Customer Reviews

For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records

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This solid 42-song collection of odds 'n' ends from the good folks at Bloodshot Records consists of the expected alt.country twang 'n' tears, but it contains a few great out-of-leftfield surprises as well. Among the expected highlights are the gorgeous "Do You Want To Go Somewhere?" by Richard Buckner, the solo acoustic "Behind That Locked Door" by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, the rollicking "Two Way Action" by Nora O'Connor (with the help of Andrew Bird), and "I'd Be Lonesome" by the Old '97s - all of them perfect examples of the best of Bloodshot's genre. And there's other great tracks by the Bottle Rockets, the Minus 5, Graham Parker & the Figgs, Andre Williams & the Sadies, John Doe, Crooked Fingers, Mary Lou Lord, and Kelly Hogan, but the leftfield stuff is, if not exactly better, then just a lot more fun. Bobby Bare Jr. handles the Jane's Addiction classic "Ocean Size", Dollar Store twang-ifies the Soft Boys' "I Want To Destroy You", the Waco Brothers check in with the Bobby Fuller Four (by-way-of the Clash) chestnut "I Fought The Law", Porter Hall TN throws the Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died" against the wall, and the Yayhoos brilliantly rock up the O'Jays' "Love Train".

Sure, there's a little bit of chaff. But while you're picking through the 42 tracks for your favorites, you might find a another keeper along the way. For me, it was the Deadstring Brothers. I'd never heard of them before, but their song "Where Are All My Friends" is fast becoming one of my faves of this year. So who knows what you might find?

I'll get right to it: this Decade retrospective doesn't even touch Down To The Promised Land in terms of quality. The tunes present on this comp aren't all garbage, but there IS a LOT of garbage present, and the good stuff is good in an odd toss-off sorta way (Call Of The Wreckin' Ball) that only truly stands out when solid tracks surround it. I mean, if a Soft Boys cover is carrying your compilation, then it's not a great compilation. Don't get me wrong, i love Bloodshot as much as the next guy (and i love em a lot more than Pitchfork) but the brutal truth is that a LOT of folks are trying to do the "alt-country" thing these days, some for better & many for worse. This comp seems to play to the watered-down quality of where the genre (if it exists) has been heading lately. Flash back to 2001 and a lot fewer folks (and a lot less Indie kids, thankfully) cared about this sorta thing, so those doing it were doing it from the heart, and Bloodshot gained success by being a great vehicle for that heartfelt musical release. Now, with each new Bloodshot record, they seem to get lost amidst a lot of "me-too" bands and novelty crap. Maybe when the trend dies down and the truth remains then Bloodshot can shock the bejeezus out of me with a mind-blowing 15-year comp that makes me forget this one. But until then, this is blatantly mediocre stuff.

This is another great mix of alt. country by Bloodshot Records and with 42 songs on two discs you are guaranteed to find quite a few songs you will love and maybe some artists you haven't heard of before. There are great originals and cover songs just like when Bloodshot released "Down To The Promised Land: 5 Years of Bloodshot Records". You get Wayne Hancock & Hank III doing "Juke Joint Jumping" together and it can't get much better than that. You also get songs by The Meat Purveyors, The Bottle Rockets, Old 97's, Split Lip Rayfield, Bobby Bare Jr, Scott H. Biram to name a few of the big names on here. This collection might not be quite as good as "Down To The Promised Land", but still well worth having.

Not as good as the last compilation but still worth having if
you're a Bloodshot fan.
Favorite song: Two-Way Action (can someone recomend an entire CD of this stuff?)
Least favorite: There's a few that are even worse than my local country station plays, and they're not even being ironic!
Well, that's probably too harsh. I'm still ready to move to Chicago.