*** Townes Van Zandt

A FAR CRY FROM DEAD

(Arista Austin)

It's evident from the title here that, two and a half years after his death, at age 52, Townes Van Zandt's cult status is being stoked. But in his case that's deserved -- even while he lived, Van Zandt was something of an apparition, a character of mythological proportion. Born into a Texas oil fortune, he chose a path of drinking and drifting that fostered his ability to write country-folk ballads of piercing emotional clarity without ever lapsing into lurid sentimentality. Like the subjects in his songs, Van Zandt was complex, neither hero nor villain.

Although he released 15 albums on (mostly) small labels, the demos that formed the basis of A Far Cry were recorded at a neighbor's house over the 10-year period preceding the singer's death. Consisting mostly of Van Zandt chestnuts like "Rex's Blues" and "Pancho and Lefty" (along with two previously unreleased songs), the vocal and guitar tracks Townes left behind are embellished here by Nashville studio musicians who rarely overstep their bounds, creating a sparse landscape around him. The few missteps -- too much reverb, and an errant guitar solo on "Sanitarium Blues" -- still don't overwhelm Van Zandt's well-weathered vocals, which have aged to match his tales and are as haunting as a voice from the other side.

-- Meredith Ochs