Christmas Listening
Caught up in all my Christmas joy of Reason 2.5, I forgot to say that my wife gave me a couple of the albums that I mentioned I hadn't gotten to in my Best of 2003 post; M. Ward's Transfiguration of Vincent and the Drive-By Truckers' Decoration Day.
Transfiguration of Vincent has so far cut closer and deeper than the Truckers latest. This is by no means a slight to Decoration Day (which I will get to later), just that M. Ward's meditations on death and loss have an engaging openness that hold and comfort me like a well-worn blanket. Rarely have I come across a work of art that deals with loss that makes it seem, at least for now, that it'll be alright. On some tracks there is a strong Neil Young influence - the Southern country shuffle via the sunny West Coast provided by backing band the Old Joe Clarks often touches on the Harvest/Harvest Moon sound of Neil's backing band the Stray Gators - but it seems to be equally marked by little guitar figures reminiscent of Ira Kaplan's work in Painful-era Yo La Tengo, particularly on the sublime "Outta My Head".
Part of this album's appeal is in it's timeless quality. The recording gives a great illusion of space - it sounds like a group of musicians around an old condenser microphone with "RKO" or "Columbia" in shining steel running down the side - and in parts sounds like a pristine 78. "Get to the Table on Time" is a great example of this effect - voices fall behind one another, echoing, with the tempo slipping slightly at the start of the second verse as in a live take. Ward's voice, which on prior releases hasn't always seemed right for the music, here fits to a tee. In a gentle falsetto - often reminiscent of Ward's friend Jason Lytle of Grandaddy - he teeters on the brink of pathos and bathos, managing that delicate art to perfection.
Everyone who knows the album is now waiting for the inevitable; what do I think of his cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance"? A delicate, fragile reconsideration of Bowie's dance to the end of the world pop trifle. It's good - surprising and even revelatory on first hearing - but is not up to the level of some of the other songs on this album. "Sad, Sad Song" is my current favorite, a jaunty little number about the loss of love (imagine "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free" if the songwriter took lethal levels of percocet and methamphetamine and realized he was suddenly alone in the world).
Drive-By Truckers' Decoration Day is the follow-up to their sprawling Southern Rock Opera (a two-disc meditation on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tragedy and other Southern rock mythos, for any of you who may be wondering). The Truckers are still mining that classic Southern Rock sound, though mixing some more countryish picking and metalesque rawk into the mix. I like the Truckers sound (there is something to be said of any band that would fit in fine behind the chicken-wire in the movie Roadhouse), but what I find most appealing is how they ground the sound of the South with a lyrical portrait of the South missing from Skynyrd or Molly Hatchet or Black Oak Arkansas - it's not all good beneath the Stars and Bars.
Patterson Hood seem as influenced by the Child Ballads of Appalachia as the experiences of those around him; the lyrics of "Sink Hole" mix a classic murder ballad theme of righteous killing with a threatened foreclosure on the family farm. The other songwriters, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell draw more on the anger and feelings of futility of the present day (for examples, listen to "Pin Hits The Shell" and "Outfit", respectively) . This mixture of tropes, truisms and observations makes the album move along, never staying overlong with one style or singer.
This is not to say that individual songs aren't too long or don't drag internally. While the album flows nicely, like many musicians these days, the Truckers aren't always succinct. Why stop after three minutes if you can play for five, six or seven? What may seem fine live can seem long here (my wife would argue that the 3:51 of "My Sweet Annette" is roughly a minute too long, as they repeat themselves musically and lyrically to no good effect). But it is a small quibble for such a quality piece of work.
Transfiguration of Vincent has so far cut closer and deeper than the Truckers latest. This is by no means a slight to Decoration Day (which I will get to later), just that M. Ward's meditations on death and loss have an engaging openness that hold and comfort me like a well-worn blanket. Rarely have I come across a work of art that deals with loss that makes it seem, at least for now, that it'll be alright. On some tracks there is a strong Neil Young influence - the Southern country shuffle via the sunny West Coast provided by backing band the Old Joe Clarks often touches on the Harvest/Harvest Moon sound of Neil's backing band the Stray Gators - but it seems to be equally marked by little guitar figures reminiscent of Ira Kaplan's work in Painful-era Yo La Tengo, particularly on the sublime "Outta My Head".
Part of this album's appeal is in it's timeless quality. The recording gives a great illusion of space - it sounds like a group of musicians around an old condenser microphone with "RKO" or "Columbia" in shining steel running down the side - and in parts sounds like a pristine 78. "Get to the Table on Time" is a great example of this effect - voices fall behind one another, echoing, with the tempo slipping slightly at the start of the second verse as in a live take. Ward's voice, which on prior releases hasn't always seemed right for the music, here fits to a tee. In a gentle falsetto - often reminiscent of Ward's friend Jason Lytle of Grandaddy - he teeters on the brink of pathos and bathos, managing that delicate art to perfection.
Everyone who knows the album is now waiting for the inevitable; what do I think of his cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance"? A delicate, fragile reconsideration of Bowie's dance to the end of the world pop trifle. It's good - surprising and even revelatory on first hearing - but is not up to the level of some of the other songs on this album. "Sad, Sad Song" is my current favorite, a jaunty little number about the loss of love (imagine "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free" if the songwriter took lethal levels of percocet and methamphetamine and realized he was suddenly alone in the world).
Drive-By Truckers' Decoration Day is the follow-up to their sprawling Southern Rock Opera (a two-disc meditation on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tragedy and other Southern rock mythos, for any of you who may be wondering). The Truckers are still mining that classic Southern Rock sound, though mixing some more countryish picking and metalesque rawk into the mix. I like the Truckers sound (there is something to be said of any band that would fit in fine behind the chicken-wire in the movie Roadhouse), but what I find most appealing is how they ground the sound of the South with a lyrical portrait of the South missing from Skynyrd or Molly Hatchet or Black Oak Arkansas - it's not all good beneath the Stars and Bars.
Patterson Hood seem as influenced by the Child Ballads of Appalachia as the experiences of those around him; the lyrics of "Sink Hole" mix a classic murder ballad theme of righteous killing with a threatened foreclosure on the family farm. The other songwriters, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell draw more on the anger and feelings of futility of the present day (for examples, listen to "Pin Hits The Shell" and "Outfit", respectively) . This mixture of tropes, truisms and observations makes the album move along, never staying overlong with one style or singer.
This is not to say that individual songs aren't too long or don't drag internally. While the album flows nicely, like many musicians these days, the Truckers aren't always succinct. Why stop after three minutes if you can play for five, six or seven? What may seem fine live can seem long here (my wife would argue that the 3:51 of "My Sweet Annette" is roughly a minute too long, as they repeat themselves musically and lyrically to no good effect). But it is a small quibble for such a quality piece of work.
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