This page is part of an opinionated overview of "alt.country" music, with record reviews by me, Joe Sixpack... Naturally, it's a work in progress, and quite incomplete, so your comments and suggestions are welcome.
This is the second page covering the letter "W"
Ben Weaver "El Camino Blues" (30/30 Industries, 1999)
Ben Weaver "Hollerin' At A Woodpecker" (30/30 Industries, 2002)
Ben Weaver "Living In The Ground" (30/30 Industries, 2003)
Ben Weaver "Stories Under Nails" (Fugawee Bird, 2004)
Yawn. Big yawn. Someone somewhere -- oh, wait, it was MOJO magazine -- tagged this guy as a "hillbilly Leonard Cohen..." I guess everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but maybe them pasty-faced fellers over at MOJO should stick to reviewing wanky Britpop next-big-things, and leave assessments of twangy Yanks to us folks on this side of the Atlantic. 'Cause this disc is stone cold boring. It's a guy who can't sing, can't really play the banjo, and who writes painfully lame, painfully tame, incredibly flat, obvious lyrics. This is one of the most torpid, pointless records I've ever heard. It's really bad. You can skip it. Trust me.
Ben Weaver "Blueslivinghollerin" (2005)
Ween "12 Golden Country Greats" (Elektra, 1996)
High-concept, uber-eclectic indie rock band Ween go slumming in Nashville, paying the old-school elite of Music City's studio musicians to back them up on a crude, crass, genuinely grotty send-up of commercial country and cowpunk conventions. Buddy Spicher, Pete Wade, Hargus Robbins, Charlie McCoy and even the Jordannaires are on hand to deliver rock-solid (if possibly unsuspecting) accompaniment. While I do like Gene and Dean Ween's regular weirdo rock records, and I can appreciate the meta-joke of this album's creation, I gotta confess I wasn't that into the end result. I mean, yeah, it's kind of outrageous and scandalously funny the first time you hear it, but these musical poo-poo jokes don't really hold up... Or at least I don't see myself humming along to them for years and years to come. But if you just want to mock country music and shock yourself by listening to such wicked music... well, go for it, dude!
Mark Wehner "That's The Way That It Goes" (Hayden's Ferry, 2003)
Don't be fooled by the butt-ugly artwork; this disc actually has a few nice, alluring tunes on it, lacing acoustic instrumentation with a folkie-honkytonk vibe. This understated album won't knock down any walls in Nashville, but it has a gentleness and individuality about it that I found appealing. A real guy making the record he wanted to make, with Shaver-esque, growly vocals and low-key arrangements. The title track and "Remember I Love You" were particularly nice.
Gillian Welch - see artist discography
Kevin Welch "Kevin Welch" (Reprise, 1990)
Kevin Welch "Western Beat" (Reprise, 1992)
(Produced by Harry Stinson & Kevin Welch)
Welch's second album for Warner Brothers, and his last for a major label, before co-founding the independent Dead Reckoning Records with several alt-country cohorts... This starts out a little on the glossy side, with a couple of overproduced tracks that have a Daniel Lanois-ish sheen to them... But it grew on me. Welch has a sincerity and directness -- and an earnest doggedness -- that can win you over. There are obvious nods to the Dylan-derived school of alt-country poets, a style that can sound wearying, but that works here pretty well... The highlight here for me was the album's most overtly country-sounding song, the forlorn, heartfelt "Happy Ever After (Comes One Day At A Time)," but once that comes along, I'm inclined to like anything else I hear on the album... And, by the end, I'm ready to say this is a mighty fine record. I guess Reprise dumped Welch as a lost cause... Their loss; indiedom's gain. But this disc is certainly worth tracking down...
Kevin Welch "Life Down Here On Earth" (Dead Reckoning, 1995)
Kevin Welch "Beneath My Wheels" (Dead Reckoning, 1999)
Kevin Welch & Kieran Kane "11/12/13: Live In Melbourne" (Dead Reckoning, 2000)
Kevin Welch "Millionaire" (Dead Reckoning, 2001)
Kevin Welch "Live Down Here On Earth" (Shock, 2003)
Mike West "Interstate 10" (Binky Records, 1997)
Mike West "Econoline" (Binky Records, 1997)
Mike West "Redneck Riviera" (Binky Records, 1997)
Mike West "Race That Train" (Binky Records, 1999)
Mike West "16 Easy Songs For Drill And Banjo" (Binky Records, 1999)
Mike West "Home" (Binky Records, 2001)
Mike West "New South" (Squirrel Records, 2002)
Getting increasingly tweaky and off-kilter, West takes the conventions of country, folk & bluegrass, stands them on their head, and asks them to recite the Pledge Of Allegiance in Latvian. I'm speaking metaphorically, of course -- there's actually no Latvian involved in this kooky all-American outing -- but hopefully the metaphor will help give an impression of just how weird, and how compelling his music can be. The opening track, "Dixie," lays out the parameters of this album... In it, a barroom singer relates the tale of how he threw a drink at a local patron who wanted to hear the old Confederate anthem -- West is a Southern boy, but he holds no truck with all that rebel flag redneck crap. Then, in song after song, he spins out the oddest story-song lyrics this side of Terry Allen or John Hartford; his deft character sketches, oddball delivery and unexpectedly catchy melodies should all hold your attention. This is an innovative, engaging and thought-provoking album... one of the most interesting new country rekkids I've heard in a long while!
Mike West "The Man Who Could Fall Backwards" (Binky Records, 2003)
Mike West "Oddities And Rarities" (Binky Records, 2003)
Mike West "Cornbread & Caviar" (Heartland, 2005)
Mike West "Ordinary Man" (Cowtown, 2005)
Mike West "Cowtown Playboy" (Cowtown, 2005)
Alt.Country Albums - More Letter "W"
