Snake Farm

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Snake Farm
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  1. Audio CD: Release Date 2009-09-08
  2. Publisher: Red Distribution
  3. Artist: Ray Wylie Hubbard
  4. Sales Rank in Music: #5700

Product Review

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To listen to Ray Wylie Hubbard's Snake Farm is to enter an eerie netherworld populated by dark and fascinating characters, some of whom are creepy enough to give you the shivers. The sandpaper-voiced Hubbard, a Texas songwriting legend, works a primal, greasy groove with these bluesy portraits, starting with Ramona, the dancing, tattooed reptile-house worker of the unforgettable title track. "Snake Farm" hypnotically mixes slithering images of sex, fear, revulsion, and humor, especially when Hubbard lets out a shimmering and menacing shudder of disgust. ("Snake farm / It just sounds nasty / Snake farm / Purty much is.") Guitar gunslinger Seth James sharpens the fine point on the stiletto that helps make these songs so lethal, but throughout, Hubbard strives for a tone of decadent elegance, whether evoking polecat love or the sideshow thievery of "Rabbit" ("There's two kinds of people in the world / The day people and the night people / It's the night people's job / To get the day people's money"). Produced by the masterful Gurf Morlix, who keeps things lean, foreboding, and roadhouse rough, the album sounds as if it were recorded in a room lit only by a naked 90-watt bulb--the perfect atmosphere in which to conjure songs of sin, deceit, and subterranean shenanigans. By record's end, redemption appears in a gonzo-ized telling of the Christ tale ("Resurrection"). But the Devil holds center stage until then, particularly on "The Way of the Fallen," inspired by Dante's Inferno, and on the Joseph Campbell mythology of "Wild Gods of Mexico," which involves a graphic canine sacrifice. Like Reservoir Dogs, the Quentin Tarantino classic Hubbard references in another humorous--if complex--example of women, sex, and revulsion, Snake Farm is not for the faint of heart. But fans of lowlife chic and exemplary Texas songwriting should lap this up quicker than cold longnecks and hot chicken-fried steak. --Alanna Nash
Title Tracks for Snake Farm

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars More Growl than Growl, June 29, 2006
Joe M. Jenkins (KC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snake Farm (Audio CD)
Ray continues move away from folk/country style music to a more roots blues sound. If you liked RWH's Growl you will love this one. Greasy backwoods roadhouse southern fried blues. Gurf Morlix' guitar and production work with RWH is fantastic. RWH is an American roots music treasure who keeps getting better with age.


18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Middle-of-the-night music, fuel for bonfires, dice, and showdowns, July 14, 2006
loce_the_wizard "loce_the_wizard" (Lilburn, GA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snake Farm (Audio CD)
Ray Wylie Hubbard's "Snake Farm" is one evil, growling monster of a record, a finely focused muscular effort that effuses grit, malice, and funk. The sound ripples with thick, raw grooves that compliment the subject matter: the devil, women, redemption and damnation, hexes, and guitars. Clearly, this stuff is middle-of-the-night music, fuel for bonfires, dice, and showdowns.

Though Mr. Hubbard's considerable sense of humor and keen wit are not lost, his music has changed a great deal. To see how dramatically Mr. Hubbard's, listen to "Dangerous Spirits," a much more freewheeling, country-laced sound. More specifically, compare the earlier, lilting version of Resurrection with the darker vibe that runs through the same song on "Snake Farm."

Nearly all the tracks feature Hubbard along with a now familiar cast of characters: his producer and guitar player Gurf Morlix, stalwart Rick Richards on drums, and steady George Reiff on bass. A smattering of guests keep...Read more


10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Love at first note..., July 15, 2006
B. Boyd - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Snake Farm (Audio CD)
I can't get this cd out of my player. I love Austin music and Ray is the best. The swampy, sultry sound can take you away. The lyrics are amazing and certain lines stick in my head. Amazing stuff and a far cry from 'Up Against the Wall Redneck Mothers' although I like that too.

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