Archive for September, 2011
Hear Ryan Adams’ Ashes And Fire In Its Entirety
He’s back!!!!! On October 11, the ever-prolific Ryan Adams is set to release Ashes & Fire on Pax-Am/Capitol. The album, which was produced by Glyn Johns, marks the songwriter’s first proper album release since 2008’s Cardinology. You can stream the album in its entirety over at NPR.org. And be sure to check out our in-depth [...]
Emmy The Great
Who is Emmy The Great? She’s the Hong-Kong born, London-raised singer-songwriter whose 2009 debut First Love made the New York Times’ Album of the Year list. Before going solo, Emmy spent time in Lightspeed Champion singing alongside Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine. Her latest album, Virtue, may very well be another Album of [...]
Short Takes: Ry Cooder, T Bone Burnett’s Speaking Clock Revue And More
Ry Cooder Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (Nonesuch) Rating: Who needs Lewis Black, Bill Maher or Jon Stewart when you have Ry Cooder? The famed slide guitarist and world music enthusiast releases his most incisive and sardonic political album, mixing wry observations on bankers, politicians and war mongers into upbeat, even jovial rock, [...]
Counting Crows: August & Everything After – Live at Town Hall
Counting Crows August & Everything After – Live at Town Hall (Eagle Rock) Rating: It’s been ten years since Counting Crows spat out Hard Candy, and they’re still doing damage control for “Big Yellow Taxi,” a song that still gets rotation in every supermarket and dentist’s office in the nation. Insult to injury: The band [...]
A Nod to Bob, Vol. 2: An Artists Tribute to Bob Dylan on his 70th Birthday
Various Artists A Nod to Bob, Vol. 2: An Artist’s Tribute to Bob Dylan on his 70th Birthday (Red House) Rating: Since 2001’s collection of Dylan tunes re-worked by the Red House roster to commemorate his 60th birthday was the label’s best selling release ever, it didn’t take a marketing MBA to realize that a [...]
The Dirt Daubers: Wake Up, Sinners!
The Dirt Daubers: Wake Up, Sinners! ( Colonel Knowledge) Rating: Adopting the name of a small worker wasp is oddly appropriate for The Dirt Daubers, whose sophomore record, Wake Up, Sinners!, is music for the working man, built on ramshackle folk, traditional bluegrass, dusty theatric ragtime and deconstructed hot jazz. Split between Nashville and Paducah [...]
John Wesley Harding Takes You Through The Songwriting Process
Since 1990, John Wesley Harding has recorded 18 albums and penned three acclaimed novels. His latest album, The Sound Of His Own Voice (out 10/11 on Yep Roc) teams him up with members of the Decemberists, as well as friends like like Rosanne Cash, Peter Buck, Laura Veirs, and Scott McCaughey. It’s also got the [...]
Tommy Stinson: One Man Mutiny
Tommy Stinson One Man Mutiny (Done To Death Music) Rating: With a new-found focus and confidence in his songwriting, Tommy Stinson, Mr. ex-Replacement, has released One Man Mutiny , probably the most consistent record quality-wise of his solo career (aside from Bash & Pop’s classic debut, Friday Night is Killing Me, of course, still a [...]
Luke Temple: Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care
Luke Temple Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care (Western Vinyl) Rating: Give him this much, Luke Temple knows how to kick-start an album with a bang. Having released two full-length solo releases under his own name, as well as two at the helm of eclectic chamber pop collective Here We Go Magic, his albums are [...]
Hip-Hop And Americana At Friday’s SoundLand
With Wednesday and Thursday already fading memories from this year’s SoundLand, Friday promised to kickstart the midpoint of the fest with headlining sets by Justin Townes Earle at The Cannery and Yelawolf at the 12th Avenue Block Party. The scenes at each hub showed an interesting cross-section of the folk and Americana contingent and Nashville’s [...]
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