Exposed Roots: Best of Alt Country

Whatever you say about alternative country, don't call it "underground"--not since the "movement" has now received K-Tel's mixed blessing. Hard-core fans will find Exposed Roots redundant, but for those curious about alt country, this compilation is not a bad buffet to sample. The two-disc set is most interesting for the particular vision it presents of the wanna-be genre, though many of the choices seem questionable. The inclusion of lesser-known acts like the Handsome Family and Lambchop is adventurous--and rewarding--but does anyone really think Marlee MacLeod is more important to the development of the scene than Uncle Tupelo? There's nothing here from Tupelo, or any of their St. Louis kin. And the token nods to Gram Parsons "In My Hour of Darkness" and Johnny Cash does anyone need another recording of "Folsom Prison Blues"? should've been omitted, because their inclusion only makes the absence of other forerunners painfully obvious. But most offensive is "See Right Through" from Tangletown--a band that nobody knows, included presumably because their 1999 debut album is also distributed by K-Tel. Buy the compilation if only for the liner notes by No Depression editors Peter Blackstock and Grant Alden, who provide a serviceable map to the dozens of albums by the bands heard here. --Anders Smith-Lindall

(24 tracks) (2xCD)