Muleskinner Jones - Death Row Hoedown (2005) torrent

Muleskinner Jones - Death Row Hoedown (2005) mp3

Second release from Mr. Jones is a heady brew of twisted country and sordid swap rock.

How do we refer to people out on the edge like Muleskinner Jones? And he is out on the edge. He has convinced himself he lives in an imaginary American West that never existed and sits in his bedroom in Wiltshire with a Powerbook, turning out purely twisted songs to hymn his condition.

For his second release he has made half an hour of blues / folk / polka / americana that defy accurate description. Death Row Hoedown would be a great dance for an execution, My Rented Room records eating only toast and cheese for three weeks so as to afford a decent whisky.

Instrumentally, this is fine stuff - remarkable for a home-made set. And the influences come from far and wide. Vocally I'd edge towards Nick Cave but instrumentally, especially the steel guitar on Truckstop Funeral, this is from all over the place. Maybe it is James Closs history - which travels from the bands he used to play in, influenced by The Fall and The Butthole Surfers to his current faves Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and the Harry Smith Folk Anthology. Truckstop Funeral stretches into a cinematic eight minute epic that seems too short. The rest of the offerings are a disturbing journey through traditional styles grown up all wrong and twisted with ideas that just aint right.

If youve ever wondered what Big Black would have sounded like if theyd discovered country music, this is your chance to find out..