Album: “A Retrospective 1995-2000 [Digipak]”

Description

Includes 5 previously unreleased tracks. <p>Son Volt: Jay Farrar (vocals, guitar, dulcimer, harmonica, keyboards); Dave Boquist (guitar, lap steel guitar, dobro, banjo, violin); Jim Boquist (piano, bass instrument, background vocals); Mike Heidorn (drums, percussion). <p>Liner Note Author: Ed Ward . <p>Recording information: 1995 - 2000. <p>Just because Wilco ended up getting all the press and the Jim O'Rourke hipster cred, that doesn't mean Son Volt should remain forever destined to be the "other" Uncle Tupelo spin-off band. In fact, hardcore UT fans should feel a strong attachment to the latter, as they stayed closer to the spirit of Tupelo's post-modern country-rock. RETROSPECTIVE does an excellent job of chronicling the group's first five years. All the key tracks from the first three albums are here, from the surprisingly heavy rock of the breakout hit "Drown" to the acoustic-guitar-and-pedal-steel lilt of "Creosote." Most attractive to Son Volt aficionados, though, will be the wealth of rare and previously unreleased tracks. There's a wide variety of cover tunes, with sources including Big Star (the funereal "Holocaust"), Leadbelly (an oddly elegiac "Ain't No More Cane"), and Bruce Springsteen (a countrified "Open All Night"). Equally compelling are SV leader Jay Farrar's solo acoustic demos of his own tunes "Tear Stained Eye" and "Loose String." An essential document of the mid-1990s alt-country renaissance, this collection makes a strong case for Son Volt as that movement's vanguard.