Lucinda Williams - West

[randyhersom]

Great new album. These days Lucinda gets lumped in with Alt-Country but she's been doing it for decades so the label doesn't stick too hard. Intensely felt songs, one four letter word and several other blunt sexual allusions. Plenty of tenderness to offset the excellent tough woman moments. She can hang with Morrisette and PJ Harvey but doesn't spend her whole life there. Unsuffer Me is my current favorite, the arrangement really builds drama. Bill Frisell plays like he was put on earth to make this record, not at all obtrusive, but every note matters. Lucinda's voice is very earthy and a little rough. If you like this, you need her earlier album Car Wheels on a Gravel Road too.

Edited February 19, 2007 by randyhersom

[Werf]

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road is one of my all-time favorite records. I missed the last studio record and her live record. How does this compare in her overall body of work?

[Quincy]

It got spanked by the kids at Pitchfork. A Metacritic round up.

[Quincy]

if the witless jackoffs (word of the day!) at Pitchfork give a +/- review, yr almost guaranteed satisfaction going the opposite, a few fish-in-barrel excepted.

My favorite fish-in-a-barrel being the Liz Phair Indie Traitor review.

I almost added "NY Times" too, but I figured just mentioning Pitchfork would bring out a defender (as it should.) The site is like the trainwreck and a 10 car pile up, I just can't help but gawk at it in the morning to see if there's a crappy review worth reading for laughes.

Speaking of whipping boys, AMG's Thom Jurek 4.5 star review doen't include a single SAT word.

I dunno, I've never really gotten Lucinda other than maybe a quarter of her songs. I always hear those songs where she just repeats the same damn phrase - her 1st track on the new one takes that to the extreme. In fact I find her status amongst critics to be a conspiracy along the same lines that you feel The Clash's is. But what do I know, I like - no love - Neko Case's Fox Confessor.

[md655321]

Neko Case is my co-pilot.

[jlhoots]

West is an excellent CD (IMHO).

Going to see Lucinda live the first week of March.

[randyhersom]

Is World WIthout Tears the one that mentions Coltrane? That's another good one.

[md655321]

Speaking of M. Ward, Neko Case turns a stunning performance off a track from his new album, 'Post-War.' The entire album is actually VERY good if you dig folk and a bit of country. (Cue Clem disagreeing by name-dropping atleast 7 obscureish folk/country artists)

[md655321]

Right on schedule.

Regardless of what the others may or may not sound like, I am still quite certain I will enjoy M. Ward's music. You don't get what you want out of it, fine. We are just looking for different things. I dont in ANY way consider him part of the same genre or aesthetic that created Fahey or Terry Allen.

I do dig the John Phillips album you recommended though

[md655321]

I never said I would stop anywhere, if that is where your obscenely off-base anti-intellectualism remark comes from. I am quite consistently pushing myself to listen to more artists, and I will certainly trace down some of what you mentioned, although I am quite familiar with some of them anyways. Especially because I do agree with you quite a bit. You just have a tendency that assume people who disagree with you can ONLY have that opinion due to lack of knowledge. It is possible to disagree with the mighty Clem and know what the fuck I am talking about.

All I am saying is no matter how much I might like or indeed love some of those albums, that won't make me stop liking M. Ward. Music aint some zero sum game. Lots of love to go around.

[.:.impossible]

I really don't know why I feel inclined to get involved in this one, as it is so similar to many of the other EDC SHITS ON ___, but I see a pattern of assumption on EDC's part. If you think that we are all listening and seeking out music for the same reasons that you are, you are most likely wrong.

I don't see how someone's enthusiasm for new Lucinda Williams music merits, prompts, has anything to do with M Ward, Anita Carter, Anita Carter, Anita Carter, Billy and his Wrinkle Necks, et al.

I know. You don't have time.

As much as I find your recommendations enlightening, the hipster (no, what's more hip than hipster) approach to others honest reactions is a real bummer.

Signed with my left hand (has no meaning),

Giant Kinetic Machines* (has nothing to do with anything discussed here, but that doesn't seem to be a constraint for anyone else, so what the fuck RIGHT?)

*from here, we will refer to this character as GKM, gkm, gikm, GIKM, git machine, and last but not least, why not just make a recommendation based on someone's interests, instead of throwing rotten apples at them from the climbable branches? oh, i should have looked closer at the apple bbbb before typing. it had someone's name dropped/carved into the skin.)

(isn't it y'all?, really not sure.)

don't click add reply. awe fuck it

[md655321]

You do talk a little sense there Clem, but I think you are avoiding in some way the real issue.

My argument was never about the obscurity of M. Ward, and you seem to want to bring up, but simply the quality of his music. Whats wrong with saying 'Oh, you dig M. Ward? You should check out these cats."? But you dont do that. You develop an elitist aura (and prose style) that lets everyone know that they arent hip, and that you are because you listen to the people you reccomend.

Its a fair enough argument that M. Ward is obscure just like some of the artists you mention are obscure. But this being 2007 and all, and M. Ward being who he is and all, there is no way you can argue that Paul K. and Bobby Bare arent MORE obscure than M. Ward, in this moment of history. Then again, maybe you would. But that, again, isnt the real issue. The issue is your approach. Our enjoyment of M. Ward or Lucinda Williams has nothing to do with the fact that we havent heard the 'real' cats. And bullying people with your hipness probably wont win you any admirers.

[.:.impossible]

nice.

[ghost of miles]

I would not have figured you for a Lucinda fan, Clem. I'm mostly familiar with the SWEET OLD WORLD/CAR WHEELS era & like both those albums lots... kinda so-so on ESSENCE & haven't really followed her since, but I'd be curious to hear this new one.

[Alexander]

You do talk a little sense there Clem, but I think you are avoiding in some way the real issue.

My argument was never about the obscurity of M. Ward, and you seem to want to bring up, but simply the quality of his music. Whats wrong with saying 'Oh, you dig M. Ward? You should check out these cats."? But you dont do that. You develop an elitist aura (and prose style) that lets everyone know that they arent hip, and that you are because you listen to the people you reccomend.

Its a fair enough argument that M. Ward is obscure just like some of the artists you mention are obscure. But this being 2007 and all, and M. Ward being who he is and all, there is no way you can argue that Paul K. and Bobby Bare arent MORE obscure than M. Ward, in this moment of history. Then again, maybe you would. But that, again, isnt the real issue. The issue is your approach. Our enjoyment of M. Ward or Lucinda Williams has nothing to do with the fact that we havent heard the 'real' cats. And bullying people with your hipness probably wont win you any admirers.

WORD!

[.:.impossible]

No reason to tell you this, but I don't own any M Ward. I don't know that I've ever heard him, but I know the name well. No one's ever played any for me and I've never really been inclined to check him out. Not to say that I won't. Hoo knows, it could be just what I'm looking for when I find it.

I'll take Happy Woman Blues any day. We all love that one.

Out of curiousity, where DO you go for your non-jazz reviews? Is there really anyone worth a damn that IS writing about rock music?

[md655321]

Bittorrent is how I do it. If I hear of a band, I usually dont do much reading, and I just listen to the albums. I also collect the year end lists from a bunch of sites, as awful as they often are. Usually wading though all that stuff will yield a few gems. The only blog I read is morecowbell.net, and thats because I know the guy pretty well, and he has very very good track record of steering me in the right direction (but thats more on the indie front.)

For the most part though, rock mags are like jazz mags. Which is to say, not incredibly worthwhile. Message boards are where the real action is. Takin reviewing to the streets.

[Van Basten II]

Car wheels and Gravel road is among my desert island picks, by the way what happens on the desert island when your batteries are out.

Just bought the Deluxe edition with a live CD as a complement, once i have listened to it, i'll give you some info if it's worth the extra buck.

[.:.impossible]

hey imp, i keep forgetting yr in Wilmington, not Carrboro (hah), where you could go into town & hear whatever for yrself.. at this point, the only rags i can read w/o hate are MOJO and WIRE. you have to go thru each w/yr own filter but by & large, what they do, they do well. i skim lotsa other crap but always w/frustration.

i'm not "really" asking but do you know abt "bit torrent" & the varoius tracker sites? you need fast internet but for a "virtual" listening station... i don't condemn it. my fave record store in Athens closed, Low Yo Yo Stuff but Wuxtry is still OK & they'll play you anything... here in NYC i can hear most stuff too, either in store or via pals so... some people like to listen to college or alt- radio but it drives me dipso in all but small doses on the road.

at book stores i'll skim whatever music rags there are-- Harp comes to mind-- but they're pretty lame. there are people that swear by 'music blogs' but except for a few esoteric things (rare '60s jamaican, heavy psyche, whatever), yr generally dealing w/parochial dipshits. that can be OK if they're expert & you want what they've got but...

Willie Nelson Spirit-- EVERYONE READING THIS SHOULD OWN.

just thought i'd throw that in there.

verdict: stick with MOJO & WIRE, branch out from there. MOJO can annoy when they swallow something whole like the Strokes, some (not all) of those WIRE "gits" can be a little humOURless but...

for a look into different era, peep some back issues of "Forced Exposure" if you ain't ever seen 'em.

edc

Thanks. A lot of folks further South from here have been trying to get me to subscribe to Paste for the past couple of years. Seems like a decent magazine. I like print.

Yeah, I know what bit torrent is. Are you talking about oiink though?

Carrboro is only two hours west from here, but no, I don't hang out at CD Alley every week.

[jlhoots]

I like Paste.

Very little on jazz, but very good on what it covers.

YMMV on the reviews.

[md655321]

Speaking of country-folky-singer-songwriters-etc any Emmylou Harris recommendations out there?

[Van Basten II]

Try the stuff with the Lanois arrangement, Wrecking Ball, Red dirt girl and Stumble into grace the last one is worth it just for the beautiful picture of hers on the cover.

If you want something more twangy, litlle less Enoesque try the albums she did with Warner such as Elite Hotel, if you can get your hands on the Anthology

[Alexander]

Speaking of country-folky-singer-songwriters-etc any Emmylou Harris recommendations out there?

Just to piss Clem off, I have to recommend the album Emmylou did with Mark Knopfler. It's very nice.

Anything with Emmylou is worth hearing. I quite like the two "Trio" albums she did with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstandt.

[Van Basten II]

Since this thread has turned into an Emmylou thread, i strongly recommend the boxset Songbird if you're into the lady.

Very interesting booklet with a lot of pictures of the lady. Only negative about it is it gets tricky to pull out the cds without damaging them.

[Nate Dorward]

I remember the live album with Buddy Miller, Spyboy, as being OK. Haven't listened to Emmylou Harris for ages.

I suppose I should check out West--I mostly hated Essence (currently in my "sell" pile) so was giving this new one a pass...