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American Central Dust

Son VoltAudio CD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)

Price: $11.99 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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MP3 Music, 13 Songs, 2009 $9.99  
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Product Details

  • Audio CD (July 7, 2009)
  • Original Release Date: 2009
  • Number of Discs: 1
  • Label: Rounder / Umgd
  • ASIN: B0028X6KP6
  • Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,707 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

1. Dynamite
2. Down to the Wire
3. Roll On
4. Cocaine and Ashes
5. Dust of Daylight
6. When the Wheels Don't Move
7. No Turning Back
8. Pushed Too Far
9. Exiles
10. Sultana
11. Strength and Doubt
12. Jukebox of Steel

Editorial Reviews

After spearheading the alternative Country movement with his band Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar pursued his vision with Son Volt, who recorded three landmark albums in the '90s before the groundbreaking artist put the band on extended hiatus and cut three solo records. Now back with his third Son Volt album of the decade, Jay Farrar has delivered what may be his finest work yet. The album exhilaratingly carries on the tradition of the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Little Feat circa Sailin' Shoes, the Rolling Stones of Exile on Main Street and early R.E.M., with standouts like the exceptional 'Down To The Wire', 'Dynamite' and 'No Turning Back'. An epic lament for the heartland, American Central Dust is populated with readily recognizable characters, the most hopeful of them searching for love against a backdrop of rusted road signs and abandoned factories. Rarely does a musical work so powerfully capture the zeitgeist of its historical moment while also honoring the traditions of Rock 'N' Roll with such rawboned grace.

Customer Reviews

It's great at first listen, but gets better every time from there on. TimmyT  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Excellent lyrics and musicianship. Otis  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
Each song speaks for itself and stands alone. John Oakley  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars They Still Have It July 12, 2009
Format:Audio CD
After several listens, I am placing this record just after Straightaways in my "favorite Son Volt" list. Jay's songwriting is in top form, and they've stripped down the production a bit, which is not a bad thing in my book. My only wish is that they had one more growling rocker; however, the record is still excellent. All the comparisons with Wilco are pointless. Son Volt and Wilco are so far removed from each other now, if we didn't know Jay and Jeff were once in a band together, we wouldn't compare them at all. If you are a SV fan, or just like good rootsy music, don't hesitate and buy this one.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A modern classic August 8, 2009
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Son Volt's new album "American Central Dust" is a modern classic and could show Nashville a thing or two about how to play real country music. It says so much with so little, and further proves why Jay Farrar is a musical GENIUS. His band artfully portrays a somber but hopeful view of rural America, its highways, and its industry, and looks deep within themselves to sing about love and relationships. BTW, you won't hear any of the songs on the radio because Jay and company will not go to bed with Clear Channel to compromise the music and sell out.....Radio is afraid of bands like Son Volt.....

Give it a listen....Just Jay's voice, some crying guitar, some steel.....Minimal arrangements, no studio tricks.
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38 of 46 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Jay, back in overalls July 9, 2009
Format:Audio CD
First, I'd pay Jay Farrar a dollar if he quit hanging out with Mark Spencer, a guy who oversaturates every song with unnecessarily bombastic guitar or steel and who pretty much ruined the entire "Live in Seattle" album with freight-train-volume theatrics. Despite having the chops, he flat-out doesn't understand the "less is more" concept when it comes to accompaniment in stark, fragile songs like these. I'd venture to say that this album would have sounded even more Nebraskan (in a good way) if not for his presence, which is pretty obvious if you've ever seen Spencer jam with Farrar onstage. By contrast though is the underrated drumming of Dave Bryson, a guy who makes songs out of skeletons and doesn't need to overplay a thing (but when he does, as in the super fills in "When the Wheels Don't Move", it makes the entire song shake with a forlorn funkiness).

Nonetheless, this here's the "Son Volt" you remember back in the Sigma Kappa days, jamming to "Drown" at the beer bust, thinking you stumbled on the best band in America at midnight at Rocky's Pub somewhere in a beer-soaked room with everyone talking and five people playing music that sounded like a history lesson set to scratchy library Folkways records. Listen to the depth in "Down to the Wire", "No Turning Back", and "Pushed Too Far", three of the best songs to come out of Jay in years, and you're certain you had a nightmare that he tried to "go global" with a bad horn section and doctrinaire lyrics like "war is profit and profit is war". Fact is, this music is the relaxed, direct urgency we'd expect from a guy who has always been comfortable in this landscape, whose desire to "see the world" in other forms would always land him right back here anyway. Jay in a spacesuit didn't mean much to me; Jay in overalls does it every time.

Bonus points for the vibey song "Jukebox of Steel", with bold imagery to boot. It's his best sounding song since "Gather".
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars Like the fourth of July with Vegemite?
"Mother Teresa to the animal kingdom"?
Insightful and poetic lyrics? Who needs em when you got a voice that sounds like river rock rolling in a slurry. Read more
Published 3 months ago by peter fortune
4.0 out of 5 stars SV fan
If you enjoy Son Volt, this stripped down effort is worth a listen. Back to basics, but very well done. Enjoy
Published 8 months ago by Tom S Kileen
2.0 out of 5 stars I guess I just wasn't in the right mood for this one.
Those of you that read my reviews know that I'm a big Son Volt fan. I just kinda picked it up one day reading about Wilco's past, and the previous bands before that (Uncle Tupelo. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Parkansky
4.0 out of 5 stars A bunch of 7's and 8's
Okay, to be clear where I stand ... To me, Still Feel Gone is the best thing Tweedy or Farrar ever did, together or alone, followed by Anodyne, Trace, and Being There. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Brett J. Valjalo
3.0 out of 5 stars Familiar
There isn't anything actually bad about this album, but it doesn't really stand out, either. The songwriting is as good as that of any other Son Volt album. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Dixie Diamond
5.0 out of 5 stars Good God Y'all !!!
The "Search" is over... they hit it , dead center, Again !!!
I bought this on vinyl, and believe that it sounds better than cd. Read more
Published on September 17, 2010 by John Oakley
5.0 out of 5 stars Farrar Returns To His Roots?
AMERICAN CENTRAL DUST is easily one of the year's best releases and, in my opinion, Son Volt's(and Jay Farrar's) best album since TRACE. Read more
Published on June 14, 2010 by Randy
5.0 out of 5 stars "Every Don Quixote Must Have His Day"
I'm beginning to think Jay Farrar has a spiritual kinship with Neil Young, who also waxes and wanes between his acoustic and electric moods. Read more
Published on April 2, 2010 by Jack Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars Son Volt Finally Surpasses Tupelo and Wilco.
This is the album where Jay Farrar finally puts those harsh comparisons to the great Uncle Tupelo down for good. Read more
Published on January 16, 2010 by Stephen Hancock
5.0 out of 5 stars Snuck up on me - as good as "Trace"
I've been on a trip around the entire Uncle Tupleo, Son Volt and Wilco catalogs - after hearing some of this album and Wilco's latest on an alternative radio station. Read more
Published on January 5, 2010 by Richard M. Holoch
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