The Batlord

The Batlord Learns to Like Country...Maybe: Part V

Johnny Cash: At Folsom Prison

So, this is the first country album I ever listened to, but I just bought it so I figured I might as well talk about it. It helps that I'm still not all that familiar with it. So...




Dude, a live album recorded at a prison. How cool is that? Seriously, you can sound like two dogs fighting in a blender all you want, but do you have an album recorded in a prison? No? Better luck next time Cannibal Corpse. And it's not just a cheap gimmick either. If this album is any indication, then prison audiences are loud and energetic as fuck. I guess if I got a break from staring at the wall and getting raped by my three hundred pound cell mate then just about anything would be worth cheering about. Yet Johnny doesn't seem to be intent on making the convicts forget about their circumstances. Most of the songs on here are about the narrator committing crimes, getting arrested, being in jail, getting executed, etc. And the cons fucking love him for it. Any time he sings about some guy swinging from a noose or shooting his wife they cheer like Marilyn Monroe just took off her top. Apparently Cash spent some time in prison himself, and it shows in his rapport with the "audience". He doesn't condescend to them, he doesn't seem at all scared of them, and he doesn't try to pretend that he isn't singing in a fucking prison. Hell, he doesn't even bat an eyelash at bringing his wife onstage to sing a song with him. Instead he banters and jokes with them and in general treats them like human beings. You can even see a picture of him shaking hands with a prisoner in the audience in the liner notes. Crazy motherfucking dude.

Of course there's also music on this album too. Much of the music on here is simple, energetic country with a heavy rock influence that gets the blood pumping. There's also the heartfelt ballads that, along with Cash's baritone, really puts the image of the lonely, suffering misfit who is usually on the wrong side of the law. This album can sooth as much as it can excite and it's enough to convert anyone who doesn't like country.

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The Batlord

The Batlord Learns to Like Country...Maybe: Part VI

Jason and the Nashville Scorchers: Reckless Country Soul EP/Fervor EP

Alright, I'm combining these two albums for this review, since I can't find a lot of the songs here on Youtube. Balls. Also, Jason and the Nashville Scorchers would drop the "Nashville" from their name after their debut EP, but I refuse to call them Jason and the Scorchers. That sounds like the name of some generic punk band. "Jason and the Nashville Scorchers" has character and makes it sound like the band couldn't give less of a fuck if some people are put off by the name. Anyways...




This could just as easily be considered as much punk as country. Some songs are more one thing than the other, but in general the division is pretty straight down the line. If Johnny Cash was twenty years old and living in a London squat in 1977 when he first saw the Sex Pistols, then he might have formed this band. This band uses punk to inject some serious energy into some rough and ready country. This is just pure fun. Nothing particularly complicated, though they do know how to break out some melody for a ballad now and again. That's not to say that this is just some two bit punk rock band with a few twangy riffs. These dudes know how to write some truly world class songs that have more energy and charm than a wizard/witch gangbang. If you're driving down a country road and you wanna wake up the rednecks all across the county then you could do worse than this.

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Plankton

Some really entertaining sh...tuff here BL. The Cash review had me cracking up a bit.

Just fuelin the fahr.

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See location...

Big Ears

If my memory serves me correctly, Johnny Cash was never sentenced to prison. He was held in a cell, posibly overnight, when arrested for carrying drugs from Mexico into Texas. They turned out to be prescription drugs, not illegal narcotics. For some reason, though, he seemed to relate to prisoners, despite them having committed serious crimes. It may have come from his childhood and seeing that it was easy to turn bad if you had a difficult early life. A lot of celebrities claim to have had a poor upbringing, but Johnny's was genuinely tough.

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My Journal: Rabbiting On

The Batlord

Yeah, being pretty much ignorant of Cash I definitely bow to your assumed expertise, so I may have just read wrong. I definitely read about some brush with the law though, I can't be imagining that.

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The Batlord

The Batlord Learns to Like Country...Maybe: Part VII

Townes Van Zandt: Townes Van Zandt

I'm in a shitty, depressed mood, so what better time to give Townes Van Zandt's next album a try...




There's something truly beautiful about Townes Van Zandt's music. It's country folk, but it's not generic strummy strummy stuff. I wish I knew more about musical composition, but I can still tell that there's stuff goin' on there. Every song on here really stands out and has an identity all its own. "Columbine" has dreamy guitar playing that really gives me the image of a beautiful summer day with the wind blowing, yet is somehow melancholy. "Waiting Round to Die" is Van Zandt at his most nihilistic. It seems to come from that panicky, claustrophobic place where it feels like the world is caving in on you and you can't stop the emotional pain from washing over you in waves. That place where swallowing a bottle of aspirin starts to sound like a comfort. Townes' guitar playing is somehow hypnotic and creates a compelling atmosphere that draws you in and then his sorrowful voice whispers the sad, cruel truths of the world into your ear. He seems to express himself so fully that it's like his entire being is in his songs, so that it's like he's sitting right here next to me. Or something less pretentious. I've never really been a big fan of folk, but this guy is really something else. In the course of less than a week I've gone from interested to in love. I could listen to this dude for hours. Well, I don't quite know what else to say, since I'm a shit reviewer, but don't let my failings stop you from checking this dude out. If you're in a sad, reflective mood and need something to comfortably wallow in your misery to then this is what you need. Oh, and it should be raining.

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The Batlord

The Batlord Learns to Like Country...Maybe: Part VIII

Steve Earle: Copperhead Road

Alright what the fuck is happening here? I started this series figuring I'd listen to a few country albums, hate most of them, maybe find a few that I liked, and then move on. But, I've only listened to the one Emmylou Harris album that I didn't like, and the rest have been kewl. Am I like, a secret redneck or something? Whatevs. So I keep seeing Steve Earle's name popping up and Trollheart had good things to say about this album so I'm givin' it a whirl...




Alright, so far if I had to use two words to describe this album they would be: Bad. Fucking. Ass. A good description, since it tells you that it kicks ass, sounds like redneck talk, and implies that I can't count. I'd call this southern rock, but I keep seeing this get called alternative country. I guess because it's more southern than rock. The distinction is too thin to really be justified in my opinion, but who cares? Earle's voice may be a bit too hillbilly for some, but if it doesn't bother you and you like Lynyrd Skynyrd then you should be on the right track.

Alright, now that I've listened to the whole album, I am forced to ask, "What is this bug snot?!" The whole last half of the album is nothing but eighties style power ballads. What happened Stevie? Did the record company bend you over and have their way with you? The first half of the album is quality though, and anyone who digs country should hear the title track. It's one of my new favorite hillbilly songs. Too bad about the other half though.

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Unknown Soldier

How much longer is this country lark going on for? The only interesting thing so far is somebody shooting a gun.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

The Batlord

That was my last one actually. And if you're getting bored then feel free to go give Eddie Vedder a handjob.

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The Batlord

The Pixies: Surfer Rosa

This is just one of those bands that I've been meaning to listen to for a while now. I listened to a little of this album a while back, but I have no particular memory of it, so...




Just after a few minutes I'm diggin' it. Fun and catchy and delightfully unhinged. Black Francis' vocals are too cool. Dude sounds like he's having the time of his life and entertaining a moderately serious personality disorder at the same time. Along with the chaotic music it gives this an energy that most bands could only dream of. I haven't listened to this enough to know whether I like this over Nirvana, but I definitely know which one I'd rather listen to on cocaine.

Steve Albini's production is simply fantastic. It has a power that makes a lifelong metalhead truly happy. It's stripped down and gives the album a strange, almost creepy vibe. I don't quite know why I think it's sort of creepy, but for whatever reason it's there. Maybe because the stripped down production leaves some hard to really define empty spaces under the music and with a certain amount of reverb immerses you in it so that you feel like you're trapped with the band playing right in your face in some sort of large empty room. With headphones at least.

As easy to listen to as this is, it feels like this is a bit hard to really grok in just one sitting, so I imagine that my opinion of the album still needs to be refined before it really becomes intelligible, but fuck it. Trying is for losers.

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