Sebastopol

Jay Farrar | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Label: Sheridan Square Records
• Total Length: 50:25
• Genres:
• ASIN: B002CFUAXI
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,813 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Farrar Meets the Beatles?, April 6, 2005

By 

Robert Ryan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sebastopol (Audio CD)

Nothing in the recorded output of Jay Farrar (Uncle Tupelo through the 3 Sun Volt albums) prepared me for Sebastopol. And reading these reviews, it looks like a lot of people were equally unprepared. One review here calls it an "acoustic" record, while another complains of "shrill electronic sounds"... one seems to only like "Damn Shame" which is very unlike anything else on the record, another thinks "Barstow" is hackwork. Everybody's got two cents and I'm no exception.
I'm writing this in 2005, after "Terroir Blues" and the live records... and at this juncture, I'd say that Sebastopol is one of my favorite records of all time. As far as Farrar's work goes, I think it is second to "Trace" but just barely. What is very cool to me is just how different it is from his other stuff... what interesting stuff Jay can do when he decides to use the studio. Most of his records go for a more raw, "live band" sound which I love. But on Sebastopol, he had the time and money and desire to really use the studio step away from the formula. What he delivers is something that immediately struck me as a record that might have resulted if the Beatles were making Revolver in the 21st century with Neil Young in the band. I've never noticed a trace of Beatles in Jay, but there are moments here that feel like Rubber Soul, Revolver and even things like "It's all too much" from the Yellow Submarine album. And he does it without completely losing touch with the "cosmic American" sensibility that has been his signature.

Almost every song on this disk holds up well. Many are more tuneful and interesting than his average output, and it makes me wish that some of the Terroir Blues cuts had gotten a similar treatment. If you only like the more country edge of Jay, then you might not hang with Sebastopol. If you only like his hardest edged stuff, it might, I suppose, sound too "Pop" ... but if this is Pop, it's what I wish Pop would become. There is nothing "slick" here, nothing silly, nothing gratuitous. I wish the synth-string backing of "damaged Son" was a little less ponderous but other than that, I love it start to finish. And if you get the ThirdshiftGrottoSlack EP and burn your own disk with that following the Sebastopol cuts... (minus the noise tracks which I really don't like) You have a really fine record (and you REALLY hear the Beatles influence on a couple of those). Very listenable, very interesting. Lyrically fine, and well recorded.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More timeless music from Farrar, October 1, 2001

By 

"concertbrian" (Mechanicsburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sebastopol (Audio CD)

If you've made it this far to the point where you're reading reviews to see if you should buy the CD I'll save you some time...Just buy it already! A very solid effort by all accounts. It's nice every now and then to not have to look for albums from the 60's and 70's to find music with actual content and feeling. These songs don't contain alot of catchy choruses or guitar hooks, but they'll grow on you fast and you won't be able to let go. The lyrics are standard issue Farrar, insightful, inspiring, determined, choppy, sometimes melancholy, but never boring. Overall, the CD is more listenable than Jay's last two albums with Son Volt. Two small complaints, all of the instrumentals are very short and don't really add that much to the album...similar to Jodel from Wide Swing Tremolo.....and some of the other songs come in at just over 2 minutes. However, I'm only going to deduct half a point and still round up to 5 stars.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcendental Alt-Country!, September 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Sebastopol (Audio CD)

I have never been as big a fan of Jay Farrar as I am of Jeff Tweedy, and never will...but this album is pretty incredible. Many lame insults are thrown back and forth between the fans of Wilco and Son Volt. There may be some bitterness between the two stars, but how it effects the fans is beyond me. On to the album though...Jay is able to keep up his excellent lyricism and musicianship again on Sebastopol. With a variety of guests, including Gillian Welch on Barstow, this album maintains a solid feeling of hopeful isolation through every song. Farrar paints the picture of a rather desolate world, but puts in his two cents on how to cope with this planet of ours. With the inclusion of the little instrumental segways in between some of the songs, the album almost takes on the feel of a concept LP. Jay has begun to blend in more instruments, such as the sitar and some heavy synths on "Feed Kill Chain," which really haven't been incorporated into the genre before, outside of Wilco that is, and it's an overdue but welcome change. Jay's classic monotone voice is simply haunting in every way shape and form. My personal favorite tracks are the first single Voodoo Candle, Feel Free, Drain, and Make it Alright, but there is not a bad song on this album. If you love Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, and Son Volt or are a fan of great singer/songwriter music in general...it's impossible to go wrong with this CD.