40 Best Country Albums of 2015
20. Dave Rawlings Machine, 'Nashville Obsolete'
On Nashville Obsolete, Dave Rawlings Machine meld dreamy folk-pop with country instrumentation for an utterly immersive headphones album. Only the second release by the well-oiled Machine, singer-songwriter-producer Rawlings' ever-changing collective with his partner in music Gillian Welch (Zeppelin's John Paul Jones was once an onstage member), Nashville Obsolete spans just seven songs, with all but one extending well past the four-minute mark. Lead-off track "The Weekend" is rich with Rawlings and Welch's harmonies; "Short Haired Woman Blues" employs gorgeous strings; and the epic "The Trip," clocking in at just under 11 minutes, evokes the wandering spirit of Bob Dylan's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid soundtrack. With its earthy structure and hints of psychedelia, Nashville Obsolete is very much Dylan country — more representative of Nashville Skyline than anything coming out of Music City today. J.H.
