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A
move to Nashville and a line-up shift have not slowed Last Train Home. Frontman
Eric Brace's increasingly soulful singing give his poignant songs about family
loss, being heartsick and the power of love an emotional depth that comes only
from real life experiences. Newly added piano player Jen Gunderman adds a richness
to Brace's singing. 10 years into what started out a part-time adventure, Brace
and LTH are impossible to place in a specific musical genre as they seamlessly
incorporate touches of many musical style. While many musicians have a creative
peak of about three records, LTH continue to grow and impress . -- Jeff Weiss,
Miles of Music (Red Beet)
Gina
Villalobos follows up her outstanding Rock N` Roll Pony (2004) with the fantastic
Miles Away. This 2007 album is a country-rock, world weary rumination on the struggles
of maintaining a relationship.The song cycle works its way through longing, self-doubt,
surety that there is another way to connect, anger (and more self-doubt), and
a plea to be saved from herself. Villalobos combines her raspy voice with a muscular
rock sound that uses country touches to add to the overall angst. Miles Away collects
and displays Villalobos` emotions, failures and all, for the listener to pick
through. The album concludes with no obvious resolution, leaving one to wonder
how much strength she has left to do this all again. -- Jeff Weiss, Miles Of Music.
(Face West Records) 
Stepping
out of the comfort zone is destined to bother the most dedicated. Son Volt is
looking to not just bother, but to kick old monikers in the teeth. Jay Farrar
and the reconstituted Son Volt foray well outside of the confines of "alt.country"
with tremendous results.Sitar-esque sounds are followed by Memphis R&B horns.
You get the point. No style is sacred or excluded as Son Volt searches. Gone also
are the restrained, mournful vocals that have become Farrar's trademark. Dare
he sound excited? This is more than "toes in the water" musical exploration.
This is trying on several styles to see what fits. Happily -- a strange choice
of words when writing about the perpetually dour Farrar -- The Search expands
the band's musical vision. Those expecting Son Volt to stick to the tried and
true should put aside reservations and join the band on their journey. -- Jeff
Weiss, Miles of Music (Sony/Legacy) 
This
collection reveals a woman settling into her role as a solo artist, peeling back
some of the layers of her last album ("11:11") to reveal a more organic
sound. "Lynn Teeter Flower" mixes together soaring guitars, bubbly electronics,
feathery farfisa organs, and sugary layers of vocals into the sweetest confection
of an album you'll hear all year. Taylor's voice is as smooth and sweet as honey,
spinning marvelous, insightful tales of the world around us with much aplomb.(Saddle
Creek)
This
single includes five exclusive b-sides. Retaining the simmering glow of its predecessors,
("Digital Ash In A Digital Urn" and "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning"),
"Four Winds" is full of the magic that brought Bright Eyes to international
attention. Carefully played, deftly poetic, and quietly enchanting, it has a wandering
country charm and all of the storytelling seductiveness of earlier work. (Saddle
Creek Records)
Hayward
Williams' Another Sailor's Dream is a freewheeling, shotgun wedding of folk, blues
and rootsy country rock, all filled with a gorgeous blend of ache, gristle and
whiskey-toned gruffness. The album is comprised of songs that walk a perfect line
between the sweet and bitter, and the sentimental and cynical. On this compelling
debut the Milwaukee-based singer/songwriter boasts a voice that sounds several
decades older than he actually is, lending his songs of love and loss a gravity
they might not otherwise possess. (Machine Records) 
The
second album from Montreal's Arcade Fire exceeds all expectations. With string
and orchestral arrangements by two of the band members, "Neon Bible"
is full of both half-assed punk rock mistakes and meticulously orchestrated woodwinds.
Processed strings and mandolin. Quiet rumbles and loud rumbles. (Merge) 
Viridian
is the Greencards most progressive album to date, the next step in the evolution
of the band's song and craft. Bridging the gap between traditional bluegrass,
folk and the jamband scene, this album is the career defining piece needed to
take the band to the next level. Rosanne Cash said: The Greencards are a little
island of Truth and Beauty in a sea of artifice and mediocrity. What a fine group,
and what a great collection of songs." and Buddy Miller echoes that sentiment,
"I was blown away. These guys made a stunning record." (Dualtone Music
Group)
It's been over a year since Nick Pagliari released his first solo project. The
EP entitled, Long Gone, was independently released by the artist in August of
2005. One year later, Pagliari found himself in the same studio in Memphis, TN
working again with producer, Scott Hardin. His first full-length solo album, The
Sail as "... a medley of genres. There are folk songs, rock and pop songs,
and rooted Americana influences as well. Our goal was to make a record that had
a warm, rich sound like those early Stax recordings, while preserving the rawness
and grit." (Madjack) 
No
music meant more to Johny Cash than the simple hymns of his Christian faith. This
most complete CD of his gospel recordings. Track Listings: Here Was A Man (Live)/The
Preacher Said, "Jesus Said"/I Was There When It Happened/Belshazzar/That's
Enough/It Was Jesus/The Old Account/Swing Low, Sweet Chariot/The Great Speckle
Bird/He'll Understand And Say Well Done/How Great Thou Art/It Is No Secret (What
God Can Do)/He Turned Water Into Wine/Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)/Troublesome
Waters/(There'll Be) Peace In The Valley (For Me)/When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder/In
The Sweet By And By/My Ship Will Sail/Far Side Banks Of Jordan/Oh Come, Angel
Band/
During
the fall of 2006 the North Carolina-based garage-blues duo The Moaners decided
to revisit their Mississippi roots and travel by van and backcountry blacktop
to Yalobusha County, Mississippi. The mission: to record their latest album, Blackwing
Yalobusha, with former Squirrel Nut Zippers founder and producer Jimbo Mathus.
The site of the recording would be the world famous Fat Possum studios now dubbed
Blackwings. Amid the thousand-pound heat and despite the unwanted attention of
prickly local cops, the female duo churned out a slow burning collection of songs
that chant and spit their way through the spirit world of the old south. The songs
tell tall tales of barstool black belts and monkey tongues while tuned-down slide
guitar tumbles through the delta landscapes of Faulkner and O'Connor. Drummer
Laura King delivers a pounding with her steady, heavy-handed rhythmic chug-a-lug.
(Yep Roc)
The
distorted cry of a lap-steel guitar slices through the Brooklyn night. A voice
sings with aching sweetness and strength. Caressing melodies are barbed with stinging
solos. This is the sound of The Last Town Chorus - the revolving ensemble led
by singer / writer / lap-steel-guitarist Megan Hickey.(Hacktone Records)
This
is the definitive double-disc set which brings together Okkervil River's ground-breaking
Black Sheep Boy project in its entirety-including the original album, the 7-song
Black Sheep Boy Appendix EP, the song "The Next Four Months" (originally
released on the "For Real" CD single), the "For Real" video
as well as a new video of a magical alternate slower take of "No Key, No
Plan". Black Sheep Boy is Okkervil River's most ambitious and cinematic record
to date, a love story and adult fable carved in lacerating rock and roll, desolate
late-night country weepers, and a few shining moments of sheer, shameless pop.
Along the way, the compositions of Will Sheff evoke the mature songcraft of Leonard
Cohen's New Skin for the Old Ceremony, the sophistication of Scott Walker's Scott
4, the shambling slow-motion bravado of Neil Young's On the Beach, and the raw
nerves and trick effects of Big Star's Third/Sister Lovers.(Jagjaguwar)
Recorded
at the12th annual X-Mas Jam, from 2000, in Asheville, NC. Track Listing Disc 1:I'll
Be The One - Warren Haynes/In My Life - Warren Haynes w/Matt Abts/Badness - Chris
Duarte Group/Who Knows - Chris Duarte Group w/Mike Barnes and Audley Freed/Nancy
Sinatra - The Bottle Rockets/Stuck In A Rut - The Bottle Rockets/Elevator To The
Moon - Col. Bruce Hampton And The Aquarium Rescue Unit/Fixin' To Die - Col. Bruce
Hampton And The Aquarium Rescue Unit/Time Is Free/Jack The Rabbit - Col. Bruce
Hampton And The Aquarium Rescue Unit w/John Popper/Goin' Out West - Gov't Mule
(Warren Haynes, Matt Abts) w/Dave Schools/ Mountains Win Again - Gov't Mule (Warren
Haynes, Matt Abts)/ w/Dave Schools, John Popper and Dr. Dan Matrazzo. Disc 2:Alone
- John Popper w/Warren Haynes/Scarred But Smarter - Kevn Kinney w/John Popper/A
Good Country Mile - Kevn Kinney w/Tramp/Solitude - Edwin McCain w/Warren Haynes/I
Shall Be Released - Warren Haynes, Kevn Kinney, Edwin McCain and John Popper/Come
And Go Blues - Gregg Allman w/Warren Haynes/Ain't Wastin' Time No More - The Allman
Brothers Band/Born Under A Bad Sign - Allman Brothers Band w/Floyd Miles/Soulshine
- w/Dr. Dan Matrazzo/Statesboro Blues - The Allman Brothers Band w/John Popper
and Audley Freed. (Evil Teen)
The
aptly named Denver Gentlemen can take credit for spawning an entire scene and
for what is increasingly being referred to as the "Denver Sound." Forget
six degrees of separation; members of 16 Horsepower, Slim Cessna's Auto Club,
Devotchka, Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlots, Woven Hand, Kalamath Brothers, and
Tarantella all spent time in the Gentlemen's ranks. Although heavily influenced
by traditional roots music, they tone down the twang of other Denver groups, opting
for a gothic-cabaret sound full of piano, accordion, and glockenspiel. Original
Gentlemen Jeffrey-Paul Norlander and David Eugene Edwards (aka Woven Hand) formed
the band in 1988. When Edwards left the group in 1991 to form 16 Horsepower, Slim
Cessna and Frank Hauser jr. joined up briefly, then split to form the Auto Club.
Norlander, putting the Gents on hold, followed Edwards's lead and himself joined
16 Horsepower. (Smooch) 
This
is the solo debut from The Strokes' guitarist. Featured artists include Julian
Casablancas, Sean Lennon, Ben Kweller, and many others. The core trio is Albert
on guitars and vocals, joined by Matt Romano on drums and Josh Lattanzi on bass.
"..Yours to Keep is more expansive than the Strokes, and sweeter: The opener,
"Cartoon Music for Superheroes," is a seductive Beach Boys update complete
with angelic harmonies; the slyly catchy "Bright Young Thing" sounds
like a Seventies soft-rock hit sped up and fuzzed out; and "Holiday"
is a jangly let's-run-away love song, with props to Jamaica..." -- Christian
Hoard, rollingstone.com (New Line Records)
No
Justice hails from a rather small place on the map, Stillwater, OK, known for
spawning large talent like Jimmy LaFave, Garth Brooks, The Great Divide and fellow
Smith Entertainment Artists Cross Canadian Ragweed, Stoney LaRue, Mike McClure
and Jason Boland & The Stragglers. Having been a fixture in Stillwater since
2001, No Justice has developed a large following across Oklahoma and Texas.As
it is with any good organic creation, there is an aging process that needs to
occur in order to harvest the perfect blend. Country-rock tones weave in and out
of the band's solid release, thanks in part to recent recruit Brandon Jackson
on vocals/rhythm guitar, and the brothers Payne: Tony on bass and Jerry on lead
guitar. (Smith Music Group)
The
brainchild of Emil Svanangen from Jonkoping, Sweden, Loney, Dear realized the
dream of basement pop prodigies everywhere when his own home-recorded mp3s propelled
him from blogosphere discussion thread to a contract with Sub Pop. With his debut,
Loney, Noir, it is easy to see why the label was impressed. Loney, Dear reimagines
twee pop with elevated Van Dyke Parks-style sophistication that is simultaneously
homespun and orchestral. Svanangen's instantly memorable melodies are also the
perfect vehicle for his impossibly high alto. (Sub Pop Records
As
a songwriter and performer, Mary Chapin Carpenter has long since transcended the
traditional notions of genre and style, finding widespread acclaim for her poetic,
elegantly-observed compositions. The Calling, her first release for Zoë/Rounder,
is the most topical album she's made in her twenty-year career. While it unequivocally
addresses issues both public and political - from the after-effects of Hurricane
Katrina to religious zealotry to the trial-by-radio of the Dixie Chicks - there
is also something deeply personal about this extraordinary collection of songs.
The album is a powerful, provocative meditation on the mysteries of fate and circumstance,
which mingles timeless questions with contemporary issues. (Zoe/Rounder) 
On
My Name Is Buddy, Ry Cooder revisits, in a new set of original material, the sound
and feeling of the "dust bowl songs" he first explored more than three
decades ago on such groundbreaking albums as his self-titled 1970 debut and 1971's
In The Purple Valley. In fact, he's joined by old friends like pianist Van Dyke
Parks and drummer Jim Keltner who were with him at the start of his extraordinary,
ultimately globe-spanning musical odyssey. My Name Is Buddy is also a journey,
a phantasmagorical rendering in music, words and pictures of the travels of three
unlikely cohorts - Buddy Red Cat, Lefty Mouse and Reverend Tom Toad - as they
meander through the west "in the days of labor, big bosses, farm failures,
strikes, company cops, sundown towns, hobos and trains...the America of yesteryear."
For this allegorical tale, Cooder marshals all his remarkable skills as a producer,
arranger, songwriter, soundtrack composer and musicologist. As back-story to his
songs, Cooder has written short stories for each one and they're accompanied by
evocative illustrations from noted San Antonio-based painter and muralist Vincent
Valdez, all of which are included in a specially designed package. (Nonesuch)
The
Weirdness is the fourth studio album - and first formal non-live release since
1973's Raw Power - by influental protopunk band The Stooges, featuring founding
members Iggy Pop, Ron Asheton, and Scott Asheton along with new bassist Mike Watt
(Minutemen/fIREHOSE) and Fun House saxophonist Steve Mackay. It is set for a March
13, 2007 release. The album was recorded by Steve Albini at his Electrical Audio
studio in Chicago, Illinois during October 2006. (Virgin)
This
Danish band makes spare, haunting, emotional, lo-fi rock. This is what you get
when you mix fragile Bjork-ish vocals, music box twinkle keyboard and melodica
sounds, dreamy steel guitar string washes and cryptic yet full-fledged emotive
lyrics. Green Pitch show how strong quiet can be. The music evokes sounds of old
school Ice Cubes and the melodic tunesmithing of a Sam Beam or a Sufjan. For fans
of Low, Sugar Cubes, Iron & Wine, Bjork, and Mazzy Star. (Funzalo Records)
Roots
music fans will rejoice in the release of "Try Me One More Time," the
first new CD in 17 years by guitarist/vocalist David Bromberg, a master practitioner
of folk, blues, bluegrass and other musical genres. This new recording is undiluted
David: one man, one acoustic guitar, and a repertoire of mostly traditional material
performed with the intimate, assured touch of a musician who has nothing to prove.
(Appleseed Records)
Texas
natives Ray Cashman and Grant "Gabby" Brown make up the gritty blues
duo, Cashman. This marks the release of the second definitively titled CD, Texassippi
Stomp, where Texas meets the Mississippi hill country after swaggering through
the Delta on their way to a juke-joint party. Recorded at the legendary Money
Shot studio in Oxford, MS, and produced by boogie blues master Jimbo Mathus, Texassippi
Stomp features all original music by the band.(219 Records)
Track
Listings:Feelin' Like That/Right Where I Need to Be/Songs About Rain/Smoke Rings
in the Dark/Her Man/Best I Ever Had/Nothing on But the Radio/Man to Man/One/Lovin'
You Against My Will/It Would Be You/Man of Me/Tough Little Boys/As the Crow Flies/Life
Ain't Always Beautiful. (MCA Nahsville) 
This is genius at work and the impression is Kaplin -- multi-instrumentalist and
go-to guy -- is barely showing his hand. This limited edition 12 track collection
of mostly-instrumentals showcases why Kaplin is mentioned as this generations`
Ry Cooder. The packaging is a hand-pressed cover by Hatch Show Print. Kaplin is
accompanied by George Bradfute with guest spots by Kieran Kane, Paul Burch and
Mickey Grimm. -- Jeff Weiss, Miles of Music (self-released)
Tulsa-based South 40`s debut album Home catches its own reflection with a collection
of songs that are both nostalgic and forward-looking. The album`s title is taken
from the metaphoric place we all come from. For South 40, that place varies from
song to song, but ultimately brings the listener into the common experience. We
all have stories and memories from our past, some we`d like to forget, some we
relive over and over. Built on the foundation of Oklahoma country, this band proudly
flies it influences by name-checking Waylon, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Chris Ledoux in
the album`s closing track. The band has wisely stuck to a no-frills and honest
brand of country letting the songs and the playing carry the load. -- Jeff Weiss,
Miles of Music (self-released)
Zach
Galifianakis started his so-called career in back of a hamburger joint in New
York. Well-known and loved by the Comedy Central crowd, he is one of the Comedians
of Comedy, played director Alan Finger in the series Dog Bites Man and wowed the
critics with his acclaimed VH1 show, Late World With Zach. A master of the one-liner,
with an absurd rambling style, Zach's sharp, resonating humor makes his show at
the famed Purple Onion in San Francisco one of the funniest performances in recent
comedy. Off-stage, you will meet Seth Galifianakis, Zach's "twin brother."
In an emotional interview with Brian Unger, he sheds some light on his "brother"
Zach, revealing how he came to be who he is today.(Shout! Factory)| Alt Country | Americana Music | Bluegrass Music | Country Bluegrass | Folk Music Folk Rock | Roots Rock | Singer Songwriter | Sitemap |