Alison Krauss

So I've been listening to the edges of country music lately, trying to figure out what it is that makes some of these country sounds so damned appealing to me. I've waxed on about Patsy Cline and Neko Case enough, but I needed to point out Alison Krauss, whose voice is the most purely sweet that I've ever heard. Hers is the voice of every girl I loved when I was a child, if that makes any sense. Besides her well-known work on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, her best-known song is the cover "When You Say Nothing at All," and she just reminded me of the simple beauty of her voice in a track called "Get Me Through December."

All Girl Summer Fun Band

After Peter mentioned his pledge to marry them, I gave 'em a listen and decided they deserved their own proper recommendation. Listening to this band makes me feel sexy like roller derby does, or maybe it just makes me want to play dress-up.

PS- Last.fm describes them as 'twee'. I'd idly wondered what 'twee' was, and if this is twee, then count me in. Except the word 'twee' makes me feel vaguely dirty, at bit like the time that 19 yr old derby girl in a tube bra flirted with me at the bar before she punched the bartender. dirty.

Mates of State - Team Boo

Synth+Drums, husband and wife duo.  I told a friend at work that I didn't know anything by them, and the next day I had a stack of cds on my desk.  I explained that stack to someone else, and she said, "Peter, I have failed you." 

This album: The first song had the same dual vocals as Sleater-Kinney, so I thought it was nice.  Then at 1:25 I thought it was great.  Then at 1:45 I was in love with this album.

"This is the blood that we're made of
So tell it like a chronicle
Who's dancing all around?
Let's give it to me, give it to me now"

Then the second song starts in 3.  And it's great.

I would marry Mates of State, if they were not already married to each other.  And if I had not already pledged myself to marry All-Girl Summer Fun Band.

The Mountain Goats - All Hail West Texas

A guy records songs on a boombox.  Sometimes you can hear when he hits the stop button.  Sometimes the sound in one channel cuts out.  And ohmigod it's beautiful.  Let me direct you to the song "Jenny" on this album:

We were the one thing in the galaxy god didn't have his eyes on,
Nine hundred cc's of raw whining power
No outstanding warrants for my arrest
Goddamn, the pirate's life for me.

I've loved this guy for years and had no idea.  A while back I listened to the album "Protein Source of the Future...Now!" and was kind of taken.  Then I forgot about him.  My bad.

Hem - Rabbit Songs

So I first heard this band on the first-ever 89.3 The Current sampler, and liked 'em. I considered buying this album, but lacked the funds and it sort of fell by the wayside for some years. Finally through the magic of yahoo music, I have it, and I find that the song from The Current is like the least-cool song even on here. One of 'em even contains what I think is the best use of clarinet in any song I've heard in ages (in the track 'Half Acre' - is that a clarinet?), and they play lots of songs in three. Lovely.

This brings up for me some longstanding questions about the nature of country music and my relationship to that genre - This isn't country music, but the instrumentation is, so where are the contours here?

The Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed

So I've enjoyed this band for a long time, particularly the track "Stupid" (not on this album, but worth finding), which at one time aptly described a critical juncture in my life. Since then I'd always meant to check 'em out, but only recently have I gotten it together to properly listen to this album. I dig it, especially "Ultimatum," "Hindsight" and "Fire Island, AK".

The Noisettes - What's the Time, Mr. Wolf? - Don't Give Up

Read about this band in some SXSW review, checked 'em out, and they move between completely rocking (like in this song, though I'm embarrassed to say almost wanted Van Halen-level guitars and more thundering drums), and weird, trippy background music.

Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea

So I've heard of this band, but didn't think much of it until they happened to come up in my playlist a couple of times. The first tune I heard was in 3 (the track was Waiting to Know You), and then I heard another tune I liked, so I'm interested in hearing more. I've heard some female vocals and some indie-slanted electronic stuff so far, so I'll have to see where this goes. I feel as though this recommendation is for me as much as it is from me to y'all, I guess.

Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!

Brilliant immigrant gypsy punk. I also hear they put on as great a live show as is humanly possible. Good times.

Patsy Cline - Why Can't He Be You

Seriously, people. Patsy Cline. I was just listening to this song, sort of idling along with the pleasant description of her faithful, caring, perfect-husband-and-father man. It culminates in "He loves me too / His love is true" before pausing to deliver the gut punch of the title: "Why can't he be you?" And the delivery is absolutely top-shelf fucking brilliance.

It may be the case that my intense love of Neko Case stems in part from her position as the closest approximation of Patsy Cline to exist in my lifetime. I should study this more closely.