Released on Tuesday, "The Decline of Country & Western Civilization Part II: The Woodwind Years" is a compilation of 18 singles, B-sides, compilations and other errata from Lambchop, a band that has become increasingly difficult to pin a genre on -- although alt-country remains the most frequently cited -- thanks to the bizarre mélange of influences drawn on by their mastermind, Kurt Wagner, one of the most singular, and best, songwriters of our time. Wagner is also an intriguing bandleader, and whether working with a few musicians or (more frequently) a dozen of them, he likes to create a hazy sense of stasis, as if the songs are coming from a place of complete stillness, his biting, cryptic words cushioned by layers of nostalgia and coddled by a sea of warm ambient noise. This exclusive download is originally from a 1995 single released by Mute Records.
-- T.B.
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