The Be Good Tanyas - The Littlest Birds - The Littlest Birds

My journey around the edges of country music continues thusly:
I first became familiar with this song as a Jolie Holland tune off the original 89.3 The Current sampler. I always kind of liked it, and was seriously intrigued by Jolie Holland. I listened to more of her stuff, but I always had the feeling that her best stuff was around the next corner, you know?

And then finally, years later, I discovered The Be Good Tanyas. I'd heard the name before (one of my all time favorite band names, not that I'd ever given them a listen) It turns out they're the band that launched Jolie Holland. It turns out on the Current album she was just covering her old band, and I finally found what I had been looking for all that time. Maybe she's like Garfunkel: a fascinating voice, but without the guidance of those who got you there, it's just not the same.

This apparently original and vastly superior version of this song makes me want to dance naked in the woods late at night, though preferably without much of a crowd.

Emmylou Harris

Occupying the space next to Alison Krauss on the edge of country music (and on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, a bit more literally) is Emmylou Harris.

Nick Hornby here (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2003/01/13hornby.html) called her "the best harmony vocalist in the history of pop music," and in the context of Ryan Adams' Oh My Sweet Carolina, I can scarcely disagree. Lovely.

She demonstrates the same on a strangely-difficult-to-laugh-at version of the popularized-as-an-awful-junior-high-slow-dance classic "Love Hurts" with Gram Parsons, which according to Wikipedia was recorded the year before Nazareth's more famous (#1 in Norway! Thanks, Wikipedia!) version.

Anyway, she blends well at least. I'm less convinced by some of her solo stuff, particularly her unfortunate "No Regrets (Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien)," a mostly-English cover of the Edith Piaf song. Her French pronunciation deteriorates throughout the track until I find it unbearable.

Still, for all the bitchiness contained above, I think she's worth exploring. I'd like to hear her sing more hymns; "Wayfaring Stranger" is my favorite of her solo tracks thus far. Still, I suppose I say that about every artist, so take it for what you will.

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.

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.