Rolling Country 2010

Xgau on Miranda & CMA (sort of):

Due to its pyromaniac title song, which with its fierce beat and snarly vocal was taken more literally than its lyric warranted, "Kerosene" created more stir in New York than Nashville, and far from letting up, "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" was fiercer: damn near as angry as one of those stupid anti-A-Rab albums that preceded our unfortunate Iraq adventure. In the lead track Lambert shoots up a boyfriend who'd beaten her down; in the title song she sanely leaves her pistol in the car in the role of the crazy ex. But songs such as "Desperation," "More Like Her" and the painfully conflicted "Guilty in Here" offset hot-bloodedness with self-doubt. It's the most consistent country album of the '00s as well as the feistiest.

Chuck-bait.

oops, forgot the link to that:

http://music.msn.com/cma-awards/miranda-lambert/story/feature/

The new Sugarland settled with the old Sugarland for an undisclosed amount. I would assume they set her up for life.

Dave Moore writes about The Guitar Song over on Tumblr, and asks for advice, if you want to go visit him and give some:

Have slept on Jamey Johnson, like most innernet-hyped country, until listening on a whim to The Guitar Song, an eclectic group of what I’d probably describe as "tour songs," the kind of inventive but casual, semi-formalist numbers w/ ample room for jamming in the empty spaces, that seem to go hand in hand with writing on the road.

So I'm hearing it as a series of song sketches, some pretty well sketched-out, some not needing the sketching-out and some benefitting from the vagueness that the sketchiness grants them (like the borderline-deplorable "California Riots," whose extended improvs and lack of detail in the verses keep me from noticing so acutely how racist it may be. He's coy in providing no detail whatsoever to explain which "half" of California will be doing the rioting).

I like it slightly unformed (I imagine his other stuff isn't quite so loose), but what else should I check out? Hating his dips into inevitable maudlin sentiment on occasion (though that's rare) but in the context of 20-some other songs I don't mind. I could imagine that three out of twelve songs being like that would be a bit of a deal-breaker, though.

He's coy in providing no detail whatsoever to explain which "half" of California will be doing the rioting).

The political division in California is coastie/westie. If you live in the interior to the western
side of the state, you're a white hick/Tea Party type whose district has enough of your own and been gerrymandered so that the local Latinos still can't unseat you.

If you're on the coast/in the cities -- except for San Diego which is all natsec industry and GOP -- you've run the GOP out of the place.

Perhaps he's recalling the Latino rallies that occur from time to time in LA, usually in objection to something the heevahavas have tried to do nationwide or next door.

BTW:

http://www.thenation.com/blog/156468/tuesday-daybook-obamas-new-book-olbermann-hits-koppel-maddow-stewart-rip-mccain-dadt-mor

Maybe I'm taking the word "literally" too literally in Xgau's blurb, but I don't think anyone in NY or elsewhere claimed that "Kerosene" was actually about setting fires. But in the context of commercial country, the lyric "Life ain't hard but it's too long, livin' like some country song" is pretty incendiary (figuratively speaking), or at least ought to be. Also, the fact that, as a major-label debut, Kerosene debuted at number one on the country charts, means it probably created more stir in Nashville than in Manhattan. That said, if you take Xgau to be figuratively making the point that hints of nihilistic discontent are the sorts of things that the 30 or so NY bohemians and hard rock fans who care about about country tend to lap up, he's right on target.

I do think Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is Miranda's most consistent album and very good, would probably only rate Montgomery Gentry's Carrying On and Toby Keith's White Trash With Money as more consistent in the '00s. Consistency isn't my prime criterion, however, and I'd definitely rate the not-quite-as-consistent Horse Of A Different Color and Taylor Swift and Fearless over Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and White Trash With Money (whereas Carrying On was my number one country album of the decade and my number two of any type).

I actually hadn't read that entire Christgau paragraph until now. (And still haven't read the entire piece.) I'm not really bothered either by his calling Miranda's second the most consistent country album of the decade -- though, like Frank, I don't quite agree with him. It's close enough, and consistent enough, that it's not worth splitting hairs. I also can't tell, from that quote, if Xgau is suggesting the "Kerosene" single or the Kerosene album were bigger in NY than Nashville; not sure why he would believe that either is true. The single went to #15 on the country chart, looks like. But yeah, maybe I'm reading him too literally as well.

As for Jamey Johnson, maybe Dave Moore should read my Voice piece, and the ILX thread on the record. They're linked upthread somewhere. I made the point about Johnson not spelling out which half of California riots in the song (one of the album's best tracks) months ago. But suggesting it's "racist" is an odd leap, I'd say. And though I've got my reservations about the album (it'll likely make the bottom of Pazz & Jop top 10), it doesn't seem "unformed" to me at all, really -- if anything, it sounds meticulous. And I'd say Guitar Song's best cuts are as good or better than Lonesome Song's best, outside of "High Cost of Living."

Okay, re-reading it (even more sleepily than the first time I read it), Christgau's clearly talking about Kerosene-the-album when he makes that claim. Which confuse me even more: The single at least placed (27th) in Pazz & Jop; the album only got a couple votes (including Frank's and mine), I'm pretty sure. So what stir it's supposed to have created in New York is beyond me.

...confuses me even more...(etc.) (And "created more stir" is not necessarily the same thing as "bigger," I suppose.)

Eh..Do I really think "California Riots" is as good as "In Color" or "Mary Go Round"? Possibly not. And I now have no doubt that the previous album drags more than the new one, though I definitely liked it more at the time, when I called it my album of the year. Really I'd say "California Riots" is in Guitar Song's second tier (actually prefer the other California song, "Playing The Part", though I'm fairly convinced Jamey J is a part-player by nature and hence something of a hypocrite to make it an issue.) But anyway, my favorites and least favorites are pretty much all spelled out in detail on the album's own thread. Then again, I'm a time-proven sucker for songs about escaping to, then from, California. (Did almost a whole chapter about those in my second book.)

actually, i should have specified that what i was really wondering about was what you guys made of the following:

damn near as angry as one of those stupid anti-A-Rab albums that preceded our unfortunate Iraq adventure

i mean, is that specifically a dig at Toby Keith, or am i forgetting something else that was all "rah-rah, let's get 'em, but good" back then?

sorry for being a nuisance, but since i'm kinda assuming that you guys are ilx's biggest Keith supporters, i was wondering how that struck you.

"I'm wonderin'..."

Just Bob being Bob. Though Toby actually did an arguably pro-A-rab song, too: "The Taliban Song." at least as funny as Ray Stevens in 1962. Maybe Xgau was referring to Daryl Worley's Have You Forgotten, though? Or the Alan Jackson 9-11 song where he said he didn't know the difference between Iraq and Iran? There were others, I'm sure. But calling them anti-Arab is probably stretching things, in almost all cases. (At least compared the one non-country demo-CD submission some idiot sent me for the 9-11 compilation CD I put together for the Voice that actually raged against "towel heads" and "camel jockeys." Specifics about that one, and other submissions -- some of which were good -- though, are lost to history. Probably I should have kept a box of notable ones from no-name bands and singers I'd never heard of; put together, they'd have made for an educational CD-R for future generations.)

Anyway, Xgau's Worley review:

http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Daryl+Worley

And here is on Toby, fwiw:

http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Toby+Keith

Pretty sure Montgomery Gentry never really dealt with the Middle East problem; Frank or somebody should remind me, if I'm wrong. (Hank Jr., maybe? I'm not sure.)

So Keith Urban has a new album? I'm a bit out of it right now. Anyone heard it? The last one was kind of a snooze though I ended up liking all the singles when I heard them on the radio.

I think that That Lonesome Song has a pretty loose feel itself (the "High Cost Of Living" stretches out at the end, could have easily been a minute longer - or a minute shorter, I suppose).

Favorite mention of the Middle East is in Eric Church's "Before She Does," which I'm not going to quote because it sets up a refrain that's my favorite wisecrack of the last several years, and I don't what to spoilerate it; here's the link.

Maybe Xgau meant that the album stirred him. Or maybe creating a stir in Chuck was equivalent to creating a stir in NY. Think that Joshua Clover also voted for Kerosene, and maybe several other folks did as well. Not that Joshua lived in NY. But as I said, I think I get what Xgau was driving at, and agree, even though what he said was literally incorrect.

Agree with Chuck about the rockingness of Flynnville Train's "Sandman." Also like the Rihanna track with the same title. (Well, almost the same title. She drops the final two letters.)

So Keith Urban has a new album? I'm a bit out of it right now. Anyone heard it? The last one was kind of a snooze though I ended up liking all the singles when I heard them on the radio.

The last one, Defying Gravity, is my favorite of his actually, and this one so far I'm finding a snooze, very by-the-numbers. I need to listen to it more, though. It's only 8 songs, unless you buy it at Target, where they throw on some live tracks and other 'bonuses' and presumably charge more money.

Is country music struggling with the album format these days? (Or some strain of country music at least, Jamey Johnson obviously excepted). That's what I've been wondering lately, between this and Blake Shelton's Six-Paks (which he now is rejecting as a bad idea, from an interview I read) and an interview I read with Trace Adkins where he said that he's changed his approach to the album somewhat after hanging out with Toby Keith, basically (if I'm remembering right) because Toby convinced him that albums themselves don't matter that much anymore, that it's more about tours and name recognition and people knowing who you are, and having a few hit singles every now and then.

I haven't read either of those interviews (which sound like they might be enlightening, and suggest why Toby put out his shortest album ever this year), and I'm out of the Billboard loop of late, but I'd guess that country is having similar struggles with the album format to the ones every other genre is having these days -- I talked way upthread (early this year) a few times about the return of EP-length records to the country album chart, but actually, the new Flo-Rida album only has eight songs on it, too. And Toby's right -- increasingly, the assumption is that, for all but very top-tier artists anyway, album sales aren't where the revenue is going to come from the future. So country albums -- a lot of them (not Brad Paisley's or Taylor Swift's either, I guess) seem to be reverting more to the length that albums used to be back before CDs messed everything up, and in some cases back to the length country albums were way back in the '60s. Which, to me, more often than not, tends to make them more user friendly (I'm more likely to check out that new Urban now that you've said it's got only eight songs), but then I tend to be able to listen to albums for free. (Then again, so do other people now, just not legally. Which is a big part of the problem in the first place, obviously.)

Or maybe I should say "very top-tier artists and other people" -- seems like the uncertainty about album sales' future has freed guys like Jamey Johnson and Jerrod Niemann (and Paisley) up to experiment with albums that seem structured as more formally top-to-bottom conceptual than Nashville's traditionally given us, in hopes that maybe press or alternative radio or something might spurn long-term sales for (older?) folks who actually want to own the object. Johnson's vinyl version is a sight to behold, believe me, but a lot of thought even went into his CD's packaging. I got sent the new Randy Houser album on vinyl, too, fwiw, not that I expect many people will care. And you'll probably see some artists (like Shelton?) going back and forth, to see what works best for them.

...SPUR (not spurn) long-term sales...., that is.

other really short albums: lady gaga's "the fame monster" (eight songs). ke$ha's new one (nine songs). i guess there is some struggling with the album format going on, but i like to think of it more as a general opening up of the album/ep/single format. if you don't see the point of a 12- or 14- or 16-track album, you don't have to do it anymore just for the sake of filling up the goddamn disc. if you want to do a couple quickie 8-track things in a row like robyn, you can do that. if you want do a 25-song double like jamey johnson, you can do that too. and if you want to keep motoring along with more-than-competent 12-songers like alan jackson, that always remains an option. i think this is good for music.

i'm foggy on the specifics of this, but in the old days (or maybe even recently), wasn't nashville's standard album length based partly, if not completely, on how many songs the labels were willing to pay publishing royalties on? if that was the case, as i'm pretty sure if it was, and if that has changed in the digital-or-whatever age, then that's probably good too.

Well, the Gaga and Ke$ha ones are sort of special cases in that they're both also available as double-discs with the previous album attached, in case you're not among the millions who already bought that one. But right, that's just one more option that's out there.

Also, fwiw, Toby Keith is still a top-tier artist -- but mainly on the touring front. So that's apparently where he's putting his energies, and maybe he now thinks of albums and occasional hits as mainly tour promotion, via keeping his name in the spotlight.

Anyway, here is my review blurb on the new Rascal Flatts album, which (mainly for tracks 7 through 10), I liked more than expected:

http://www.rhapsody.com/rascal-flatts/nothing-like-this-2#albumreview

"Traktor by Wretch 32 ft. L. Not country (the guy is a Brit dancehall-grime-pop amalgam, if that's the right terminology (I can never keep up)), but contains the line "I rides* the motherfuckin' beat like a tractor." Don't know if there have been any other noncountry songs to mention tractors, much less to be named for one. Actually, the techno rhythm right at the start does have its ancestry (or at least predecessors) in pre-surf hillbilly guitar boogies, though it isn't played on guitar, I don't think.

*Actually sounds more like "I writes motherfuckin' beat like a tractor," but that makes less sense, since I've never thought of plowing as like writing, or "choo-choo" as descriptive of the process of writing. (In the vid, they actually do write some lyrics on the wall, and maybe are trying to write, hence say, "ride this," but the pronunciation is so condensed it sounds like "rides.")

I writes motherfuckin' blog posts like a tractor.

Choo choo blog hard blog faster, stack pieces everyday. I writes zoom zoom like a rock 'n' roll. More women more bloggin' all day.

(Wretch 32's Facebook: "His slick word play to embed satire into lyrics has made him a firm favourite among DJ's and captured the heart of audiences not only in the Uk but across Europe.")

Conversely (or not conversely) my uninformed impression is that in Japan and Korea, where piracy is even more rampant than it is here, singles as such are no longer released alone - at least not by idol groups - but instead are released as mini-albums with several other songs plus the usual remixes and instrumental/karaoke tracks, so they're 8 or 9 tracks too, sometimes with the mini-album title being different from the single title.

But I assume that most actual singles sales there as here would be by mp3 download of the single track alone.

The reason I assume that piracy is even more rampant in Korea and Japan is that, whenever I google just for information on a particular song, most or all of the first ten Google hits will be illegal download sites featuring links to Mediafire or 4shared or Megaupload or Hotfile - this without my typing "mp3" or "download" or "Mediafire" into the search box. Of course, come to think of it, since I'm searching with Romanized spelling and getting mostly English-language sites, maybe these sites are for the diaspora, not for people actually living in Korea or Japan. In any event, this doesn't happen with U.S. artists, where searches get you lyric sites and vids up-top.

I very much doubt that Christgau was referencing Toby, since not only did Xgau find the song heartfelt, there's nothing anti-Arab in it (and anyway Arabic isn't the native language of Afghanistan, though it probably is for some of the Al Qaeda types who hung out there).

Lady Antebellum rips off Alan Parsons Project? (I'm not sure I hear a similarity, but I haven't heard "Eye In The Sky" for years):

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/ourcountry/75288/lady-antebellums-need-you-nowa-ripoff/

Anthony Easton on Tim McGraw's "Felt Good On My Lips":

http://koganbot.livejournal.com/244900.html?view=1695908#t1695908

Well, in reference to Anthony's comment, Toby Keith and George Strait were far from the only country singers who did songs about Mexico in recent years -- So did lots of other people, including, well, Tim McGraw, with both "Refried Dreams" and "Señorita Margarita." (Fwiw, I did a couple-thousand-word essay on the subject two years ago, for Time Out's 1000 Songs To Change Your Life book.) Do agree, though, that McGraw's mostly a smoothie who's not as given to loud stuff as many country dudes his age. (I say something similar both in my Jukebox comments about the song below, and in a review of his new hits CD, out next week I think.)

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=2904

Somebody who has been rocking increasingly hard lately is Reba. She's surprised me two albums straight now. About her new one:

http://www.rhapsody.com/reba-mcentire/all-the-women-i-am#albumreview

(That one word should be "speaker-blowing," btw; I'll need to fix it in the Rhapsody tools.)

Well this seems like it might be good. I
ll have to check out the UK online show.
(Nashville, Tenn. – Sept. 27, 2010)  Country music lifestyle site DigitalRodeo.com and London-based, online Country radio station CMR Nashville have announced the formation of a strategic media partnership and resulting international radio show called “Digital Rodeo’s Maverick On Music Row.”
The one-hour radio show is recorded at Nashville’s legendary 16 Ton Studios and will broadcast online at
www.CMRNashville.com.  The first episode airs Tuesday, Sept. 28, with repeat airings throughout the week.  Former Mavericks bassist and current Digital Rodeo executive, Robert Reynolds, hosts the program, which features a mix of major label and independent Country acts selected from the thousands of artists registered on DigitalRodeo.com.  Interviews, unplugged live performances and creative play lists are points of emphasis on “Digital Rodeo’s Maverick On Music Row,” says Reynolds.  Archived episodes of the show will be available on DR Radio, the free online radio player featured at
www.DigitalRodeo.com. Check
www.CMRNashville.com for specific local air times.
“There are a ton of talented acts out there that never get radio play,” says Digital Rodeo Director of Marketing and Promotions, John Pyne.  “Our goal is to provide those artists with a viable outlet for their music to be heard on the radio, and to expose the listeners to a much broader variety than what’s heard on most Country radio stations.  We welcome any and all Digital Rodeo artists with radio-quality material to submit their music for inclusion on our show.”
Adds Reynolds, “We want to be one of the first doors that open for these artists in terms of radio.  Digital Rodeo is fortunate to partner with a station like CMR Nashville to foster that kind of international relationship and growth.  We are looking forward to putting out a show that is unique in both its concept and its programming.”
As part of the Digital Rodeo and CMR Nashville strategic partnership, Digital Rodeo is sponsoring one of the awards at the upcoming British Country Music Awards, to be held Oct. 10, 2010, in Surrey, England.
Artists interested in submitting music for “Digital Rodeo’s Maverick On Music Row” radio program should contact John Pyne at
j✧✧✧.p✧✧✧@digitalro✧✧✧.c✧✧.
About DigitalRodeo.com:
DigitalRodeo.com is the premier country news, music and lifestyle site for country music fans everywhere.  Community membership is free and offers fans and artists alike the opportunity to connect with each other, upload and download audio and video, watch exclusive DigitalRodeo.com content and stay updated on what’s happening in the world of country music.  For more information, visit
www.DigitalRodeo.com.
CMR Nashville is celebrating its fifth year broadcasting 24/7 from the U.K.  CMR Nashville broadcasts a variety of programming, including Nashville-based WSM’s “Music City Roots” and “Bluegrass Underground,” Texas’ “CDTEX Show,” “American Driver Show,” “Café Nashville” and shows from Germany, France, Brazil, Canada and Australia.  The company also offers three additional stations of DJ-free music: CMR Hot, CMR Memories and CMR Americana.  CMR Nashville, CMR Hot, CMR Memories, and CMR Americana are the trademarks of Django Promotions.  CMR Nashville is licensed annually by PRS for Music.  Visit
www.CMRNashville.com for more information.

Dave Erasingclouds (his indigenous name) just wrote a thoughtful piece on country singers in Mexico:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/132614-mexico-state-of-mind/

Definitely still going strong, and may be the same Mexico that Sammy Hagar sings about.

Huh, interesting. Great minds (and mediocre ones like me too sometimes) think alike, apparently. Wonder if Dave has ever seen my essay on the same subject. (I'd link to it, but I don't think it's anywhere on line. Book only came out in the UK too, I believe.)

Looks like others (albeit listmakers more than essayists) have dealt with the same topic as well. (The Rhapsody playlist is not by me, and it's from before I got there):

http://www.rhapsody.com/playlistcentral/playlistdetail?playlistId=ply.20277597

http://www.truecountry.com/forums/showthread.php?3062-Country-songs-about-Mexico

http://travelojos.com/2009/11/seven-country-songs-about-mexico/

Btw, listened to the new Reba again in the car today, and actually, I'm basically liking three non-rockers ("The Day She Got Divorced" which always makes me think of Abba's "The Day Before You Came," the Beyonce cover, and maybe "When Love Gets Ahold Of You" which is just super catchy if kinda so-what-wordwise pop-country) more than the three rockers I mentioned in that Rhapsody blurb (at least two of which are as much horn-rock as riff-rock, fwiw, though the riffs in "Turn On The Radio" always make me think of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" and Rare Earth.) There's something missing in her rock ones I can't quite put my finger on; maybe I just wish they were more interesting as songs, or maybe Reba's voice by nature makes boogie seem kinda stodgy, I dunno. I've definitely had that feeling about her before. Here's what I wrote about the previous album, and its single, that she made last year:

http://www.rhapsody.com/reba-mcentire/keep-on-loving-you#albumreview

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=694

Still like the new album enough to keep it, though. And I definitely approve of the idea of her doing more rock-type stuff.

I like "Strange", where she slides the title through a bending note, like Patti Smith or Jim Morrison (close enough). Finally heard Chely Wright's album, and it really knocked me out right away. When I first heard that familiar mid-tempo chug, I thought for a moment it was gonna be too musically straight, with pop-psychology shadows and positivity, but the first song quickly unfolded into complex clarity, and the music is luminous, it's all seamless, chugging those detailed lyrics right along. Not just, "Look, this is how mainstream country could be, incorporating this stuff we haven't talked about", but, "This is it, this works now." I would like room for a big ol' righteous yowly slide guitar solo in "Damn Liar", and maybe some more instrumental kick-out-the-walls in other songs, and it seems a bit dicey that so many of the songs are probably that voice in her head. But there's room for interpretation, especially the last track, so nice and sensuous and welcoming the instruments to crawl into and around the bed she's perching on, while she addresses whomever it may concern (and that punchline in passing, yow). Liked Merle's and Willie's latest, and some others I may comment on, but they'll all benefit from above viewpoints re EPs as country albums, like country LPs used to be EPs. Chely needs no such adjustments of judgment (good rhapsodyblog on her xhuxx. Tthat Jon C. thing in the Times was already the slackest thing I'd read by him, even before I got to his obtuse take on Chely. Most disappointing media experience since Rachel Maddow's interview with Jon Stewart. But thank you Jon and Jon, for showing me I'm still naive enough to be disappointed by such thangs

Glad you liked my Chely post, Don. (At least I wrote about something better than Jon C this year.) Anyway, I've been going back and forth about her album all year -- was leaning toward thinking it was too inconsistent to deserve space on a year-end list, but I gave it another chance in the car last week (same day I listened to Reba), and it really held up -- way more of it than I'd figured would. And I'm still noticing new things, like the line about the Nashville tomboy and the feminine girl (or however she puts it) in the one song she merely co-wrote (with Rodney Crowell.) A shame more people didn't hear the record, but then again a lot of it is so personal that you get the idea the only person who Chely really wanted to hear it was the woman who wound up spurning her. If there's ever been a better lesbian breakup album in country-music history, I'd love to know what it is. So anyway, I'm thinking there's an excellent chance now that Lifted Off The Ground will make the bottom rung of my Pazz & Jop list; was leaning toward early '80s Louisville art-punks The Endtables (rectified by Drag City this year) there, but I think Chely's got it.

With Thanksgiving (and my 50th birthday) coming, other country albums that will almost definitely make my 2010 Pazz & Jop: Taylor Swift, Jace Everett, Jamey Johnson, Flynnville Train. (And Luther Lackey, if you stretch the country definition around his Southern soul blues.) Country singles likely to make my ballot, at this point: Sunny Sweeney "From A Table Away," Mallary Hope "Blossom In The Dust," Laura Bell Bundy "Giddy On Up," Kenny Chesney "Somewhere With You." (And again, if you stretch genre definitions some, Intocable "Estamos En Alqo.") If Flynnville's "Sandman" was a single, I'd probably consider that too, but far as I can tell it's not.

Huh, interesting. Great minds (and mediocre ones like me too sometimes) think alike, apparently. Wonder if Dave has ever seen my essay on the same subject. (I'd link to it, but I don't think it's anywhere on line. Book only came out in the UK too, I believe.)

I hadn't seen it! I'll have to look for that. I did figure other people had written on the subject before but didn't look for articles. I was thinking about the subject a lot this year, partly because for a while each new country album I listened to seemed to have another song referencing a Mexican vacation. Also my real-world (non-music-related) day job is at a nonprofit that does work in Mexico, so I have been very aware of the violence there this year.

this one so far I'm finding a snooze, very by-the-numbers. I need to listen to it more, though.

By the way, this new Keith Urban album is a lot better than I made it sound above. Now that I've listened a few times, I'm really enjoying it. It's fun. There are two songs that reference singing along to a car radio, and that seems like the feeling he's going for. The second of those songs, Long Hot Summer, is especially good, with a very 80s-pop start (reminds of something particular but I haven't put a finger on it - the Police? or the Cars maybe? not sure yet) before the big rousing chorus. Also like the power ballad about falling in love in the 'Georgia woods', which gets pretty rocking and guitar solo-heavy near the end, and the ballad about how his wife is the best because she lets him spend his time with fast cars and loud guitars (or something like that).

If Flynnville's "Sandman" was a single
In this Age of Fiberglass, I mean Downloads, almost everything is in effect released as a single (except a few Album Only teasers, on Amazon anyway). That's pretty much the point, even though pulled like teeth, minus gas, from "majoe labels." And what's Himes gonna do, send your ballot back?

oops, I meant marjoe labels o course.

Now on Listening Party: Tim McGraw's Number One Hits (24 of 'em)
http://music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/2

I actually reviewed that album for rollingstone.com:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/69206/238458

As for "Sandman" (and everything else) sort of being a single, yeah, I get that, Don. But I still prefer sticking (and prefer other people sticking) to songs that were at least somehow promoted as singles -- on radio, on video channels, as actual standalone physical objects, as top-song-on-a-band's-MySpace-page, whatever. (Plus, I'm voting for Flynnville Train's album, probably, so also voting for a random track that wasn't even conceived as a single by the band seems both redundant and counter to the spirit in which the polls were conceived.) If it's promoted as a single a year later (a la Jamey J's "High Cost Of Living") I'll consider it, though.

y'all really need to see/hear/comment on this:

Staind "goes country" and holy hell is it ever awful

Ah, cameo by George Jones.

The guy drives an old army truck and shoots white-tail deer. He's a bit too ugly for CMT but it could still happen. He fits the artist profile, the one in which all the guy's who've assiduously avoided charging off to war with their guns, brawn and beliefs in-not-treading-on-me beat their chests about how military and freedom-minded they are.

Funny how that worked its way into such a comical but true stereotype.

and slightly bigger cameo by charlie daniels.

Never heard of Belmont University, a Christian School in Nashville, until five days ago, when it became news that the soccer coach, a lesbian, had been forced out after telling the team that she and her girlfriend were going to have a baby. (Apparently she'd asked the administration in advance for permission to tell the team, since she knew the fact would come out eventually, and she wanted the team to hear it from her. When the news was abroad without her getting permission, she went ahead and told the team anyway, she says. My info here is from the Nashville Tennessean.) The soccer team has protested her being driven away; so has the faculty senate. And so has a very prominent donor, one who has an event center and a music business school on campus named after him. He's publicly told the administration to "act like Christians" and rehire her. The donor's name: Mike Curb.

Never knew much about him; did recall that he's LeAnn's and lots of other people's label boss and that he had a reactive cleancut image in the hairy Sixties and took anti-drug stances that included dropping the Velvet Underground when he was with MGM Records. Apparently his support for gay rights has been longstanding; at least, as an ultimately successful Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of California in the late '70s, he opposed an initiative to ban gays from teaching in California public schools. In a letter to Belmont's faculty senate, he wrote, "Belmont's Curb College is the largest stand alone music business college in the nation and more than half of Belmont's students study either the music business or music in general. All of us know that there are gay students at Belmont who are also very concerned. When our students enter the workforce, they will be entering an industry where gay people have made incredible contributions."

http://www.mikecurb.com/about/bio.cfm

Hah -- he actually wrote "Burning Bridges," the theme to Kelly's Heroes. I always liked that tune.

According to this he's quite the philanthropist.

I usually see Belmont's annual Christmas special, with choir, chorus, guest stars some years; also orchestra, with subsection string band students doing Southern traditional seasonal music, overall pretty good variety, in decorous way. Didn't get that they were a Christian university, hope this all gets straightened out, although a legal settlement is prob the best she can hope for. Didn't mean some "random track" xhuxx, just the ones that matter, esp re singling out keepers from dud-heavy albums. Also, sure do hear a lot of albums that would make good EPs this year, and an actual EP or two may well make my country albums list, as they certainly will appear on my P&J.

She resigned under pressure, which means she probably wouldn't get anything from a lawsuit; but the issue is now political rather than legal. I think the faculty vote to have her reinstated was unanimous. But maybe she doesn't want to go back if it's under the same supervision.

"Sandman" would make my top ten if it were a single (or a track that was getting some sort of significant push or attention, which it's not, unfortunately, except from us). If my country ballot were due today this is what singles and albums would look like.

SINGLES
1. Little Big Town "Little White Church"
2. Sunny Sweeney "From A Table Away"
3. Martina McBride "Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong"
4. Trace Adkins "Ala-Freakin-Bama"
5. Laura Bell Bundy "Giddy On Up"
6. Stealing Angels "He Better Be Dead"
7. Sarah Darling "Whenever It Rains"
8. Miranda Lambert "Only Prettier"
9. Brad Paisley "Water"
10. Sarah Darling "With Or Without You"

Still debating the order of the first two, and the last several could easily be replaced by any of the following (esp. since I consider Sarah Darling a bit too wet, and not just because she comes right after "Water"): Miranda Lambert "The House That Built Me," Kenny Chesney "Ain't Back Yet," Jerrod Niemann "Lover, Lover," Martin Ramey "Twisted," Jake Owen "Tell Me," Kenny Chesney "Somewhere With You," Jaron And The Long Road To Love "Pray For You," Randy Montana "Ain't Much Left Of Lovin' You," Eric Church "Smoke A Little Smoke," Luke Bryan "Someone Else Calling You Baby," Gretchen Wilson "I Got Your Country Right Here," Los Lobos "Burn It Down," Blaine Larsen "Leavin'," Dierks Bentley "Draw Me A Map," Tim McGraw "Felt Good On My Lips," Toby Keith "Bullets In The Gun," Taylor Swift "Speak Now," Taylor Swift "Mean," The Band Perry "If I Die Young," Jason Aldean ft. Kelly Clarkson "Don't You Wanna Stay," and presumably a bunch of others that I might run into in the next three weeks - though I'm not feeling the need to search too hard, as I'm fine with my choices already. Albums are a different story.

ALBUMS
1. Taylor Swift Speak Now
2. Chely Wright Lifted Off The Ground
3. Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, Dharohar Project Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, Dharohar Project (EP)
4. Flynnville Train Redemption

Pending: Kenny Chesney, Jamey Johnson, and beyond that I need your suggestions, though from upthread I gather that Jerrod Niemann and Laura Bell Bundy are worth some listens. Would like to get Redemption off the list, actually. Its other standout track is "Friend Of Sinners," an effectively evocative plea for redemption. Interesting that the Flynnvillers rock and evoke the shit out of lame-ass "Sandman" but fall short on their outfront rockers: rock 'em nicely, but need singing that's either tougher or more desperate than they can manage. I do recommend "Home," "Preachin' To The Choir," and "Scratch Me Where I'm Itchin'" and think most of the rest are good songs that needed more from the frontman.

Geoffrey doesn't count EPs, but not for the first time I'm ignoring his instructions. I generally had a negative impression of Mumford & Sons - the singer's a strained and emphatic folkie in a way I find irritating. But a friend was giving me a lift a few weeks ago, and her teenage son was in the back enthusiastically singing along, knowing almost all the words, as Mumford & Sons played in the deck. He said, "They're really depressing, but in a way that's uplifting." That incident didn't turn me around, but it did get me to check further, which is how I uncovered the EP. The Mumford song and the Marling song are carried into new territory by India Indians who add their own fierce warbles and instrumentation, with the Mumford picking and strumming driving things right along. Actually, it's the Mumford and Marling compositions that lead the charge here.

This is almost definitely my NashScene singles and albums ballot. Think Flynnville is solider (and their singer more effective) than Frank does, though agree "Friend Of Sinnners" is the second-best (not to mention second-most rocking) track. Pretty sure I wrote about some of the other songs either upthread, or on Rolling Hard Rock, or both. (Also, I was surprised to like the Mumford/Marling/ Dharohar song that Frank put on his most recent mix CD, though I haven't liked anything I've heard by Marling or the Mumfords individually. Though Marling also makes an appearance on this year's album by Johnny Flynn, which I thought was pretty good.) Anyway:

TOP TEN COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2010: (first five will almost definitely also make my Pazzz & Jop ballot)

1. Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Big Machine)
2. Jace Everett – Red Revelations (Western Boys/Hump Head)
3. Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song (Mercury)
4. Flynnville Train – Redemption (Evolution)
5. Chely Wright – Lifted Off The Ground (Vanguard)
6. Laura Bell Bundy – Achin’ & Shakin’ (Mercury)
7. Lee Brice – Love Like Crazy (Curb)
8. Colt Ford – Chicken And Biscuits (Average Joe’s)
9. Kenny Chesney – Hemingway's Whiskey (BNA)
10. Jerrod Niemann – Judge Jerrod And The Hung Jury (Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville)

TOP TEN COUNTRY SINGLES OF 2010: (first three will almost definitely also make my Pazz & Jop ballot):

1. Sunny Sweeney – From a Table Away
2. Mallary Hope – Blossom In The Dust
3. Laura Bell Bundy – Giddy On Up
4. Kenny Chesney – Somewhere With You
5. Lady Antebellum – Stars Tonight
6. Eric Church – Smoke A Little Smoke
7. Martina McBride – Wrong Baby Wrong
8. Stealing Angels – He Better Be Dead
9. Little Big Town – Little White Church
10. Kevin Fowler – Pound Sign (#?*!)

My next seven country albums after those would look like something like this (could make the list even longer, but I'd say after these ones, things get pretty marginal, if they aren't already):

11. Shinyribs – Well After Awhile (Nine Mile)
12. Ray Wylie Hubbard – A. Enlightenment B. Endarkment (Hint: There Is No C) (Thirty Tigers/Bordello)
13. Trace Adkins – Cowboy’s Back In Town (Universal)
14. Merle Haggard - I Am What I Am (Vanguard)
15. Stone River Boys – Love On The Dial (Cow Island)
16. Randy Houser – They Call Me Cadillac (Show Dog)
17. Elizabeth Cook – Welder (Thirty Tigers)