I've been on a Country kick all week, picked up some amazing artists on the way too, here's my top 15 for this week:
01.
William Elliott Whitmore - 49
I love this guy's voice and simplistic song structure as well as his lyrics. If I had one major banjo playing influence it'd have to be him, he's just so ****ing cool.
02.
Elliott BROOD - 43
I can't go a week without playing at least one of their albums, or in some cases, all three in a row.
03.
The Peculiar Pretzelmen - 37
One of my new artists of the week and my ****ing god where have these guys been all my life! They're an incredibly dark cabaret with some serious
Tom Waits inspired vocals and lyrics. Seriously check these guys out, srsly.
04.
Busdriver - 37
His new album dropped this week and despite my best efforts to obtain it legally, the ineptitude of music stores in this town further assuaged whatever guilt I felt for downloading music. About 3 full listens to really absorb his new album, I'm diggin' it.
05.
Gruvis Malt - 35
Every so often I just get a real graving for these guys. They're smooth enough to relax me, but progressive and funky enough to hold my attention, a rare mix for some artists.
06.
Haunted George -29
Another one of my new finRAB and I'm still on the fence on these guys. Their sound is really creepy, which is awesome, but I think it's a little too raw for country music. However it's really cool sounding if you're in the right mood, something you'd totally expect to hear in a Tarantino movie while the main character is trippin' balls on heroin.
07.
Rykarda Parasol - 28
Yet another one of my new Gothic Country artists. With an appearance and a voice that kind of reserables
Nico it really puts her in a place above other artists. She's clearly attractive enough to let that rule her music, but she's got some serious chops, a great song writing style, and some pretty interesting guitar riRAB. Great find for me
08.
Rehab - 27
I really love these guys, ever since I got "Grafitti The World" back in 2006. They prove that rap-rock can be a good genre when done right. While addiction really does tend to be the only focus on their music (gee they met in a rehab clinic, I wonder why
) Regardless, they're an absolute wonderful group that if you haven't heard of before, I would seriously recommend you go look them up.
09.
Luther Wright & The Wrongs - 27
One of my all time favorite bluegrass groups. From Kingston Ontario Canada, these guys' first album was a complete re-doing of
Pink Floyd's "The Wall" in a bluegrass tone. Toe-tappingly addictive and fun, I think this may be the album I pass out on Tuesday.
10.
Curtis Eller's American Circus - 26
Told ya I was on a huge country binge this week. These were another one of my new groups, and my god how I've been going on without them is beyond me. What makes them really stand out is the inclusion of history in their lyrics, a subject that makes me giddy like a school girl. Some great banjo work by
Curtis Eller as well.
11.
The Bad Things - 26
Apparently these guys were the most similar group to
The Peculiar Pretzelmen according to Last.fm. While that's not far from the truth, their music didn't touch me in the same way that
The Peculiar Pretzelmen did. That said, they're in no way bad, in fact... comparred to a lot of other groups they kick the **** out of the competition. Best part was their albums were available for free from amiestreet.com at 320 kb/s
12.
16 Horsepower - 24
One of the older Gothic Americana groups emerging from Denver in the mid to late '90's. I really haven't given these guys enough of a chance as I've been so distracted by some of the newer artists. That is my loss however as they're totally incredible, the song "Black Soul Choir" owns my ****ing soul.
13.
Ghoultown - 21
Yet another one of my newer artists from this week. They have a real nice rockabilly sound, however the production value on the vocals is a little weak, almost making them inaudible. Regardless of that, I can say that I really enjoyed their album "Tales from the Dead West", terrific driving music.
14.
Bohren & Der Club of Gore - 21
I have a feeling these guys are forever more going to remain in my top 15. Their sound is just so smooth and easy to listen to that it really makes writing a lot easier. It's so hard to say anything more because it's just background noise, but good background noise.
15.
Gruf The Druid - 19
Ahh Gruf... I cannot go more than a fortnight without spinning his one and only album. Incredibly cryptic and catchy, you often find yourself pulling your hair out trying to interpret the lyrics. For fans of
Buck 65 and
Aesop Rock
