Corb Lund - Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier!

Corb Lund is obsessed with horses. I’m not sure if every song on this album mentions them, but even “Student Visas,” a haunting song about a US soldier’s experience as a CIA aide to the Nicaraguan Contras, calls upon the soldier’s family heritage in the cavalry, connecting his injury in a shot-down helicopter to the helicopter’s replacement of the horse in some US Army cavalry units. But the horse theme, or perhaps more specifically a cavalry theme, runs throughout the disc.



I don’t know Corb Lund’s personal history with horses—whether he’s a horseman or not—and I’m not trying to question his “authenticity” if he isn’t. His songwriting shows a longing for the the history and freedom symbolized by the horse that I, as someone who cannot ride and wishes he could, find compelling. “Whenever I see horses, it reminds me of what I ain’t. . . . Whenever I see horses, I see a path I did not take.”



Listen:

Corb Lund - Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier



Watch:

Corb Lund - I Wanna Be In The Cavalry



Buy:

From CD Baby

Loomer - Songs of the Wild West Island

Canadian indie-rock/alt-country band Loomer released their sophomore album last fall. I've been listening to it in my car for a while and I've been quite taken by the way they combine the often disparate sub-genres of country music. Instead of focusing on cross-generic synthesis like some indie-roots bands (the proliferation of country/soul around these days, for example), Loomer creates an intra-generic synthesis of Americana, honky-tonk, Uncle Tupelo-style alt-country, and old time. Featuring sweet pedal steel, baritone guitar, banjo, and a combination of sweet harmonies and rough vocals, this album highlights the best sounds from these often separated strands of country music.

Listen:
Loomer - Endless Holiday
Loomer - Anastasia (Live BBC Session)

Buy:
From Miles of Music
From Amazon

Bloodshot Bill

I saw one man band Bloodshot Bill at the Replay Lounge last night. I missed the first part of the show 'cause of work, but the rest was really good. And apparently I look cool enough to work at the Replay 'cause two people mistook me for the doorman since I was sitting kind of near a door that you're not even supposed to come in. Guess they thought I was guarding it.

Well, Bloodshot Bill is crazy and Canadian and plays guitar, bass drum, and high hat all at the same time. He has a new record out in September from punk/psychobilly label Flying Saucer Records. In the mean time he's selling home-burned "limited edition" tour only CDs, which feature some tracks off the upcoming Trashy Greasy Rockin' 'Billy album as well as some tracks that aren't otherwise available on CD.

Bloodshot Bill inevitably draws comparisons to other one-man-bands Hasil Atkins, Bob Log, and Scott Biram, but those comparisons only go so far. Bloodshot Bill leans much more punk than any of these others. If Hasil Adkins started out trying to be Hank Williams' whole band, then Bloodshot Bill is a one man London Calling.

Listen:
Bloodshot Bill - Hide n Seek

Buy:
From Bloodshot Bill