Jim White, no relation, is as an eccentric, innovative, and refreshing new artist as we've heard in a while. He, along with a small contigent of talented producers, appears to have invented a new musical hybrid-- a combination of 'country' and so-called 'trip-hop' (itself a hybrid), which we shall hereby dub 'countryp-hop'(unless someone has beaten us to it or found a better name). White writes songs that bear a melodic resemblance to country music. Then he bends them lyrically and sonically into beautifully warped gems. To get what we mean, you need only to listen to his one cover. It is a version of "King of the Road", a road where Roger Miller collides with Tom Waits. Although this no longer makes it Top Ten material, it is every bit as catchy and much more provocative than Miller's original. The instruments employed on the album-- kalimba, melodium, celeste, toy flute, sitar, etc--are not the usual array for country music. And when the 'usual' are used--dobro, banjo, mandolin, etc--it is in a totally new and imaginative way. Now some of this is just a tad too strange for these ears to 'get', but we may just keep hitting "repeat" until we do.
