Dirt on the Angel
What comes after post-modernism? And is it mere nostalgia when you willfully channel the ambience, if not the intent, of a music that arguably peaked a generation or twobeforeyou were born? The answers may not be readily apparent on this marvelous, deeply rooted, yet impossibly free album by the former frontman of Austin'sBad Livers; that it merely inspires such musings is impressive enough. Barnes' countryfied tack belies an intellect as wryly cutting asRandy Newman's, fingers as soulfully nimble asRy Cooder's and a sense of history whose fervency rivalsT Bone Burnett's--did we forget to mention Ives and R. Crumb?--yet the sum of the whole is distinctly his own. The product of collaborations with guitaristBill Frisell, violinistDarol Anger(who penned the album's jaunty instrumental "Barnes Away") and others,  filtered through a self-produced sonic sensibility that suggests some lost trove of '40s country 78s, Barnes's bluegrass-with-a-bop attitude transcends boundaries of genre and era with an effortlessness that's as deceptive as it is compelling. Whether skewering modern heartland myths ("Life in the Country") with a banjo twang, powering the ambitiously goofy stream-of-consciousness of "I Like My Chicken Hot" with pianist Chuck Leavell's nervous jazz chords or furthering his only occasionally metaphorical food obsessions with the lovely "Popcorn and Wine" and the exuberantly cornpone "Peanut Butter is a Man's Best Friend," Barnes sense of joyous adventure is palpable here. Yet solid, more traditional ballads like "Face to Face" masterfully anchor it to the longing concerns of a near century of country music. His cover choices (the antipodal traditionals "Kitchen Floor Waltz" and "Keep My Skillet Good and Greasy"; a wistful take on theFaces' "Ooh La La"; a freeform jam ofBeck's "Loser") are eclectic yet nigh-perfect, forceful reminders that traditions are nothing if not continually tweaked and built upon.--Jerry McCulley