Under The Influence

Sweet sweet cover of a sweet sweet song. And you can really feel The Smiths in there when you listen to the vocals. It has this great happy little guitar loop that makes the whole thing so special. Wow, 2001! I just assumed it was a recent ditty.

'I would go out tonight but I haven't got a stitch to wear. This man said "It's gruesome that someone so handsome should care"'. mmmmm, Love it.

Mmmmm... beautiful americana. Listening to the final track, I Dream A Highway, and even after 14 minutes I wish it wouldn't end.

It's always hard to tell with these mp3s but it sounds to me like this was originally recorded properly (to tape). The production was actually done by Dave Rawlings (her husband) who can be heard arguing with Ryan Adams about Morrissey singles at the start of Heartbreaker.

Just noticed that I already have a few Gillian Welch tracks in my collection. There are a couple of tracks on O Brother Where Art Thou (including one with Emmylou Harris) and Scala do a cover of New Favorite on It All Leads To This.

Not sure how I've never noticed her work before. It really is very nice.

It was quite some time ago but I recall loving the soundtrack when I watched this movie. I recall really enjoying the movie too for that matter - not sure why I've only just gotten around to getting myself a copy of this. You can't really go wrong with well performed Southern American blues/roots music. Really traditional Mississippi styles.

Obviously there are the tracks performed by the The Soggy Bottom Boys (the fictitious group from in the movie) who I believe are actually some sort of super group in real life (were they put together just for the movie?). As an interesting side note it turns out that there's a basis in fact to some of the events in the clip. Some time back a trio were pardoned by the governor after recording a hit some in prison. God bless the legal system.

About ten years ago (I can hardly believe it's that far distant now) I fell in love with Ruby. There's something about Ruby's off-kilter timing that I really like. Salt Petter had lots of great party tracks on - no, not party - pre-party warm up tracks. She must have released another album after Salt Petter because Waterside is the only track I recognise out of this collection of reworkings.

Queen Of Denial (Chow Remix) is probably my pick of the bunch. It almost sounds like something Air would make - the way it just kind of drifts along with those lazy trumpets. Though there are a few stand out moments. Another listen required methinks.

Can you believe this album was released in 2001 and I've only just gotten around to listening to it? Disgraceful really considering Ænima was one of my most overplayed albums of 1997. I'm not really sure why I let it happen. Silly.

Of course it's good. It's Tool. These guys are like the nuclear physicists of metal. Disassemble the music, understand the music, put it back together to create new things nobody ever thought possible. Their rhythms are always so interesting, wonderful hypnotic patterns set in differing time-signatures for every instrument ensure that the emphasis is constantly shifting. Then after much suspense everything slots back into place with a thud (half way through Triad we see the effect executed perfectly).

God, I'm so far behind the times. I have another Tool album to catch up on now - at least Lateralus provides something of an assurance that it's bound to be good.

Hard rocking Brits. You know the sound - much like other 4 piece rock acts that the UK has been churning out over the last few years. These guys do have a bit more of a lo-fi edge to them, which is nice (I get sick of rock being scrubbed and polished to the point where you can almost see your own reflection in it). They definitely seem to like making noise. The recordings have a live sound to them which is another bonus. Lots of tambourines too. I like tambourines.