Saving Country Music’s 2014 Album of the Year
In 2014, you had two previously-unknown women release towers of country music brilliance in Tami Nelison’s Dynamite! and Karen Jonas’s Oklahoma Lottery. You had folk blues songwriter Charlie Parr deliver a masterpiece in his instrumental triumph in Hollandale. You had the Swedish sister duo First Aid Kit feature what very well would had been considered an Album of the Year on any other year than this one with Stay Gold. You had Matt Woods deliver what still stands up as the high water mark for songwriting in 2014, With Love From Brushy Mountain. And Jim Lauderdale‘s I’m A Song is to blame for the best all around straightforward country and honky tonk album of the year.
But 2014 was the year of Sturgill Simpson, and if for no other reason than to head off an insurrection amongst readers that would have resulted in the calling for my head if I’d named anything else but Metamodern Sounds in Country Music to this distinction, Sturgill deserves this honor for releasing an album with huge sonic appeal, deft songwriting, a strangeness that resonates in unique and new ways never experienced before from a country music record, and for having an impact on the genre that has rarely been felt from an independent artist, and arguably never been felt in the current era.
As Saving Country Music said in the original review for the album, “With ‘Metamodern Sounds in Country Music’, Sturgill Simpson doesn’t just capture our ears, he captures our imaginations. However misguided the notion is, most every disenfranchised country music fan harbors the idea that at some point some true country artist is going to come along that is so good, it is going to tip the scales back in the right direction. What ‘Metamodern Sounds’ does is it gives the true country music listener hope beyond the happiness the music conveys. It resolves that ever-present conflict between sticking to the traditional sound, but progressing forward.
But as also was mentioned in the review, “I still hear much room for improvement…I’m half convinced half the things he does are just to screw with all of us. Once you realize that, then you really begin to unlock the true wisdom and enjoyment in his music.” That is why this pick was not a slam dunk. Saving Country Music may have had more negative things to mention about Metamodern Sounds than any other reviewing outlet in 2014. That’s because I’ve seen what Sturgill is fully capable of, and even though Metamodern Sounds captures much of that essence, it doesn’t capture it all. Call this critical, or call this exciting, or call it intimidating, but it is the truth as I see it.
Nonetheless, even if Metamodern Sounds doesn’t deliver Sturgill at full strength, it was still the strongest performance of 2014, and not just in the humble estimation of this particular outlet, but in a virtual consensus amongst independent country music literati. Metamodern Sounds has made a indelible mark on the timeline of country music in 2014 that will hold up for the rest of history, and is etched deeper than the marks left by many other albums that hold this distinction in their respective years, leaving only one order of business left from this burgeoning country music artist: brother where you bound?
January 2, 2015 @ 11:46 am
I think that because of good word of mouth this album might be one of the rare examples of an independent record getting a Gold Record maybe Platinum if we’re lucky.
I’m a little late but I’m making this album my first bought one of the new year and downloading it right now.
January 2, 2015 @ 12:03 pm
The last count I saw had sales at 65,000, so it would have a long way to go for Gold status, but if it becomes a cult classic, it could be possible. Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” song became gold and platinum years after it was released because of its continued popularity (even before Darius Rucker cut it).
January 2, 2015 @ 12:11 pm
Excellent choice. Sturgill is one more reason Kentucky Kicks Ass!
January 2, 2015 @ 12:12 pm
Definitely the right choice. RS Country had this as high as #2 on their albums of the year, which obviously included all of the mainstream releases as well as independent ones.
January 2, 2015 @ 12:20 pm
Oh please Trigger, this might be the most predictable thing you’ve ever done, and not because this album deserves it, but because despite being a seemingly intelligent and very articulate person, you are extremely susceptible to fanboyism; especially for a critic.
You and everybody else in the Sturgill cult are so starved for traditional Country music, that you’ve clung to this second-hand “outlaw” singer the way teenage girls cling to some overrated teeny-bopper. If modern “Country” music wasn’t so horrible, this guy’d be digging ditches by day, and singing in some dive bar in some random town by night.
Don’t pat yourself on the back for this one trig.
“But 2014 was the year of Sturgill Simpson, and if for no other reason than to head off an insurrection amongst readers that would have resulted in the calling for my head if I”™d named anything else but Metamodern Sounds in Country Music to this distinction”
Not me Trig. I’d’ve sang your praises for having an original thought.
If this is the “album of the year”, then Country music’s not only dead, it’s been cremated and it’s ashes have been dumped into Luke Bryan’s toilet.
– Clint
January 2, 2015 @ 12:37 pm
Then what are your albums of the year?
I guess it’s hip to trash on what was hip 9 months ago. lol
January 2, 2015 @ 1:01 pm
(eagerly awaiting the “I was bashing Sturgill Simpson before it was cool” reply)
January 2, 2015 @ 1:57 pm
The thing is Dukes, is that I’m not as much bashing Sturgill, as I am all you poor, pitiful, disenfranchised goofballs that like him. Sturgill’s making a living imitating a Country legend. He’s probably having a great time. Good for him. I just wish I didn’t have to read about it so much.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:00 pm
Fair enough. Please educate me – exactly which legend is he imitating?
January 2, 2015 @ 2:47 pm
Here’s an idea Clint, you DONT have to read about anything your not interested in and you dont have to comment on it either. Use your mind to filter through the stuff you dont care about.
January 2, 2015 @ 3:37 pm
Dukes, the only musician Clint seems to know is Waylon & he trolls Sturgill articles to complain that Sturgill is nothing new, rather a big Waylon ripoff. I’m pretty sure that he’s never seen Sturgill live, or listened to the full albums or heard any music other than Waylon for that matter, or he’d call him a Ralph Stanley-Jerry Reed-Keith Whitley-Roy Orbison-Osborne Brothers ripoff.
January 2, 2015 @ 12:50 pm
I agree it’s the most predictable thing I’ve ever done. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:15 pm
It’s definitely wrong.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:39 pm
NO! NOBODY’S opinion is wrong. No yours, not mine, not Clint’s. I am proud that I offer a place for people like Clint to offer their spirited dissent, and value their opinions even when I disagree with them. What I don’t have any tolerance for is people who believe anyone is “wrong” just because they do or do not like someone’s music. Taste is subjective, and can’t be argued.
I named this album “Album of the Year” because I believe from the bottom of my heart it deserves it above all others. That is my opinion, cross my heart, hope to die.
January 2, 2015 @ 4:08 pm
If you truely believed that I’d respect you, but you don’t. Yes I can prove it.
You are just one with just one opinion, that nobody can deny. Maybe it’s time to diversify, expand your site so your opinion isn’t the only one offered to read.
January 2, 2015 @ 7:39 pm
Brian,
That’s what the comment section is for. Anybody can say whatever they want., they just can’t really make a huge article like Trig does. If that’s what you want to do, you should start your own site.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:05 pm
Is this the definition of trolling?
January 2, 2015 @ 4:57 pm
Nope. The definition of trolling is: accusing someone of trolling simply because you don’t like what they have to say.
January 2, 2015 @ 5:09 pm
The definition of trolling is living in such a bubble of self awareness that you get mad at others for stating their opinion of your opinion
This is a free country
Ever heard of freedom of speach
Oh wait I forgot that was outlawed after Phil Robertson said that gay people were sinners WHEN HE ALSO SAID that we are not to judge these people and we are all sinners
January 2, 2015 @ 5:27 pm
Ok
January 2, 2015 @ 1:07 pm
“If this is the “album of the year”, then Country music”™s not only dead, it”™s been cremated and it”™s ashes have been dumped into Luke Bryan”™s toilet.”
Hmmm…that’s interesting that Luke even has a toilet . All thought all of his shit wound up on the radio.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:51 pm
Lol!
January 2, 2015 @ 2:28 pm
In my opinion, Metamodern is the most important country music album released since Jamey Johnson’s That Lonesome Song (2008). That’s six years! I challenge anyone to come up with a more important country music album – country, none of that Mavericks or Lydia Loveless genre defying stuff – that was realeased in that time frame.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:13 pm
The only thing more predictable than Sturgill putting out an awesome record, and Trigger calling it album of the year is you complaining about it.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:14 pm
Hey Clint, Are you the unnamed hipster that Trigger wrote about a few weeks ago? Do you find yourself bailing on bands once they become rewarded for their hard work, even if they don’t compromise the music? Do you hate Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson and the Beatles because there are more than 2 people who have heard of them? Don’t worry, there are many more like you who live in Austin, Seattle, and East Nashville. Grow out your beard, stock up on the mustache wax, and keep trying to make people think you are cool because no one has heard of your favorite band. (:-o Too Harsh? Just kidding, but really I think if you saw Sturgill play live, you’d get it. And it’s okay for others to get it and enjoy it too.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:42 pm
I would say that Portland is much more of a hipster center than Seattle. Seattle is more or less a mix of blue-collar manufacturing workers, white-collar high-tech workers, and people associated with UW. The only real hipster neighborhood is Capitol Hill.
January 2, 2015 @ 5:22 pm
No, not too harsh, just beyond ridiculous. If I were a hipster, I’d deserve all that talk.
But the reality is, I’m just a middle-aged guy, from a small town in the Ozarks. I grew up on Country music from Hag, Jones, and Lefty, to all the great Country in the early 90’s. I don’t drink anymore. I don’t dip snuff anymore. I’ve had manual labor jobs all my life, from driving a truck to trimming hooves. I go to church. I love my wife, and I love my kids. I like guns, but I can’t afford to shoot them much. I drive a 1996 Chevy Silverado.
With all my heart, I miss being able to turn on the radio and hear Country music, I grieve over it, but if this guy is the answer, then there is NO HOPE LEFT. The reality is, that for 90% of you, Sturgill probably sounds new and cool, because to you, traditional Country music is pretty new. But when you’ve heard it all your life, he just sounds like a cheap, miserably weak imitation.
Anyway, do us both a favor, and piss off with the hipster accusations. Anybody who’s been on this site for any length of time, knows it’s outrageous.
January 2, 2015 @ 5:35 pm
You forgot to tell him to get off your lawn.
January 2, 2015 @ 5:45 pm
I think most of us are looking for unique talents, like Sturgill, that give a tip of the cap to traditional music. A lot of us weren’t fortunate enough to live through Merle and Waylon through their heydays, so we have to listen to newer artists that speak to us, in our language. There’s also a lot of the older generation that love Sturgill and remind them of the glory days.
I’m kind of the middleground, i’m 40 but my father listened to Cash, Snow, Merle, Sr. etc so i’ve listened to that my whole life but very few artists have captured the spirit of those generations. If you cant respect that than thats your problem. He’s not imitating anybody and he’s not saving anything and he’s not the answer and he’s the first person to tell you that, he’s just playing music.
I’m not sure what your looking for. Your not going to find any newer traditional artist that doesn’t ‘kind of ‘ sound like something familiar to you.
January 2, 2015 @ 6:04 pm
I was extremely pleased with guys like Mark Chesnutt, Ricky Van Shelton, and Tracy Lawrence, but the radio quit playing them in the primes of their careers.
“If you cant respect that than that’s your problem”
My only “problem”, is that as an avid reader of this site, I have to constantly sift through article after article of overhyped, giddy, fanboy reporting on this copycat singer.
Anybody who says he’s not an imitator is lying.
January 2, 2015 @ 8:08 pm
“With all due respect to the careers of guys like Chestnutt, Lawrence and van Shelton, that sound is really why i never listened to country radio in the first place. Not sure what differenciates those guys than anything before them. Nothing groundbreaking about their sound. If anything, that sound was the begining of the end and a prelude of what country radio sounds like today. But to each is own.”
This mentality is exactly what I’m talking about. Thank you for proving my point. Country music has never been about being “groundbreaking”. There have been groundbreaking artists, but being groundbreaking does not make someone good. The main things that make a good Country artist are authenticity and the ability to convey emotion. The three singers I named possess both of those qualities, plus they were great singers.
You don’t like them because they weren’t “edgy”. To heck with edgy. Good ol Country music is what I want to hear and that’s what they did. I guess you like Sturgill because he sings about drugs and being anti-God(how original), and because he’s using a sound that not many others are currently using. But it’s not his sound, and it’s not groundbreaking. I guess it just sounds that way to those on the outside.
January 2, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
blah. blah. blah. liar! imitator!!!…Waylon never played bluegrass or incorporated T-Rex song into an Osbornes tune. You’ve definitely never seen him live & I’m pretty sure you haven’t even listened to the record. You probably watched a YouTube video of him covering Waylon & it got your panties in a bunch. Your hip-hugging hipster leapard print panties you bought at Urban Outfitters.
January 2, 2015 @ 6:50 pm
With all due respect to the careers of guys like Chestnutt, Lawrence and van Shelton, that sound is really why i never listened to country radio in the first place. Not sure what differenciates those guys than anything before them. Nothing groundbreaking about their sound. If anything, that sound was the begining of the end and a prelude of what country radio sounds like today. But to each is own.
January 2, 2015 @ 7:22 pm
Get a hold of yourself man!
I like making fun of hipsters too; it’s good, cheap fun. I had no idea that they wear panties. That’s crazy. How did you know that? Seriously, that’s the first time I’ve heard about that.
You know he’s an imitator. Why can’t you just openly like him in spite of that, instead of pretending like you don’t know it’s true and acting like an A-hole about it?
January 2, 2015 @ 9:44 pm
Here’s the deal Clint. Post a video link of Waylon playing bluegrass & I’ll admit he’s an imitator. If not, cut out calling him one. It’s tired.
January 2, 2015 @ 11:42 pm
Waylon Jennings – Rebel Soldier: http://youtu.be/8TzcyNwZU-Q
The original version of this song is very much a bluegrass song. It just wasn’t called bluegrass because bluegrass hadn’t been officially been invented yet.
January 2, 2015 @ 11:46 pm
Waylon Jennings – An Old Unreconstructed: http://youtu.be/4OdG2vcO1gU
Yet another very old “bluegrass” song done by Waylon.
January 3, 2015 @ 12:07 am
The Ghost of General Lee – Waylon Jennings: http://youtu.be/p-MX0PXDWis
While some will debate the true “bluegrass” of this one, it’s definitely influenced by it.
January 3, 2015 @ 12:46 am
None of these are even close to bluegrass my friend. Not even close. Not in sonic similarity, theme, or structure. And even if they were, dredging up old Civil War ballads proves nothing. You’re being contrary to be contrary, and it’s tiring. People did not come here to read about if Waylon Jennings played bluegrass or not, or to engage in a discussion of if the songs you posted are actually bluegrass. Decide to be a proactive member of this comment community, give your opinions about this album or this article, or move on.
January 3, 2015 @ 8:34 am
I think these videos compared to Sturgill’s version of Poor Rambler or Medicine Springs (or any of the bluegrass songs he wrote) show how different the two are, so you pretty much prove my point. But the moderator is tired of this conversation & so am I, so I’m moving on. Got to see if Chief Chirpa has any of that kind….
January 3, 2015 @ 9:09 am
I don’t need to do that. There’s better proof. Sturgill recorded a Moore & Napier song, and made it sound like a Waylon cover.
January 3, 2015 @ 9:14 am
For goodness sakes Wicket! I’ve read Sturgill fans on here saying things like: “I love Sturgill because he sounds just like Waylon”!
Now, there’s probably at least 50 Country singers that I like more than I like Waylon, but even if he was my favorite; why would I want to listen to a tribute artist?
January 5, 2015 @ 12:27 pm
50 better? If I said something that stupid I’d ask myself to go outside and I’d kick my own ass.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:03 pm
Ah yes, you are so far ahead of the curve bro. If only the rest of us were as hip.
I’m going to go buy some skinny jeans, maybe then I’ll be in the know.
January 2, 2015 @ 3:17 pm
My god who gives a crap if it was predictable
It was Triggs choice I mean he runs this site
If it was anyone else if they were diehard Sturgill fans they’d pick this or a album similar to this one
If they were diehard Jason Aldean fans (God forbid) they’d pick Old Boots, New Dirt
So I’ll say it again
So what if it was predictable it was his freakin choice
January 3, 2015 @ 1:21 am
I didn’t know that they could put lift kits on high horses, but you’ve found a way.
I respect your opinion. Yes, Sturgill reminds me and everybody else of Waylon Jennings, but his sound is far too varied, especially with Metamodern…, to claim that he’s copying Waylon Jennings.
You made your mind up before any opportunity to change it came to pass. You’re overlooking something great so long as it suits the preservation of your ego. That’s flat out wrong, Clint.
January 3, 2015 @ 4:55 pm
Exactly. Personally, I’m sick and tired of the Waylon comparisons. Yes, his voice sounds like the freaking reincarnation of Waylon. That’s it though. Anyone who’s listened to his stuff for even 30 seconds knows his sound is NOTHING like Waylon. Sturgill is a refreshing breath of fresh air in a country landscape that is largely devoid of anything meaningful or impactful. He’s a light in the abyss that is current country music and that means something. Hell, he’s a whole goddamned beacon of light and I, for one, and damned pleased and grateful. He deserves to have the album of the year.
And I don’t understand the comments on this post-I’ve never seen so many people openly attacking Trigger for anything, much less for doing what anyone in his right kind knows should’ve been done. All he does is provide us with information (for free) and we’re gonna turn into a bunch of ungrateful assholes because some of us have a different opinion? Ridiculous.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:00 pm
“Sturgill deserves this honor for releasing an album with huge sonic appeal, deft songwriting, a strangeness that resonates in unique and new ways never experienced before from a country music record, and for having an impact on the genre that has rarely been felt from an independent artist, and arguably never been felt in the current era.”
I think what I like about this, is exactly what you say here. The mainstream praises Aldean and Gilbert for “pushing limits” simply by throwing distorted guitar into the mix. FGL are “pioneers” by adding sophomoric rapping and clumsy metaphor into the lyrical fold. None of that inspires ME, as an independent artist. Simpson does, though … if for no other reason than the fact that he IS having success without resorting to what’s been done in other genres.
Man, I gotta work hard on some new music this year. Doors are open… but when you’re indie, you have to be a cut-above. Well done for SS, and good on you, Trigger.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:01 pm
Do you have music online anywhere?
January 2, 2015 @ 2:30 pm
Sure enough, bud. Spotify, iTunes, Youtube… or you can grab a couple of freebies at the site linked to my profile.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:48 pm
Thanks man. I’ll check it out!
January 2, 2015 @ 2:18 pm
You gotta crawl before you walk & country music has to catch up. Sturgill will take it even further on his next record while others copy what he did last year. His lyrical & sonic allusions to other styles and lost country recordings show he’s a true music nerd. Personally I bet he’s nerdier than all of y’all. It’s funny to me when yall write like he’s doing this by accident. 3 more records left & nobody knows what’s next. He’s Willy Wonka & we are just a bunch of know it all kids touring the facility.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:03 pm
I couldn’t agree more! There will be no Maverick-like debate about it.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:09 pm
“…..if for no other reason than the fact that he ( Sturgill ) IS having success without resorting to what”™s been done in other genres.”
I’m no Sturgil fan but THIS is an excellent point and I’d give S.S. points for THAT alone
January 2, 2015 @ 1:11 pm
Hallelujah, the suspense is over and the official announcement has finally been made. I like SS but it’s time to move on to 2015.
January 2, 2015 @ 1:54 pm
Sturgill Simpson really reminds me of Willie nelson. This album gave him independent success like Willie’s Red Headed Stranger album( one of the best western albums). The cover art of this album kinda reminds me of Willie’s. I think sturgill is going to be like Willie was to the last outlaw movement in country music.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:07 pm
I knew as soon as I saw the headline and clicked on the link to open the story, Sturgil’s album was gonna be the winner. Kyle is so predictable with this website, it’s not even funny anymore. We all know who he’s gonna praise and who he’s gonna trash. Sturgil’s good, but we all might as well quit hoping that he’ll breakthrough the mainstream. It’ll never happen. Just be glad we’re getting some decent music out of him.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:38 pm
I would say that the Song of the Year result was rather unpredictable. It was awarded to a song that was not even reviewed until the award was given and received only two votes in the nominees thread.
Similarly, last year’s Album of the Year award for the Mavericks came completely out of the blue. I think almost everyone here was expecting the winner to be either Sturgill Simpson’s “High Top Mountain” or Jason Isbell’s “Southeastern”.
January 2, 2015 @ 3:04 pm
“Sturgil”™s good, but we all might as well quit hoping that he”™ll breakthrough the mainstream. It”™ll never happen.”
This is not a prediction I would be confident in making. With a Grammy nomination, touring with Zac Brown, big endorsements from Keith Urban, Jake Owen and others, and pretty much every Nashville major label courting him, it has arguably already been proven incorrect.
“We all know who he”™s gonna praise and who he”™s gonna trash.”
Yet I still caused an exodus of readers by praising Florida Georgia Line’s “Dirt.” Who predicted I would pick The Mavericks over Sturgill Simpson for Album of the Year last year?
As for this whole “predictable” thing, I guess I just don’t understand. Do I pick something that is unpredictable simply for the sake of sidestepping this criticism, or do I do what I’ve done for the last seven-plus years and say what I truly believe, be damned the consequences, and hope in the end people respect my honesty, even if they don’t always agree with me. I guess some folks would rather I lie to them so they’re shocked at my choice. I’m not trying to be cute here, or perpetuate some public persona as an unpredictable firebrand. This pick was based off of my 100% honesty.
And on the topic of predictability, I don’t want to gloat here, but when nobody, NOBODY was paying attention to Sunday Valley or my wide flung praises and vehement gesticulations for people to pay attention them 5 years ago when I PREDICTED Sturgill Simpson would be the next big thing, nobody was giving me hell for being “predictable” then. They weren’t even paying attention.
January 2, 2015 @ 3:19 pm
“And on the topic of predictability, I don”™t want to gloat here, but when nobody, NOBODY was paying attention to Sunday Valley or my wide flung praises and vehement gesticulations for people to pay attention them 5 years ago when I PREDICTED Sturgill Simpson would be the next big thing, nobody was giving me hell for being “predictable” then. They weren”™t even paying attention.”
Preach. I think it could be argued that this site is largely what helped break him, at least from the early days, w/ High Top Mt. & Sunday Valley.
January 2, 2015 @ 3:23 pm
If trigg and this site were what helped SS then I think Trigg should help these boys out
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=180066
January 2, 2015 @ 10:03 pm
This site turned me on to Sunday Valley and High Top Mountain and that’s the primary reason I keep coming back.
January 3, 2015 @ 4:47 am
It seems like I’m the odd man out when it comes to finding this choice predictable, because I honestly didn’t predict it. I mean, I always figured ‘Metamodern’ had a good shot at winning, but I was surprised by The Mavericks pick last year (over ‘Southeastern’ and ‘High Top Moutnain’ no less), I was somewhat surprised by the Lydia Loveless song pick this year, I was surprised that Kellie Pickler won Album of the Year two years ago, even though I wasn’t reading the site as regularly back then. So up until the point when I clicked on the article, I honestly thought Trigger might pull a fast one and choose Don Williams, First Aid Kit, or maybe Karen Jonas as album of the year.
The choice is only predictable in the abstract sense, but not by Trigger’s actual, rather unpredictable standards, in my opinion.
January 4, 2015 @ 7:45 pm
So does that make it unpredictably predictable?
January 3, 2015 @ 8:10 pm
What major labels have shown interest in signing Sturgill? And why exactly has he been turning them down? Lack of control?
January 3, 2015 @ 11:54 pm
Sturgill has said from stage on numerous occasions something to the effect of “4 of the 6 big labels in Nashville have already called, and I can’t wait to tell the others no too.” Or something like that. I actually think there’s a decent chance Sturgill will sign to a major, and if I was asked what he should do, I would encourage it, obviously with the right guidance from management and lawyers to make sure he retains his publishing and creative control. Sturgill is not like other independent artists. He comes to the table with a track record and accolades that gives him leverage, as does the fact that so many labels want to sign him.
January 3, 2015 @ 3:07 am
You know what … I’ll take that bait. You’re right, it is predictable who this site will like and who it won’t … you know what that answer is??? Whoever he wants! I don’t want to sound cliche and say “This is his website, he can like whoever he wants”, but quite simply, that’s the truth! I picked the same album last week as my Album of the Year, and I don’t care who disagrees. This website is to promote healthy and productive dicussion about the state of country music… I love my site, but Trigger does more research and analysis in one post than most of us could do in a month of posts. He gets it. If you’re interested in a healthy debate of why your favorite album should be the best, let’s hear it. If you wanna just be a contarian, get over it. Its not healthy. Let’s just agree to help push real country music any way we can and help push the right agenda, which is saving real country music! Good job, Trig, this choice is spot on!
January 2, 2015 @ 2:13 pm
predictable? Yes. Absolutely. Certainly nothing wrong with that. Sturgill was my number 2 album as well for the rock site I have. The only people who knew it was going to be my number 1 were those close to me. It happened to be their number 1 as well. Deservingly so too. It’s not only greatly written, recorded and produced, it’s an album tht speaks to many people. I’m one of the people that fall under the “I’m not huge on country but I dig what Sturgill is doing.” I’m a fan for life even if his future albums are flops. I’ve also followed country a lot more in part to this site, Sturgill’s music and both Jason Isbell and Lindi Ortega.
January 2, 2015 @ 2:26 pm
Ima I the only one who wishes he used a little more steel guitar?
January 2, 2015 @ 3:30 pm
High Top Mountain was drenched in steel guitar. I think that his goal on this album was to try and push the boundaries a little bit, and part of that may have been his limited inclusion of steel guitar. Also, I can’t really see steel guitar fitting all that well in many of the songs here; that being said, there’s definitely a few songs (Living the Dream, Life of Sin, Long White Line) that may benefit from a little bit of pedal steel. However, as Trigger has said repeatedly, Sturgill might just be messing with us. As long as he keeps putting out some great music, that’s cool with me.
January 2, 2015 @ 3:34 pm
Predictable? Sure. Wrong?
…well, it’s not my number one album of the year. Hell, it’s not even in my top 5 (came in at #6 for actually many of the reasons that Trigger cited). Don’t get me wrong, I do love ‘Metamodern Sounds In Country Music’ and it is truly one of the most innovative and exploratory albums in country that dropped this year, but in terms of sheer, potent, emotionally hard-hitting songwriting, Jason Eady’s ‘Daylight & Dark’ still wins out, although I’m guessing that album might have more personal appeal for me than most.
Where I think the conversation gets interesting is where Sturgill takes his newfound fame and critical attention from here. Sure, he’s bigger than he’s ever been in the indie scene, but will that translate to mainstream growth, especially considering he’s recently shut off most of his social media presence? I suspect he’s going to go one of two paths – either drift a little more towards the mainstream with a slightly more accessible sound (he did say he was interested in using more synthesizers, so he could push towards the spacey country sound that artists like Dierks Bentley, Dustin Lynch, and even Brad Paisley are starting to approach); or he could go all out crazy with something that’s more abstract, dark, and twisted (honestly, my preference).
Either way, it’ll probably be fascinating.
January 2, 2015 @ 3:42 pm
Not that my opinion is worth anything, but I didn’t think this album was very good. I like Sturgill a lot, but was disappointed here. High Top Mountain seemed much more authentically country, creative, and spirited. I love that album. I don’t love this one.
Turtles all the way down is a pretty lackluster song in my book. Do people just like it because it’s anti-religious and they think that’s the cool thing to be nowadays? The tune is obviously uninspired, especially with the bizarre and out of place psychedelic motif toward the end. And there are no particularly new or creative lyrics either – it just sounds like what Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins or any of the ‘new atheists’ would write if someone put a gun to their head and told them to write a quasi-country song. Frankly, I think the themes of irreligion and the tired critique of God as a delirious, irrational, petulant “old man in the sky” are unoriginal and uncreative. This song just left me shaking my head (not to mention the video which just seemed like a parody of a country musician trying in vain to be relevant). For what it’s worth, I think “voices” is the best song on the album, but not as good as several songs on High Top Mountain.
January 2, 2015 @ 4:19 pm
What are you talking about? It seems to me you are one of these hyper – sensitive types that somehow think Sturgill intentionally wrote a song that insults YOUR faith. How dare he.
I’m sure his next album will have song on it about taking Christ out of Christmas for good and another one about Darwinism.
January 2, 2015 @ 5:41 pm
Instead of Turtles maybe we’ll get Jesus Rode A Dinosaur.
January 2, 2015 @ 5:54 pm
I thought “Turtles…” Was about drugs. That’s what he said during that NPR session anyways.
January 2, 2015 @ 6:18 pm
Partially about drugs, partially about the problem of infinite regress in cosmology. New England Country has no idea what he’s talking about.
January 2, 2015 @ 8:27 pm
Yes, the song about drugs (another overdone subject in my opinion – and I think Trigger did a story or two on the overuse of drugs, or at least marijuana, in country music writing a few years ago or so, which I thought was right on).
But how can you argue that the song isn’t also disparaging religion?
“Every time I take a look inside inside that old and fabled book
I’m blinded and reminded of the pain caused by some old man in the sky….
So don’t waste your mind on nursery rhymes
Or fairy tales of blood and wine….”
January 3, 2015 @ 10:44 am
Turtles was a disappointment IMO. Not because it disrespects my personal beliefs but because it makes a mockery of one’s beliefs in general. I don’t care what your beliefs are just don’t make a mockery of another person’s. I like that it is the first track as it is easy to skip it. The rest of the album in incredible and has not left my CD player since I got it. And anyone who thinks he sounds like Waylon has never actually heard Waylon. Kind of like anyone who thinks III sounds like Hiram doesn’t actually listen to Hiram. This bickering reminds me of why I got away from this scene. Trig you are a patient man, I do not know how you do it but keep it going.
January 2, 2015 @ 8:20 pm
I didn’t object to the song because it insults my faith. I also never said ‘how dare he’ or anything like it. He can write what he wants, and furthermore insulting people is a cherished part of country music. I wasn’t insulted in the least. His anti-religious lyrics, his alternative gospel of psychedelic drugs, are too pedestrian, cliched, and derivative to be insulting. That was my point, if you read my post. Similarly, a song on the culture wars issues you mention would certainly have the same result.
Honestly if anyone’s hyper-sensitive, it’s you. I said I didn’t like a song because it was unoriginal and hackneyed, injecting very familiar and tedious themes from recent anti-religious writers into a country(ish) song. Your response is to get inflamed and call me names and create absurd straw men. Why are YOU so sensitive?
January 2, 2015 @ 10:43 pm
Anyone still think if I’d named “Turtles All The Way Down” Song of the Year it wouldn’t have caused chaos in the comments? 🙂 .
Still, it’s just one song. Yes, it was a single, and the first song on the album, but let’s not act like it was the theme of the entire project. One of the great things about “Metamodern Sounds” is its diversity. Nonetheless, we’re seeing the results of what happens when you inject politics and religion into music.
January 3, 2015 @ 7:38 am
Yes, it certainly would have caused a firestorm if you had done that. I’m really glad (though not surprised) you didn’t give in to the temptation to sensationalize, inflame, and artificially inflate clicks and comments. It would have made me think less of you and this site ”“Â but as I said above, NOT because the song insults my faith, or because I’m too delicate to be exposed to ideas to which I disagree, or because I think politics and religion shouldn’t be used in music (I think they can and should, and have been to great effect in the history of country music, especially and obviously religion), but rather because in my opinion the song just isn’t that good. I don’t even think it should have been nominated for song of the year, much less that it should have won. I really don’t see the appeal, given the trite themes and disjointed tune, unless one is either an anti-religion or pro-drugs apologist. And you’re right it’s only one song, but it’s pretty clearly the most prominent song on the album.
January 3, 2015 @ 11:11 am
Interesting comments, New England. I’m anti-drugs and a Christian and absolutely love “Turtles.”
January 2, 2015 @ 5:47 pm
Trigger, urgent news! Little Jimmy Dickens passed away this afternoon
January 2, 2015 @ 5:52 pm
Good call.
January 2, 2015 @ 5:56 pm
the way Triggerman has been fawning over the First Aid Kit ladies all year, i was 98% sure thats who it was going to be.
January 3, 2015 @ 1:34 pm
Ha, yeah that thought crossed my mind too. Calling them country is quite a stretch, though.
January 2, 2015 @ 6:02 pm
It’s the right decision, regardless of what anyone says. Yes, he’s become a darling to hipsters, but its for good reason. This album is just ridiculously good.
I noticed he dumped his twitter account. He must be getting annoyed with the semi-overexposure…
January 2, 2015 @ 7:12 pm
Predictable? Sure. For a site called “Saving Country Music” it was probably the only choice for “Album of the Year”. That’s a fairly ambiguous title. Best, favorite, most important, etc., doesn’t say, just the “Album of the Year” for this site. I have absolutely no problem with the choice.
The only music that I’m an expert in is music I like, so take this as you will. While I enjoyed this album, it would not make any top five list I would put out. Not because it’s not good, but because it’s not an album that I’ll be listening to over and over again. I get the relevance. I get the importance. I’m glad that through this site I found out about it and listened to it.
Most people that read this site would kill me for my top five (and none of it is mainstream country) but that’s OK. If everyone had the same taste in music, imagine how boring the world would be.
Sure, the drama was over months ago as to what SCM’s “Album of the Year” would be, but that doesn’t make it wrong.
January 2, 2015 @ 8:29 pm
Well said.
January 2, 2015 @ 7:17 pm
The best album I’ve ever heard; I’m glad people have taken notice.
The dude has sold out shows 3 months in advance right now! WTF?! Not bad for an artist no one has heard of.
I’d expect another incredible album next summer hopefully.
January 2, 2015 @ 7:38 pm
I still haven’t bought this entire album yet, but I like everything I have purchased except “Turtles…” Just feel like that track is too over-the-top with it’s vocals to fit the psychedelic effort. No one was surprised by this selection, that’s true, but it’s surely a pretty solid choice based upon what I have heard from tracks like “Living The Dream” and “Panbowl”.
January 2, 2015 @ 11:37 pm
Like I said when the nominees were posted, this was the winner without a doubt. It’s just a no-brainer in my opinion. This album is why we are all here. A form of country music that’s a hell of a lot better than what’s jammed down our earholes everyday on the radio. Let’s be happy this stuff exists, and we can talk about it. Let’s get ready for another great year of music, that the mainstream doesn’t give a shit about. Then next year some guy can gripe about how American Aquarium isn’t good because they sound too much like something else they heard, or whatever. Sheesh!
January 3, 2015 @ 12:14 am
I honestly prefer High Top Mountain to this album. It was just a lot more fun to listen to.
January 3, 2015 @ 12:43 pm
Well deserved and a no brainer. Glad to see Sturgill getting all of this attention. Trig, since you are on top of pointing out all of the publicity he receives I’m surprised no one has mentioned that two months back his song “Life ain’t fair and the world is mean” was played in the background of an episode of Criminal Minds. Glad to see people are noticing his music.
January 3, 2015 @ 1:32 pm
This was a great choice Trigger. I hope that if Simpson does break through, he does so without caving to the tremendous pressure that Nashville can exert on any artist. Simpson doesn’t need to change his sound or his lyrics in order to reach a wider audience. Country music is dying because of a lack of emotionally authentic music (which has always been the genre’s strongest selling point in my opinion) and the second you start making decisions based on business and marketing instead of remaining true to yourself and your voice, you’ve lost what first drew people to you. It’s happened to artists over and over again and I don’t want to see that happen to Simpson.
I realize I have a different perspective from many of you but I have little hope that Nashville will ever really change. Instead, I hope the alternative country, Americana, outlaw country, or whatever you want to call it movement continues to grow. For country music to become relevant again, it can’t be hidebound to tradition but neither can it adopt the flavor-of-the-month styles of other genres (rap, EDM, etc.) and try to pass that off as innovation. Simpson appeals to a lot of people that have little to no interest in mainstream country music and to many people that don’t even really like any country music. That’s a good thing in my opinion and it’s healthy for the future of the music. For that reason alone, I think Metamodern Sounds deserved album of the year.
January 3, 2015 @ 2:41 pm
This.
Well said, DLee.
January 3, 2015 @ 1:36 pm
Hey Trig – here’s a suggestion: post your 2015 album of the year prediction now. My vote will be Whitey Morgan, with a close second to Rev. Peyton.
January 3, 2015 @ 2:42 pm
JJ.
January 3, 2015 @ 2:58 pm
From your 2014 SCM Album of the year winner.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/is-sturgill-simpson-country-musics-savior-not-if-he-can-help-it-20140603
January 3, 2015 @ 4:03 pm
thats the first RS article i’ve read in 15 years…
January 3, 2015 @ 8:47 pm
I read that with everyone else in June Doug. Glad to see you’re catching up to being six months behind.
Let me explain something to you and anyone else who cares to read, and this is the most fundamental misunderstanding about me from folks who say this site is garbage and misguided, but nonetheless come here half a dozen to a dozen times a day to leave negative comments and find things to either complain about or be offended by.
I don’t give a shit what Sturgill Simpson, or any artist thinks about me, my writing, or this website, because it is my job to not care. I’m not running a popularity contest, and I’m not waving pom poms for anyone when I say something positive, or being a boo bird when I say something negative. I am a journalist and a critic, and it is my job to stay impartial when listening to music, and worrying about the personal feelings I have towards artists or friendships I may have cultivated only gets in the way. I will be happy the day when every artist hates me, so then I can do my job unfettered.
I have gone out of my way many times to say that Sturgill Simpson does not want to “save country music,” and that we should not foist this responsibility upon him, and thinking that this site is asserting that in any way is as shallow and ill-informed as saying all that Sturgill does is put on a bad Waylon impression. Here’s my quote, posted six months before the Rolling Stone piece:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-musics-2013-artists-of-the-year
“Sturgill Simpson doesn”™t want to save country music, he just wants to play it. He may not even want to call it country music, or care that anyone wants to save country”¦.and that”™s one of the reasons that he very well just might.”
There is nobody who has studied, pondered, and reported on the complexities of the Sturgill Simpson’s persona more than me, or anyone that is more aware of the Sturgill Simpson coverage and the anti “save country music” rhetoric that has accompanied it on numerous occasions, not just the Rolling Stone article. It was a “talking point” for Sturgill Simpson interviews this summer. Sturgill Simpson may think that I’m a complete asshole, a blowhard, and a joke, and may talk all manner of shit about me behind my back. But as a critic, it is my job to wash all this away and give my opinion about his music as honestly as I possibly can, be damned what he, or anyone else thinks about it. So the idea that a piece written in Rolling Stone or anyone else should influence or somehow impinge on my decision to name Metamodern Sounds the Album of the Year sows a complete lack of understanding for the principles this website was founded upon.
As it states in the Saving Country Music charter:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/charter
Topics and coverage should be based on the quality of the content, not the personal relationships that may or may not exist with the artists or entities or subjects to be covered, or the personal feelings one may have about an artist or subject or entity.
January 9, 2015 @ 9:06 am
It was Sturgill’s own words that you should’ve paid attention to when I referenced that article. Just to let you know, I read that article when it came out. I do understand that you don’t give a shit about what anybody thinks of your opinion. It’s very obvious. Just like Sturgill said, you don’t think FGL, Brantley Gilbert, Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan read the shit that you say about them?!?! Their music may suck, but just like Sturgill said, they’re human beings too! You don’t offer “constructive criticism”, you are a straight up asshole more than half the time when you do a review when it comes to a “Bro Country” artist. How do you justify that as journalism? I don’t like “Bro Country” or having radio shove it in our face all the time more than anyone else, doesn’t mean you need stomp their ass into the ground!
I find it odd that you as a “critic” can dish out scathing reviews on artists, but then get all bent out of shape, when an artist puts out something you think is about you. You had no evidence claiming a death threat against your life over the song “Gunslinger”! You were being nothing more than a little crybaby bitch and you sure did raise Holy Hell didn’t you! Doesn’t really feel good to be called out does it? Do you: 1. think Shooter Jennings is really gonna jeopardized his freedom by threatening your life? 2. think Shooter Jennings would waste a track slot on his album to call you out? ” Mean” by Taylor Swift, I hope that song WAS about you! I hope she was thumbing her nose at you all the way to the bank! Her sold out shows, multi million album sales and numerous awards have proven you wrong. I even begin to wonder if you play an instrument, write songs, sing or have any musical talent. I have been playing for 25 years now. I have no desire to be famous or even put music out on my own. But because I am a musician and I know music comes a very deep place in one’s heart & soul, I always looked at “critics/music journalist” with a raised eyebrow. As far as I can tell a music critic/journalist is nothing more than a glorified fan who has public platform in which to voice their opinion of said music to the listening public! How are you anymore qualified than any other Tom, Dick and Harry who listens to music? What makes your opinion some much more important than anyone else’s opinion?
To be quite honest, if I were Sturgill Simpson, I would be pissed off at you! Not only for being such a brutal asshole who calls himself a critic and a journalist, but for riding his coat tails! Yes, Sturgill Simpson is click bait alright, he’s become YOUR CLICK BAIT!
January 9, 2015 @ 11:11 am
“I find it odd that you as a “critic” can dish out scathing reviews on artists, but then get all bent out of shape, when an artist puts out something you think is about you.”
I find it odd that you go out of your way to say how much my site is bullshit, but you can’t seem to pull yourself away from it. You don’t hate this site, you have a hard on for it.
Show me where I said or implied that I was “bent out of shape” by Sturgill’s words. What I said in another thread is that I took them to heart, and tried to learn from them, pretty much the exact opposite of what you’re implying here.
Nobody ever called my rants against pop country guys “journalism.” That stuff makes up less than 1% of what happens on Saving Country Music, and is categorized under “Down With Pop Country” to make sure there is NO mistaking it for journalism. It is satire. I apologize if you’re too intellectually lazy to understand the complexities of this site’s coverage map and approach.
“Do you: 1. think Shooter Jennings is really gonna jeopardized his freedom by threatening your life? 2. think Shooter Jennings would waste a track slot on his album to call you out? ”
Hmm. This is a strange topic to broach. But since you want to dredge this up, yes, I have conclusive evidence that would hold up in a court of law that Shooter Jennings himself sent me a threat online that specifically named the street I lived on. And that goes beyond the fact that he wore a shirt that said, “Shanking Country Music” with two shanks coming down to Johnny Cash’s 80th Birthday Party. Also, if you read my criticism of that song correctly, you would have seen that I went out of my way to say that I did NOT know if the song was about me, but that it didn’t matter who it was about, it was a dangerous escalation of rhetoric that could result in someone getting hurt or killed. And lo and behold, someone did get killed. But that’s another story….
January 3, 2015 @ 4:51 pm
Yeah this pretty much had to happen. Hard to argue with it.
January 3, 2015 @ 6:48 pm
I am laughing my ass off at the people that are saying this is predictable and Trigger isn’t stating his own opinion.
Hell yeah its predictable. Because it’s a great album. I’m pretty sure everyone expected this, not because he is just jumping on the bandwagon, but because it was a damn good album. It’s not like he isn’t backing up his opinion with his own ideas.
I would just like to know what else you people would pick, because I honestly can’t think of anything that comes close to Sturgill.
January 5, 2015 @ 12:07 pm
Well deserved it’s by far my most played album of the year.Looking forward to the next chapter.
January 5, 2015 @ 12:16 pm
Agree 100%, this album continues to grow on you the more it is listened to. This album is on repeat, and has been for some time, and doesn’t come close to getting old.
January 6, 2015 @ 8:15 am
anyone listened to Kierston White record “Dont Write Love Songs” ? a stunning album, might not top my favorite this year John Fullbright but still a one of a kind album…