The words “country,” “rock,” and “Mississippi” evoke Blue Mountain in my ears and mind. A foundational band from the early days of the alt-country scene, Blue Mountain gave a needed soundtrack to Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County (they really were from Oxford, Miss.) while I was doing time in grad school. Check out “Riley and Spencer” here for a sample of their roots rock style, or their 1995 debut album Dog Days for a classic of the No Depression genre.
Built to Spill
“OH MY GOD!” (do I have to, like, pay royalties or something to Dooce for using all caps in a blog post?) I thought when I found “Joyride,” off Built to Spill’s The Normal Years, a K Records gem. (Thanks to Jared and his homemade K Recs t-shirt for the reminder to check their website.) One of my favorites from a thoroughly brilliant collection of random tracks, “Joyride” is a perfect representation of its title — exuberant, juvenile, and out of control. I’d love to put the whole album up here; IT’S THAT GOOD! (The check’s in the mail, Heather & Jon.)
Flogging Molly
Allie told Jared about the Celtic punk intensity of Flogging Molly, and this is what he told me (Allie was at the dentist, or I’d have asked her, too): “Sometimes you’re just in a happy mood and want to listen to something upbeat, like when I’m driving around in Minnesota with my friends, running red lights and honking at people and acting crazy. That’s a good time to listen to Flogging Molly, you know.” But of course, young man, but of course. And thanks, kids.
Personally, I’m loving the memories these tunes evoke, like the time when Sam and I went to see The Pogues but Shane MacGowan passed out dead drunk during the first song (I’m pretty sure it was “Boat Train”) and Spider Stacy sang the rest of the set. Yeah, Flogging Molly should have been the opening act who ended up playing all night long.
Damon and Naomi
This one’s for Clay, as a bookend to his Dean and Britta post and a celebration/lament of the amount of time we both spent listening to Galaxie 500. While Dean Wareham was off with Luna, et. al., the rhythm section — Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang — made some beautiful music of their own. Subtle, soaring, and consistently artful, D & N’s sixth album comes out in February on their own 20/20/20 record label. “I Dreamed of Caucasus” is off 2002’s Song to the Siren.
Whit Hill and the Postcards
Whit Hill and the Postcards’ smart — as in intelligent — style of country provides a nice reminder that there’s more going on in Detroit than garage rock, Kid Rock, and Eminem. (Well, Ann Arbor isn’t quite the big D, but it’s close enough, yeah? I guess maybe not.) Check out “Fifty Miles to Detroit” for a fine example of Hill’s sincere, worldly songwriting, or “Please Pass You” for a plain-old goofy lust song.
Rachael Cantu
In the “girl-with-acoustic-guitar” sub-genre, it can sometimes be difficult to, well, not sound exactly like every other song that fits the category. Rachael Cantu manages to clear out some space of her own, with a sense of maturity and experience that seemingly can’t match up with her age and offer these thoughtfully pleasant tracks. The assistance of Mates of State‘s Kori Gardner on “Summer of Cycling” doesn’t hurt, either.
P.S. You can also catch Rachael Cantu providing guest vocals for Limbeck and on tour with Tegan and Sara.
ED NOTE: the mp3 links are now dead. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Earlimart
My friend Tim Ortopan, who offered the tip for Earlimart, describes their music as “intelligent pop that’s true to an indie-rock spirit.” I’ll add four more words — brooding, ethereal, fuzzy, complex — and suggest a peek at The Ship, the multi-purpose LA music collective of which Earlimart is a part.
Slender
Slender is one of my favorite bands in the whole world, and it’s not just because my friend Kent is the bass player and he came all the way from San Francisco to Bay City, Michigan, for my wedding a few years ago. Come to think of it, Kent was probably at most of the 3hive crew’s weddings, both as guest and guest-musician, but that’s not the point. Slender’s repertoire is full of songs both low-down dirty and downright happy, and they often manage to toss in relevant social commentary as well. I always thought “No Love” would be perfect PA music for a fight at a hockey (or basketball) game.
Preston School of Industry
The two or three songs that appeared on each Pavement album by full-time guitarist and occasional singer/songwriter Spiral Stairs always seemed to be these little secret pleasures, three-and-a-half-minute chunks of rocking-out energy blended beautifully with randomized weirdness. His hard work continues (and his creativity grows) on two Preston School of Industry albums, full of rootsy, poppy, noisy, sloppy tunes, all of which Spiral Stairs got to write and sing.
Tegan and Sara
So, like, Tegan and Sara are these mildly punky twin sisters from Vancouver (I even read somewhere that theyíre lesbians!) drinking, cursing, and bickering their way through their mid-20s, or something like that. Whatever. Like most Canadians, Tegan and Sara rock out when they need to, slow it down the same way, and have entire albums filled with songs reflecting the requisite angst and confusion brought on by being or doing some or all of those things listed in the first sentence.