flashback

rummaging through stacks of old cds.. the 1993-96 period is particularly interesting..if you're read my blog before you know i feel the 1994-1995 period was the last gasp of rock'n'roll so far.. i like to think i have open ears but lately i'm not hearing it in american rock'n'roll... .... i guess its been long enough that cds from this period are old and you can look at them with some perspective..

gbv frontman's first solo lp, not in my airforce, confirms its status as a classic...its such an underrated album.. surely because of the lack of hype/promotion that accompanied it partly due to pollard's releasing new albums with gbv so fast at the time this album passed under the radar but its really a classic.. and its pollard's softer masterpiece.. more acoustic work.. shreds of songs that hold up.... the albums "ash grey proclamation" track is a complete classic in my opinion...pollard autobiography coming out soon btw.. not sure how i feel about the bio..

other classics i've been digging are uncle tupelo's anodyne (scratched to hell and skips right at the point where jay farrar shreds his guitar on chickamauga-if you've heard it you know what i'm talking about. .if not run to your store and buy this album- but still mp3s just fine.. thank you jesus) which together with johnny cash's "american recordings" and hank williams greatest hits -opened up country music for me, nick cave's "let love in" which together with his live record "live seeds" opened up the dark universe of cave, and ween's 12 country greats (recorded almost exactly 10 years ago to the day) which fit in perfectly with my nascent interest in alternative country/country/good music and confirmed to me ween were more than a goof/laugh act.... its interesting how few of the songs on 12 country greats see live airplay..did you know charlie mcoy who plays on 12 country greats played, among other albums, on dylan's "nashville skyline"?

the ten year test is a key test for music. .if it holds up it confirms the album has enough weight to get past the period from which it arose....if an album passes the ten year test its got a shot at being a classic..