From The Best of John Doe: This Far, available at: Amazon - http://smarturl.it/sofarAMZ iTunes - http://smarturl.it/JDFAR Yep Roc Records - http://goo.gl/MCXasm Part scrapbook, part roadmap,The Best of John Doe: This Far -- available May 6, 2014 via Yep Roc -- guides listeners through Doe's solo catalog. Compiled by Doe himself, the generous track listing (24 songs on download and double vinyl, 21 on CD) encompasses nearly a quarter century, highlighting songs from from nine records on six different labels. But, Doe is quick to point out, this is no epitaph. "I wanted to convey the idea of the best: this far," he says. "This is not 'I'm done, I'm over, this is the best I'm ever gonna do.' This is more like a celebration of the not-so-distant past." "It seemed like a good time to undertake this," he continues. "With the last record I put out [2011's Keeper], I realized that I had done more albums on my own than with X. That was strange. That feeling was part of how this project got started. Along with the fact that maybe 75 per cent of these songs are from records that are hard to find or out-of-print. Also, a few people kept asking me about doing a 'best of,' like my longtime friend and producer, Dave Way, Eddie Vedder, and a few other people I trust." Sequenced non-chronologically, The Best of John Doe: This Far was compiled with four vinyl sides in mind. ("Side three is the quiet side," Doe offers.) There was no formula: These are simply Doe's favorite moments, including in-concert staples, pivotal collaborations, personal milestones, and even a pair of unreleased reexaminations of songs from his past. Even while first making his mark with X, amidst the tumultuous Los Angeles punk scene of the late '70s, Doe's roots ran deeper -- his burnished howl equally inspired by dustbowl troubadours, the pioneers of early country music, and rock forebears like Jim Morrison and the Rolling Stones at their most raggedly desperate. His songs stood out as gripping vignettes, focused to a razor's edge, and the vocal blend of Doe and his songwriting partner Exene Cervenka only ratcheted up the intensity. His 1985 album with The Knitters (featuring Doe, Cervenka, X drummer DJ Bonebrake, bassist Jonny Ray Bartell, and guitarist/songwriter Dave Alvin) further emphasized Doe's connection to roots music, and suggested avenues to be explored more fully in his solo career, which began with 1990′s Meet John Doe. As a songwriter, Doe has now come to reflect on both the good and the bad -- and the contrast between the two. Among the first songs chosen for the anthology, 1998′s "A Step Outside" lurches forward with a terse, claustrophobic drumbeat, over which the narrator laments, "It's shattering / and splintering / It's crumbling / I can't fix it." This hopelessness is only briefly relieved by an airy, uncluttered chorus: "Then you step outside / There's a whole rainbow / The colors hurt your eyes / They're so hopeful / and weak and pale." As the song builds into a chilling portrait of a man hopelessly in love with a dire, damaged situation, the tension between the light and the dark winds more tightly. Left unresolved, it's a snapshot of that rare moment when love may not be the best answer... One of Doe's most beloved solo recordings, "Golden State" celebrates from all sides, from exhilaration to ache. "You are the dream in my nightmare," Doe sings, his voice entangled with Kathleen Edwards'. "I am that falling sensation / You are my needles and pins / I am your hangover morning." The soaring melody and tenderness of Edwards and Doe's rapport make the song, with all its dark humor, intimate and believable. Elsewhere on The Best of John Doe: This Far, he shares the mic with other fellow travelers like Aimee Mann, Neko Case, and Grant-Lee Phillips, emphasizing Doe's gift for writing and delivering songs with multiple points of view. "I just like singing alongside someone else," he explains. "It gives both sides of the story. Especially if it's something about a relationship, you can read it from the man or the woman's perspective. Of course, that's one of the advantages of staying alive -- you get to play and sing with more cool people." Even before the release of The Best of John Doe: This Far, Doe is almost halfway done writing and recording a new solo album. "I've done some recording with Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) out in Arizona," he says. "Howe and [recording studio] Wave Lab have a sound: space, reverb, distance -- just like the desert." A greater willingness to embrace his past has not dimmed his enthusiasm for the future. "It's always shocking to see how far you've gone and how close it is to where you started," Doe concludes. "The trick is to be more at home with what's real, and not what you want reality to be."

• published: 22 May 2014
• views: 100027