>OK, I realize I should be publicly flogged for being completely ignorant of >ND's "Man o' the Decade," but I saw an AE disc sitting patiently in the used >section of a local record store and wondered about it. It was called "13 >Songs" or something like that--the one with the "Theme Song." Anyway, I also >saw a Buddy Miller disc that had the word "lies" in the title. Well, anyway, >you get the picture. These are a couple dudes whose names tend to get >dropped every day or three, so all you fans let me know what's up. _Thirteen Songs_ is a pretty swell record, though not exactly cheerful. It's fairly hard to describe Alejandro in a convenient sound bite, but he's got elements of punk (he was a member of seminal SF punk band the Nuns), singer/songwriter, honky tonk, and alt-country in his sound, along with lots of other influences. Buddy Miller is much more of a straight country/country-rock artist, in the Steve Earle vein, and everything he does is good. IMHO, of course. <g> > >And for the fella who asked about Railroad Jerk, I think "One Track Mind" >may be one of the sleeper records of the decade. If you like the JSBX--but >grow tired of the schtick--and you like Beck's wacky >electro-folk-hipster-hop-damnation, check it out. Clever without being too >cheeky, methinks. I thought Third Rail was a step backward, but good enough >to buy used. Are they even around anymore? I haven't heard from them in >awhile. Railroad Jerk just played in NYC a couple of weekends ago. I missed them on the same night that I missed the Old 97s. I haven't heard rumors of any new records in the works, but what do I know? I'd like to hear what they do next, though; they're an underrated bunch, and Lance's comparisons to Jon Spencer and Beck are apt ones. --Amy