A-fucking-men!Hank Snow wrote:are we really having a Mermaid Ave vs New Multitudes discussion? That's even more ludicrous than Wilco vs Son Volt.
Tim in Chapel Hill
I agree that this song certainly ranks very high up on Jay's greatest songs list. Just beautiful, and one of his absolute greatest vocal performances.turpentim wrote:I think it's top 5 in Jay's entire catalogue. And that's saying a lot. I get chills every time I listen to it.Left A Slide wrote:My God, "Hoping Machine" is fabulous!
Tim in Chapel Hill
I agree with the review...and seeing how bad my occasional typos are, I'll let the extra u in Guthrie slide...magazines and newspapers don't hire proofreaders anymore...or so it seems.sturgeongeneral wrote:from the 'for what's it worth dept.' rollingstone review(3 stars)
"Making séance music from dead singers' notebooks is now a familiar songwriting practice, and this session, spearheaded by Jay Farrar, taps the same source Jeff Tweedy (his old Uncle Tupelo partner) took with Billy Bragg on the two Mermaid Avenue LPs: Woody Guthrie's fat verse archives. Four singer-songwriters tag-team in a folk-rock vein, and the high points are when voices unite; see the title track and the Jim James-led "Talking Empty Bed Blues." Elsewhere, dudes sound like themselves, but with mouths full of Guthurie's wit and soul."
the part that got me was the last sentence, 'dudes sound like themselves' jay never sounded more like himself than here........and.....the spelling of 'guthurie'
Thanks, El Caballo... I am indeed shamelessly (over?)excited. 'Rightfully stoked' is how I might put it.el caballo loco wrote:Tim in Chapel Hill brings some outstanding perspective, recommendations & opinions to this board. Calling anything from New Multitudes in the Top 25 of Jay's catalog is simply rooted in overexcitement. I like what I hear. Let's settle down now.
-1sturgeongeneral wrote:please allow me to state first and foremost that i respect the opinions expressed on this message board. taste in music is ultimately a subjective determination. and i, as much or more than anyone, am guilty of premature adulation of jay's efforts. and, i must confess that i have of recent become lukewarm to my initial hot iron sizziling reception of all things jay.
however, with all due respect to tim, i have great difficulty with the top five award given for the song you speak of. i mean, we are talking about a vast catelogue of expressions from jay that will live two days short of eternity, i.e., windfall, too early, streaets that time walks, left a slide, strands, creosote, tear, high water, criminals, ten second, etc., etc.
so, with the humility that i truly deserve, i cannot embrace or nominate what i have heard as being the best that jay has produced to date. it is, in my opinion, a distant second to what he and anders created with gob iron. and, i am not confident woody would give the nod to jay and the gang versus what tweedy and the brit achieved all those years ago.
but, all of the above must be taken into context because i have been listening of late to mountain and moby grape. and, intersecting with new orleans nu funk and zydeco.