Ah, the great and wise Taoist teacher Neil Young. I ask you: is there any musician out there who willfully reflects and radiates that mysterious and sometimes confounding codependent dualism of “yin and yang” better than this insightful, moronic, badass, feeble, incising, blunt, timely, way-out asshole? It’s like the man just knows down in his soul that there’s no light without dark, no cold without hot, no water without fire, and no awesome news about a new Neil Young and Crazy Horse record without a bunch of dumb-as-shit details to gum up the works. “Such as?” you say? First of all, shut the fuck up. Second of all, such as:
Rolling Stone says that Neil Young & Crazy Horse have a new album coming out on June 5. Hey, yeah that’s great news! Oh wait, it’s called Americana? That’s a little weak for an Americana guy, isn’t it? Oh but what’s this: it’s the first album since 1996’s Broken Arrow to feature the entire Crazy Horse line-up of Billy Talbot, Ralph Molina, and Frank “Poncho” Sampedro?? Hell yeah, sign me up, then; this record promises to shred, right? Awesome news. Oh wait, the entire album consists solely of American folk standards like “Oh Susannah” and “She’ll Be Comin ‘Round the Mountain” as “rearranged” by Crazy Horse to such a degree that “they now belong to us”? And also, “A very young choir of children plays with Crazy Horse [on the album]”?? That could potentially be… less… awesome. And just like that, the cosmic balance of complimentary opposites is harmonized. Thank you, Neil Young. Thank you.
And speaking of “complimentary,” check out some additional things he had to say about the record:
What ties these songs together is the fact that while they may represent an America that may no longer exist, the emotions and scenarios behind these songs still resonate with what’s going on in the country today with equal, if not greater impact nearly 200 years later. The lyrics reflect the same concerns and are still remarkably meaningful to a society going through economic and cultural upheaval, especially during an election year. They are just as poignant and powerful today as the day they were written.
See, that’s what Barney the big purple dinosaur thought too! People just didn’t get it.
Americana tracklist:
01. Oh Susannah
02. Clementine
03. Tom Dooley
04. Gallows Pole
05. Get a Job
06. Travel On
07. High Flyin’ Bird
08. She’ll Be Comin ’Round the Mountain
09. This Land Is Your Land
10. Wayfarin’ Stranger
11. God Save the Queen
• Neil Young: http://www.neilyoung.com
• Reprise: http://www.warnerbrosrecords.com
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