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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   1956 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for February 6, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Why is country music so bad? I turned on the TPUSA half-time show and its honestly worse than the "real" show that's in Spanish.

The pre-war stuff was a lot more interesting. Jimmie Davis, all those yodeling cowboys. (The W part of CW pretty much completely died circa 1960.)

Because for a few decades now there's intense pressure NOT to innovate in any way shape or form... and music fundamentally does have some inherent limitations in terms of how differentiated it can be within rigid paradigms. In math terms, there aren't enough "degrees of freedom" within the "country music" narrow genre to allow meaningful variety, much less appeal outside the borders.

I don't think that's it. There are plenty of other genres that all sound the same but still sound good.

Sturgeon's law. 90% of everything is crap.

If you actually want something decent, I'd gladly offer suggestions.

You have three suggestion slots before I permanantly write-off the genre for the rest of my life.

Trying to convince you that at least some country music is worth listening to requires knowledge of what kind of music you already prefer. That being said, as the resident music maven I feel obliged to give my opinion as someone who agrees that the TPUSA halftime country was garbage:

Emmylou Harris - Boulder to Birmingham

Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Lefty

Kathy Mattea - 18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses

Orville Peck - Let Me Drown

Matt King - Hell's Kitchen

Sturgill Simpson - Sing Along.

If you don't agree that Sing Along is Country, my back up option is K-Mag Yoyo by Hayes Carll.

Let Me Drown was amazing, damn. Any other recs by him?

I also like Daytona Sand a lot.

Damn, this guy owns!! Loving both Let Me Drown and even more so, Daytona Sand. I didn't know country could be so good.

If you're looking for a similar vibe, check out Prayed for Rain by Paul Cauthen. He does some duets with Peck as well, under the name "The Unrighteous Brothers".

Joe Ely's first album. Don't be put off by the extra shitkicker-sounding first track. The wordplay gets good in later songs.

Gene Clark's No Other. Coked-out 70s country rock with all the stops pulled out. The title track is a bizarre gospel country funk monster.

Here's the way I look at the whole dueling halftime show thing: Some people wanted a country music halftime show, and some wanted a Hispanic halftime show. They could have just gotten whatever version of the Texas Tornados is still touring and called it a day, and everyone would have agreed that it was the best halftime show ever. There could have even been a surprise appearance by Linda Ronstadt. And of course they would have performed their cover of Ely's "She Never Spoke Spanish to Me", which seems like a fitting commentary on the current situation, though I'm not sure exactly why.

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