Nixon (album) explained

Nixon is the fifth studio album by American rock band Lambchop. It was released on February 7, 2000, and was issued by Merge Records and City Slang.

Nixon became a breakthrough release for Lambchop in the United Kingdom, where it received critical acclaim and was named among the best albums of 2000 by numerous publications.

Composition

Nixon has been described as a merging of chamber pop, countrypolitan, and R&B sounds alongside "sweet" soul music.

Artwork and title

The title Nixon alludes to Richard Nixon and was derived from the album's cover artwork, which is a painting by Wayne White, a friend of Lambchop frontman Kurt Wagner.^[1] "He always plays around with slogans or words. He considered the material on the Nixon album to be tragicomic, and an image of Nixon came to mind," Wagner explained.^[1]

Release

Nixon was released on February 7, 2000, by Lambchop's European label City Slang,^[2] and on February 8, 2000, by the band's American label Merge Records.^[3] It peaked at number 60 on the UK Albums Chart. "Up with People" was released as a single from the album on May 2, 2000,^[4] reaching number 66 on the UK Singles Chart.^[5] According to The Guardians John Aizlewood, Nixon established Lambchop as "standard bearers" for alternative country music, and "proved that the genre could be commercially viable if it painted its off-kilter pictures of redemption and loss in glorious Technicolor rather than mealy-mouthed monochrome."^[6]

Critical reception

Nixon was released to highly positive reviews from music critics, receiving a score of 84 out of 100 on the review aggregation website Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". The album was particularly well received by the British music press. NME critic Gavin Martin deemed it Lambchop's best record and said that its "sheer sonorous delight" justified comparisons to The Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds, while Allan Jones of Uncut praised Nixon as "one of the first great records of the new millennium". At the end of 2000, Nixon was named one of the year's best albums by numerous British publications, including Uncut (who ranked it as the best album of 2000),^[7] Mojo,^[8] NME,^[9] and Q.^[10]

Nixon was later included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[11]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.^[12]

Lambchop

• Paul Burch – vibraphone, arrangements
• C. Scott Chase – "open end wrenches", "lacquer thinner can", arrangements
• Dennis Cronin – trumpet, cornet, backing vocals, arrangements
• John Delworth – Hammond B-3 organ, Rhodes piano, Juno synthesizer, arrangements
• Allen Lowrey – drums, arrangements
• Jonathan Marx – trumpet, backing vocals, arrangements
• Alex McManus – electric guitar, arrangements
• Mark Nevers – atmospheric guitar, electric guitar, arrangements
• Paul Niehaus – pedal steel guitar, Fender Telecaster guitar, backing vocals, arrangements
• Matt Swanson – bass guitar, arrangements
• Marc Trovillion – bass guitar, arrangements
• Deanna Varagona – baritone saxophone, backing vocals, arrangements
• Kurt Wagner – vocals, 1946 Gibson L-7 guitar, Juno synthesizer, arrangements

Additional musicians

• Matt Bach – bass guitar
• Lloyd Barry – string arrangements
• Paul Booker – electric guitar
• Ken Coomer – additional percussion
• Tony Crow – piano
• Nashville String Machine – strings
• Sanchez – choral arrangements

Production

• Brady Barnett – editing
• Dennis Cronin – recording (assistant)
• Tommy Dorsey – mastering
• Brian Miles – recording (assistant)
• Mark Nevers – production, mixing, recording
• David Streit – recording (assistant)
• Kurt Wagner – production, mixing

Design

• Eric Bailey – design
• Wayne White – cover painting

Notes and References

1. News: Straight from Nashville, Lambchop is adding new life to old country sounds . . April 27, 2004 . October 12, 2021 . Kolovos . Yiannis.
2. Reviews – For Records Out on 7 February 2000 . . January 29, 2000 . October 12, 2021 . Abbott . Simon . Baird . Dugald . Byrne . Michael . Brown . Jimmy . FitzGerald . Tom . Gold . Adam . Jones . Stephen . Moss . Sophie . Tesco . Nick . 14–15.
3. M.S. Execs Speak Out on Troubles . . 112 . 6 . February 5, 2000 . October 12, 2021 . Morris . Chris . Chris Morris (music writer) . 94.
4. Web site: current and upcoming releases . . October 12, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20000608100454/http://www.cityslang.com/news.html . June 8, 2000 . dead.
5. Web site: Lambchop . . October 12, 2021.
6. News: Definitely maybe . . February 15, 2002 . October 12, 2021 . Aizlewood . John.
7. 2000 Exposed! . . 44 . January 2001.
8. The Best of 2000 . . 86 . January 2001 . 56–59.
9. Top 50 Albums of the Year – Lambchop: Nixon . . December 23–30, 2000 . 78.
10. 50 Best Albums of 2000 – Lambchop: Nixon . . 172 . January 2001 . 93.
11. Book: Morton, Rob . Lambchop: Nixon . 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . Dimery . Robert . . 2006 . 978-0-7893-1371-3 . 879.
12. Nixon . . . 2000 . MRG175CD . liner notes.