Comments on: Jay Farrar :: Thus Far

By: John

John — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:32:19 +0000

Thanks much J., I appreciate your response. I was listening to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit this morning on my way to work ~~this morning~~ and was reminded again that there are plenty of artists out there currently making great music (as you clearly agree). We can go back and forth all day about the viability of certain genres…but for now, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the tunes.

John

By: John

John — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:28:10 +0000

Thanks much J., I appreciate your response. I was listening to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit this morning on my way to work this morning and was reminded again that there are plenty of artists out there currently making great music (as you clearly agree). We can go back and forth all day about the viability of certain genres…but for now, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the tunes.

John

By: j. neas

j. neas — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:09:54 +0000

Thanks for the thoughtful question, John. As Emerson said, speak the hard truth today and speak the hard truth tomorrow, even if you completely contradict yourself. In this case though, no, I haven’t changed my mind. To sort of restate my premise from the original (though I don’t know that it came across clearly enough), alt-country hit its progressive/creative peak back in the late 90s. Are there still good alt-country records being made? Absolutely. Are they as groundbreaking as some of the ones I discussed from back in the late 90s? Not really.

Regarding the artists you mentioned, I don’t believe that anything Wilco has released after Being There can be classified as alt-country at all. And to be utterly frank (and probably begging for flames on this), the other artists you mentioned are past their creative prime. Of those you named, the last of them (that I can think of – prove me wrong if you disagree) that really stepped out on a limb with something was Lucinda Williams’ World Without Tears. There are some songs on that album that really go for something (and in some cases really fall flat) outside of her established sound. But that’s by far the exception and not the rule.

As for the new Son Volt, I would definitely put it up there with some of Jay’s best work, but is it progressive/creative at all? Not really. I don’t expect that kind of work from Farrar anyway. I just expect good, solid, lyrically intriguing music.

By: John

John — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 05:55:39 +0000

J., thanks for the Son Volt retrospective. Interestingly, American Central Dust is one of a number of fine albums that have come out after you declared the alt.country genre to be past it’s prime. Records from Wilco, Olsen/Louris (including their respective solo works), Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, and others come to mind. Do you consider these to be alt.country? Personally, I classify these under “sounds good to me” rather than a specific genre…but I’m curious to know if you still feel the same way as you did last year.

By: Freeformradio

Freeformradio — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:08:06 +0000

Thanks. A good read.

By: Curt

Curt — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:06:37 +0000

Awesome Review! Live Free or Die!