Not what I usually gravitate to, but I def enjoyed a few songs of this! I definitely hear Limbeck, at least in Every Girl. I find that I like a lot of country-tinged stuff (alt-country, I suppose) and some americana as well, but not as much once it passes a certain threshold. This toes the line pretty well, but I still found myself itching to move on during parts. Weird thing is I also feel like I'd enjoy something less pop-forward and more experimental, if that makes sense. When it comes to this genre, I think it's the predictability that hurts it for me. I want it to bend my ear in a certain way and I guess this isn't quite "alt" or weird enough in that way for me.
Thought the Turnpike Troubadours album was a lot of fun. Not something I'd normally seek out, but I'm glad I checked it out. I'll probably throw it on from time to time.
This is fair. Structurally, you aren't usually going to get a lot of swinging for the fences on a country record. It's so much more about the lyrics, the playing, and the voice/melody than about doing anything super interesting musically. That's honestly part of the reason I don't listen to as much country as I did 3-5 years ago; I kind of just got tired of the super traditional song structures. That said, I do think these guys do a lot of cool things within the traditional country framework. If you explore their catalog, there are a lot of recurring characters and story threads (they're kind of similar to The Hold Steady in that regard) and they are such a tight, talented musical ensemble that I find they inject a lot of spontaneity and life into the tradition verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structure.
I enjoyed moments of the Turnpike Troubadours, but I think despite beginning to listen to a little more country in recent years (Zach Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves) it’s just a hit or miss genre for me.
so I guess as usual if by the end of the day they haven’t chosen an album we just go to the next person
My choice is the 70's roots reggae masterpiece Heart of the Congos. It's widely considered one of the best of the genre. Timeless, mystical, lush, entrancing, mood-lifting... it is truly a classic. I recently got deep into this unbelievably rich genre and this stands at the top as my personal favorite -- at least for right now. I keep returning to it, just so damn easy to listen to. A lot of people seem to be familiar with the Marleys but there's so much more to the genre if you dig into it. Some really beautiful and psychedelic stuff. You only need to listen to the first ten tracks here, but feel free to dig into disc 2 of the expanded version (on spotify) bc those tracks are also great. Enjoy!