THE VOICE OF ENERGY




musings on music

Click HERE for my Muxtape.

Click HERE for my Flickr photostream.

Best Albums of 2008

1. Rings - Black Habit
2. V/A - Como Now!: The Voices of Panola County, MS
3. Hercules & Love Affair - self-titled
4. Matmos - Supreme Balloon
5. Portishead - Third
6. Kevin Ayers - The Unfairground
7. Clinic - Do It!
8. Corespondents - Hairy Ghost Pipefish
9. Chumbawamba - The Boy Bands Have Won
10. Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)

recent writings

Nurse With Wound
Paint & Copter
Portland Cello Project
Hypatia Lake
King Louie
Pink Widower
Peter Moren
Feral Children
PDX Pop Now Festival
Corespondents
LSD&D



    the publications i write for

    Blurt
    Burnside Writers Collective
    Dagger
    DVD Corner
    Junkmedia
    LivePDX
    LivePDX Music Blog
    LivePDX Movies Blog
    The Oregonian
    Relevant Magazine
    Stylus Magazine
    Performer Magazine
    Willamette Week

    the writers i admire

    Andrew Beaujon
    Andy Beta
    Chunklet
    Joshua Clover
    Robert Christgau
    John Darnielle
    Andrew Earles
    Sasha Frere-Jones
    Lalita Ham
    Hua Hsu
    Michaelangelo Matos
    Matt McKechnie
    Susan Miller-Josselyn
    Adam P. Newton
    Philip Sherburne
    Simon Reynolds
    Luc Sante
    The Wire/The Mire
    Douglas Wolk
    Wow & Flutter




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    Aug 2, 2008
    The country gentleman

    Somehow, and I'm not entirely sure how this happened, my record collection became overtaken by country & western and bluegrass albums. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as I am a fan of both genres, but it isn't like I've been buying or been bequeathed with a collection of western swing 78s or rare Hank Williams singles or anything.

    No, my shelves are now cluttered with mid-'60s to late-'70s country records featuring a bevy of old guard Nashville stars holding their credibility and stardom in a death grip and a few newcomers that, while not pushing any boundaries, settle into the modes and mores of their chosen profession like a broken in pair of boots.

    The situation here at the house just got a little more interesting as my father-in-law just brought over a box of about 150 - 200 albums handed over to the (as he refers to me) "family music archivist." I pulled out about half of the records for keeping, as the rest are well worn easy listening classics, collections of showtunes and a ridiculous number of Christmas albums. Simply put: your basic mid-to-late 20th century working class home's record collection.

    Also not surprising considering the original owner - an electrician by trade who loved casinos, fishing and traveling the countryside in his RV - there were a great deal of country records stuffed into this box that was dropped on my kitchen table.

    I'm thinking as I listen to this Ferlin Husky album with the frightening, frightening cover art of using this opportunity to reintroduce the idea of reviewing these records one by one. Something akin to the A.V. Club's "Box of Paperbacks" blog entries. It will not only force me to listen to each one of them and argue for or against it, but it will keep me updating here on a hopefully regular basis.

    I'm going to try to do it on a weekly schedule and tackle a couple at a time, but please don't hold me to that, my two regular readers. I am merely one man with a full-time job, a host of freelance work and a one-year-old son. Time is of a premium here, but I will do my best.

    Expect my first report soon, though.


    Currently listening to:
    Instrumentally Yours, Hank Snow




    Posted at 01:28 pm by adoinel

    Lalita
    August 2, 2008   07:31 PM PDT
     
    And a wife! Don't forget, she demands your time too.
     

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