I'm kind of an alt-country and folk guy so don't listen to much new country, but definitely love Gillian Welch. As you've found out, she and David Rawlings did a very good one a few years ago called
Time (the Revelator) that's still one of my favorites, and very nice sounding too. Not really quite what I call country, but recorded simply, live in the studio with just a couple of Neumann mikes, Gillian and David, banjo and vintage acoustic guitars, and a lot of good music. Gillian describes the album, "As opposed to little tiny folk songs, they're really tiny rock songs performed in an acoustic setting. In our heads we went electric without changing instruments." And since you asked,
Revival may not be a perfect record, but for a debut it isn't far off. Give a listen to "Annabelle", beautiful stuff.
Over The Rhine is another one that I've mentioned before. Have you heard that band? A few years ago they put out a sprawling 2-CD (or gatefold LP) epic with both acoustic and electric sections called
Ohio that was easily one of the best of 2003. Again not entirely country, but Karin Bergquist has such a wonderfully expressive voice and you won't find music and lyrics much more compelling than this. Think maybe something along the lines of Fleetwood Mac meets Gram Parsons (or maybe Whiskeytown covering Gram Parsons like they did on that great tribute album from a few years ago that Emmylou Harris put together called The Return of the Grievous Angel). The lush sound is a little reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies or Blue Rodeo. Not as overtly pop sounding as the Fleetwood Mac reference would suggest (nor as dreamy and hedonistic either). Think more "Tusk" than something like "Rumours". Somewhat spiritual. Nicely recorded by Paul Mahern at Echo Park in Bloomington, Indiana on 2" analog tape.
And I think everyone with even a fleeting interest in Americana and alt-country, and passionate music in general, should give a listen to Richard Buckner. The first in his trilogy
Bloomed / Devotion + Doubt / Since will probably always be a big favorite, and I'm sure in some years would be my most listened to CD. I kind of fell back in the heavy Buckner listening cycle after picking up his latest
Meadow a couple years ago, then digging out the
Bloomed debut from 1995 on DejaDisc (or Glitterhouse in Europe) and being amazed all over again how great it is, music, performance, musicians, recording, mastering, one of my favorites of the 90s (but for sound quality I'm talking about the great sounding original, not the later loud and compressed Ryko remaster with the bonus tracks).
The next
Devotion + Doubt was the first of his short two-record trip to the major labels, but still sounds great too, nice recording down at Wavelab with lots of dynamics, mastered quiet so you have to turn it way up, but then you get to hear all of the little details that give the music texture and color, and another set of top notch players with backup by the Calexico / Giant Sand guys. This is a chronicle of romantic disintegration, the divorce record, painful but hard to resist for the thought provoking words and compelling music. And always that voice. This is probably his best, which easily puts it in the best of the 90s category, and for me it is truly one of the best records ever.
And then to complete the trilogy,
Since. More of a rocker, a little louder mastering so not quite up there with the first two for great sound quality, but he might've even made a bit of money off it later from the VW commercial a few years ago during the Olympics that used the sad lullaby "Ariel Ramirez". Caused quite a few music lovin' people to jump on the internet to search out who it was. They changed it a bit for the ad, edited it to make it less about the pain and the loss, and the escape in drugs, but it's still a beautiful song in any form, even while reverberating around in my head. On a sidenote, the title highlights one of my favorite modern classical composers as well, especially the original Philips LP of Misa Criolla from the early 60s conducted by Ramirez (though I do really enjoy the CD recorded in 1987 with José Carreras as tenor soloist that has become kind of an audiophile classic).
And Califone has a lot of country-folk leanings, especially on the excellent "Roomsound". A little more eclectic, more bluesy for sure, but really typifies what I like in music. The last one
Roots and Crowns is excellent too.
And the Walkabouts. They did an album of covers in the mid 90s called
Satisfied Mind that is outstanding, both musically and sonically. Real country. Even goes back to grab the 1927 Carter Family classic "The Storms Are On the Ocean" and make it a modern, moody classic. Beautiful album. I just recently picked up their
Ended Up A Stranger from 2002 and it's really nice. Shouldn't have waited so long. Carla, as always, is a gem of a singer. Kinda wish she sang the lead even more often. The band is hot. The music is great. Even the sound is pretty nice, with Phil Brown producing and mixing along with the band, and Denis Blackham mastering. Brown and Blackham are a pretty good team. I have some others they've worked on like the Talk Talk reissue of
Spirit of Eden that sounds great. Just honest and natural, without the fake pizzaz that wrecks a lot of CDs.
And just as a closer, since I just recently picked up the vinyl copy of it, and because it's also one of my favorites, the Court and Spark
Bless You, kind of a modern country rock classic, though it's a few years old now. Beautiful record...
The Court and Spark are no more, but Bless You is still a great one - SH Forums
