VETIVER
– thing of the past
(CD/LP/digital,
Fat Cat)
Some years ago I mentioned towards a friend
that I was sure country rock would be the next big thing and that he rather
get rid of all those minimal techno 12”es. He just smiled at me like I was
sort of dumb and mumbled a slyly smiling “I dunno” when I mentioned to
him Don Nix, Don Williams, Tony Joe White, Loudon Wainwright III, Gordon
Lightfoot, Byrds at Fillmore, Poco, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and I don’t
remember what else. I probably bored the hell out of this poor friend for
half an hour, and I still am waiting, hounding old records in second hand
stores and waiting for the day that country rock will strike it big.
(Minimal techno in the meantime seems to have stepped up from 90 % boring to
99,9 % boring and dragging a few assorted, affiliated genres with it.) But
then there was the “10 greatest country rock albums of all
times”-article in Uncut magazine, a slew of Gram Parsons reissues, everybody suddenly seems
to dig Townes Van Zandt (does that mean, there is a sort of universal
justice after all? Do I have to change my set of beliefs?) and finally
Vetiver’s new album consists of all finely crafted cover versions by
artists from that era or at least arranged and played in that way. I feel
that Andy Cabic, the main mind behind Vetiver is a kindred soul in this
respect.
Actually, the range of songs on the aptly
titled “thing of the past” goes from Biff Rose to Townes Van Zandt and
from Michael Hurley to Hawkwind. But the pedal steel guitar on the intro of
“Sleep a Million Years” (a Vashti Bunyan song, who also duets wonderfully on
the song) with that distinct beat in the back swaggering onwards languishly,
that tells tales of plains, long drives and sunshine, you know that you are
deeply in Americana county. Or the extra chunky dose of harmonica in
Hawkwind’s “Hurry on sundown”. I mean, when have the words “there is
a fire / and I am burning” ever been sung in such a laidback and easy way?
Ever since Gram Parsons passed away, that is. The twelve songs on here are
mostly unknown to me, which shows that Andy Cabic has probably been
scourging all those second hand stores and record fairs that I haven’t,
but discovering great music and songwriters from all over the world is one
of the best things about record hunting in genres nobody else seems to be
interested in. I mean, the last record fair I have been to, most of the
sellers had no idea who the Cowboy Junkies are? On the other hand it makes
“thing of the past” as much a collection of tribute songs as it makes it
a true Vetiver album.
Musically Vetiver has lost all of the
modernist pretensions and retreats to a true and down to earth strumming and
softness that reminds of “Harvest” in some parts and of the way Hobotalk
(aren’t both bands somehow Scottish?) jingles and jangles at other times.
But the cast of musicians has rather expanded. Michael Hurley is another
singer to step in to accompany Cabic on the bluesy roadside swinger “Blue
Driver”. Maybe it is just because this album was recorded in Los Angeles
and Sacramento in summer of last year – and if you have ever been to the
California mainland in summer you might know what a wonderful country that
is. The mountains, the desert and the green fields in the middle, and
another hours drive you hit the ocean. The West Coast starts a stream of
even more legendary names to roll down the player list.
