Top Fifteen Cosmic American Albums - Newer Faces

We took a look at ten of my favorite Cosmic American albums from the late sixties and early seventies here .
Now let's check out what the current generation have to offer with this selection of albums. Some artists are deserving of more than one placing, but I've stuck with just the very best title from each artist to keep a bit of variety.
For the selection process for this list I worked on only including albums released since the nineties ( so no Long Ryders ), and only selecting artists who seem to be heavily influenced by those on the previous list ( so no Fleet Foxes, Joanna Newsom or the like ).
I hope you find something new and interesting here, and as always feel free to post your list in the comments section - I'd love to hear anything I've missed and hopefully discover something listworthy that I haven't heard before.


15. Darker My Love - Alive As You Are ( 2010 )
Darker My Love's third album largely drops the shoegaze influenced psychedelia of their earlier releases in favor of a more rootsy approach awash with more traditional psychedelia. Backseat has the casual lope of vintage JJ Cale, while other tracks evoke the Grateful Dead, either through their titles ( Maple Day Getaway ), or their rickety Jerry Garcia guitar leads ( almost every other track ). The end result isn't a hundred miles away from Blitzen Trapper's approach.

14. Justin Townes Earle - Midnight at the Movies ( 2009 )
Son of Steve and named after the great Townes Van Zandt, Justin has some pretty big shoes to fill.  Refreshingly, unlike so many famous sons he doesn't sound much like Dad, even though he draws from the same well of inspiration. His cover of the Replacements Can't Hardly Wait is an inspired choice which shows his roots, but he's equally at home invoking the spirit of Hank Williams on the great title track. Definitely one to watch.

13. Deer Tick - The Black Dirt Sessions ( 2010 )
John J. McCauley III's voice is an acquired taste with a nasal buzz that seems to turn as many away as it attracts, but I find it highly effective. The album has a rough around the edges charm which makes me think of Exile on Main Street, although musically it's quite different. It's quite varied, from the mock calypso of Choir Of Angels ( better than it sounds ) to the stark piano balladry of Christ Jesus to the quite glorious Wilco-esque The Sad Sun there's something for everyone, and everything for this particular someone.


12. The Decemberists - The King Is Dead ( 2011 )
Quite a departure from the Hazards of Love's Fairport Convention meets Deep Purple approach, this is pure Appalachian Americana, tempered with a very keen awareness of pop smarts. Unfortunately the Decemberists have a habit of recording albums which sound slight on first listen, but grow rapidly in stature after a few listens and this is a good example of this. I eventually revisited it, after months of viewing it as a disappointment and it's revealed itself to be quite a gem. This is How We Fight is a total anthem, and guests Gillian Welch and David Rawlings feature prominently throughout and help give this the ring of authenticity.

11. Maggie Bjorklund - Coming Home ( 2010 )
This is a fabulous obscurity that deserves a lot more exposure. Backed throughout by Calexico and featuring guest vocal turns by Mark Lanegan and Jon Auer, it's a mystery as to why this hasn't been praised more highly elsewhere. Bjorklund plays a mean pedal steel guitar and Calexico's distinctive accompaniment give these majestic, windswept beauties a sense of grandeur I haven't heard since Calexico's Black Light. Stunning stuff dripping with tumbleweed atmosphere.

10. Grand Drive - Grand Drive ( 2003 )
Before forming Danny & The Champions of the World, Danny George Wilson led this prolific and highly under rated group. This release is a compilation of the best moments from their first three U.K albums, and is realistically one of the only ways you're likely to pick up this material now until their back catalogue gets the reissue treatment it so rightly deserves. Fans of the Jayhawks and Whiskeytown will fall in love with this stuff immediately and gems like Wheels have such a timeless sound to them, you'd swear they'd been around since the sixties.

9. 16 Horsepower - Secret South ( 2000 )
Wonderfully dark and apocalyptic appalachian here, with David Eugene Edwards coming across like Nick Cave's lost bible-thumping brother. Covers of Wayfaring Stranger and Dylan's Nobody 'Cept You are the weak spots, but Edwards own material is powerful stuff with vivid imagery and a forboding sense of doom not for the weak hearted. At times it approaches the claustrophobia of Joy Division's Closer, but impressively never loses sight of it's roots.

8. Blitzen Trapper - Furr ( 2008 )
Blitzen Trapper have come a long way from their Pavement inspired roots, and this is their most Americana informed album which effortlessly flits from quirky Beatlesque pop ( Sleepytime in The Western World ) to the hushed murder ballad Black River Killer to the quite wonderful Dylanesque title track. They seem to be a bit too diverse to fit mainstream tastes but the adventurous will find much to savour here.

7. The Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea ( 2008 )
A great album that's always on high rotation with me, this has a major Johnny Cash feel to it on tracks like What Is Not But Could Be If, but also finds time for the hilarious Lou Reed inflected San Francisco B.C ( which also reminds me of Hamell on Trial, if anyone remembers them ), and the heartbreakingly sincere We Could Be Looking For The Same Thing. Great stuff, and a perfect balance between the fun and the profound.

6. My Morning Jacket - It Still Moves ( 2003 )
It took me a few attempts to click with these guys, but when I did make the breakthrough I fell big time for them. This is the point where Jim James and Co. found the perfect balance between his angelic reverb laden vocals and the band's proclivity for drawn out Crazy Horse style jamming. Mahgeetah and Run Thru rock righteously, while Golden is one of the most lovely ballads in their catalogue, perfectly underpinned by quite possibly the most gorgeous steel guitar I've ever heard.

5. The Felice Brothers - Tonight At The Arizona ( 2007 )
The Felice's first properly distributed album ( outside of the U.S anyway )is still their best to me. The Dylan and the Band influences are most apparent here, but that doesn't bother me. I'm a firm believer in quality songwriting winning out over originality and this album has it in bucketloads, coupled with wisdom that belies their tender years. Roll On Arte sets the template for Frankie's Gun, albeit in a more downbeat fashion, while Hey Hey Revolver and Lady Day satisfy on the ballad front. The raucous live version of Take This Hammer captures all of the spontaneous energy of their live show and suggests that this perhaps is the medium they have the most mastery of?

4. The Jayhawks - Tomorrow The Green Grass ( 1995 )
Along with 1992's Hollywood Town Hall, this is impeccable, perfectly crafted country rock, wonderfully played and sympathetically produced. Marc Olson and Gary Louris' harmonies slot together perfectly to form something totally unique. I like to imagine it's the sort of thing that Hank Williams had in mind when talking about 'that high lonesome sound'. The songs are top drawer too. If anyone can explain to me why Blue wasn't a huge radio hit I'd be very grateful. Miss William's Guitar isn't far behind either. Heavenly.

3. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot ( 2002 )
Coming after the Brian Wilson referencing Summerteeth, this was a bit of a shock to the system for me, but after much perseverance this has become one of my favorite albums. Jim O'Rourke's sonic trickery bathes the album in a peculiar sonic hue which should have dated by now, but still sounds totally fresh. Tweedy's ricketty guitar leads on the infectious I'm The Man Who Loves You are inspired, while Jesus Etc and War On War are sweet pop gems of the highest order. Now, if only they'd included Venus Stop The Train, this would probably have hit the top spot on the list.


2. Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker ( 2000)
Although the following album, the Elton John inspired Gold is undoubtedly more fun, Adam's appropriately titled solo debut has a depth he hasn't matched since. Raucous opener To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) captures Dylan's Thin Wild Mercury Sound, but from there on in it's haunting acoustic balladry all the way. The Emmylou Harris duet Oh My Sweet Carolina makes him sound more like Gram's ghost than anything else he's ever recorded, and is matched quality wise by almost everything here.

1. Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther ( 2006 )
An unusual band with a very deliberate recording process which sees themselves reinvent themselves with each album, this is an album I've heard compared to a lot of bands. The closest comparison I can think of is Radiohead's OK Computer, performed through a filter of Neil Young and Fleetwood Mac's Rumors, although that makes it sound like Grandaddy, which it most certainly doesn't. And that's the sort of album this is, one that defies logical description and effortlessly merges genres that shouldn't be able to comfortably coexist. Opener Roscoe has an infectious chug, simple, great guitar work and a chorus to die for, while Young Bride is the tenderest of ballads. One album that deserves all of the hype surrounding it.

Top Ten Cosmic American Albums - The Old Guard

Gram Parsons coined the phrase Cosmic American Music to describe his mixture of folk, country, gospel and rock and roll.  Since then numerous others have taken up the mantle to continue his legacy. Whether you call it Alt-country, Americana, No Depression or the Old Wyrd America, here's a look at ten of the best of these albums released from the first wave in the late sixties and early seventies.







10. Jake Holmes ( 1969 )
A totally under rated gem this. Holmes evolved from mild psychedelia ( he wrote Dazed and Confused, famously 'borrowed' by Led Zeppelin ) to full on country rock as best evidenced here. His back catalogue is treacherously patchy, but if you can find a copy of this on LP you're on safe ground.  Great songs and excellent steel guitars. Recommended.

9. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River ( 1969 )
Lots of huge singles on this one ( Bad Moon Rising, Lodi, Green River ), but it's the album tracks which really cook here. Tombstone Shadow and Sinister Purpose simmer away with their dark, swampy voodoo vibe, Commotion is a raucous barnstormer and The Night Time Is The Right Time veers into uncharted soul territory with a particularly strong vocal performance from John Fogerty.

8. Gene Clark - No Other ( 1974 )
After jumping ship from the Byrds Clark released a string of classic solo albums that while neglected at the time, have been re-evaluated and given the respect they deserve since. No Other is the most ambitious and successful of these albums, with huge production values, clever arrangements and some of Clark's strongest songs in Silver Raven, Some Misunderstanding and Strength of Strings in particular. White Light, Roadmaster and With The Gosdin Brothers are all gold too.

7. Brinsley Schwarz - Silver Pistol ( 1972 )
Most well known for writing ( What's So Funny 'bout ) Peace, Love and Understanding as made famous by Elvis Costello, Brinsley Schwarz were a damn fine country rock band in their own right. The Brinsleys cemented their reputation as the English equivalent to the Band with this classic LP. Nick Lowe's title track gets my vote for their ( and his ) best song, and new singer / guitarist Ian Gomm's One More Day isn't far behind. Tight musicianship, earthy harmonies and excellent organ and guitar work are all present and accounted for. English Cosmic Americana is a bit of a mouthful, but the Brinsleys are totally deserving of their place here.

6. The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin ( 1969 )
Excellent longhair country and some of the best Cosmic American tunes ever recorded right here. Gram Parsons took Chris Hillman with him when he left the Byrds and their shared love of country music resulted in this. Sin City, Hot Burrito #'s 1 & 2 and Christine's Tune are rightly celebrated, but their reworkings of soul classics Do Right Woman and Dark End of the Street are just as appealing.


5. The Band ( 1969 )
The Band are the epitome of Cosmic Americana and this, their second, shows them at their very best. From the rural funk of King Harvest ( has surely come ) to the instantly recognizable Night They Drove Old Dixie Down this is the ultimate musical distillation of the Old Wyrd America.

4. Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding ( 1967 )
Recorded after, but released before the Basement Tapes, this was the first new Dylan that anyone had heard since Blonde on Blonde and it must have come as a bit of a shock. No one would have expected this sparsely recorded collection of biblical allegories and rambling folk stories, an album unlike anything else in Dylan's catalogue and one of his very best. Backed only by bass and drums and his own acoustic guitar and harmonica, the focus is very much on Dylan's voice here and it acquits itself admirably. All Along The Watchtower is just the tip of the iceberg.

3. The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo ( 1968 )
The Byrds jumped headfirst into country rock with the addition of Gram Parsons to their line up. The older country crowd were unimpressed with these impudent youngsters jumping on their bandwagon, leading memorably to the writing of the later Byrds classic Drug Store Truck Driving Man, but looking back it's hard to see what they found so offensive - of all the albums on this list this is the most traditional and respectful of the genre. A classic for those with a taste for hard core country.

2. Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead ( 1970 )
American Beauty tends to get most of the plaudits from the Dead's country rock period, but I prefer Workingman's Dead which is a much more roughly cut diamond. The impeccable harmonies on Uncle John's Band  and rollicking boogie of Casey Jones are smooth as silk and act as a nice counterpart to the grittier lament of High Times, with one of Jerry Garcia's most affecting vocal performances. Highly recommended and not necessarily what you'd expect if you're only familiar with their more psychedelic material.

1. David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name ( 1971 )
One of the most unique albums of the seventies, this is a dreamy multitracked vocal soundscape with impeccable arrangements and heaps of superstar guests ( Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Grace Slick, Jerry Garcia etc. ) . Garcia shines, with his steel guitar on the wondrous Laughing being particularly tasteful, but despite the huge amount of guests, this is very definitely Crosby's show with tracks like Orleans and Song With No Words stamping his authority on proceedings. An exceptional album, that is totally unlike anything else you'll ever hear.

Wow this seems to have stirred up a bit of controversy. I should point out that this list represents my favorite albums and is intended to represent my views only, and hopefully encourage a few people that haven't heard these albums to check them out.
Lots of people seem to think that Gram Parsons 2 solo albums should be on here, and they're right to a certain extent - they're both great albums ( even though I generally prefer the live versions of these songs from the 1973 live album - more controversy no doubt ). In the interests of diversification however I've left them off so that other artists can get a little coverage. And I prefer Sweetheart and the first Burrito's album to those albums, so they are here to represent his excellent body of work. That's just a personal preference.
As is my decision to put David Crosby at number one - the other decision that's riled many. It's my favorite album on this list so it's exactly where it should be.
I'm always interested to hear other's lists so let me know what your top ten would be in the comments section, and remember it's all in good fun.
I'll be interested to see what I've missed.
I'll be looking at the younger generation soon, It'll be interesting to hear what people think of those choices.