Customer Reviews

Terroir Blues

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As Steve Earle says at most of his shows before he plays one of Jay's songs, Jay Farrar is one of the finest songwriters in the country. And Terroir Blues is one of his best albums.

This album is a collection of songs Farrar wrote around the time his father was dying. The lyrics deal with pain, loss, cherishing the past and looking toward the future. And as with most of Farrar's work, a look at the American landscape, both it's beauty and bleakness, as only he can. Musically, most of the songs feature Farrar's acoustic guitar strumming, accented by Mark Spencer and Eric Heywood's slide guitar and lap steel. There's a beautiful piano based song about Farrar's father called "Dent County." One song features a cello, another a flute, each winding its way alongside Farrar's guitar and incomparable voice. "Fool King's Crown" features a funky electric slide sitar. The album also has 6 short electronic interludes Farrar calls Space Junk that help shape the album. At worst, the space junk doesn't bother you and is over before you know it. But I think it breaks up and adds to the album nicely and keeps a solid flow all the way through.

The songs on Terroir Blues are not feel good country rock. But they have great hooks and melodies all the same, and finely crafted tunes. Terroir Blues grabs you at first listen and gets better and better the more you play it. It's an album that demands to be heard on a good set of headphones.

I have to laugh at a couple of the reviews I've seen posted here so far. Someone who says to be a longtime fan of Farrar's work says Jay has hit rock bottom with this one. There seems to be a few old Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt fans who don't want to hear anything from Jay that's not exactly like his great work with those bands. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but to give this album 2 stars and to say Farrar has hit rock bottom is a joke. It's a great album. I like it as much as Son Volt's "Trace."

And another reviewer complains that he looked up the word "Terroir" in the American Heritage dictionary and can't find it. Terroir is a French word that is not easily defined but a fairly close definition is the delicate balance between nature and man. That's much of what the album is about. This is music that hits you hard, touches your soul and makes you think.

Near the end of the album there are 4 alternate takes of songs heard earlier. To me, this is just a great bonus. Instead of having to find these takes on a B-side or on the Internet, they're right there on the album to do what you want with.

The worst I've heard about this album from anyone without an agenda is that they either liked it but didn't love it at first - or that they didn't know what to make of it all at first listen - but that it's the kind of album that makes you want to spin it again and the more you listen to it, the better it gets. I agree it gets better with each listen, but it grabbed me right away.

Comparisons between Farrar and his former partner in Uncle Tupelo, Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, are getting old and tiresome. The only comparison worth mentioning anymore is that both are responsible for some of the best American music the last dozen years or so. Bottom line, if you like Farrar's work in Tupelo or Son Volt, you should get Terroir Blues.

Okay, I admit this is the first I've listened to Jay in quite some time. I think I lost interest sometime after "Trace" when I felt like he was just spinning his wheels. If anything, the buzz about this being a more "experimental" release (which seems to have ticked off few people) is actually what brought me back to give this a spin. Truth be told, Jay's experiments here aren't anything earth-shattering (some backwards effects, a few odd echoes here and there, and some alternate takes), but just the fact that he's willing to put forth such a raw effort is heartening. There are some truly beautiful moments here. The sparseness reminds me some of UT's "March" album, but still feels like a move forward. Not necessarily an easy listen, but why should it be? Overall, I like it. Its true that this one isn't likely to win many new converts, but that's only because a lot of people unfortunately probably won't ever get to hear this.

Maybe this isn't quite what people who have too many expectations about what "alt country" "should be" are into, but who cares? This is a great album and it's gonna end up being one of my top favorite albums of this year! I couldn't believe the overall negitve tone of some of the reviews I've read. I think that the previous stuff this man has put out is all good enough to last me a very long time, and I really respect the fact that he dosen't seem too interested in rehashing/reusing the same old moods and sounds. This release proves to me that he is extremeley versatile and a very adept creator of music. If I want "SV" or "UT" then I'll go listen to them! Because I have intrests in a wide variety of music, I won't wear that stuff out for a very long time. It will nourish me for years to come. Farrar is the man because he apparantley can create a musical box, then step outside of it and into another one. All the while retaining his own voice and style. Just like all the masters of Rock, Jazz, and the Folk and Classical musics of the world have done and continue to do.
That being said, the main reason why I like this album is because of the sparse, dark, cold and far away quality of the music. The overall texture, timbre, and feeling of this album really reminds me of the John Lennon song "Across The Universe". When I first listened to this one I got a sneaky feeling that Mr. Farrar might have a vacation home that is a large sattelite/small space station and that he might be broadcasting this stuff down to us on Earth from it.
Coming from an individual who is deeply into Sun Ra, psych and space-rock, the seemingly dreaded "Space Junk" couldn't be more desireable. In my outtawack opinion it really adds a lot to the mood and overall quality of the album as a whole. But then again, I'm not an expert on what "alt country" should and shouldn't be (I'll leave that to the musicians who create it). And I have to mention that this is gonna make incredible winter time listening! Thanks Jay!

OK, so when I heard this album the first two-three times, I was feeling just as the other skeptical folks do. This album sounds more of one theme or motif than any of Jay's work; it is no doubt unified, even if in depression. There are songs that would be throwaways if not for their heartfelt nature - esp. "Cahokian" and "California." And, yes, it is disappointing to read that many of the songs are reprises of earlier tracks.

But, I would ask you to put on your headphones when you're just surfing or thinking or - as it should be heard - driving the highway at sunset, past empty spaces and broad vistas. While this has always been true of Jay's music (It SOUNDS right in the journeying sense), this album is made for it.

"Terroir Blues" really does unfold as a letter to people who are loved, lost and beyond reach. When you hear the varied readings of "Heart on the Ground" and "Hanging on to You," it's just like you thought about your old girl, did some hard work, then startin' thinkin about her again, in a new, different state of mind. Happier. Sadder. More composed. Trembling.

The emotions of this album are real, even if occasionally overwrought. But that's Jay anyway. The beauty is hearing it as a piece, as an honest and authentic conversation with common folk. As a piece of a musician that cares to bare the soul.

You are here because you've come to appreciate Farrar's work. Since he blew up Tupelo, he hasn't made an album that was short on lyrics, musicianship or vocals. He's the real deal. So why are you here? You're not into top 40 nonsense, you're looking up Terrior Blues. Buy it and understand the background. Its Jay's second full-length solo, studio album since taking hiatus from Son Volt. Its 2002-2003. He's going through the passing of his father as well as the birth of the second of his two children. This album is subdued, not somber. Start with Dent County, the 15th track. No one can write about the passing of a father and capture the essence of a man in as few words and as dignified as Jay. To winemakers, "terroir" evokes the mystical melding of light, water, soil, air, and human touch that creates a wine unique to its origin. Dent County is in Missouri, where the Farrar family comes from and Jay's father was born and buried. Put the rest of it together.
Then open your mind to tracks like Hanging on to You, Hard is the Fall..."shaking the hand of the ramblin' man from Montgomery"...a reference to Hank Williams, whose hand his father once shook...No Rolling Back..the last three recorded in different ways...judge the album in its entirety only after you understand the context of these songs...fillers like Space Junk as well. Its about life, our existence...If you don't get Terrior, keep trying. You will.

In the seemingly waning years of the Alt-County 'movement' (whatever that is) -- the break-up of Blue Mountain, the Elton John-ization of Ryan Adams, the pop devolution of Jeff Tweedy etc. -- only a few have held the course. With this album Jay Farrar proves that he remains one of the few artists capable of producing timeless, sincere melodies true to the American roots movement. 'Hard is the Fall' and 'Dent County' are soul-stirring drink Bourbon and stare inwards classics. 'Cahokian' and 'California' are Farrar lyricism at its best. Buy this album and get lost in it. It has reigned supreme on my CD turntable since its release.

Thank you Jay for not giving in to any expectations before going in to the studio. It's nice to hear an artist that can make music for the sake of music and not record the same songs over and over again. I admit I didn't know what to think of the album at first. It was different from the last album by far. It took me a couple of listens to get to know the songs, and after that...well, I can't get the cd out of the player. I have noticed that albums that take a couple of listens to get into, usually have more long-term staying power than albums that catch you right off the bat. i.e. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. (tell me that one isn't different...)
After seeing Jay live again last week, I was re-affirmed in why he is one of my favorite artists. He is a no-frills artist that writes songs from the heart and not from the wallet.

This record is not for all the SUV-driving, McDonalds-eating filth infesting this country.

But--- if you have any regard for your civilization, and if you understand what's at stake right now, you'll come to revere this album. It's the best record of the year, bar none: Farrar stares down a junk culture that welcomes self-destruction, invasion, assimilation; eulogizes its once-noble past; and offers an eloquent tribute to the only community that really matters, the family.

On the other hand, if you're a media-educated, self-loathing person--- and so many of you are,--- you'll find this album befuddling. The ironies of a song like "California" will zip over your head like so many July-fourth bottle-rockets.

Glue that cellphone to the side of your head, Walmart-americans. You don't need to hear this. It's already too late anyhow. Chatter away on borrowed time.

Grow up, stop comparing, and start listening. This is a very moving, rewarding album. And I echo the reviewer who emphasized that songs are not repeated, they are reinterpreted.

As for the Space Junk, this kind of composition is venerable by now, hardly experimental. Varèse was composing in the 1920s (um, like, that's almost a century ago), Stockhausen and John Cage in the '40s and '50s. Complaining about it now is like complaining about modern art. Illiterate.

If this music does not reach you, than I am not sure what you expected from Mr. Farrar in the first place. For me, this is Jay's finest outing; whether you compare it with Uncle Tupelo or Son Volt, this music is more honest, more beautiful, and despite the warm traditional delivery, more original.
Other reviewers misleadingly refer to songs which are repeated. These are alternate versions, with powerfully different feelings. The two versions of 'Heart on the Ground' are a perfect example. These are not the same song, they are two different views of the same stark emotional idea.
This is an album which should be listened to straight through. The 'Space Junk'sections are meant to be in opposition to the rest of the album, clensing your pallet between courses. What better way to reflect on earth-bound songs (terroir is a French word meaning dirt, or earth) than to interrupt them with space?
If you are looking for a few good tunes, look somewhere else - this is architecture on a grander scale.