Clem Snide

Today!

Clem Snide, “Donna”

Long time reader/listeners (both of you!) know that I’m a huge Uncle Tupelo stan, but my favorite alt-country album isn’t one of theirs. It’s probably Your Favorite Music, Clem Snide’s second album. Thanks to their willingness to stretch out and leave space for Eef Barzelay’s intimate delivery and elliptical lyrics, the entire album manages to create a mood of melancholy without really giving you a specific reason for it. It’s a little disorienting that way, but then you get to the end, and you want to give it another spin.

It’s our birthday! I posted the first Five Songs one year ago! In that time, assuming I’ve gotten my tagging right, I’ve posted 313 of these things, meaning you all have gotten a minimum of 1,565 different songs (plus a few bonuses along the way). NOT BAD. I’m still thinking about what to do for the second year of Five Songs. I might retire this thing, because it is a fair bit of work for something that is usually looked at by a number of people I can count on one hand. But, at the same time, it’s still fun, usually.

Lots of new folks today.

Clem Snide, “Accident”

For some reason, “alt-country” as a label always kind of irritates me, even though the thought it’s expressing (country music that stands distinct from the popular variation) is directly analagous to alternative rock, which doesn’t bother me. The lesson, as always: I’m dumb. Anyway, Clem Snide (named after the character from Naked Lunch) is absolutely alt-country. Propelled by Eef Barzelay’s passionate singing and Jason Glasser’s multi-instrumental prowess, Clem Snide cranked out five outstanding albums in the late 90s and early 2000s, starting with this record (You Were A Diamond) up through 2005’s End of Love. They started to lose some steam after that, but at their peak, they were incredible. I mean, just listen to this!