Well I survived Kentucky's worst natural disaster in modern times, and (so far) 3 studio classes. Mixes aren't coming in as quickly as was hoped, but they're coming. Without further ado...
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When asking people what kind of music they like (which I often do ask to people I'm in contact with often), I often get the response "Mostly everything, except country and rap." It's actually very strange how much I do get that response. As hugely popular as rap is, the latter half of the statement is confusing, but the former, is intriguing.
I've had a somewhat strange relationship with country music throughout the years. Until I was around 11 or 12, I was forced to listen to it; growing up in central Louisiana, the south of the south, it was without a doubt the most popular genre of music among most people, especially my aunt and uncle, who raised me. Unlike most, I rebelled against the genre almost instinctively, and later, rationalized my hatred of it. It was a symbol of all I hated about the small town view-point; the idea that it was ok to live in the same place your entire life, bask in your ignorance of the outside world, and scoff at any ideas they might have. The next high school football game was a major event, and hanging out in the taco bell parking lot afterward and revving up the engine in your jacked up F-150 is the after-party. Don't stay up too late though, everyone's getting up early to go hunting. I hated it all, and country music celebrated it. It was always in the background though, as much as I tried my hardest to ignore it. As I got older, and began to study and listen to music in earnest, I realized that country music was one of the only genre's that had devolved from its original style and intent. Most genre's, such as R&B, may evolve into, say Rock and Roll, which might evolve into another genre, or it might stay the same, but get better at showing or saying what it represents. Country music, on the other hand, by the latter half of the 20th century, had assimilated into the ranks of every other pop genre going on at the time. It had lost it's dark and bluesy side, it's deep folk and bluegrass roots, all under the tutorship of such visionaries as Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney and Gretchen Wilson. At the time, I didn't quite understand why that was, and just attributed it to the same reasons why I had hated it in the past. This, though, did help me respect the older, more pure forms of country music, and the ideas they stood for that weren't limited to the sexual attractiveness of one farmers tractor, or the celebration of being a "Redneck Woman". This eventually led me on the search of bands that also appreciated those old ideas and values. I find myself here, now, with evidence that such bands do exist. That's probably not news to anyone, really, but as a side quest, I wanted to find bands that were also progressive. Bands that wanted to take the old style, and take it one step further, bands that obviously weren't happy to be ignorant of the other things going on in the world; at least musically. I found some of them too. The 5th Imaginary Sounds mix, Dust & Diamonds contains 22 songs that represent just a few of those bands. There are quite a few more, which leaves room for more mixes under the same theme. Hopefully this mix will be able to communicate the simple fact that no genre is completely worthless, not even country music.
Ye olde tracklist:
1. 16 Horsepower - Clogger
2. Neko Case - John Saw that Number
3. Ryan Adams - Let it Ride
4. Wilco - I Must Be High
5. Gillian Welch - Pass You By
6. Iron and Wine & Calexico - He Lays in the Reins
7. Fleet Foxes - Ragged Wood
8. Deer Tick - Art isn't Real (City of Sin)
9. Teddy Thompson - You Finally Said Something Good (When You Said Goodbye)
10. Whiskeytown - Crazy About You
11. Son Volt - Windfall
12. Loretta Lynn (with Jack White) - Portland, Oregon
13. Boxharp - All These Deserters
14. The Handsome Family - Weightless Again
15. Those Poor Bastards - Sick & Alone
16. Castanets - We are the Wreckage
17. The White Stripes - Little Ghost
18. Old Crow Medicine Show - Wagon Wheel
19. Slim Cessna's Auto Club - 32 Mouths Gone Dry
20. My Morning Jacket - Easy Morning Rebel
21. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Cursed Sleep
22. M. Ward - Oh, Take Me Back
1 comment:
Nice work, yet again Sonny!
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