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The most I’ve loved a pure radio banger in a long time. I can never listen just once. Jack Doyle was recently talking to me about how country music is cool because there’s usually a punchline to the lyrics. This song is a perfect example of that. Instead of writing a classic heartsick lyric like countless other songs, this takes the trope and turns it into something clever, concrete, simple, relatable, all setting you up for a punchline. It’s quite a different approach to writing than something abstract and open to interpretation, and it’s so skillful to me. Kind of blown away by lyrics like this. Nothing against the abstract, we all love that too, but writing stuff like this is hard.
Aug 17, 2023
Related Recs
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Kind of wild that in the same world where Morgan Wallen breaks Ticketmaster with his tour after releasing songs like Broadway Girls and Last Night, Zach Bryan does the same, to the same audience, with songs like Something in the Orange and Heading South. This self-titled album is a great listen front to back, with songs like East Side of Sorrow, talking about shipping off in the Navy and his Mothers Death, and I Remember Everything which is the mega-hit of the album – a truly very catchy little song, performed with legend Kacey Musgraves. I just love that an album like this is taking over the country charts - and even the general charts - while not ever really deviating from the “safe” zach bryan sound of just singer-songwriter over raw instrumentals.
Sep 17, 2023
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I’ve been following the release of Colter Wall’s upcoming “Little Songs” since he announced it back in April, and have found each pre-release single to be beautiful in its own right. Evangelina quickly turned into the song I listen to every morning on my 5 minute drive to drop my daughter off to her daycare. We both love it and I love sharing that with her. Corralling the Blues has proper plainsman twang and a beautiful catchy little riff, but the most recent song For a Long While has the feeling of a song that’ll be in the rotation for years.
Jul 10, 2023
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Colter Wall is a young star in today's Western Music world, with critically acclaimed albums like his 2017 self titled, and work on several TV shows & movies. This one is a mixture of originals and covers. The most notable cover, Big Iron (originally by Marty Robbins — see above), is done in a way to give it new life without feeling like a cop out. You'll be tappin' your toes to the steady drumbeat in no time. If you're looking for country artists to follow who aren't making today's biggest pop-country hits, check him out, and this is a great album to start with.
Oct 2, 2020
Top Recs from @curtis
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If your band name doesn’t have a The in it, I don’t even know what to tell you.
Aug 17, 2023
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Especially late at night, but it works during the day too. I think because you’re not on the move but you’re also not at a destination or at home. It’s kind of like the ultimate in-between state. There’s something very romantic about it to me, and I like other “in-between” settings for the same reason, like airports and rest stops. I think it’s because your thoughts appear more naked to you when you don’t have something familiar around you to latch on to. And you also aren’t in a position to take any kind of action at the present moment, so it’s easier to confront your thoughts. There’s a book called Non-Places: An Introduction to Super-Modernity by Marc Augé that kinda speaks on this. So I’ll recommend that too.
Aug 17, 2023
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Randonautica is an app that generates a “quantumly random” point on a map which you go to. You’re supposed to set an intention, however vague you want, while it generates the point and see what you discover with regards to that intention on the way to the point and then at the point itself. Then you can set another point from the first point and keep this process going as long as you want. I guess it was a thing on TikTok for a while but I swear it isn’t corny. I did it by myself out of curiosity and had a really crazy experience that’s too complicated to explain. No one I told seemed phased by it until I forced my friends to do it when we were in London and we had an equally crazy experience. I know it’s annoying that I’m not giving details but trust me, it’s too complicated to explain. But we found something so related to our intention that kinda freaked out. I love the idea of playing with reality, becoming hyper-aware of your environment, and seeing what’s around you in a different light. Even beyond the eerie metaphysical element, it’s a really interesting way to explore your environment.
Aug 17, 2023