Jay Farrar

"We're a new band as of a few hours ago," Jay Farrar announced Thursday night from the stage of Largo at the Coronet, and he wasn't kidding: Thursday's show, the first of two in L.A., marked the premiere public performance by the Son Volt frontman with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. The songwriters, who were also scheduled to play the El Rey Friday night, met in San Francisco in 2007 to record music for the soundtrack of "One Fast Move or I'm Gone," a documentary film about Jack Kerouac's novel "Big Sur."

"We're a new band as of a few hours ago," Jay Farrar announced Thursday night from the stage of Largo at the Coronet, and he wasn't kidding: Thursday's show, the first of two in L.A., marked the premiere public performance by the Son Volt frontman with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. The songwriters, who were also scheduled to play the El Rey Friday night, met in San Francisco in 2007 to record music for the soundtrack of "One Fast Move or I'm Gone," a documentary film about Jack Kerouac's novel "Big Sur."

As cult heroes go, singer-songwriter Jay Farrar is pretty reliable. During his Knitting Factory performance Saturday, his current work proved cut from the same moody, bucolic cloth as the pioneering alt-country material he crafted with high school pal Jeff Tweedy in Uncle Tupelo and later as the leader of Son Volt. With Son Volt on indefinite hiatus, Farrar released his solo debut, "Sebastopol," last fall.

How can one musician have a reunion? What sounds like a Zen koan actually is the question alt-country rocker Jay Farrar had to answer in coming up with a new record by his old band, Son Volt. The St. Louis-based musician was all set to reconvene Son Volt, which went on indefinite hiatus nearly five years ago, when the group reunited last year long enough to record a song for the Alejandro Escovedo benefit album, "Por Vida."

How can one musician have a reunion? What sounds like a Zen koan actually is the question alt-country rocker Jay Farrar had to answer in coming up with a new record by his old band, Son Volt. The St. Louis-based musician was all set to reconvene Son Volt, which went on indefinite hiatus nearly five years ago, when the group reunited last year long enough to record a song for the Alejandro Escovedo benefit album, "Por Vida."

There are books that come along at just the right time. In a world that has become so sad, too savage, more somber than a species ought to inhabit without relief, the appearance of "Jay's Journal of Anomalies" offers the wary and heartbroken and deeply vexed rest, if only momentarily, from the terrible news of the day. These are divertimenti, crafted by a master and perfectly pitched in luxuriant bombast. "Superlatives arrest our attention.

With Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt anchoring his resume, Jay Farrar is one of the cornerstones of the roots-conscious alt-country genre. As he hits the road with a set focusing on his latest album, "Terroir Blues," the singer-songwriter will be backed by the Washington, D.C., band Canyon, which also opens the show. * The Troubadour 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood Today, 8 p.m. $15 (310) 276-6168

Son Volt "Okemah and the Melody of Riot" (Transmit Sounds/Legacy Recordings) * * 1/2 Give Jay Farrar credit for not trying to pull a Wilco -- tempting as it might be given that his former Uncle Tupelo partner Jeff Tweedy's group has gotten the lion's share of attention and acclaim by taking a more experimental and less "alt-country" approach than Farrar has with his more plain-spoken Son Volt and solo projects.

As cult heroes go, singer-songwriter Jay Farrar is pretty reliable. During his Knitting Factory performance Saturday, his current work proved cut from the same moody, bucolic cloth as the pioneering alt-country material he crafted with high school pal Jeff Tweedy in Uncle Tupelo and later as the leader of Son Volt. With Son Volt on indefinite hiatus, Farrar released his solo debut, "Sebastopol," last fall.

There are books that come along at just the right time. In a world that has become so sad, too savage, more somber than a species ought to inhabit without relief, the appearance of "Jay's Journal of Anomalies" offers the wary and heartbroken and deeply vexed rest, if only momentarily, from the terrible news of the day. These are divertimenti, crafted by a master and perfectly pitched in luxuriant bombast. "Superlatives arrest our attention.

Son Volt, one of the landmark bands of the "alternative country" movement, showed off its unique take on post-punk country Tuesday at the El Rey Theatre, delivering a low-key, no-attitude set that reveled in an impressively taut rootsiness. Rumpled lead singer and guitarist Jay Farrar delved right into the songs from the band's second record, "Straightaways."

With Son Volt's show at the Troubadour on Monday, both of the former co-leaders of Uncle Tupelo--a Midwestern band that broke up before its following grew beyond avid cult--have now checked in here with albums and shows by their new groups. The verdict? Uncle Tupelo's downbeat, richly emotional, roots-flavored music was far more than the sum of its two hearts. Like the two panels on a pair of 3-D glasses, it took both Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy to bring out the picture's full depth and color.