I've compiled my own playlist (The Cream of Jay Farrah) and if I subtract the covers (including, according to Apple Music, "Ain't No More Game" (sic) and a couple of Tupelo songs played live, I have 50 songs. I think Trace is perfect, so it's all there. Still, I have 20 original songs from the post-SV.1 period, and didn't have any problem picking them. "Honky Tonk" is my least represented, just with Shine On. I guess I'm not a Bakersfield fan. Right now.unchartedthickets wrote:Thanks Tim. We both have the same idea about Jay Farrar. I fumbled around trying to figure out how to phrase the problem I have with some of the comments on this board regarding Jay’s output of late. I feel like "Nostalgically Dysfunctional" fit in terms of your perfect reading - "...the myriad of folks who still long for some mythical lost version...".turpentim wrote:Thanks for this, uncharted. "Nostalgically dysfunctional" is, without question, the best description — nay, diagnosis — I’ve heard for the myriad folks who still long for some mythical lost version of Jay Farrar. The man is pumping out brilliant record after brilliant record; alas many of the dyed-in-the-wool will not be able to acknowledge or enjoy that fact until these latest records themselves retreat into some distant and irrecoverable past.unchartedthickets wrote: ... if you weren’t well acquainted or nostalgically dysfunctional ...
Tim in the ATL
It refers to this idea that Jay or Son Volt isn’t good any more because the songs lack the same quality they had in the 90’s. ‘Mid Tempo’ and ‘History Lessons’ keep coming up in negative feedback. There’s a myriad of folks who would disagree with the negative comments too. I keep changing my mind about Jay’s songs, and I like that. There’s something new to hear. To me, as someone who has written their fare share of songs on boomboxes, 4-track cassette, adat, and hard-drives...the new songs speak in similar ways. They come from the same heart, mind and hands as the old songs. Seeing the band tare through over two decades of work is astonishing. Hearing the new songs next to the old songs "sounds like heaven".
Off the new one, I've included The 99, Devil May Care and The Symbol. But I could have added The Reason and When Rome Burns, too.
Personally, I think the Farrar/Parker songs on New Multitudes are stellar. I even considered knocking something off of my top 100 album list to accommodate. But am holding off for now.