Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound (June 16, 2017) Album • Page 9

Welcome! I've been a big fan of Jason's work for over ten years, and while Southeastern is a fantastic record and not a bad place to start, I've gotta disagree slightly with my man Chase up there and say that a really good entry point to Jason's catalog are the songs he wrote while with Drive-By Truckers. Those are scattered across three records and a b-sides collection, so I've included youtube links to them all below, in a roughly chronological order. I really think that to get where Jason's coming from now--both as a working-class southerner and as a recovering alcoholic--it's a good idea to start from the beginning. After the songs below I'd work my way through his catalog chronologically if I were you. If you aren't wild about his first two records as a whole that's understandable but power through because Here We Rest is a big step up, Southeastern is a huge step up from that, and Something More Than Free is another big step forward.

That's my two cents! Hope you enjoy!

Drive-by Truckers - Never Gonna Change

Drive-By Truckers- TVA

Daylight

Drive-by truckers - Easy on yourself

When The Well Runs Dry - Drive By Truckers

 

Nomination ceremony for the Americana awards. Features Jason covering Amanda's "Pale Fire" (wow) and a reunion with Hood/Cooley of DBT for "Outfit" (double wow). "Pale Fire" starts around 18:30 in and "Outfit" starts around 35 min in

 

Annnnnd for everyone in this thread who ISN'T Craig, here's an in-studio live version of If We Were Vampires:

Here's the whole session if you're interested. They also played "High Road" and "Cumberland Gap." The mix sounds pretty distractingly awful to my ears on the full band songs though.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: ‘The Nashville Sound’ Tour

 

I personally don't think the DBT songs are the right place to start, if only because Jason's voice sounds so much thinner on them than it does now. They aren't really representative of what his last few records have been. I'd second the suggestion of Southeastern. It's really the "mission statement" for the music he's made since, and offers a nice middle ground between where he was coming from and where he was going. From there, you can move back and forward pretty easily.

 

Fucking yes. Thank you.

 

Good lord that song is incredible. I watched that little clip on Instagram at least 100 times.

 

Oh god i'm so sad now

 

Jason going "this is weird" when he sits down, haha.

 

Cool so that's the best song "released" all year.

 

I'm pretty convinced that there isn't anyone making music right now who is writing songs on his level. Any genre.

 

I need chords for that song haha

 

The only song from This year that comes to mind is Craig Finn's "God In Chicago".

 

fuck me running

i need this album now

 

I've always loved SMTF but I'm slowly starting to see the argument for it being his masterpiece.

 

Excellent!

 

I don't think I could ever pick between Southeastern and SMTF. They're both masterworks

 

Southeastern gets the edge for me, if only because the bookends make it feel more "complete" to me. The closer on SMTF is probably my least favorite track, whereas "Relatively Easy" is a goddamn hall-of-fame finale.

 

Though, the point could be moot after this record.

 

Craig...

 

Ugh... They removed that video :(

 

please tell me that someone ripped the audio. i was going to after work. shit.

 

You can still go to the 28 min mark here for the audio

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: ‘The Nashville Sound’ Tour

 

Thanks dude

 

I'd third Southeastern. I've used it as a first suggestion for other people and it's worked out.

 

only about a month out from hearing this thing then another month until I see him and Mountain Goats in Austin. this is torture.