The Good …
Dave Rawlings has been known and respected for a good few years for his work with Gillian Welch. Although they were a duo, Welch was the singer and her name appeared on the billboards. Now the roles have been reversed as Rawlings takes his turn as the front man. The result is another beautifully composed collection of folk/country Americana. But the sound on A Friend of a Friend is a little different from a Gillian Welch album. Whereas they found that stripped down sparse arrangements suited Welch’s voice, this didn’t fit Rawlings so well, so they brought in a few friends, with members of the Old Crow Medicine Show playing on mountain fiddles and banjos. There isn’t a weak track on the album and the songs have a timeless quality to them. Five of the songs are Rawlings/Welch compositions; To Be Young was co-written by Rawlings and Ryan Adams; there is a cover of a country blues song by Jesse Fuller; and also a medley consisting of Conor Oberst’s Method Acting and Cortez the Killer by Neil Young.
Buy A Friend of a Friend on Amazon
The Bad …
Country and hip hop music were never meant to be together. Like Sarah Palin and Michael Moore …
So fans of hip hop music, you better look away now …
“Most country folks sing, but I couldn’t so I’m rapping”. Colt Ford from backwoods Georgia doesn’t have Timbaland or Missy Elliott producing his records. “It wouldn’t be authentic,” he says. If authentic means getting the backing music to sound like a bar band then authentic is certainly is. Add to the mix Ford’s own distinct lack of vocal ability, and what you get is a karaoke version of rap. If you were being unkind you could call it country music without the singing.
In fairness, Ford probably does have a certain authenticity in the eyes of his fans. He may not have ever lived in a trailer like the subject of one of his songs (he had a brief unsuccessful career as a PGA golfer). But the songs he sings about the lives of cowboys and truckers are as credible if not more so than millionaire rappers who try to convince us of their connection to their “ghetto” or “hood”. Unlike rappers who brag about their bling and their expensive cars, he presents himself as “a 300-pound country boy who shops at Wal-Mart”, whose tastes seldom stray beyond women and cold beer.
To his fans Ford offers uncomplicated good time music. To the ears of many urban music lovers this music may sound excruciatingly bad. Here’s a sample of what his lyrics are like : “Go on and spread the word we about to have a ho down / It’s a party at Colt crib baby come by / You wanna saddle up I’ll give you one try”. The lines are from Saddle Up, which also features a large number of Yee-Has. For his second full length album, Ford has released a live album which includes 10 of the 14 tracks from the previous album Ride Through The Country.
Buy Live From Suwannee River Jam on Amazon
And the Outlandish …
Play video : Mike Edison and the Space Liberation Army – I Walked With a Zombie
In this brilliant, outrageous and funny video Mike Edison gives us his pro-meth amphetamine holiday message. The repeated chant at the beginning and end of the song is taken from Roky Erickson’s I Walked with a Zombie. The spoken middle section is pure unadultered Edison.
This is not at heart an ironic song, though it makes use of irony for example in calling on us to copy the example of rock stars. Edison seeks to entertain, but he also believes what he is saying. On his website he describes himself as “the former publisher of High Times, a Hustler and Penthouse scribe, the former editor-in-chief of Screw magazine, and a professional wrestler of no small repute. He is the author of 28 pornographic novels, and has written extensively on music, sex, drugs, and various arcane hedonistic pursuits, of which he holds secret knowledge.” Last year he published a colourful autobiography entitled I Have Fun Everywhere I Go: Savage Tales of Pot, Porn, Punk Rock, Pro Wrestling, Talking Apes, Evil Bosses, Dirty Blues, American Heroes, and the Most Notorious Magazines in the World. He is credited with the memorable quote “Wrestling is the only sport where you can kick a man when he’s down.”
Get free download of Mike Edison’s holiday message
Buy I Have Fun Everywhere I Go on Amazon
