[Dave C]

After spending more and more time on Last.fm I find myself listening to the 'Alt-country Tag' more often than not. There are lots of excellent bands which seem to fall into this category (Iron & Wine, Okkervil River, Silver Jews, Smog, 16 Horsepower.....) but two stand out for me and I have just picked my favourite album for each (not hard for the first one as they've only had two).
First is Band Of Horses and their latest album 'Cease To Begin'. Excellent opening four tracks, and the rest of the album is pretty good too.
Will Oldman is the only person in my music collection who has earned himself his own genre on my i-pod. This is because he's started up so many bands, all totally revolving around himself, that I lose track of them all. His most prolific, and my favourite incarnation is Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The press all have 'I See A Darkness' down as being his best album (and it is superb) but for me 'Master And Everyone' is his Sgt. Pepper's . Written by someone who must have just come out of a relationship he did not want to see end, it's got to bring a tear to your eyes (ooh hang on, that's another thread). So many great tracks, but for me the stand out ones are; The Way, Master And Everyone, Wolf Among Wolves, Joy And Jubilee, Maundering (going to stop there or I'll just be listing the whole album). NB, it does take a couple of listens to sink in properly, but give it a go
Cheers,
Dave C

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by Dave C

After spending more and more time on Last.fm I find myself listening to the 'Alt-country Tag' more often than not. There are lots of excellent bands which seem to fall into this category (Iron & Wine, Okkervil River, Silver Jews, Smog, 16 Horsepower.....) but two stand out for me and I have just picked my favourite album for each (not hard for the first one as they've only had two).
First is Band Of Horses and their latest album 'Cease To Begin'. Excellent opening four tracks, and the rest of the album is pretty good too.
Will Oldman is the only person in my music collection who has earned himself his own genre on my i-pod. This is because he's started up so many bands, all totally revolving around himself, that I lose track of them all. His most prolific, and my favourite incarnation is Bonnie "Prince" Billy. The press all have 'I See A Darkness' down as being his best album (and it is superb) but for me 'Master And Everyone' is his Sgt. Pepper's . Written by someone who must have just come out of a relationship he did not want to see end, it's got to bring a tear to your eyes (ooh hang on, that's another thread). So many great tracks, but for me the stand out ones are; The Way, Master And Everyone, Wolf Among Wolves, Joy And Jubilee, Maundering (going to stop there or I'll just be listing the whole album). NB, it does take a couple of listens to sink in properly, but give it a go
Cheers,
Dave C

Dave,

These two artists I would not consider Alt/Country though may be fine artists,
as you know people on these sites have trouble defining music, and Last.fm is no different when determining genres.The other atrists you mentioned would
possibly fall in that catagory but all lean more towards the folk/rock side
rather than the country side.

Alt/Country Artists would be:

Drive By Truckers
Ryan Adams
Steve Earle
Wilco
Son Volt
Old 97's
Golden Smog
Deadstring Cowboys
Long Ryders
Jay Farrar
Delbert McClinton

eMusic being a US based site has a better handle on what would be
Country or not because if you like country or not, we are forced to hear
it at one time or another.....

Alt/Country has great songwriting and upbeat songs,
and I like it a great deal more than the commercial pop country that is very popular in this country.

Listen to the difference between these artists and Will Oldham which is a great artist in his own right and as you said really hard to pigeon hole in a genre.

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

Dave,

These two artists I would not consider Alt/Country though maybe fine artists
as you know people have trouble defining music and these sites are no different when determining genres.The other atrists you mentioned would
possibly fall in that catagory but all lean more towards the folk/rock side
rather than the country side.

Alt/Country Artists would be:

Drive By Truckers
Byran Adams
Steve Earle
Wilco
Son Volt
Old 97's
Golden Smog
Deadstring Cowboys
Long Ryders
Jay Farrar
Delbert McClinton

eMusic being a US based site has a better handle on what would be
Country or not because if you like country or not, we are forced to hear
it at one time or another.....

But Alt/Country has great songwriting and upbeat songs,
and I like it a great deal more than the commercial pop country that is very popular in this country.

Listen to the difference between these artists and Will Oldham which is a great artist in his own right and as you said really hard to pigeon hole in a genre.

Is Byran Adams a love child of Bryan and Ryan adams?

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by vikulenka

Is Byran Adams a love child of Bryan and Ryan adams?

Thank you Vik..I will edit that now....

and Ryan is one of my favorite all time artists...

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

Thank you Vik..I will edit that now....

I'm just glad I noticed it before Solaris did!

[Nightfly]

Originally Posted by vikulenka

I'm just glad I noticed it before Solaris did!

I don't think he would have caught this one....

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

I don't think he would have caught this one....

He would have definitely noticed that "Bryan Adams" is misspelled He may not have pointed out though

[Dave C]

Originally Posted by Nightfly

These two artists I would not consider Alt/Country though may be fine artists

Never really thought about the tagged name before, I have just listened to what last.fm kicks out at me. Must be said that I think of these two band as more folk / rock myself, but most folk bands (who aren't your traditional Fairport Convention / Show Of Hands type thing) seem to get put in the country bracket for some reason by music type search engines,
Cheers,
Dave C

[solaris]

Originally Posted by vikulenka

He would have definitely noticed that "Bryan Adams" is misspelled He may not have pointed out though

I would NEVER try to ridicule or degrade my fellow forum members in that way

No, even though I seem to be watching this forum ALL the time, you guys know what I am currently investing a lot of time in - and I'll keep you updated once in a while, I promise. This thing is HUGE

[vikulenka]

Originally Posted by solaris

I would NEVER try to ridicule or degrade my fellow forum members in that way

No, even though I seem to be watching this forum ALL the time, you guys know what I am currently investing a lot of time in - and I'll keep you updated once in a while, I promise. This thing is HUGE

Since when???????????????