For a Decade of Sin: 11 Years of Bloodshot Records
Celebrating a little more than its first decade (but who's counting?), Chicago's Bloodshot label continues to reinforce a bond between country roots and punk attitude, with results that refuse to be confined to any categorical corral. Rather than releasing a more predictable "best-of" compilation, Bloodshot shows its ornery spirit with a wide-ranging (and previously unreleased) selection of gems by label mainstays, kindred spirits, and fellow travelers. While the banjo-drivenSplit Lip Rayfield(sounding here like the Beverly Hillbillies on psychedelic moonshine), the transgenerational mountain harmonies ofPaul BurchandRalph Stanley, and the hopped-upMeat Purveyorsconform to alt-country expectation, other highlights range from covers of theO'Jays("Love Train," by theYayhoos) and a riotous anthem of chicken stomping ("Call of the Wrecking Ball" byJohn DoewithJim and Jennie and the Pinetops) to a recasting of the instrumentalMagnificent Seventheme by steel guitaristJon Rauhouseand a dreamy deconstruction of "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" by the etherealSally Timms. Whatever Nashville might think of this music, country just doesn't get any countrier thanWayne HancockwithHank Williams III("Juke Joint Jumping"). Anyone drawn by the higher-profile favorites--Graham Parker, theOld 97s, theWaco Brothers,My Morning Jacket--will likely discover a bunch of new favorites within the two-disc bargain.--Don McLeese