Whiskeytown - Strangers Almanac [Deluxe 2xCD Edition]

Strangers Almanac was Whiskeytown's penultimate album. The band is still steeped in the sounds of country and Gram Parsons-inspired country-rock here, but one can hear the music moving toward the pop of their final effort.

This expanded deluxe edition includes a wealth of unreleased material: five previously unreleased live-in-the-studio performances broadcast on KCRW in Santa Monica, CA; 19 previously unreleased recordings from Stranger's Almanac sessions. The abandoned 1999 album Barn's on Fire (aka Those Weren't the Days) and two previously issued promo EP or soundtrack contributions

Everything still centers around the voice and excellent songwriting of Ryan Adams (who was still only 22 at the time of this album's release). The song 16 Days, for example, with its breezy, open-road, country vibe and the lovely interlocking harmonies between Adams and violinist Caitlin Cary, was released as a single, and rightfully so. There is also the beautiful, melancholic weeper Dancing With the Women at the Bar, and a revisitiation of Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight, which appeared on the band's debut.

Adams's talent shines so brightly here, in fact, that it is little wonder he would soon be pursuing a solo career, but Strangers Almanac captures this fine, short-lived, alt-country band in full effect.

Disc 1

• Inn Town
• Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight
• Yesterday's News
• 16 Days
• Everything I Do
• Houses On The Hill
• Turn Around
• Dancing With The Women At The Bar
• Waiting To Derail
• Avenues
• Losering
• Somebody Remembers The Rose
• Not Home Anymore
• Houses On The Hill
• Nurse With The Pills
• I Don't Care What You Think About Me
• Somebody Remembers The Rose
• Turn Around

Disc 2

• Indian Gown
• 16 Days
• Somebody Remembers The Rose
• Avenues
• Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight
• Houses On The Hill
• My Heart Is Broken
• I Still Miss Someone
• Kiss & Make-Up
• Barn's On Fire
• Dancing With The Women At The Bar
• Dreams
• Breathe
• Wither, I'm A Flower
• Luxury Liner
• Theme For A Trucker
• Streets Of Sirens
• Turn Around
• 10 Seconds
• Ticket Time
• The Rain Won't Help You When It's Over