ThirdShiftGrottoSlack

ThirdShiftGrottoSlack

Jay Farrar's <I>Sebastopol</I> was easily among the finest rock releases of 2001, an eclectic showcase of the Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt founder's rough and smoky voice, willfully obscure lyrics, slow-churning rhythms, and petulant melodies. <I>Sebastopol</I> is Farrar's most accessible work to date--and his most adventurous, bringing keyboards, loops, and sampled strings into the mix. It sounds a bit like Steve Earle and Crazy Horse collaborating with folk-blues deconstructionists and studio wizards Califone. <I>ThirdShiftGrottoSlack</I> consists of four songs originally slated to appear on <I>Sebastopol</I>, but that were cut for space. From the sparse, Palace-like "Greenwich Time" to the beautiful, elegiac "Station to Station," these cuts perfectly complement that splendid, slow-churning album. The fifth tune is the real winner, a remix by celeb producer Tom Rothrock of one of <i>Sebastopol</i>'s strongest cuts; it's a slinky, Big Beat-ish version of "Damn Shame" that suggests new avenues for Farrar to explore. <I>--Mike McGonigal</I>