Alt.country for Jen:

I'll second hayden's recommendation of the Jayhawks' Hollywood Town Hall and Tomorrow the Green Grass, both beautiful albums. Neko Case for sure, only I'd recommend her EP Canadian Amp above Blacklisted, if you can find it. Both Blacklisted and Furnace Room Lullaby are good albums too. The songwriting quality varies a bit, IMHO, but is mostly good, and her voice is amazing. Canadian Amp is mostly covers, and is hauntingly gorgeous. Kelly Hogan and Sally Timms are also great vocalists in the genre (all three women are on Bloodshot Records, so they group together in my mind).

The Handsome Family are one of my favorite bands. Gothic, surreal, with a stripped-down sound. Also on Bloodshot Records*. I heart Bloodshot Records. (The Bob Wills tribute album is on sale, you say, Michele? Hmm...)

Oh, and Cheri Knight, if you can find anything by her, or her former band, Blood Oranges. I love her. Her solo stuff is more folkish, the stuff with the band more rocking.

Yeah, and pretty much anything by Townes Van Zandt or Gram Parsons. Mmm.

Ginger mentioned Buddy and Julie Miller, also very good. Julie's album Broken Things is my favorite, followed by the one they put out as a couple (selftitled). I'm gonna have to disagree with her about Kasey Chambers, though, whom I just can't stand. (Heh--reading through the thread, looks like a lot of people don't like Kasey. Sorry, Ginger, I hope you don't feel piled on.)

Who else? Oh, Whiskeytown, definitely. And Ryan Adams' first solo album, Heartbreaker, is excellent, though I don't really care for anything else he's done since.

*Edit: actually, they're on Carrot Top, but they're distributed by Bloodshot.

Jonathan Schwartz drives my GF up the wall, & I know what she means, but as a big fan of "the Great American Songbook" I like his show anyway.

I was a fan of his when he was the evening DJ on WNEW-FM back in the early '70s. Then he left that gig, I moved to Rhody (too far to pick up any NY radio except WFAN), and I don't think I've heard him since.

Oh my God, I can't believe I left out the Handsome Family! I must be ill. Through The Trees is one of the best albums of the late 90s, full stop.

And, Katie, the whole Jon Langford oeuvre is on sale right now, to celebrate his new CD. Go nuts.

Correction: The Nilsson record we reviewed in the book was Knillssonn.

Also, Misha wrote about The Handsome Family so she should be doubly ashamed for overlooking them.

Jilli! I'm listening to your new favorite album, Jill Tracy's Diabolical Streak. It's like a female Tom Waits (in his more melodic mid-eighties days) as backed by Rasputina.

Don't tempt me to buy more cds before my trip! iiieeee! Must have spending money for taxedermied mousies in costumes!

However, the Jill Tracy & the Malcontent Orchestra soundtrack for Nosferatu is very, very nice.

hayden, your love for Moby-Dick makes me incredibly happy.

Also with the Moby Dick love. It's one of the few novels I have read more than three times.

The Jayhawks - Hollywood Town Hall & Tomorrow The Green Grass. The only two Jayhawks albums worth having,

I vote for Rainy Day Music as an album totally worth having. "Tampa to Tulsa" became my favorite Jayhawks' song after hearing the demo version on disc 2 of this album.

At least one guy from UT is in Son Volt, and at least Jeff Tweedy from UT is in Wilco.

Michael Heirdorn went on to form Son Volt with Jay Farrar. Ken Coomer, Max Johnston and John Stiratt went with Jeff to form Wilco. Though Wilco's lineup has changed radically since then. So, initially, no actual members of UT were left bandless after the split.

Must stop fingers from typing post full of Uncle Tupelo break up stories...

Or maybe just one. When they recorded March 16 -20, 1992 (that's the actual name of the album) at Peter Buck's house in Athens, he was ready for a big party after hearing what drunks they all were and loaded the house up with booze. Only to find out that, in a desperate attempt to keep the band together, they had all decided to stop drinking and smoking (because *that's* gonna help) and spent their time there recording drinking 7-UP and chewing on sunflower seeds to try to stop their nicotine cravings. The sobriety didn't stick and Buck never got to party with them - but they got their best album out of it. Love March 16.

Son Volt - Trace. The only good Son Volt album, full of great songs and as fine-pointed as AM. The later albums are pale rehashes.

Ahem. Hayden and I will never agree on this. Son Volt's third album Wide Swing Tremolo is excellent. Just as good as Trace, IMO.

Far, far better -- Mermaid Avenue, with Wilco and Billy Bragg putting music to Woody Guthrie's words.

One of my favorite albums ever.

Not Mermaid Avenue II, though, unfortunately.

Ooh Yeah. It sucks. Avoid at all costs.

Mermaid Ave. I is how I got into Wilco. I hated Wilco at first because I felt a certain loyalty to Jay and Son Volt when UT split up because everybody liked Jeff and thought Jay was an asshole. I'm a sucker for the underdog.

If you can only get one thing that people have recommended, get Townes Van Zandt.

Second that. I like Our Mother the Mountain best, though it's his most produced (with chamber-country strings).

Thirded. And I love that album.

Neko Case for sure, only I'd recommend her EP Canadian Amp above Blacklisted, if you can find it. Both Blacklisted and Furnace Room Lullaby are good albums too.

Just to confuse things more. My vote for favorite Neko Case goes solidly in the Furnace Room Lullaby column. I can't stop listening to it - and I have all of them.

And just case enough alt country recs have not been thrown your way, I would add.

Gillian Welch, Time (The Revelator) or Revival are both beautiful albums. I found Welch through Time so I tend to like it better.

For a more straight up country w/just a wee bit of alt/rock, a good but defunct band from Athens, GA, are The Star Room Boys. Why Do Lonely Men and Women Try To Break Each Others' Hearts is a CD you will not be able to take out of your stereo for a good while after you put it in. I wish they hadn't broke up after only two albums. This is one is far superior to their other.

And nobody mentioned Lucinda Williams that I saw. Carwheels on a Gravel Road is a classic.

And I recently heard Eleni Mandell's country album Country For True Lovers and liked it a lot.

My son (17 yrs old) just came into the room to inform me that, while he knows they were very important, he thinks the Sex Pistols just really really sucked as a band.

He's very bright.

Oh, that poor misguided boy. We're very proud of my friend Harry's 4 year-old daughter Mona, who is a big fan of one of his favorite bands. I believe the exact quote is, "I like the Cwash, Daddy!"

Also, Misha wrote about The Handsome Family so she should be doubly ashamed for overlooking them.

Hec! I *SAID* I must have been ill. Must you add to my grievous shame?

Anne, got the CDs yesterday. Thanks!

Misha, are you going to the FMU record show this weekend? Hayden, David, Jon et al.: Anyone want me to keep an eye out for anything in particular? I'm not making any promises, but if I see something you mention & it's not overpriced (meaning not more than I'm willing to shell out at the moment, not whether it's high-priced but really a bargain) I'd be happy to pick it up for you. David, did the Other Music website have what you were looking for? If not, did you find someone to pick it up for you? And if not the latter, remind me what it was & I'll take a look. I'll be leaving around 2 or 2:30 today so get those requests in soon.