Sue Garner and Rick Brown
Still
(Thrill Jockey)

  Spend half a lifetime as the other alternative -not the commercially viable one - and you may have dreams like this. The subtle and gorgeous breeze of music on Still is so pleasantly warm that you may never turn it off. You'll certainly wonder where it comes from.
  There isn't probably an answer to that, at least no sensible one I can give. Still is startling in its folkish (that's a horrible term - folkish - and it's dead wrong) meandering. The problem is, I have no clue how to peg this thing. It drives with slow energy, it's patched together with drum machines, weird bits and pieces of blues, jazz, rock, folk, and God knows what else. It is a quiet record with fluidity but filled tim the top with sounds. It won't probably mean much to many folks, but it is an incredible structure. It is music on display in a near empty museum. You notice a beautiful woman in her smart black ensemble eyeing the same piece. An older gentleman watches your reaction from the corner of his eye. You want to slap him; you want to hop on her, but the music soothes you, lulls you, and the art becomes something altogether different.
  Can you believe that bullshit I just wrote? I can't. What the fuck was I smoking? Drinking? Ingesting? Must have been one of those horrible, agonizing highs obtained from antihistamines washed with Nyquil and a few No Doz pickmeup's. I am listening to Garner and Brown again now and it is still a reasonably fine disc. It's mood type music made genuinely interesting by the blend of sounds and the direct words. But it may be hard pressed to consistently find its way onto my disc player because it's a bit of a downer and can be stubbornly inaccessible at times. It's not nearly as arty as I tried to be (self-loathing comes easy whenthe stench of your own bullshit starts to make you sick), but it's guilty within a reasonable doubt. - KH

Jimmie Dale Gilmore
One Endless Night
(Windcharger Music/Rounder)

  Warble on Jimmie, warble on. Reaching the point where the 'No Depression' scene certainly depresses with endless half-witted, semi-talented, and over-the-top boring Gram Parsons impersonations, we have only a handful of true originals. I won't name them for you, because you have your own (and if you are and avid Americana No Depression-ite, well then, you'll seriously want to kick my ass), but it is certainly easy to pick them out in the batch of bruised, half-rotten apples that litter the path beneath the country trees.
  Better yet, just ignore the whole genre. Skip the current No Depression hyped up trash and spend some hard-earned buck on the real artifact: Jimmie Dale Gilmore. You could bandy about for hours in the slop that passes for good ol' dusty road music these days, or you could give One Endless Night a serious whirl. And when you do, you'll know what I am talking about.
  Singing only two compositions with of his own imprint, Gilmore selects a stellar batch of other folks songs to present here. The Grateful Dead's "Ripple", Walter Hyatt's "Georgia Rose", along with songs from John Hiatt, Townes Van Zandt, Willis Alan Ramsey, Jesse Winchester, and former cohort Butch Hancock: All shimmering examples of the distinctly American Western music art form. And when Gilmore pours the Kurt Weill, Brecht, Blitzstein classic "Mack the Knife" out like old molasses, you'll have heard the Authentic Original that you'd always pretended you'd been listening to. -KH

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Chantigs 
The Mission Faucet
(www.rodentrecords.com)

  The Chantigs continue their defiant march through the musical wastelands with their latest CD, The Mission Faucet. Boldly going where few bands today dare, The Mission Faucet, like its predecessor Up With Chantigs, gushes with layers of psychedelic instrumentation, lofty harmonies, and innovative twists on classic late sixties/early seventies stylings.
  The disc literally springs to life with the opening track, "Minotaurs". Built around a solid bass guitar lead, and sparkling throughout with the clanging of a Byrds-like guitar ring, the song quickly establishes the eclectic mood that ultimately carries this disc to soaring new heights. Picking up where they left off with their first effort, the "The Mission Faucet" is a masterful mix of layered vocals, doo-wop harmonies, and intriguing blends of a variety of instruments. "Portable Nights" pops with a frantic, Ziggy Stardust-like guitar, while "Karaoke Queen" plows forward around classic power chords and a fuzzy lead vocal that echoes back with Beach Boys-era harmonies--with a banjo throw in for good measure. The decision to cover "Only Colombe", a song off of Byrds co-founder Gene Clark’s first solo album, is as much a stoke of brilliance as it is a testament that this band’s roots are firmly entrenched in furtive soil. The album closer, "Minotaurs (reprise)" is a stunning, melodic burst of sound that brings this adventurous trek to a shimmering end.
  Make no mistake about it: The Mission Faucet is an exceptional piece of work, easily shooting to the front of my 2000 CD class. The Chantigs pay homage to a musical era rich in experimentation, individuality, and the simple beauty of a melody not easily heard at first. Once again, they continue to put the fun back into listening to a complex recording. At a time when popular music offerings are primarily easily digestible fare with flavors that quickly fade, Chantigs The Mission Faucet is an eight-course smorgasbord of the finest quality. While it will undoubtedly be an acquired taste for most listeners, the question begs to be asked: why would you settle for everyday musical ground beef when you can feast on this delectable slab of Chantig prime rib?   -VS