quote:

---

Alt.Country

---

quote:

---

kindredbabe wrote:

Alt.Country

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmm...not sure what that means...but I think I'm safe with this:

---

quote:

---

Alt.Country

Among the most interesting responses to the bloated eructations of the corporate culture industry during the course of this decade has been the rise of a nation-wide movement to resurrect the spirit and sound of one of the United States' most revered and maligned musical genres: country. This contemporary movement -- parading under a variety of designations including, "Alternative Country," "y'all-ternative," "Cosmic American Music" -- emerged in direct distinction to the generic, soporific, and formulaic garbage which dominates the country music recorded by subsidiaries of Time Warner and Bertelsmann, heard on hundreds of "New Country" radio stations, and seen on Viacom's newly-acquired Nashville Network.

Alt.Country hails as its icons Graham Parsons, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and Hank Williams, Sr. Its major mouthpieces include "No Depression" magazine published out of Seattle and Bloodshot Records based in Chicago, and some of its better-known artists include Son Volt, Wilco (although with their latest release, Summerteeth (LOL :)), they drift away a bit from the twang associated with alt.country), Blue Mountain, Alejandro Escovedo, and Whiskeytown.

The music generally described as alt.country has a decidedly retroactive predilection. Being defined as "alternative," its mission, on one level, is to defend the tradition and integrity of country music from its inauthentic corporate usurpers, such as Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson. Viewing these artists as blow-dried charlatans who shill for Nashville powerbrokers interested solely in maximizing profits, the good alt.country artist rejects the slick, reverb-drenched overdose and the trite, bromidic lyric in favor of a more unalloyed production sound and a thoughtful, somber story.

In its initial stages, the alt.country phenomenon was wildly successful and its efforts at upsetting the corporate grip on "country" were convincing in many quarters. Artists such as the Derailers, Wayne Hancock, and Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys produced albums which embraced the fiddles, pedal steels, and string basses that spoke to a bygone era of AM radio and honky tonks. Alt.country artists wrote songs which speak to the human condition of trying to get by in a complicated world. Many did this soulfully and honestly, producing some great music.

Interestingly, in the retro-obsessed 1990s where huckster swing bands like the Mighty Blue Kings, Royal Crown Review, and the Squirrel Nut Zippers have attracted the attention of major labels by poorly ripping off the pop music of the 1940s and 1950s, it has been notable that the alt.country crowd has largely been shunned by the powers behind commercial country music. Sure, some artists like the Old 97s and Robbie Fulks have made the jump from the alt.country indies to major labels, but they have been portrayed by their A&R people as "alternative" acts rather than "country" acts and their efforts at producing "alternative" records have been largely unconvincing. Thus, as a cultural phenomenon, alt.country has maintained its oppositional stance vis a vis corporate colonization -- unlike the other "alternative" movement of the 1990s whereby the Seattle "grunge" bands spawned a whole new demographic for the major record labels and Viacom's other properties (MTV and VH1) to exploit.

---

This message was edited by SLASH on 11-18-01 @ 11:10 AM

quote:

---

y'all-ternative

---

Graduated from the now-closed Brokenjaw school for newbies

quote:

---

SweetAngel wrote:

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
y'all-ternative
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Haha. That cracked me up! :)

---

quote:

---

Being defined as "alternative," its mission, on one level, is to defend the tradition and integrity of country music from its inauthentic corporate usurpers, such as Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson. Viewing these artists as blow-dried charlatans who shill for Nashville powerbrokers interested solely in maximizing profits, the good alt.country artist rejects the slick, reverb-drenched overdose and the trite, bromidic lyric in favor of a more unalloyed production sound and a thoughtful, somber story.

---

quote:

---

SyKoFaCcEemannY wrote:

Im sorry SlAsH...

---

quote:

---

SweetAngel wrote:

Here's a little more Garth for you Slash!

---

quote:

---

Garth Brooks Says Goodbye with `Scarecrow'

New York Times Syndicate

I hope Garth Brooks keeps his promise and makes the new ``Scarecrow'' his final CD.

For one thing, it'd be nice to see a superstar ride into the sunset and ``stay gone.''


No Need To Read Any Further ;)

For another, it's a good time to go: ``Scarecrow'' is weak, a 12-song collection that often just reminds us of the singer's best moments.

Over the past decade, Brooks' command of mainstream country has hinged on the big songs - ``The Dance,'' ``We Shall Be Free,'' ``The Thunder Rolls'' - as much as, if not more than, the honky-tonk tunes like ``Friends in Low Places.''

And boy, is ``Scarecrow'' stuffed with songs that sound like the above: ``The Storm,'' ``Thicker Than Blood,'' the concluding ``When You Come Back To Me'' - all misty-eyed, earnest and dull as dishwater. Brooks' problem is that he knows his fans expect these big tunes, and so the songs just get bigger and more overwrought.

And not much better are the opening ``Why Ain't I Running,'' ``Don't Cross the River'' and ``Mr. Midnight.'' And then there's ``Rodeo or Mexico,'' the story of a good ol' boy who goes south of the border, sleeps with a married woman and ends up almost getting gutted by a jealous husband for his trouble. The narrator's ugly viewpoint - Mexico is only good for loose women and making money - is at odds with Brooks' love-everyone/we're-all-humans stance, and the song should have been left off the CD.

Brooks is at his best when he just has fun: Sure, George Jones sings circles around him on ``Beer Run,'' but it's a good-natured party anthem with, naturally, a nod to designated drivers.

Similarly, the duet with Trisha Yearwood, ``Squeeze Me In,'' is a cutie about overworked modern singles trying to find time for romance. And it's hard to find much fault with the slyly fun ``Big Money'' or the ballad (yeah, I do like ``one'' of 'em) ``Pushing Up Daisies.''

But four songs does not a strong CD make, and ``Scarecrow'' is largely an undistinguished effort. When it tugs at the heartstrings and comments on The Big Issues (humanity, family, love), it does so in only the most obvious, familiar ways.

If Garth realizes he's out of tricks, and is serious about retirement, good for him. And if he's just doing it to be the best father he can be, good for him again. Either way, you've got to give him respect for not just going on and on and on forever.

But that doesn't obscure just how mediocre an effort this is.

---