I probably never would have considered including a ‘Country Plus’ category in my musical genome before I discovered Brad Paisley.
The other artists I’m including in that group would still have shown up, but I would have lumped them under ‘singer-songwriters’ or shoehorned them into ‘folk.’ I never would have considered embracing the ‘country’ label.
The next ‘Piano Man’ who occupies a strand of my musical genome is the loved-by-me, loathed-by-everybody-around-me Rufus Wainwright.
Wainwright uses quite a bit of acoustic guitar, not to mention orchestral music and horns, in his music but at heart he is a tickler of the ivories. Look no further than his sixth studio album, All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, which featured nothing but his piano and vocals.
Today we arrive at another of those ‘Oddball’ misfits whose music I enjoy despite the fact that it sounds like nothing else in my collection.
Beck defies categorization not just among my musical preferences but in general. Early in his career, he blended an alternative singer-songwriter style with hip-hop and electronica, but was just as comfortable releasing an acoustic folk album. He followed the kaleidoscopic pastiche of Odelay with the somber mope balladry of Mutations, then shifted gears again with the dance party of Midnite Vultures.
A couple of weeks ago, I singled Aimee Mann out as the poster child for melancholy music. Well, she ain’t got nothing on Elliott Smith.
At least Mann has a dry sense of humor (hell, she even had a cameo in The Big Lebowski). Smith, on the other hand, writes music just perfect for wrist-slitting.
I mean that quite literally — Wes Anderson chose the Elliott Smith song ‘Needle in the Hay‘ for a scene depicting an attempted suicide in The Royal Tenenbaums. Top that, poseurs!
How do you follow Rumours?
Fleetwood Mac released that 1977 classic to universal critical and popular acclaim, and did so on the heels of their self-titled album, which though overshadowed by Rumours, is just as jam-packed with essential material.
In 1979, at the peak of their popularity, and also the peak of the personal turmoil that had become part of their daily existence, Fleetwood Mac released Tusk.
