Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose: Fascinating combination. Jack White of the White Stripes produced and is all over it; apparently he's a fan. Loretta makes country the traditional way-- songs from the heart and from the hills, without those telegraphed idiotic cliched hooks that Nashville and country radio seem to love so much. This is Patsy Cline country music. But White gives it a modern bite, a stiunging undertone. Indeed my wife calls it "hocking;" this isn't always bad, as she thinks all of King Crimson is hocking. But it says here, the combination-- trad country from a down-home lady; the stinging underpinnings of White's surprisingly (to me) tasteful but hard guitar-- make this a true sleeper record of the year. Of course it is probably too edgy for country fans, and too mellow for White Stripes fans, and it'll fall through the cracks. But I dig it. Plus, it clocks in at a tasteful 38 minutes and change.

And now I have to go and do something I thought I could avoid-- check out the White Stripes.

Labels: The tunes