Nixon

Still shockingly underrated even after two brilliant decades, Nashville’s genre-bending country weirdos are getting the canonization treatment with Merge Records’ deluxe reissue of their 2000 album. Featuring more than a dozen members (+ guests and an orchestra), this presents Lambchop at their biggest and most opulent. The album pulls heavily toward soul and slow R&B, with frontman Kurt Wagner often delivering his signature surreal lyrics in a surprising falsetto. Befitting one of the most quietly amazing bands in America, every Lambchop album has its passionate champions (I’m a How I Quit Smoking devotee), so if you haven’t fallen in love with the band yet, this is as good as any a place to start. Favorites: 1-1, 1-4, 1-8, 2-2. FCC WARNING: 1-2, 1-7.

Disc 1 (The Album)
1. *(6:21)—Slow and lush all the way. Absolutely blissful.
2. (4:19)—FCC (s***). Medium-slow, funky, very pretty.
3. (5:59)—More medium-slow funk. Bright and joyous, with Wagner singing entirely in falsetto.
4. *(5:59)—A classic Lambchop track, the closest the band has had to a hit in their career. Uplifting, builds to epic levels, features a gospel choir.
5. (5:39)—Slow, toward lounge. Really nice, watery guitar tone.
6. (3:39)—Mid-tempo, very funky, sexy, with more falsetto.
7. (4:20)—FCC (“I’ve been a d**k”). Slow, wordy country-soul.
8. *(5:45)—Slow. Grand orchestral intro. Widescreen, spine-tingling country.
9. (4:52)—Slow, smoky, takes a turn toward the ominous.
10. (2:54)—Medium-fast. Another dark tune—subdued, driving noir-rock.

Disc 2 (White Sessions 1998: How I Met Cat Power)
Kurt Wagner does live, stripped-down Lambchop songs. Vocals, guitar, and tape loops.
1. (4:51)—Slow, spare, with nonintrusive tape loops.
2. *(4:58)—Tender, minimal, soulful version of “Up With People.” Very nice.
3. (4:29)—FCC (“I’ve been a d**k”). Accompanied by a tape recording of steel guitar.
4. (5:18)—Starts with grainy spoken word recording and old electronic beeps.
5. (4:35)—Song from the album What Another Man Spills. Slow, haunting, with high pitched tape drones.