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Today's Transgender Day of Remembrance Honors the Dead
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Friday Afternoon Diversion: Earth With Rings
Today Bloodshot Records releases a 2-disc set commemorating existing for 11 years and Chicagoist is for one very excited about it. This isn’t the normal run-of-the-mill retrospective that repackages music previously released by the label. The 42 songs on For A Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records are new and previously unreleased. Sure, the old, reliable Bloodshot artists are there: Bobby Bare, Jr., Waco Brothers, Old 97s, and Kelly Hogan to name a few, but they’ve also added some of the friends they’ve made along the way, such as My Morning Jacket, Mary Lou Lord and the Handsome Family.
Bloodshot prides themselves on not defining the music scene, but rather taking a snapshot of it and going from there. Is it insurgent country? Or is it bluegrass or punk? It reminds Chicagoist of the ESPN commercial where the announcer asks the Canadian hockey player what kind of cheese he has on his sandwich and he responds “American.” And the sports announcer says, “That’s right. American cheese.” This is American music, goddammit. That’s it – American and there’s nothing better.
Not to be left behind in this fast-paced world, Bloodshot is now podcasting. There will be different hosts, music, interviews and general nonsense. We congratulate and thank Bloodshot Records for their first 11 years and are looking forward to the next eleven!
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Interesting. I had thought Bloodshot folded long ago. Their bands always seemed a bit formulaic and derivative to me.
Bloodshot had/has some great musicians and singers, but so much of the Bloodshot music, along with the much of the Bloodshot/alt-country scene, seems watered down or slavishly imitative. Why listen to a singer who sings almost exactly like Patsy Cline unless you are interested in nostalgia? Why be around hipster cowboys who can't tell Hank Williams Sr. from Hank Williams Jr.? Bloodshot seemed like a bold idea a decade ago. Now it's like a tired dog.
Why listen to a singer who sings almost exactly like Patsy Cline unless you are interested in nostalgia? Why be around hipster cowboys who can't tell Hank Williams Sr. from Hank Williams Jr.?
Maybe you should listen to some of the Bloodshot catalog, because I'm looking at the past year or so of releases, and honestly cannot find anyone who fits the above description.*
Thanks for the comments.
*Disclosure: I work for Bloodshot.
Just cooler-than-thou BS. The hipster cowboys and Hank Williams comments made no sense whatsoever. And if you actually listen to the albums, Bloodshot has put out some pretty diverse stuff.
Fulks? Split Lip? The Sadies? Alejandro? Yeah, they all sound the same and are so 'derivative' (read sarcasm).
I know there's a whole alt-country backlash in vogue right now but Bloodshot has some great artist in and out of that genre:
Graham Parker, The Detroit Cobras, Alejandro Escovedo, My Morning Jacket, Nora O'Connor, The Handsome Family, Devil In A Woodpile, Mary Lou Lord, The Meat Purveyors, and Robbie Fulks just to name a few.
Eventually you're going to wear out those Hank and Patsy records and you'll look for someone else to carry the torch. That's why people seek out new artists. This kind of music so rarely finds an outlet, it's nice to know there's a label out there that gives a damn.
Amen, Mr. Smith. It's not as though you're hearing Robbie Fulks on the dial. Jesus Christ -- he doesn't even get the support he deserves from XRT as far as I'm concerned.
By the by, just as ridiculous are people who constantly feel the need to term ANYTHING as "derivative." The hipsters need a new cutdown. And fast.
All music is derivative. Terming something derivative these days is a way of knocking something you yourself didn't discover. So you crap on it and feel cool. The Replacements were so derivative of the Stones. Big Buildings are so derivative of the Replacements. Blah blah blah.
Wow, what a rock-snob cock thumping contest this is. I got an idea, let's all go out for some sausage and buiscuits and tell us some jokes.
Canadians are Americans.
So are Brazilians and Argentines.
I like Patsy Cline. I think I'll listen to her now.
All music is indeed derivate. Some just more than others.
You are right: Fulks is great, Handsome Family, too (and they put on a good show). Alejandro is good enough for the iPod, but he's not really offering anything that grabs you by the gut. O'Connor has a great voice, as does Hogan, but their best songs/performances seem to be covers.
Actually, if get past your wounded feelings--and your apparent assumption that I'm a hipster--maybe you can see what one of the points I'm trying to make: Many Chicagoans who follow this whole Bloodshot/alt-country scene seem pretty ignorant of the roots of this music. They seem to think twang and bluegrass are recent inventions. and wouldn't be caught dead with a Bill Monroe record. Does that make such fans evil people? Not really. Does that make me a snob? Most likely. Am I cooler than thou? Well, probably cooler than M, but not Mr. Smith, whose indignation carries a bit more class.
And I just thought that it was great that a truly independent label has made it as far as they have...
i run an unofficial yahoogroup called bands_on_bloodshot_records. i'm also a huge music fan and have been accused on more than one occasion of being a "bloodshot-lover" on other music mailing lists i subscribe to.
that said, the comments by a lot of the people here are riddled with inaccuracies and generalizations to such a dismaying degree that i felt like i had to say something.
i got into bloodshot via one of the first bloodshot compilations, then heard the Old 97s and it has been a slippery slope ever since. through my love for the stuff i've discovered via bloodshot, i've learned more and more about music, be it current and historical, bluegrass, stone country, blues, rock, alt, etc.
for all you non-dipshit hipsters out there, take a chance and check out the newest bloodshot comp. but be warned, once you dip your little toe in the sea, there's a vast ocean of wonderful music out there waiting to be discovered.
oh yeah, bloodshot is one of the good guys. you might want to save your vitriol for the people who deserve it, like out of touch multi-national conglomerates that run record labels nowadays and expect tweens to cough up $18 for a new ashley simpson cd.
jeepers, it's like children eating their young or something... dang kids nowadays!
erika
Erika: Tell my ears suck and I know nothing about music. Tell me I can't get my facts straight. But don't tell me I shouldn't criticize Bloodshot merely because it's not one of the corporate leeches. Why is that a typical response in this city whenever someone says something negative about a Chicago band or label? I'm not a cheerleader for local music. By the way, I think we have the same early Bloodshot experience, so it's not like I'm saying Bloodshot is the antichrist. Man, such sensitive people.
hey, criticize who you want. i responded because it seemed really uncool on the part of some of the people commenting to take a celebration -- which is what i see this bloodshot comp to be -- and turn the comments into a bashing session.
and i usually read gothamist, cause i'm in nyc. so this isn't exactly a typical response.
rah rah siss boom bah!