Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 + 3

CMJ New Music Weekly
These country alchemists sing hard about death to get you to appreciate life.

Product Description:
Here's the The Pine Valley Cosmonauts playing their old death card and raising a little more hell and cash to help wean America off its life threatening death penalty dependency. Since the completion of Volume One, we invited more of our favorite singers and songwriters to contribute voices and reputations and were pleasantly trampled by herds of willing collaborators (hence the double disc). They suggested deathly ditties unknown to us, wrote site-specific new ones or quietly bent our cruel and unusual will. Songs of death, murder and mayhem to help drag the dark beast to closure. We think you'll agree, this is one tremendous collection regardless of where you stand in the ever so colorful political spectrum.

Contributing artists include: Tim Rutili (Califone), Dave Alvin (Blasters, Knitters), Kurt Wagner (Lambchop), Otis Clay (smoooth soul singin' legend), Sally Timms, Kelly Hogan, Rico Bell, Chris Mills, Deano (Waco Brothers), English folk heroine Charlotte Greig, Alejandro Escovedo, Rebecca Gates (Spinanes), Rhett Miller (Old 97's), Rex Hobart, Edith Frost, Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), Gurf Morlix, The Meat Purveyors, English folk-rock weirdo genius Kevin Coyne, Jon Rauhouse, a classic track from The Sundowners, and much more.

This 2 record set is bargain priced, and all artists' proceeds benefit the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 + 3,Jon Langford and The Pine Valley Cosmonauts,Bloodshot Records,Alternative Country-Rock,Country,Country & Western,Honky Tonk,Pop

Average customer rating:

An Outstanding Follow-Up to Volume 1

not up to the 1st volume's standards

Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 + 3
Jon Langford and The Pine Valley Cosmonauts
Manufacturer: Bloodshot Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music
General | Country | Styles | Music
Honky-Tonk | Country | Styles | Music
Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00009B8BY
Release Date: 2003-06-17

Tracks:

Gallows Pole - Tim Rutili
Louis Collins - Dave Alvin
The Fall of Troy - Kurt Wagner
Banks of the Ohio - Otis Clay
Homicide - Skid Marks with Sally Timms
Green Green Grass of Home - Kelly Hogan
Death Row - Rico Bell
Gulag Blues - Lu Edmunds
Horses - Chris Mills
Strange Fruit - Diane Izzo
One Dyin' & A Buryin' (live) - David Yow
Delilah - Jon Langford
Willie O'Winsbury - Charlotte Grieg

Tracks:

Bad News - Alejandro Escovedo & Jon Langford
The Ballad of Billy Joe - Rebecca Gates
Dang Me - Rhett Miller
Forever To Burn - Rex Hobart
Death Is Where Thy Sting - Pat Brennan
Long Black Veil - Sally Timms & Edith Frost
God's Eternal Love - Mark Eitzel
Hangin' Me Tonight - Gurf Morlix
John Hardy - Meat Purveyors
Pardon This Coffin - Jon Rauhouse
Saviour - Kevin Coyne
Green Green Grass Of Home - Dave Alvin
Angel Of Death - Tom Greenhalgh
Tom Dooley (live) - The Sundowners

Album Description

Here's the The Pine Valley Cosmonauts playing their old death card and raising a little more hell and cash to help wean America off its life threatening death penalty dependency. Since the completion of Volume One, we invited more of our favorite singers and songwriters to contribute voices and reputations and were pleasantly trampled by herds of willing collaborators (hence the double disc). They suggested deathly ditties unknown to us, wrote site-specific new ones or quietly bent our cruel and unusual will. Songs of death, murder and mayhem to help drag the dark beast to closure. We think you'll agree, this is one tremendous collection regardless of where you stand in the ever so colorful political spectrum.

This 2 record set is bargain priced, and all artists' proceeds benefit the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

Customer Reviews:

An Outstanding Follow-Up to Volume 1.......2006-02-16

Bloodshot Records, Jon Langford and his various musician friends have done it again. The Executioner's Last Songs Volumes 2 & 3 are a very worthwhile follow-up to Volume 1. Of particular worthiness are the countrified cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Gallows Pole' by Tim Rutli, Sally Timms and the Skid Marks covering 'Homicide' and Jonboy Langford himself covering fellow Welshman Tom Jones 'Delilah'. There are also many other great songs on these two discs by the likes of the Old 97's Rhett Miller, Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, Tom Greenhalgh of the Mekons, etc.

Not only is it great music, but the anti-death penalty cause is a very worthy one to support. As Ghandi once said "An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind".

I recently had the opportunity to see Jon Langford's multimedia presentation of 'The Executioner's Last Songs' (also including Sally Timms and other musicians) in Minneapolis at the Walker Art Museum and it was mesmerizing. Not only is Langford a great singer, songwriter and artist...he is also one hell of a story teller.

Fans of the Mekons, Waco Brothers, Jon Langford, Sally Timms, Bloodshot Records and great alt.country music in general should do themselves a favor and pick up these discs. You won't be sorry.

not up to the 1st volume's standards.......2005-12-02

The 1st Executioner's Last Songs was a surprise hit, full of a great mix of various "alt-country" styles all dealing with various aspects of criminals being put to death. The kind of album that you don't expect much from, but due to its superior group of songs & songwriters becomes a regular in your CD rotation. But... this particular 2-disc comp does not reach those heights. Maybe it's due to Volume 1 being so spectacular that one assumes these 2 volumes would also deliver the goods... not so. The tunes here are mostly dull, lifeless, and a pale imitation of those brave souls on Volume 1. In fact, THIS set kind of fulfills the meager promise one would associate with a compilation of this nature, and it's hurt all the more by its older & more developed sibling. Kudos for the cause and all, but if it's the music you're after, you can skip these and invest in Volume 1 instead.

Music Album:

Music Album