The second half of the record has a much more acoustic/country/bluegrass feel than the first half of the record. You hear the pedal steel guitar in the songs “That’s Not The Issue”, “It’s Just That Simple” and “Dash 7″. While the 1st half of the album gave you a hint of where the band was going the second half of the album lets you exactly where Tweedy was coming from. What the album does not do is give you any idea of the direction of where the band would be going in albums and years to come.

Wilco in 2010 is not even close to the same band they were in 1995. In 2010 they have become one of America’s great rock bands that seems to challenge their audience with every album. It is hard to define the band’s current sound because they seems to change it from album to album but in 1995 they were a brand new band that seemed to be carrying the alt-country torch while trying to step out of the shadows of Uncle Tupelo. I have always loved this album and consistently listen to it year after year. It always sounds fresh and I love hearing where this band started in relation to where they are now. If you are looking for an introduction to Wilco this album is a great place to start.

Later,

Nick

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I do not have any interesting facts about this band to tell you or do I know anything about the recording of this album. The only thing that I know is that I have become a huge fan of lead singer Ben Birdwell and what he is doing with this band. The album sounds so big and lush with great big riffs and jangly guitars. Yet the vocals sound unbelievably sweet. It is like a really good power pop record but with just a little more balls and at times it has a country twang to it. It is a combination unlike anything I have heard before. This album puts me in a good mood each and every time I listen to it.

The band sets the tone for the entire record on the first two songs “Is There a Ghost” and “Ode to LRC”. Soaring vocals played over huge guitars. It is addicting. Later in the album you damn near get a full on country waltz with “Marry Song” and somehow it fits right in with all the other songs on this album. That song is immediately followed by “Cigarettes,Wedding Bands” with vocals and guitars so big it would make Phil Spector proud and then they close the album with the country flavored “Window Blues”.

Every time I listen to this album it leaves me wanting more from the band and the album always seems to be over in about ten minutes. They have a new album coming out in about 2 weeks and I hope it lives up to the high standards they have created for their work after “Cease to Begin”.

Later,

Nick

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The Until The Freeze portion album is a mostly acoustic affair where the band seems to be drawing on a lot of country and bluegrass influences. This is where Larry Campbell really shines playing acoustic guitar, banjo, pedal steel guitar, fiddle, and mandolin. “Garden Gate” is a straight up bluegrass song that sounds like it could be on a Stanley Brothers album full of acoustic instruments and a stand up bass. On “Aimless Peacock” you even get Rich Robinson playing a sitar. Other highlights from “Until The Freeze” portion are “Shine Along” the electric country jam “Shady Grove” where the Robinson brothers harmonies are on full display and “Roll Old Jeremiah” which seems to have real New Orleans influence to it.

This album is a complete album on all levels. The band has never sounded better and they seem to be drawing on all of the music that has ever influenced them while they recorded it in front of an intimate group of “friends”.They really illustrate how a band can age with dignity and continue to make vital music 20 years after they started. This album continues to grow on me with every listen and I feel privileged to have been there to see them make it.

Later,

Nick

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Haynes starts the set off with an unlikely cover of the Radiohead song “Lucky” from “OK Computer”. I am not a Radiohead fan but I am huge fan of what Haynes does with this song. He follows up “Lucky” with a fantastic version of “Patchwork Quilt” which is a tribute to the late Jerry Garcia. He does not ignore his Gov’t Mule work during this album, he plays fantastic versions of “In My Life”, “Fallen Down”, and “Tastes Like Wine”. He even throws in “Stella Blue” from the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia’s “To Lay Me Down” which at Bonnaroo are a couple of crowd pleasers. All of the songs I have mentioned are great but to me the album has 3 songs that steal the show. His version of the Otis Redding classic “Dreams to Remember” is phenomenal. He plays the the electric guitar on this song but his voice is the star of this song. It is just as soulful as the Redding version which is no easy task. Haynes also tackles the U2 classic “One”. He makes the song all his own without taking away from the original. The set is closed out by the Allman Brothers song “Soulshine”. Haynes nails this song to the crowds pleasure. He is accompanied by South African singer Vusi Mahlasela which at first I was not sure about but when you hear it you will see just how well they work together.

If you are not familiar with Haynes or any of the bands he plays with this is a great introduction to him. This album was recorded on a Sunday afternoon in June and it is the type of album that you will want to listen to on a Sunday morning.

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The entire album really flows nicely as Thompson works his way from the Ernest Tubbs classic “Walking The Floor Over You” to “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone” which was made popular by Elvis Presley. Ironically on an album full of covers Thompson might do his best work on the original song “Down Low”. Thompson sings “love you’d be better off dead, with a bullet in your head, than come back to me”. The lyrics show a certain sadness but what really does it is his voice. Tift Merritt does a fine job of backing vocals on the song as well.

Albums like “Up Front and Down Low” don’t come around very often. It is not every day an English born pop singer has the balls to release a country record and it sound just as authentic has one made by anyone in Nashville could ever make. If you have been craving some traditional country music made by a contemporary artist then pick up this album. I think you will be surprised at how much you like it and how often you play it.

Later,

Nick

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If you are a fan of true middle America-grass roots rock and roll, you will really love Edwin McCain’s true artistic side. Even though he is from South Carolina, Edwin McCain has a real firm grip on Middle America, with a Midwestern sensibility. Most casual fans no little about Edwin’s body of work in this genre, but if you are a fan on Americana, this is an album, and an artist, you will really enjoy.

The album starts out with Let It Slide. It’s a song in the traditional Americana chord styling in the Mellencamp, John Prine, or Tracy Chapman way. It’s a song about the difficulties of living in a lower-middle class world and surrounded by a lower-middle class mentality. It’s a song about trying to not getting caught up in little town drama and those petty issues that don’t really matter but tend to plague lower class life… Edwin’s vision for this song is; when life is tough you need to let it slide.

This song sets the album up for its deep heart felt messages and its classic acoustic styling. Actually, the entire album is set up by an acoustic sound; there is no electricity on this album. Each song deals with heartache, friendship, and life while expressing these sentiments through stories of racial tension, forbidden love, and everyday situations.

The second song on this album is “Go Be Young”. The song is sung from the perspective of an old man telling a young person to live life to the fullest while you still can… and not to waste it like he did. There is a lot of regret in this song. The narrator of the song says, “Don’t end up like me.” It’s a great song of emotional depth, and one of the anchors of the album.

Track 5 is “Sorry to a Friend” is a re-make of an Edwin McCain original but this time, all acoustic. This is a great version if this song. To me, this is a top 100 song of all time. It’s a song about the criticalness of time in life. Sometimes everything can be perfect except for the timing and it throws everything else off. It’s a deadly-heartfelt song and hits you right in the gut every time you hear it. If you have ever had that one great true love but life and love just never seemed to come together, you will get this song.

Another highlight of this album is a remake of Dire Straits Romeo and Juliet. Mark Knopfler is an amazing musician and song writer. In some respects he reminds me of a poor man’s Bob Dylan. Because he is a pure poet and wordsmith and plays a wickedly nasty guitar medley, but his songs always sound better and fuller when someone else sings them. This remake by Edwin McCain is no different. This is a fantastic remake that is much more soulful than the original. You can really feel the pain in this song, through the lyrics as well as Edwin McCain’s styling vocally.

Overall this is a really good album. And I think it is important you to know the real artist and not the “radio” artist, who in this case, are very different. I think this is a great album to get into Edwin McCain; if all you know is I’ll Be. This album may be, from start to finish, the best album Edwin has ever recorded. It has a smattering of his best stuff from tip to top and I think you will find the real artist that McCain is in this masterpiece.

Later,

Aaron

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The Crowes were on the road for 2 years after releasing “Shake Your Money Maker”. The album sold over 3 million copies and had monster radio hits “She Talks To Angels” and the Otis Redding cover “Hard to Handle”. It would be a tough act to follow. So on New Years Day 1992 the band reconvenes in Atlanta, Georgia to record the follow up. They had already fired original guitar player Jeff Cease and replaced him with Marc Ford who had been playing with Burning Tree. Keyboardist Ed Harsch was also added to the lineup, a move that would pay dividends for the next 15 years. When the band emerged 8 days later they had completed “The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion”.

I think TSHAMC is this band’s finest moment. It really is the perfect album. You can tell immediately the band had obviously benefited from two years on the road and the addition of Marc Ford and Ed Harsch had the band playing at a level it could not have just a year earlier. The band announces their arrival on this record with back to back rockers “Sting Me” and “Remedy”. This is where you really hear the interaction between Rich Robinson and Marc Ford on guitar. They create a sound reminiscent of “Sticky Fingers” era Rolling Stones. They then stretch out on the tunes “Thorn in My Pride”, “Bad Luck Blue Eyes” and “Sometimes Salvation”. This portion of the album really foreshadows the direction the band was heading in at that point. They could no longer be compared to a 3 chord bar band. They were playing more complex arrangements that were showing their growth while sticking to their roots.

The second half of this album is where they really turn things up. Chris displays his fine harmonica playing on “Hotel Illness” while singing ” I got a head full of sermons and a mouth full of spiders”. They follow that up with two absolute ass kickers “No Speak No Slave” and the ferocious “My Morning Song”. The album is finished off with a fine cover of the Bob Marley song “Time Will Tell”. I have always thought the band wears there influences on their sleeves and it really shows on this album all the way down to the album cover which is a nod to the classic album “The Band” by The Band. If you want to know what a band sounds like when it is hitting on all cylinders put this album on and let it play. While you are listening to it remember that it was made in 8 days. What have you accomplished over the past 8 days?

Later,

Nick

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“Roadhouse Sun” is the second album Bingham has put out on a major label. Bingham’s first album “Mescalito” was released in 2007. “Mescalito” was a fine album that I have listened to more than a few times since it’s release but “Roadhouse Sun” is on another level. This album, like the first album, was produced by Marc Ford of Black Crowes fame. Ford also lends his guitar skills to the album as well.

Bingham and his band The Dead Horses live on the road and this album reflects that. Although he is not even 30 years old Bingham has a voice that sounds like it has been on the road playing clubs for at least 30 years. Rolling Stone compared Bingham’s voice to that of “Steve Earle’s dad” and I could not agree more. When you listen to this album you hear a truth in his voice, lyrics, and the music that is hard to find these days. The album feels as if it was recorded live and I would have to guess Pro Tools was not used in the making of this album.

While this album has a roots/Americana/country feel with songs such as “Dylan’s Hard Rain”, “Tell My Mother I Miss Her So”, and “Country Roads” Bingham also proves he can turn up the volume as well. This album has plenty of songs with big guitars that sound like they were taken straight off of an Uncle Tupelo record. If you don’t believe me check out “Change Is”,”Hey Hey Hurray”, “Endless Ways” or the best song on the album “Bluebird”. I can tell you from experience that these songs translate live as well. I saw Bingham perform nearly this entire record live and it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.

This record is too “rock” for country radio and too “country” for rock radio so you will need to trust me on this one. “Roadhouse Sun” is one of the best albums I have purchased in the last five years. If you want to hear music that is made for the right reasons I highly encourage you to pick up this record.

Later,

Nick

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In the late 80’s they started to redefine their sound in the likes of R.E.M., The Smiths, and the Cure. It was the decade of college radio and The Replacements placed themselves right in the middle of it with the stylish-poetically-artistic and emotional “All Shock Down.”

One of the great song writer skills of Paul Westerberg has always been is ability to combine poetry and ironic double-speak together. In this album, his does this like a sculptor carving clay…not to mention his powerful-raw voice and driving guitar riffs. This album is much softer than anything they had done before, yet for all its sonic tenderness, it still has a lot to say about, love, society, and a true distrust of raw human nature.

The Album starts off with “Marry Go Round.” This is a song that I can compare sonically to “1979” by Smashing Pumpkins. It’s a great kick start to a fantastic album. It has a strong melodic tempo mixed with soft acoustic guitars. Track 3 is a song named “Nobody.” It’s a song about going to the wedding of an ex-girlfriend and knowing a secret only you and she know, and that is that she is still secretly in love with you. It’s a smart and ironic tune about still being in love your ex-lover, and when your new love asks, “Who are you thinking about?” And you say, “nobody,” it’s never “nobody,” just someone you’ll never know. Track 5 is “Sadly Beautiful.” It’s the album’s only true ballad and is truly a beautiful song. It’s not your typical love song, its melancholy and longing. Its lead guitar is rhythmic and slow and a back ground guitar-slide is haunting and powerful. Track 9 is a fun little duet with Concrete Blondes’ Johnette Napolitano called “Attitude.” This is an up-tempo jaunt that really is worthy of a listen.

This is one of those albums that is has no throw-always and is solid from begin to end. It is more acoustic and softer than anything The Replacements ever did, and in my top 20 albums of all time. The guitars are super poppy without being too pop. The chords are up beat although the music and lyrics are untrusting standoffish of outsiders. It is all part of Paul Westerberg genius and sense of irony. Enjoy!

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