cheating lover that she can't be his blue sky, his happiness, anymore. Her voice also reveals that her own blue sky is now obscured by storm clouds. She wills the metaphor to sound fresh where it would have fallen flat coming from a lesser vocalist.
Hopefully, "Blue Sky" is only the beginning for Ms. West. Along with Sarah Buxton, she may finally break through Nashville's recent glass ceiling for performers of the fairer sex not named Taylor Swift.
Blue Sky isn't particularly country. It fits into the current definition of mainstream country comfortably, but sets itself apart with strong song craft and powerful vocals, making it the highest rated single thus far on "Ninety-Nine Cent Reviews."
Total Value: .86/.99
(Foregoing the checklist for this edition)
Feb 21, 2010
Feb 20, 2010
Feb 19, 2010
YouTube Gems: Artimus Pyledriver
Blistering redneck stoner metal! Throat shredding vocals! Beards, long hair and fast cars! What more do you need???
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