I’ve been sitting here watching the remains of this short-lived country go down the drain, and there is no better soundtrack to this than ‘People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913-1938’, a grand and beautiful set—in every sense, from the remastered recordings to the notes to the extraordinary design work—that gives perspective both to these days and those of the past. This is white-hot history, a danse macabre, and, above all, a wealth of great old and timeless music. — Nick Tosches