New Ryan Bingham - $3.99 Amazon Tonight only

[blackwll]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040P ... =dm_ty_alb

[Zip City]

yep. bought it this morning

[blackwll]

Wow, it is quite good! I don't know why I am so pleasantly surprised, I think the last one before this one was a little down from his first album that came out about the time he opened for DBT (I bet that was a great show). I guess he did deserve the Grammy (LOL)

[never going back]

Almost through the first listen. I'm digging it so far.

[blackwll]

Still $3.99, so go get it. Good tunes.

[Clams]

Just bought it. Very cool of him to put The Weary Kind on the record (even though I already had it).

Looking forward to his Philly show in October too!

[Iowan]

Is it still $3.99?

[bovine knievel]

Just bought it. Very cool of him to put The Weary Kind on the record (even though I already had it).

Looking forward to his Philly show in October too!

Weary Kind is not part of the hardcopy CD...

[Clams]

Is it still $3.99?

his website says "today only"

I assume that means today 9/1 but I don't know for sure...

[Beebs]

Took advantage of this and am enjoying the first spin.

Thanks for the heads up Blackwll.

[Duke Silver]

This is pretty good so far. His other two albums haven't had much staying power with me, but this one seems like it might stick.

[Penny Lane]

This is pretty good so far. His other two albums haven't had much staying power with me, but this one seems like it might stick.

i'm kinda the opposite, nothing has stuck so far. it's pretty...but anything he sings would be.

[Duke Silver]

This is pretty good so far. His other two albums haven't had much staying power with me, but this one seems like it might stick.

i'm kinda the opposite, nothing has stuck so far. it's pretty...but anything he sings would be.

After a few more listens, I like The Poet and The Wandering (first two songs), and my copy came with The Weary Kind, which is awesome of course. Other than that, I agree that "it's pretty...but". Kinda says it all. This will probably end up being an album I put on in the background when I want music on but don't want to be engaged by it...

[Iowan]

I'm digging it. It's definitely better than Roadhouse Sun, which frankly, isn't a very good album. Nothing here is as engaging as songs like "Sunrise" nor as energetic as "Bread & Water", but it's definitely got some beautiful soundscapes. Either it's going to be pretty background music (and little more) or it's going to reveal itself over time.

[Duke Silver]

It occurred to me while listening to "Junky Star" on a long drive the other day, that Bingham might be the Bush/Gavin Rossdale of alt-country. He has the sound down, a one in a million voice tailor made for his genre, works with legendary producers, and a few really good songs...but nothing to say, really. His lyrics don't go much deeper than the song titles, and some are just...bad.



I dunno, it seemed profound at the time.

[Gator McKlusky]

It occurred to me while listening to "Junky Star" on a long drive the other day, that Bingham might be the Bush/Gavin Rossdale of alt-country. He has the sound down, a one in a million voice tailor made for his genre, works with legendary producers, and a few really good songs...but nothing to say, really. His lyrics don't go much deeper than the song titles, and some are just...bad.



I dunno, it seemed profound at the time.

Have to agree with you. I loved Mescalito at first but I never listen to it anymore and I thought Roadhouse Sun was a bore.

[Iowan]

It occurred to me while listening to "Junky Star" on a long drive the other day, that Bingham might be the Bush/Gavin Rossdale of alt-country. He has the sound down, a one in a million voice tailor made for his genre, works with legendary producers, and a few really good songs...but nothing to say, really. His lyrics don't go much deeper than the song titles, and some are just...bad.



I dunno, it seemed profound at the time.

He's got a couple of great songs, but I would generally agree with this. Of course, Gavin Rossdale put out a couple of great songs too. I'd never call him a great artist by any stretch. Doesn't mean I won't crank the hell out of the first couple Bush albums on occasion. Really, really good analogy, IMO.

[Smitty]

I love Bingham, some of his lyrics/topics are cliche, but "alt country/americana" is a genre filled with cliche/generic artists, atleast his style is first-rate - he's also got an "authentic" sound/backstory, and from what I've read the respect of folks like Guy Clark, which ain't just given out very easily. Still spin Mescalito/Wishbone Saloon on a fairly regular basis, a couple of songs off Roadhouse Sun are decent but overall I agree it was a bore. I dig Junky Star alright so far, haven't been able to give it a fair listen yet. After a couple spins not paying too much attention, it sounds a little forced, and you can def tell it's a T-Bone record instead of a Marc Ford.

[Duke Silver]

I agree with most of that, and I should clarify that I didn't mean the comparison to Bush as a slight. There's nothing necessarily wrong with being a middle of the road genre band. I like some of Bingham's music. I'd like it more if he moved beyond the genre cliches and did more to set himself apart from the pack. You could give anybody song titles like "Country Roads" or "Hard Won Trail" and they could come up with similar lyrics without much effort.

Maybe DBT has just spoiled me for all other music in this genre.

[Smitty]

I agree with most of that, and I should clarify that I didn't mean the comparison to Bush as a slight. There's nothing necessarily wrong with being a middle of the road genre band. I like some of Bingham's music. I'd like it more if he moved beyond the genre cliches and did more to set himself apart from the pack. You could give anybody song titles like "Country Roads" or "Hard Won Trail" and they could come up with similar lyrics without much effort.

Maybe DBT has just spoiled me for all other music in this genre.

Gotcha - I also think he should stay away from "political" songs, cuz most of his come off shallow and extremely cliched.

[Zip City]

I think the music is good. Sometimes I don't care if the lyrics are just okay

[Iowan]

I can pass on weak lyrics pretty easily; I just don't his music nearly as engaging as Mescalito. It's good, and demonstrates prowess, but it doesn't "catch" me like songs like Southside of Heaven, Bread and Water, or Sunrise did. Sunrise is an absolutely brilliant song, and I think he set the bar for himself really, really high with it.

[Duke Silver]

I think the music is good. Sometimes I don't care if the lyrics are just okay

I can handle that, as long as they're not distractingly bad. Like that "Direction of the Wind" song ("People everywhere are starting to begin to understand that it's the here and now that they are living in..." -- so bad I can't listen to it). Or the "Hey Hey Whaddya Say" song from Roadhouse Sun. Terrible.

I should probably say I've only listened to Mescalito like...twice. If that.

[jdwolf]

He won big in Nashville!

[Clams]

From the NY Times, yesterday's I think...

RYAN BINGHAM

& the Dead Horses

“Junky Star” (Lost Highway)

Ryan Bingham has a wheezy, half-broken-down singing voice, and a delivery that often reeks of withholding. His songs can suggest the hard-luck plaints of a stranger at a bar: they’re rustic confessionals, intense but guarded. One of these, “The Weary Kind,” featured prominently in the 2009 film “Crazy Heart,” about a country-music survivor; the song won an Academy Award and last week was named song of the year at the Americana Music Awards, where Mr. Bingham, 29, also won artist of the year.

His producer and songwriting partner for “The Weary Kind” was T Bone Burnett, whose signature has long been a low-gloss loveliness, tastefully dramatic in scale. Mr. Burnett stayed on to produce “Junky Star,” Mr. Bingham’s third album. The collaboration works, not least because emphasis is placed on the grounded heave of Mr. Bingham’s fine working band, the Dead Horses: Corby Schaub on guitar and mandolin, Elijah Ford on bass and Matt Smith on drums. (The band’s fall tour will bring it to the Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 14; binghammusic.com.)

But Mr. Bingham has committed himself to a severely restricted emotional palette, singing of grim restlessness and bitter resolve. “Man come to shake my hand, rob me of my farm,” he croaks at the outset of the title track, which unfolds as a rueful disclosure. (The next line: “I shot him dead and I hung my head, and drove off in his car.”) With most of these tunes the title tells you what you need to know: “The Wandering,” “Hard Worn Trail,” “Strange Feelin’ in the Air.” Mr. Bingham carries this material well, but a kind of suffocation gradually sets in. Even “Hallelujah” — no relation to the Leonard Cohen hymn — finds him recalling his own murder from somewhere in the great beyond.

None of which would be a problem for a Johnny Cash or a Townes Van Zandt. The style that Mr. Bingham more readily evokes here is that of a middle-aged John Mellencamp. (Mr. Burnett must have felt a twinge of familiarity recording “Depression,” a meaningfully titled song on this album that could almost pass for an outtake from “No Better Than This,” Mr. Mellencamp’s latest, and another T Bone production.)

Mr. Bingham has endured reflexive comparison to a craggier troubadour, Bob Dylan, as he seems to acknowledge with the track “Direction of the Wind.” Its title evokes lyrics from “Like a Rolling Stone” and “Blowin’ in the Wind,” while its two-step and talky cadence recalls “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream.” Though far from the best song on “Junky Star,” it’s the one on which Mr. Bingham actually seems to be having a good time.