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**G-Man** · 01-04-2008, 20:57

alt.country

Oh, an opportunity to discuss the genre.

My advice to those who love alt.country and/or country: Tift Meritt's new album. It's superb.

I hope imp bought it while in Nashville.

And two songs for a taste:

Morning Is My Destination
Keep You Happy

**Etienne** · 01-04-2008, 21:09

alt.country

Yeah, I did cheers, very interesting stuff. But I'm always a little frustrated by programmes where they only play 30 second snippets of the songs. I want to listen to the whole thing, dammit - particularly as Steve Earle is not an artist I know well, I've only one album of his.

Does Steve Earle really count as alt.country though?

**Guest** · 02-04-2008, 08:45

alt.country

He kind of pre-dates the alt.country tag. Not sure Tift qualifies either. Very nice but almost a MOR/country cross over there.

**G-Man** · 02-04-2008, 10:21

alt.country

Yeah, Tift isn't quite alt.country, but not quite country/MOR either. The Wilcoesque guitar work give it some alt.country cred. It's got a bit of everything.

Whatever the genre, it's lovely stuff.

**hobbes** · 02-04-2008, 11:49

alt.country

My advice to those who love alt.cuntery and/or country:
Kill yourselves now.

**G-Man** · 02-04-2008, 12:56

alt.country

OK.

Did you download my new disco mix yet, hobbes?

**hobbes** · 02-04-2008, 16:07

alt.country

Heh. I was going to, but then I decided to use the disk space for something more worthwhile.

http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com

**Auntie Beryl** · 02-04-2008, 22:09

alt.country

I'm always put off alt.country by poor journalism in Uncut, then discover it later on.

Band Of Horses are alright, if you like Neil Young.

**Wyatt Earp** · 02-04-2008, 22:15

alt.country

It's such a poncy name for a genre that I can't be doing with it. Unless you do count Earle, Lovett and Yoakam, which I don't think y'all should.

**evilC** · 03-04-2008, 01:27

alt.country

Cheers for those tracks, Pan - they're rather nice.

When alt.country was last discussed on the other board, I meant to do a compilation of what little I've got that could fit under that banner and post it on my 'Uncle Clivey's...' thread. (Which shall soon rise again ...like the South. Well, I am an inherently evil Southerner, after all!)

However, it was a little way down my list of 'things to post' and since it's now being discussed again, it seems like an opportune time to post it ...so here it is:

Uncle Clivey's 'Alt Country' selection.

The track listing is as follows:

The Piney Gir Country Roadshow:
1. Greetings, Salutations, Goodbye
2. I Don't Know Why I Feel Like Crying, But I Do

The Bastard Fairies:
3. The Boy Next Door
4. Ode To The Prostitute

Spain:
5. I'm Leaving You
6. Our Love Is Gonna Live Forever

The Angels Of Light:
7. Inner Female
8. This Is Mine

Mazzy Star:
9. I've Been Let Down
10. Into Dust

Now, obviously some of these aren't much like regular country. The Angels Of Light are more like some kind of Folk/Slowcore hybrid, while Mazzy Star are, of course, usually classified under Blues. However, these particular examples of their stuff sit at the very fringes of 'Alt Country' too, I feel. I nearly included a couple of Idaho tracks, too, but they're just too far removed to justify it really. One day, once I've got the 'Uncle Clivey' thread going again, I'll post the whole Idaho album that I've got.

Anyway... I would normally say at this point 'I hope you enjoy it' or something similarly banal. However, this compilation comes with a health warning: Do not play this mix in it's entirety if you're feeling rather down! It starts off brightly enough, with The Piney Gir Country Roadshow's jangly pop-Country, but it soon follows a steepening downward trajectory, bottoming out with the alcohol-sodden self-absorption of The Angels Of Light - the first solo project of ex-Swans mainman Michael Gira. I can only hope that the two Mazzy Star tracks that follow might numb the pain, particularly the terrible stillness of the final song, 'Into Dust' - like the hardest Autumn frost you've ever witnessed.

Woah, there! I, errr... hope you enjoy it.

**Guest** · 03-04-2008, 08:36

alt.country

Yes, nice stuff there. I like to mix and match a bit with the alt.country with some other genres.

I don't want anything remotely happy from these artists, I want blue collar misery, divorce, american nazi's, lonely deaths, murder, people walking out of their lives to live solitary existences in the desert, I want kids living in the cabs of their trucks, grown men still trapped with their parents, alcoholism, disappointment, misery, accidental shootings, second and third wives appearing out of nowhere, lone mothers stealing food from 7 Eleven, sage rolling though empty lives and wasted deaths, bars where no one has ever asked for anything but whiskey and beer, grain elevators in the middle of tornado alleys, girls getting it on in shitty banged up cars, grits, hamburgers and semen stained sheets in crappy motels.

I love stuff like Son Volt, Richmond Fontaine, Chuck Prophet, Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, Wilco, Green on Red, Giant Sand, Lambchop, Iron & Wine, Thin White Rope, Jesse Malin, Midlake, Mazzy Star, Kings of Leon and Steve Wynn....and it's even better when you throw in the likes of Dead Can Dance, Cohen, Stephen Jones, Lou Reed, Gravenhurst and Tracey Thorn to level the misery....

**Guest** · 03-04-2008, 08:47

alt.country

Thank you both for the songs Clive and PT.

I love Lambchop, Iron and Wine, etc etc, so thanks Disney Girl too I will have a look for the ones I don't know from your list.

**loose cannon** · 03-04-2008, 08:50

alt.country

Calexico & Willard Grant Conspiracy define alt.country for me (ok Calexica is more mexicana than texicana). Am unfamiliar with almost all the names DGDD has mentioned so look forward to investigating.

WGC 'work song' being a fave to play in the evening having a beer and looking at the garden after I, eh, came home from work.

**evilC** · 03-04-2008, 08:55

alt.country

Disney Girl Does Dulwich wrote:

I don't want anything remotely happy from these artists, I want blue collar misery, divorce, american nazi's, lonely deaths, murder, people walking out of their lives to live solitary existences in the desert, I want kids living in the cabs of their trucks, grown men still trapped with their parents, alcoholism, disappointment, misery, accidental shootings, second and third wives appearing out of nowhere, lone mothers stealing food from 7 Eleven, sage rolling though empty lives and wasted deaths, bars where no one has ever asked for anything but whiskey and beer, grain elevators in the middle of tornado alleys, girls getting it on in shitty banged up cars, grits, hamburgers and semen stained sheets in crappy motels.

Sounds like a synopsis of any given season of The Simpsons.

Disney Girl Does Dulwich wrote:

...shitty banged up cars...

When will these cars learn to use protection, eh? Stupid cars!

**evilC** · 03-04-2008, 08:57

alt.country

loose cannon wrote:

WGC 'work song' being a fave to play in the evening having a beer and looking at the garden after I, eh, came home from work.

Is this when you're sitting in your rocking chair, on your veranda, with your shotgun across your lap?

**Guest** · 03-04-2008, 09:12

alt.country

"Calexico & Willard Grant Conspiracy"

Yep, love those bands as well!

I think you were probably looking for 'knocked up' in the car department Clive?!

**Guest** · 03-04-2008, 09:22

alt.country

Love Calexico.

Will Oldham anyone? Not sure where he fits in really.

**evilC** · 03-04-2008, 09:26

alt.country

Nope, not necessarily, DG:

bang (someone) up Verb. 1. To put (someone) in prison. {Informal}.
2. To make (someone) pregnant.

**hobbes** · 03-04-2008, 10:00

alt.country

I love stuff like Son Volt, Richmond Fontaine, Chuck Prophet, Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams, Wilco, Green on Red, Giant Sand, Lambchop, Iron & Wine, Thin White Rope, Jesse Malin, Midlake, Mazzy Star, Kings of Leon and Steve Wynn..

**loose cannon** · 03-04-2008, 10:21

alt.country

Excellent rocking chair idea mr evilC - Frau Kannon tends to wield the shotgun though.

**Guest** · 03-04-2008, 11:20

alt.country

I still buy Lambchop, BpB and Richmond Fontaine records without any vetting.

Ryan Adams is patchy, I fell out of love with much of the genre courtesy of Uncut and their lack of QC....I bought some utter shite on the back of their reviews and have to be totally convinced nowadays.

**G-Man** · 03-04-2008, 11:27

alt.country

No mention of Bright Eyes yet? I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning is an excellent album in the alt.country genre. Cassadaga was quite good, too.

The older stuff is a bit more patchy, and the electronica album was shit.

Rilo Kiley, when they do country-leaning stuff, have had some fine moments too.

Would we count Damien Jurado as alt.country or folk? Probably the latter.

**rick derris** · 03-04-2008, 11:55

alt.country

is stretching alt.country to include 'southern culture on the skids' too much?

**Mitch** · 03-04-2008, 12:49

alt.country

I really love The Handsome Family, if they count. They're the only band I force my friends to listen to if they've not heard of them.

They're sort of a "goth Johnny Cash", but so much better than that sounds.

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