Mary Chapin Carpenter - state of the heart

What is your favourite album ever? Its a common question to ask in musical circles, and it is a very difficult one to answer correctly. Its easy to throw in answers like the White Album or a Birdy Song Megamix but to truly say what is your favourite album EVAH and not just what is the current flavour of the month takes some thought. And i have given it a lot of thought, and this is it.

So why is it so good? The songs for a start. Accomplished and polished songs like "Quitting time", "Never had it so good", "This shirt". Great song writing and great production. The more you listen to it the more you find to enjoy about the album. Especially Carpenter's voice, to this day i've yet to find a singer whose vocals i like as much. I guess it also reminds me of my late teens when i first bought the album on vinyl back in 1989. And i've loved it, and her, ever since.

Striking Matches - nothing but the silence

Its country, its rocky, its bluesy, its also pretty damn good. This debut album from this duo crosses over genres with a fresh, invigorating yet also sometimes fragile sound and a collection of well written and performed songs. "Missing you tonight" is the stand-out track, beautiful melodies and harmonies mark this track out as something really special.

Their album also includes some pretty nice guitar work too, as on "Hanging on a lie" with its energy and sass. Its a really good album, apparently they appeared a lot on the TV show Nashville, well i haven't seen it but them being on it would indicate the show was worth watching...

The Shires - brave

British country music? Well there is, and has been a lot of it over the years but lets be honest a lot of it has been... well lets not beat about the bush... crap. Enter duo The Shires to change all of that, instead of tenth rate copying of Nashville favourites or band members trying to drown out each other comes a polished, professional and slick collection of tunes.

The Shires inhabit very much the modern pop end of the country spectrum and of course do songs about drinking but with their very well matched voices they also produce some moments of beauty, "Made in England" is a great song and includes references to fish and chips, so is awesome by default. "Nashville grey skies" and "State lines" have some great melodies. Forget what horrors you may have heard in the past, this is British country, this is so now and this is also pretty damn good.

Larkin Poe - kin

A very enjoyable country rock album, starting with the energetic "Jailbreak" and moving into the rollicking and robust "Don't" its an album of fine singing and fine playing. The best song is probably  "Sugar high" with its excellent catchy melody but there are plenty of good tunes on here. Its a fine album though seems lacking... something.

Maybe it just needs a bit more soul or heart and is a bit too slick. However listening to it in the car on a sunny day (as i did earlier) can't be beat and it magically comes alive. So just add sunshine... and tarmac.

MV : "Missing you tonight" by Striking Matches

Nice video and song.

Mike Nesmith & the First National Band - magnetic south

From 1970 Mike Nesmith's first solo album after leaving the Monkees and a superb musical treat it is too. The early 70s saw one strand of 60s psychedelia morph into country rock and this album is an early example of that. Its at once harking back to the past and looking forward, steeped in Americana. "Joanne" is a highlight, a sweet country ballad. "Mama nantucket" also rollicks along complete with yodelling!

MV : "Peace, love & Dixie (Planet Rock Live Session)" by The Cadillac Three

Some good old boys here.

MV : "Don't" by Larkin Poe

I like this band which have recently come onto my radar.

MV : "Yellow butterfly" by Michael Nesmith

Post (and during of course) The Monkees Michael Nesmith released some wonderful music, but this is one of the best.

MV : "Make me change my mind (KEXP Live)" by Zoe Muth

Love this version.

Zoe Muth - world of strangers

High quality country tunes which tell compelling stories in the best traditions of the genre. Each song is a snapshot of life with a solid and highly enjoyable backing. Zoe sings like someone who has seen it all and now sings about it with a world weary shrug. "Little piece of history" is a superb opener that shuffles along appealingly, the swaggering "April fool" and the totally infectious "Make me change my mind" stand out but the album as a whole wins.

Kacey Musgraves - same trailer different park

Tales from middle America, modern country music indeed and very well done. The songs like "Silver lining" and "Follow your arrow" and simple yet effective, evoking a feeling of hope amid the confusion of modern life. "Merry go 'round" has a lovely banjo led melody that matches the melancholic feel of the song perfectly.

The album has a good mix of styles though on the whole is pretty easy tempo and has plenty of high lights, "Blowin' smoke" has a tasty honky tonk vibe. "Back on the map" is laid back and multi-textured. Its not alt-country as such but intelligent mainstream and very enjoyable indeed.

The Byrds - younger than yesterday

A tasty mix of country rock and psychedelia, "Younger than yesterday" was The Byrds' fourth album and is packed with interesting songs including the opening pop tastic "So you want to be a rock and roll star" but its only the start of a fine collection.

"Renaissance fair" locks into some lovely psychedelic grooves. The Dylan cover of "My back pages" is simply superb with typical Byrds-esque harmonies. Its an album of many layers with so much to appreciate.

MV : "Grey riders" by Hearts Of Oak

Great song off their new album.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - stones in the road

Mary Chapin Carpenter's fifth album was one of her more commercial releases and indeed has been her only country chart #1 to date. You can see why though with songs of the calibre on the album, such as the infectious and catchy "House of cards" and the reflective and nostalgic title track.

The big hit "Shut up and kiss me" is a stylish hoe-down but like the rest of the album expertly combines mainstream accessibility with intelligence and style. Sometimes the majority are right and they were with this modern album.

The Grateful Dead - workingman's dead

Recorded in 1970 at a time of great turmoil for the Dead, the band hammered out this album in quick time amid the drug busts and being ripped off. The album moved the band into country rock territory and introduced harmonies and layered vocals to the Dead repertoire. As such its a perfect 1970 album, a celebration of country, folk and Americana.

Laid back and rooty, "Uncle John's Band" starts the album off in fine style. A highlight of the album though is the bluesy "New speedway boogie", a lovely shuffle of a song. "Casey Jones" is driving that train, high on cocaine. What a great way to start a song!

The Byrds - ballad of the easy rider

The eighth album from The Byrds from (late) 1969 was tied into the film "Easy rider" and leads off with the theme song "Ballad of Easy Rider" though most of the album has little to do with the film actually though helped rise the album's (and the band's) profile. A return to form and a cohesive album after a period of turmoil in the band the album has a number of lovely country rock and psychedelic tracks.

Its also a varied album, the folky title track followed by the rockier and even a bit funky "Fido". "Oil in my lamp" is a beautiful piece of period psychedelia, razor sharp guitar tunes punctuating the sweet country rock harmonies. Great song as it is the following "Tulsa County" is even better, a superb country track.

Another highlight is the laid-back and reflective "Its all over now, baby blue". Its a cohesive and assured album full of beautiful tunes, the sound of the end of the 60s, the sound of the frontier.

The essential Mary Chapin Carpenter

Of course its essential to us as Mary Chapin Carpenter has our favourite voice in the whole world. Yeah we've been fans of her since we were 18, and thats a long time ago. The Berlin Wall was still up (just) for a start. So this is a compilation of the Columbia years, her older material up until the mid-90s and there are some seriously good songs on here.

The wonderful country-rock of "Quittin' time" for example, a song thats never grown old to these ears despite being listened to like millions of times. The beautiful "Long way home" with its simple yet effective message. "Halley comes to Jackson" is also a terrific song, and its a song about Halley's Comet no less!

There are a couple of songs that are probably missing but thats the same with any compilation covering a long career and a hatful of albums. But its a great album and is indeed essential. But we could have told you that for decades.

The Byrds - sweethearts of the rodeo

"Sweethearts of the rodeo" is a highly influential album from 1968, it saw the Byrds develop a full country rock sound and was one of the first major label albums of its type. The album bought recent band recruit Gram Parsons to the fore and while commercially unsuccessful it is considered a highly influential album, even inspiring the band name of 80s country act Sweethearts of the Rodeo.

But is it any good? Actually its brilliant though it is pretty uncompromising in its love of country music, if you don't like that genre you might find the album a bit hard to get into. This is no parody or post-modern smug fest, they meant it maaaan.

The cover of Bob Dylan's "You ain't going nowhere" is a wonderful opener, the steel guitars searing through. "This Christian life" is as back to basics as you can imagine. "You don't miss your water" has wonderful harmonies.

Overall its simply beautiful music. Its the sound of the saloon doors, honey tonks, rodeos and the frontier.

Bob Dylan - Nashville skyline

Bob Dylan goes country. After experiments with country roots music on earlier albums he went full on Nashville on this, and a fabulous album it is too starting with a duet with Johnny Cash no less. "Girl from the North country" is a straight-ahead sparse yet atmospheric country rock classic.

Bob's voice was very different on this 1969 album, one of a number at the time that helped country-rock develop a flourishing fresh genre in the early 70s. Vocals somewhat warmer and more gentle than before, Bob often adopted a crooning style of singing. "I threw it all away" is a reflective heart-felt track, simple rootsy music.

"Lay lady lay" is the album highlight, steel guitars helping generate a wonderful psychedelic swirl.