Dwight Yoakam - South of Heaven, West of Hell

In 2000/2001, Dwight Yoakam poured his heart and soul and a lot of his own money into a movie project which left him stung by critics and a whole lot poorer. But out of the strange, esoteric, sometimes confusing, often thought-provoking film came this "soundtrack," which contains some of the finest music Yoakam ever wrote.

Those interested in Dwight Yoakam as a movie actor, as well as his die-hard fans, will probably argue about the worthiness of this movie forever. Dwight wrote, directed, and starred in the ill- fated flick, which combined the blackest of black comedy with a horrifically violent western and a twisting, turning ghost story that left most movie-goers scratching their heads in confusion. But for myself, I'd want him to do it all again if he can glean from it another album of music as good as this one.

The movie apparently inspired Dwight to put to music so much raw feeling it's like throwing salt on exposed nerves. All his tenderness, his faith, and his intelligence are on stark display when one listens to the songs on this disc, from the eerie, haunting melody of "Words" to the trembling long note at the end of "It Is Well With My Soul." Some of the choicest bits of dialog are spattered between the songs, scattershot bits of wisdom such as the deeply ironic "There's a lotta good people out there... but not many."

Dwight Yoakam's not a bad actor. But he's a brilliant singer/songwriter. These songs are passionate, intelligent, painfully emotional, and undoubtedly just... brilliant. Whether or not you ever see or understand the film, listen to this music.