Steve Earle Plays Nice!
Steve Earle is one of the most entertaining wordsmiths still slinging his guitar around these days. He got it honestly, learning from the likes of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. A little younger than Guy, seems Steve is keeping up with the times on Washington Square Serenade.
All the latest music magazines are talking about Steve Earle and Washington Square Serenade this month. And rightly so. This album is surprisingly good and I had trouble being surprised, having read reviews before I caught a good listen. I was a devotee of Steve from back in the day. (I’ve torn my house up this weekend looking for that lost copy of El Corazon. I know it’s around here somewhere.)
God-Fearing Atheists – Rustbelt Sun
One of the more interesting discs to find its way to SlackerCountry’s player of late is something called Rustbelt Sun by God Fearing Atheists, a band from Glasgow, Scotland.
Some of my favorite roots-rock – alt country music has come from UK artists, Jon Langford, Joe Strummer, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello come immediately to mind, and these guys are strong contenders for that list.
Lucinda Williams – West
There once was a time when, at my house, a new Lucinda Williams record was something of a major event. I’m talking back when she only put out an album every five years or so. Then, after a seemingly endless wait, she would put out 
something like Sweet Old World
Man, those were the days.
Lately she’s been a lot more prolific than she was back then. Her latest release, “West
Brent Best @ The Barley House, March 4, 2007
Brent Best’s show at the Barley House Sunday night was heavy on audience participation even if it was a little light on audience. While it was a pretty sparse crowd that showed up at least it had the advantage of being a pretty attentive group.
The Drams – Jubilee Dive
I’ve waited a while to write this one, I guess I didn’t really know where to start.
I’ve been watching The Drams progress steadily from that first Dallas show at their home-base, The Barley House, up to a recent Labor Day appearance in a crowded, trendy uptown pub and there’s been a definite arc to their sound that bears noting.
Todd Snider – The Devil You Know
To begin with, I should admit that I’m a big Todd Snider fan. I mean, he’s funny, his records are great, and he performs in his bare feet. And when he needs them, based on the photos in the booklet that came with the disc, he’s got a super sweet pair of Chuck Taylor Converse All-Star sneakers (low risers).
If he’s playing with The Nervous Wrecks, he’ll rock the house. But he’s equally good in folk singer mode – just a guitar and harmonica – telling stories, getting the crowd on his side (he always gets the crowd), and playing his awesome songs.
Blood Meridian – Kick Up The Dust
“Don’t worry about it, Dante. Just keep it rollin’”. Just a little studio chatter, but that’s how "Kick Up The Dust" starts, and it lets you know how Blood Meridian works. And then the acoustic guitar and simple piano line kicks, the bass and drums propelling things right out of the usual Americana territory. Next a wild phasing electric guitar and by the time the banjo part kicks in the wheels are coming off and the hair on your arms is standing up. Then, just like that, it’s over. But these guys are onto something. Maybe it ain’t the Next Big Thing, but it’s something.
Grant-Lee Phillips – nineteeneighties
It’s been a hell of a long time since I had New Order’s song “Age of Consent” stuck in my head. The same can be said for Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon,” or The Psychedelic Fur’s “Love My Way’.
But thanks to Grant Lee Phillip’s newest release, “Nineteeneighties”… they’re back.
Johnny Cash – American V: A Hundred Highways
When Johnny Cash teamed up with producer Rick Rubin and American Recordings to release the first of his “American” series, he managed to both resurrect his career and earn genuine indie cred at the same time. The four records that followed 1994’s “American Recordings” have all pretty much kept to the same formula of sparse, stripped down arrangements that lay bare both the singer’s voice and the raw emotion of the songs.
Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
The seventies were the birth of instantly disposable modern popular culture. I know most people would say that it was the sixties or even the fifties that invented modern pop culture — but I’m talking about the particular strain of pop culture that’s destined for nostalgia within five years. The fifties and sixties gave us the pop culture base for which the seventies could expand. Five years into the new century we already have a television show called “Remember The Nineties?”