Contemporary Rootsy Americana-y Type Stuff

[WorldB3]

Bev,

Since your enjoying the Saides and Buddy Miller maybe try:

Neko Case - Fox Confessor, Middle Cyclone

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses, Heartbreaker, Whiskytown-Strangers Almanac

The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall, Music From The North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

Son Volt - Trace

[thedwork]

The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall, Music From The North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

Son Volt - Trace

way to go worldb3!

great suggestions. i don't have anodyne yet but really enjoy no depression. if you dig uncle tupelo and son volt you should check out a band i mentioned earlier in the thread: Richmond Fontaine. GREAT songs, similar vibe, and for my head even better lyrics. Vlautin simply writes his ass off. if interested, i'd posted my review of their latest earlier in this thread.

and since you dig the jayhawks, maybe you've already got olson and louris' Ready For The Flood. i love it. when i 1st got it i couldn't stop listening to it. over and over and over for about a week. beautiful stuff.

[AllenLowe]

sorry, I won't listen to Ryan Adams until I can understand the words.

The Jayhawks I like.

[medjuck]

sorry; gratuitous remark. I know you like 'em but they drive me up the wall.

Nothing to do with my liking them. I'd say the same if I didn't like them.

[seeline]

"

after him, I'll still take Doc Walsh and Gus Cannon over the Chocolate Drips.

"Chocolate Drips" Why get nasty?

With all due respect... Allen, the whole thread would work a lot better for a lot of readers and participants without the sarcasm and nastiness. And "fraudulent" suggests that they're somehow knowingly scamming listeners. Granted, some of the conclusions that the group's members have come to might be wrong, but your deliberate (and repetitious) nasty comments about them are just plain tiresome. If you have issues with what they do, and why - go talk with them about it instead of posting digs here. (Goes for same kinds of comments on other folks as well.)

imo, fwiw [ad infinitum, ad nauseam, whatever]

Edited April 1, 2010 by seeline

[GregK]

Bev,

Since your enjoying the Saides and Buddy Miller maybe try:

Neko Case - Fox Confessor, Middle Cyclone

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses, Heartbreaker, Whiskytown-Strangers Almanac

The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall, Music From The North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

Son Volt - Trace

I'd add Straightaways to that Son Volt recommendation. And Jacksonville City Nights to the Ryan Adams.

[WorldB3]

The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall, Music From The North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

Son Volt - Trace

way to go worldb3!

great suggestions. i don't have anodyne yet but really enjoy no depression. if you dig uncle tupelo and son volt you should check out a band i mentioned earlier in the thread: Richmond Fontaine. GREAT songs, similar vibe, and for my head even better lyrics. Vlautin simply writes his ass off. if interested, i'd posted my review of their latest earlier in this thread.

and since you dig the jayhawks, maybe you've already got olson and louris' Ready For The Flood. i love it. when i 1st got it i couldn't stop listening to it. over and over and over for about a week. beautiful stuff.

I'll check out Rihmond Fontaine, have been hearing good things about him for awhile now. I saw Olson and Lourus live supporting For the Flood but have yet to pick up the disc, their voices together sound so great. Anyodnye is a must have, brilliant.

Greg K,

I like Jacksonville City Nights also, by far his most country sounding record though some of his vocal stylings on a few tracks might turn some off. Great songs on it though.

[A Lark Ascending]

Bev,

Since your enjoying the Saides and Buddy Miller maybe try:

Neko Case - Fox Confessor, Middle Cyclone

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses, Heartbreaker, Whiskytown-Strangers Almanac

The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall, Music From The North Country - The Jayhawks Anthology

Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne

Son Volt - Trace

Thanks for those.

I have a few Neko Case from e-music and like them very much. The Jayhawks I need to dig out again. Really enjoyed them a few years back (especially 'Tomorrow the Green Grass'). Strangers Almanac and Heartbreaker I really liked but what I subsequently heard of Adams lost me. Hazeldine's 'Digging You Up' was another favourite.

I think I stumbled on bands like Calexico, Golden Smog, Lambchop, Freakwater who seemed to promise more than I actually heard. A bit too rock for me. Will play those again.

It can be a bit hard to hear this sort of thing in the UK. Tends to turn up on programmes mixed in with a lot of more conventional guitar rock - Dave Matthews Band and the like - I used to try listening but would normally give up after 20 minutes.

Will keep Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt in mind. I know the names, if not the music.

Spotify might help.

Edited April 1, 2010 by Bev Stapleton

[AllenLowe]

Seeline - I actually do think the Chocolate Drops are fraudulent, because they rely upon a certain image of the portrayal of the music with a certain alleged (and racialist) authenticity and with reference to certain older forms - and I've been listening to them. And I think it's all image and, honestly, I think they are about as related to old time music as Kenny G. is to contemporary jazz. So, just as any comments I might make about Kenny would not be seen as gratuitous, comments about the Chocolate Drops should be seen as equally sincere.

Kenny G. has been noted in interviews as placing himself in the jazz continuum - and I see the Chocolate Drops as maintaining the same kind of thing by repertoire and image. And it's so far off and so apart from the reality of the music they SEEM to refer to that yes, I find it offensive. Just as I find Kenny G. offensive.

I mean, do you find the Tijuana Brass and the Baja Marimba Band to be honestly reflective of the Afro-Latin tradition? I doubt it. I feel the same way about the Chocoloate Drops. So please stop maintaining that I shouldn't even be saying it - any more than I would tell you to stop disagreeing with me. Geez.

Edited April 1, 2010 by AllenLowe

[Aggie87]

Bev, you might consider checking out Townes Van Zandt, a Texas country/folk singer/songwriter..

[A Lark Ascending]

Bev, you might consider checking out Townes Van Zandt, a Texas country/folk singer/songwriter..

Thanks, Aggie. I know Van Zandt. In fact I saw him perform at the Cambridge Festival back in the late-90s, not long before his death. Guy Clark too, who I like a lot.

[Niko]

certainly rootsy and contemporary, maybe not enough americana: have you given espers a try?

[fent99]

Not sure if it fits the bill but its certainly americana-y One of my recent faves is The Low Anthem - Charlie Darwin. Excellent and though it veers off into Tom Waits Beefheart for a couple of tracks the title tract is Brilliant Some tracks here http://www.daytrotter.com/ great site to provide a wee taste of these things and a lot (an awful lot) of stuff on here much of it with an americana flavor. Other folks on daytrotter with recentsessions to try are Bonnie Prince Billy and Richard Buckner

[AllenLowe]

one of my favorite rootsy bands, believe it or not, was the Fugs - especially on the early stuff, which had a lot of country in it - not"contemporary" in the contemporary sense, but it still sounds new and shows a particularly strong sense of Americana ( great guitarist, great country player, I'll have to look it up) -

also, another 60's crew, but still new, the Holy Modal Rounders.

than there's Karen Dalton - and the Kossoy Sisters, who are still active.

Edited April 1, 2010 by AllenLowe

[Hot Ptah]

one of my favorite rootsy bands, believe it or not, was the Fugs - especially on the early stuff, which had a lot of country in it - not"contemporary" in the contemporary sense, but it still sounds new and shows a particularly strong sense of Americana ( great guitarist, great country player, I'll have to look it up) -

also, another 60's crew, but still new, the Holy Modal Rounders.

than there's Karen Dalton - and the Kossoy Sisters, who are still active.

The early Fugs albums featured Steve Weber and Peter Stampfel, who were also the Holy Modal Rounders leaders. That's an interesting idea, that the Fugs' early albums are a type of Americana roots music.

[AllenLowe]

I'll have to pull my old Fugs stuff, buit there's some non-Stampfel/Weber stuff, too, with a very fine guitarist whose name I can't remember - also a CD of stuff they recorded for, but which was rejected by, Atlantic.

Now this is the real thing, raw, new, but very evocative of the old stuff. Makes a lot of newer things I hear sound like tea time.

just found this passage from my rock and roll history:

"Most notable was how quickly the Fugs, under pressure of public performance, evolved technically; by 1968 they had one of the best, if least known, rock and roll guitarists, Ken Pine, and their songs had become fluid dramatic recitations, interrupted by acid-guitar, screams of pain, and the occasional free-jazz interlude. Pine could play everything, from psychedelia to country riffs, and he gave the group just the touch of professionalism that it needed."

now, that version of the group is, to me, better than captain Beefheart.

Edited April 1, 2010 by AllenLowe

[seeline]

Allen: I have no quarrel with your dislike of the Chocolate Drops; the explanation you posted works for me.

What bothers me is the way in which you've been expressing your thoughts on them - up 'til now, that is. As I said earlier, it's the sarcastic/nasty digs that don't work for me, and likely for a lot of other readers and thread participants as well.

best,

s.

Edited April 1, 2010 by seeline

[medjuck]

Seeline - I actually do think the Chocolate Drops are fraudulent, because they rely upon a certain image of the portrayal of the music with a certain alleged (and racialist) authenticity and with reference to certain older forms - and I've been listening to them. And I think it's all image and, honestly, I think they are about as related to old time music as Kenny G. is to contemporary jazz. So, just as any comments I might make about Kenny would not be seen as gratuitous, comments about the Chocolate Drops should be seen as equally sincere.

Well the Drops "image" seems to me to be ironic. I mean when you call your record "Genuine Negro Jig" or whatever and dress like they do you've got to be doing it with humour.

As to Kenny G-- why be sarcastic about him either? I've never heard him (actually I saw him do a number at the World Cup here a decade or so ago) and presume I wouldn't like him but I don't think that makes me superior to the many people who do like him. There's often a tendency for jazz fans to feel their taste is better than that of non-jazz fans, forgetting that most of the world thinks we're a bunch of nerds.

Edited April 1, 2010 by medjuck

[seeline]

The Drops' shows have a lot of humor in them. They have a way with irony, too.

Edited April 1, 2010 by seeline

[A Lark Ascending]

Spent some of today digging around some CDs I bought five years or so ago.

This one really worked for me - good songs, a gentle folky approach:

Whereas this didn't (and it wasn't just that picture on the cover of the first was far more fetching than the second!). Everything was right - interesting voices, banjos, acoustic sounds etc...but just as I recall when I first bought it I was left with no memory of any of the songs:

I bought it on the back of a stirring version of 'In My Time of Darkness' on a Gram Parsons tribute album; recall being disappointed then.

The singer I enjoyed most, however, was as unauthentic as the come - an Australian!:

From bluegrassy to country-rock with wonderfully crafted songs. Led me to a more recent album in similar vein:

Again, marvellous textures and songs that stick in your head.

That's all I need.

Edited April 1, 2010 by Bev Stapleton

[AllenLowe]

well, I promise I'll try and spend a little more quality time with the Choc. Drops.

Of course, the very name of the group is intended with irony - but the strange thing is that the music of the group that I've heard strikes me as misguidedly and dully earnest. They just don't seem to have enough real understanding of the music to make the statement that they appear to want to make. Call me crazy (you won't be the first) but I think if you want to do it the way they seem to want to to do it you gotta know everything from James Weldon Johnson to James Reese Europe to Gus Cannon. There's no shortcuts if you want to do it well. Otherwise it's like me deciding to form a Latin band after a quick a trip to Tijuana (and hey, I got two kids from Latin America).

And sometimes sarcasm is ok, I think; as a matter of fact, the basic principle of distancing, ironic humor, dominates American film and television today (Joe). I don't think it's a bad thing, though I do agree that it tends to give off an air of superiority. But geez, if I'm not better than Kenny G, who AM I better than?

Edited April 1, 2010 by AllenLowe

[seeline]

I'd guess you haven't heard their new album, or the one that came out before that.

Agreed that their 1st (Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind) was a bit too earnest - but they've moved forward since then, and have developed their own style.

fwiw.

As to Kenny G-- why be sarcastic about him either? I've never heard him (actually I saw him do a number at the World Cup here a decade or so ago) and presume I wouldn't like him but I don't think that makes me superior to the many people who do like him. There's often a tendency for jazz fans to feel their taste is better than that of non-jazz fans, forgetting that most of the world thinks we're a bunch of nerds.

Agreed, medjuck. (Very much, in fact.)

Edited April 1, 2010 by seeline

[seeline]

Bev - do they actually use rhythm bones on this recording?

[A Lark Ascending]

No, it's related to a song:

"Til they bury me down beneath the ground

With the dust and rattlin’ bones."

Mark Collins – Floor Tom

James Gillard – Upright Bass

Bill Chambers – Electric Guitar

Shane Nicholson – Resonator Guitar, Banjo, Kick Drum, Trash Can, Vocal

Kasey Chambers – Vocal

Some odd percussion, nonetheless. No boomerangs.

[seeline]

Or didgeridoo, I'll wager.

thanks for the info.!