Hayseed Dixie

It would be very easy to dismiss this record as a novelty gag if it wasn't so damn well done. With the rise in popularity of roots country in the wake of the success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, this disc is the perfect way to bridge the great musical divide between bluegrass and heavy metal. As legend goes, a car crash in the Appalachian Mountains lead a bunch of hillbillies to discover the entire AC/DC record catalogue. This is their vision of ten of the venerable Aussie rockers' greatest hits, including "Back in Black," "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Highway to Hell" and "Hell's Bells." In reality, it's a bunch of Nashville pranksters with acoustic guitars, fiddles, stick and tub bass guitars and washboards faithfully reinterpreting every little musical nuance of the source material with comedic yet strangely reverent results. This is a fun record, but enough is enough. With Luther Wright and the Wrongs having given similar treatment to Pink Floyd's The Wall, we could be seeing the start of trend that could end up being self-parodying in no time.