Current Music Blog

The CMT awards aired last night, on CMT I’d assume. Being a Southerner myself, I take particular offense to the candy-coated, over produced, horse shit that sounds more like a Hallmark card than a country song they churn out of Nashville and try to pass off as Southern culture these days. I think it’s safe to say, if Waylon were still around today, he’d rather skip an insulin shot than listen to this drivel.

So, with that in mind, let’s mock some pictures from the event…

I’m not sure if Terry Fator knows it, but that’s a brilliant metaphor for the bullshit, pop-country machine in Nashville.

Ted Nugent doesn’t play country music, but he kills lots of animals by hand, so it’s cool.

“Hi Lady! I like your music because your lyrics speak to me on an intelligence and emotional level I can understand.”

Yup, that’s actually the first time you’ve ever seen product placement used to sell overalls. The Feeks (Joey and Rory’s real last name, not a slur) have a deal with Carhartt. No kidding.

What do you mean, it’s not about the music anymore? Also, ummmmmmmm?

Wow, Shawn Johnson has really grown into her country music phase.

Wow, it’s hard to believe, it was just 12 short years ago, when quarterback Kerry Collins called wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad the n-bomb, and now he’s at the CMT awards. It’s amazing how quickly things change…

“Yeah, me neither. I grew up in an upper-middle class family in the suburbs of Michigan, and I started my career as a rapper, but these people still buy music, so whatever.”

“This here’s a song about how people don’t do the same things as they used to and how it’s a damn shame. It’s called ‘Every Song I Ever Played.’”

(more…)

So, I was on CNN.com/live this morning talking about new music and acting like I wear a nice jacket every day. In case you missed it, here’s what we talked about. (You can also watch it here.)

“Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King” by Dave Mathews Band

First off, how would you like to pronounce that album title on a live feed? Yeah, it kind of flustered me, and I ended up saying the album was “great.” Oops. My bad. The interesting thing about this album is that it’s DMB’s first since Leroi Moore died in a 4-wheeler accident, and the album’s named in honor of and dedicated to him. It’s kind of hard to criticize a record dedicated to a saxophone player who died in an ATV accident… so, umm… let’s just say if you went to prep school in the mid to late ’90s, today’s a big day for you. Basically, if you are interested in this album, you probably pre-ordered it months ago. I didn’t.

“Secret, Profane & Sugarcane” Elvis Costello

Love it. This is Elvis’ return to working with T-bone Burnett, and it’s got all sorts of banjos, fiddles, and standup bass. I’m calling it “the thinking man’s BBQ album.” You can stream samples of the songs on Elvis’ MySpace page. (BTW, f@ck you for streaming 30 second clips).

“Hombre Lobo” The Eels

Best new album of the week. Mark Oliver Everett wrote this album from the POV of a character in his 2001 song “Dog Faced Boy.” A kid who was once a lonely, isolated and shunned dog-faced boy has now grown up and become “Hombre Lobo,” a werewolf. The album’s raw, visceral, guttural, and even emotional. Plus, E howls a lot. Just listen to it, and you’ll totally get that this is a werewolf album. Hopefully it will launch a new genre of Were-Rock, which will hunt down and kill the entire cast of “Twilight.” You can stream the whole album on E’s MySpace page, but you should just go buy it now.

“Roadhouse Sun” Ryan Bingham

I didn’t get to cover this one on CNN, but I love it. I’m a big alt-country fan, which shows my bias. That means I usually deplore anyone who sings in a cowboy hat (except Willie), but Ryan is the exception. He’s from West Texas, so I guess he can wear whatever the hell he wants. You can stream the entire album on Ryan’s MySpace page before you buy it.

Here’s a clip of Ryan playing “Tell my Mother I Miss Her So” off his new album.