Snobbin: Beautiful Trash in the Pop Culture Gutter

We are Lost There is a feeling in the air, barely recognized. A feeling of bittersweet retribution floating from the ground -- from the air It is tragic, barely remembered, nothing less than a connection, nothing less than an undiscovered moment, relapsing into a popular epiphany. I see the embittered moments of our youth. I see the sacrificial lambs of our generation bouncing prosaically in halls of quiet remembrance. Why are we so lost in this transgression? Why are we the ones who can't remember? Our generation is massed together like clay Earthen in construction, lost in the moment. A ghostly transition clumps together, a sullen moment; when we were kids, you and I were scared. We felt the pressure of happenstance, a ghost, a death, a measured moment of time; I still feel that way -- I feel like something is wrong -- we need to move. The air is tragic -- let's find a solution to our problem, to our fear, to the feeling of danger . . . A telephone call...

Grant Lee Phillips' Walking in the Green Corn is a contemplative affair, much like 2009's understated Little Moon . Unassuming yet self-aware, Phillips' songs pack a quiet power.  Always a first-rate vocalist and lyricist, he digs deeper here paying homage to his Native American heritage in ways he hasn't since Virginia Creeper. Phillips blends his subtle lyrics with quiet guitars and tons of intimacy. He expertly sets the stage for his story songs, taking his time in order to get the details just right. On "Vanishing Song" his lyrics are sparse, yet they tell an expansive tale of times long gone. "Great Horned Owl" is more upbeat, recalling Grant Lee Buffalo more than Phillips' solo work but still creating a vibe of late nights and long ago moments. Walking in the Green Corn perfectly captures the intimacy one feels with old friends as new discoveries become more important because they are made together. Phillips' narrative world is f...