sf/j knows jack about country

full qoute
i think he does have a point about the intersection of hip hop and cutnry but this isnt it

this was the single strangest thing to me. nashville is the WORLD CAPITAL of instrumentalists and the solo passages that they play. has he heard, say, the gretchen wilson album for crissakes?

yeah, but this goes for ALL greatest hits comps, not just hip-hop ones. (hell, even *Records* by Foreigner left off "I Want to Know What Love Is") (among other things.)

I'm in no way affiliated with this site, nor do I even listen to much country, truth be told, but this is a great blog on country music that pulls no punches. Give 'er a look-see.

bah xpost!

i also apologized at least twice for in the ghetto, i fucked up there.

i explained faith hill in detail on the country thread, i can do it again, if you would like.
sugarland may be a bad example--but i can go through the billboard chart, if you would like.
the title was meant to be humourus teasing, do i need emotiocons for you mr blount
as well, ilx is part of doing the intellectual work--i think this, what do you think, am i wrong. you dont seem to realize that.

also, when was the last time that he wrote about country--which by sales i think (soundscan needs to be checked) the most popular music in the country?

here is the billboard list, with why i dont think these are nessc. musically or politically conserative,

As Good As I Once Was, Toby Keith
rockabilly, southern rock, a bit of western swing, mainstream country. any song that advocates threesomes cannot really be considered upholding family values. toby keith workign the libertine angle.

Something More, Sugarland
girl pop, bluegrass, MOR

Mississippi Girl, Faith Hill
i have written about a ppgh on this on the country thread

Fast Cars And Freedom, Rascal Flatts
i have to think about this more, but i think the same arguements about the Flatts are covered by Gentry, they are almost gentry light.

Play Something Country, Brooks & Dunn
indicates the critically aware, self referential music that i dont think is conserative

Alcohol, Brad Paisley
the most tradtional,

Don't Worry 'Bout A Thing, SheDaisy

Do You Want Fries With That, Tim McGraw
tim is interesting, because i think that he has found his voice in a certain genre, but his politics are liberal, and he is aware of how he is using country. he is not politically conserative at all (this, drugs or jesus, red rag top)

A Real Fine Place To Start, Sara Evans
this actually rocks kind of, and has changed in her use of intstrumentation and voice, from something like suds in the bucket...and its call towards change, its call away from complaecney is something i find common in country--and a mark against the same old life of consterativism

Making Memories Of Us, Keith Urban
he is on ez rock more then he is on the country radio here, which makes him a mongrel, even if he is a bit white bred--he is also an aussie, which might mean something against the ubquity of nashville.

Help Somebody, Van Zant
Somebody's Hero, Jamie O'Neal
these two i am downloading as we speak

Something To Be Proud Of, Montgomery Gentry
the gentry has been talked about as genre shattering over and over again, by dozens of people, google them.

Redneck Yacht Club, Craig Morgan
this is the one t hat comes closest to his arguement, and one could make the same arguements that one does about brooks and dunn, but i think its too lazy even to make those. (its damn good fun though)

Arlington, Trace Adkins
actually mentioning the dead in iraq, as real people, is not something that the conserative elite in this country do (yeah its jingoistic, but it complicates the war--it isnt chely wright, remember the bush whitehouse refuses to allow people to photograph coffins)

Georgia Rain, Trisha Yearwood
this one is almost the exact same song as the new faith hill, but like faith hill's the audience is well aware of the explicit making of biography into art, i think yearwood's is the better sung and better written, but i find it less direct.

Keg In The Closet, Kenny Chesney
fantastic song, and about the sunbelt, about nostalgic, of course--but nostalgic in the way that is expected. its weird to call a song about fratboys progressive--but they put away childish things, they put away the college stuff, and go forward. it is much closer to the populist folk of jcm then it is anything like hank either.

Stay With Me (Brass Bed), Josh Gracin
(i havent listened to this one yet)

Hicktown, Jason Aldean
its a monster rock track

everybody's free to love what they wanna love of course but wtf does "formally innovative" mean? Are these songs anything other than verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus/chorus? Are any of the tropes surprising? Is there a punchline in any songs on the country chart that can't be seen coming from a mile away? Not that these are bad qualities, but "formally innovative" they ain't. Period.

as for this:

>Is there a punchline in any songs on the country chart that can't be seen coming from a mile away? <

damn straight. at least as much as on young jeezy's album (which is great, by the way)

xp

Hold on, lyrically or musically or both? And if the latter, how specifically?

see here (and a couple hundred other places):

Rolling 2005 Country Thread

Not as far as I can tell. But if you think otherwise, maybe give examples? (I mean, Montgomery Gentry are great -- heck, maybe even "formally innovative" -- despite their shitty politics, and Toby and Tim's best songs usually tend not to fall explicitly on the right *or* the left. I don't see anybody saying they're good *because* they might be Democrats. And for all I know, to be honest, Big and Rich voted for Bush; has anybody asked them?) In general, I see people critiquing what's *there* way more than what they *wish* was there.

i stopped reading sfj's blog a while ago for reasons like this

marty stuart has the best country album of the year for reasons I will describe soon on the Rolling thread

and oh yeah, still didn't read Sasha, but this is indeed completely nuts by the way.

chuxk you might not like marty stuart's album but it is this: vocal gospel-harmony songs married sometimes to rockabilly and sometimes directly to camp meeting southren baptist hoedowns, kinda sexy in a way that country songs about sex don't hit me these days (and me a former altar boy now turned semi-atheist buddhist jew); no corny "by george" songs here (although two more m.stuart albums following THIS YEAR I hear, one live and one more radio friendly) and no duets with travis tritt, just old-timey cash religion stuff except he's a good singer and his band cooks a lot

Not much if you're 'only' talking about the music. But are we?

Dixie Dregs! (Actually Bering Strait and the Duhks and assorted others might come close though.) (Hell, lotsa bluegrass ain't nothin but math rock on fiddles.)

(a) well then, yeah, he should listen to some bluegrass, then.

but also...

(b) how much radio/commercial music in ANY pop genre -- hip-hop, rock, r&b, adult contemporary, blah blah blah -- allows itself postrock-style instrumental explorations? in this, i believe country and hip-hop are exactly like every other kind of music that pop fans buy.

and most important...

(c) "12-bar break w/solos" is pretty much the ultimate instrumental passage in american popular music, from jazz and blues on up to now. what do you mean "in a depressed economy"? (not to mention, since we're CURRENTLY LIVING IN AN AT LEAST SOMEWHAT DEPRESSED ECONOMY, that's an odd criticism to make anyway.)