Christian Kjellvander #3

Christian Kjellvander • Introducing the Past
Genre Alt. Country / Country-Folk / Singer-Songwriter
Year 2003

(disc 1)
Length 1:03:27

1 Portugal 3:30
2 Paige 3:19
3 Live Ones 5:01
4 Staying There 3:43
5 Days of Black (Nights are Lights) 2:50
6 Sacred Ground 3:52
7 River Raffle 3:33
8 Jesus 3:16
9 Form & the Feeling 4:42
10 Feeling Deluxe 3:55
11 Juan the Fuca (live) 3:39
12 Traveller (live) 4:49
13 Marrow 5:54
14 Stum Mountain Man 11:23

(disc 2)
Length 41:09

1 Search 3:16
2 1912 3:45
3 Palace of Dynasty 4:10
4 Adversity 4:29
5 Nez Percé 4:24
6 A Mother's Cry 5:01
7 Fender 4:24
8 Israel 3:58
9 Homeward Rolling Soldier (LIVE) 7:41

Released in Sweden after ‘Songs From A Two-Room Chapel’ was a double CD compilation titled ‘Introducing The Past , Songs by Christian Kjellvander’ which complies earlier material from Kjellvander’s time with The Loosegoats and Songs Of The Soil and which are every bit as good as his solo debut. Kjellvander is a major talent there’s no denying that, and it would be criminal for us to go on ignoring talent like this just because it isn’t home-grown.

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d o w n l o a d cd2
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Dolorean

Dolorean / Violence In The Snowy Fields
total time: 37:07
year: 2004
genre: Alt. Country

1. 3:56 The Search
2. 3:49 Put You to Sleep
3. 3:45 Dying in Time
4. 5:56 Holding On
5. 3:21 To Destruction
6. 3:21 Violence in the Snowy Fields
7. 3:20 My Grey Life (Second Chances)
8. 5:58 The Righteous Shall Destroy the Precious
9. 3:38 In the Fall

Review:
After touring nationally throughout 2003 and 2004 in support of Not Exotic, Al James asked for Jeff Saltzman’s help again to record Dolorean’s second release for Yep Roc Records: Violence in the Snowy Fields. They tracked the album in different studios around Portland (Tony Lash’s Mandible, Saltzman’s Mysterious Beard, and Larry Crane’s Jackpot!). Along with Al James, the lineup included bassist James Adair, pianist Jay Clarke, and drummer Ben Nugent. This time Nugent was no longer just brushing a mellow backbeat, he picked up the pace and added his Levon Helm inspired “lonely frog” backing vocals to most of the songs. Jay Clarke (on loan from The Standard) added vibraphones and organ and wrote string charts for two of the songs. Emil Amos and Timothy Horner from Portland’s instrumental giant Grails played electric guitar and violin on tracks as well. The album still contains a few of the finger picked folk narratives found on Not Exotic, but overall these Al James penned songs are more focused, more mature, and more dynamic. The album draws on the raw parlor soul of Wild Honey-era Beach Boys and the lush Jack Nitzche-Neil Young compositions from Buffalo Springfield. The stripped-down folk songs journey down a road as dark and personal as those explored by Townes Van Zandt. While there were many converts to Dolorean’s debut restraint in Not Exotic, nobody will be disappointed by the growth and spirit of Violence in the Snowy Fields.

Review popmatters.com:
Al James is a man scorned. Violence in the Snowy Fields, the second release from the Portland-area singer/songwriter, is, at times, delightfully tongue-in-cheek, but for the majority of its 40 minutes it's painfully honest and desperately obsessive. The opener "The Search" sounds traditional enough, aligning itself clearly with Neil Young and the followers early '70s country rock, but lyrically it boasts a disquieting amount of brimstone. For three verses, mystically biblical prophecies containing mentions of precious stones and birds of prey are contrasted with the "fear of the Lord" in the search for wisdom and understanding. This kind of morbid proselytizing creates an odd tension for the listener, who's unfortunately left torn somewhere between a front porch hum-along and taking cover from the wrath of God.

Similarly, the title track is vintage Harvest-era Neil complete with crunchy electric guitar. But again James's gothic religious impulses quickly come to bear. He lets us know that in the end St John will reveal all things like, for instance, the "violence in the snowy fields." After that the hoof beats start pounding and James tell us that he may go down in flames but he won't burn. Neil used to sing about pickups and leaving and fields and L.A. and, to tell you the truth, it's a lot more palatable to those us who put our faith in the secular world of record-listening.

The centerpiece of this tension is "The Righteous Shall Destroy the Precious". Here, the narrator comes down out of the hills to have his day. He enters the white buildings full of God's children where his brothers lurk coldly. This is evidently really bad because some chaff gets burned. All this drama compounded by the slow, ominous strum of electric guitar and time kept on the ride. Somebody's king once was their slave. Then there's whistling. I have to admit that I'm somewhat lost at this point. And, well, it all seems a bit much, really.

And if it's not one thing with James it's another. On "My Grey Life" James declares an angry grudge against an ex-lover with the line, "I believe in second chances for everyone but you." But the record isn't all duck-and-cover. "Dying in Time" is a clever take on the sincerity of '70s gold ala Bread. Its quivering strings, silver guitars, and mellow organs lend grace to the comically sentimental refrain of "Baby, let's die at the same time." Hey, and I'm right there with him when he sings, "May it not be by avalanche, may it not by hurricane." There are several quietly intimate moments of finger-picked confession, the best of which is the album's closer, "In the Fall". And "To Destruction" is probably the album's best and most straight-forward track. James sounds comfortable singing a beautiful love song and is well-accompanied by a lovely shuffle of steel guitar and piano. It makes you wish he didn't waste so much damn time straining for gravity.

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Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson

Youth Pictures Of Florence Henderson • Unnoticeable In A Tiny Town, Invisible In The City
Genre Post-Rock
Year 2005
Length 43:49

1 Van Gogh Kept Painting Himself Because He Was The Only Model He Had 6:02
2 Yet We Continue To Build There, The Structure 7:11
3 How Odd To See These Lamps Still Burning 6:29
4 I've Got A Picture Of You Boss 7:06
5 A List Not To Be Read At Your Wedding 7:28
6 We May Be Remembered By What We Did When We Sat Down 9:33

These young lads haunting long and skygazing epics are sure to save anyones day. Combining electronic elements with soothing layers of dreamy guitars with pounding, jazzy and intricate beats. Some would say postrock with a poppy feel and spoken, sung and screamed words. Taking the best from bands like Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Explosions in the sky and jangly emobands, while adding elements that makes the Youth pictures sound unique. In fact; these are tunes you can both dance to and lull yourself to sleep with.

http://youthpictures.deadletterrecords.net/

"Unnoticeable" seems to have hit a spot. Check out what critics have said so far:

"World class postrock... 6/6" panorama.no

"Norwegian newcomers of the year" puls.no

"Norwegian album of the year so far" universitas

"One of those albums that simply must be heard" musiq.no

"An amazing band... potentially one of the countrys most interresting" under dusken

"An oasis for everyone seeking sensitive, challenging music... 5/6" rockeweb.no

"Surprisingly fresh sound considering it's recorded in a bomb-shelter" hissig.no

"Beatiful melodies... careful, peculiar moods... 4/6" adresseavisen

"At first, it seems so mature, focused and well made it's almost scary... 4/7" groove.no

"Simply screaming love me" allinblackzine

"Well-played and fine melodic and dynamic attempts... 3/6" bergens tidende

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The Go-Betweens #5

The Go-Betweens • Oceans Apart
Genre Alternative Pop/ Rock
Year 2005
Length 41:01

1 Here Comes A City 3:25
2 Finding You 4:02
3 Born To A Family 3:10
4 No Reason To Cry 3:52
5 Boundary Rider 2:46
6 Darlinghurst Nights 6:18
7 Lavender 3:10
8 The Statue 4:25
9 This Night Is For You 4:25
10 The Mountains Near Dellray 5:59

Review by Thom Jurek
Though it's been two years since Bright Yellow Bright Orange, Oceans Apart is further proof that the Go-Betweens are still a going concern. It is their third recording since reuniting after a 12-year hiatus. The lineup is the same as the last time out: Songwriters and frontmen Robert Forster and Grant McLennan are joined once more by drummer Glenn Thompson, and bassist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist Adele Pickvance. In addition, there is a small wind and brass section on some tracks, and, for a change, no strings. The band dug into its past for this one, bringing in producer Mark Wallis, who helmed the sessions for the classic 16 Lovers Lane in 1988. Oceans Apart sounds very little like its aforementioned predecessor, but that's hardly a problem. Wallis understands the band's subtleties and the textures they like to evoke better than anyone else they've ever worked with. His production is more assertive, but hardly excessive. In fact, he lends the added dimension (he loves keyboards and electronic percussions) the band's records have lacked since their comeback. The set opens with "Here Comes a City," a literary rocker by Forster. Its shimmering, chunka-chunka riff and Forster's vocals feel like a refined, musical nod to the Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime." It's also paranoid, clamoring for an edge it doesn't quite get to, and careens along to an uncertain yet quite arresting end. Things become a bit more characteristic on McLennan's beautiful "Finding You," with its lilting guitars, spare, clean lines, and poetic, emotional lyrics that can open veins with the fine slash of their honesty. The dreamy, pillowy "No Reason to Cry" is among the more elegant songs McLennan has ever composed. Its soulful vocal, chorus, and the way Wallis layers keyboards, vocals, and Forster's distorted lead lines give the lyrics great weight and depth. It's a truly wonderful pop song. The poetry in "Darlinghurst Nights" is some of Forster's more poignant, moving through reverie, grief, and loss. The weave of acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, drums, and percussion surrounds his voice, pushing it out in front just enough to let his words move toward the listener with enough force to draw her in. In contrast, his "Lavender" touches country music but never goes there. Loops, keyboards, and washes of guitars carry the tune somewhere else as a clarinet wafts in from the margin. Once more, its reverie is in his lyric, with a hint of the previous, as it meets the solitary present, and it's gorgeous. The electronic beats in "The Statue" are a bit jarring until the watery, warm, and luscious keyboards slip underneath subtly, only to be buoyed by a ringing lead-guitar line and McLennan's vocal speaking his desire without flinching. Forster's brief, elegiac "Mountains Near Dellray" closes the set with another sense of place, very different from his opener's. The mood is pastoral as the guitars wind and slip over one another. In addition, early editions of the CD come with a six-track, live EP, recorded at the Barbican in 2004. With its imagination, startling creativity, and sheer pop soul, Oceans Apart is the first great Go-Betweens' record of the 21st century.

Link:
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Patty Griffin #2

Patty Griffin • Living with Ghosts
Genre Contemporary Folk
Year 1996
Length 41:59

1 Moses 3:28
2 Let Him Fly 3:11
3 Every Little Bit 5:33
4 Time Will Do The Talking 3:55
5 Mad Mission 2:41
6 Poor Man's House 4:27
7 Forgiveness 5:00
8 You Never Get What You Want 3:42
9 Sweet Lorraine 5:26
10 Not Alone 4:35

Review by Darryl Cater
Patty Griffin's major-label debut was actually recorded as a demo cassette. A&M executives were so impressed with this raw display of talent that they snatched up the tape and threw it, unaltered, into the marketplace. Griffin recorded her songs exactly as she performed them live, armed with only her acoustic guitar and a voice that can rattle fences. While dozens of folk artists have attempted to bend the ear of the major labels by coating their acoustics with radio-friendly keyboards and drums, Griffin took the gutsy "band? I don't need no stinking band" approach. It's primarily a testament to her voice that A&M was so taken with her minimalism; as a guitarist, Griffin isn't much more than an energetic strummer. Her songwriting is only occasionally exceptional — her word choices are as minimal as her arrangements, and her melodies are engaging but conventional. But she is nonetheless a striking and intriguing storyteller, because her tales of chronically lonely people are told with such passion. Griffin's Nashville-tinged warble has tremendous emotional range, one minute cracking with brittle vulnerability, the next minute blasting with passionate intensity. Occasionally it seems Griffin's demo engineers were unequipped to handle her vibrant transitions, setting the microphone level for a whisper then cringing as the speakers bristle and the needles slam into the red. But this subtle idiosyncrasy only adds to the charm of the album, lending to the impression that no stereo is big enough to contain this voice.

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Mary Gauthier #2

Mary Gauthier • Drag queens in limousines
Genre Americana, Alternative Country
Year 1999
Length 42:01

1 Drag Queens in Limousines 5:40
2 Our Lady of the Shooting Stars 3:29
3 Karla Faye 4:40
4 I Drink 3:48
5 Evangeline 5:36
6 Lucky Stars 3:25
7 Different Kind of Gone 3:41
8 Slip Of The Tongue 3:43
9 Lifetime 4:38
10 Jackie's Train 3:22

Review by Charlotte Dillon
With strong songwriting and powerful vocals, the alternative country album Drag Queens in Limousines might be a pleasant surprise for some who try to judge it by its unusual title alone. This 1999 sophomore album was recorded by Louisiana native Mary Gauthier. Of course, most of the numbers on this award-winning offering aren't your everyday kind of country. Some of the lyrics have even been called brutally honest. One of the songs, "Karla Faye," is about a Texas death row inmate by that name. Other numbers are simply about the rejects of society and the struggles that most people face at one point or another. Gauthier is a talented singer and completely capable of sharing her emotions through her lyrics. A few songs fans can sample on this album are "Different Kind of Gone," "Our Lady of the Shooting Stars," and "Lucky Stars."

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Eleni Mandell

Eleni Mandell • Wishbone
Genre Rock
Year 1999
Length 41:22

1 I'm Your Girl 4:46
2 Wishbone 5:44
3 Sylvia 3:02
4 Tristeza 3:42
5 Meant To Be In Love 3:51
6 Normandie 3:14
7 Snake Song 2:59
8 To Dream of Sarah 3:10
9 Careless Driver 3:38
10 Hack Jimmy 3:23
11 Nickel Plated Man 3:54

Review by Stanton Swihart
Jon Brion became ubiquitous on the music scene of the late '90s as a player and producer of sophisticated pop music that looked equally forward and backward, and the albums on which he played and produced also happened to became synonymous with excellence. Eleni Mandell's debut, Wishbone is no different. Although the production of Brian Kehew and Brion is not the star here—Mandell is a jewel of a songwriter-it is spot-on, a perfect match for the melancholy nature of the songs, very sharp, clean, and intuitive with just the right touch of deliberate mysteriousness. Mandell seems to have a familiarity with both Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones (in fact, she thanks Chuck E. Weiss, who also plays on one song), and the music on Wishbone lives up to such heavyweights. Mandell is less grounded in the dowdy, frazzled beat aesthetic, however, and is just as likely to incorporate a bit of spikey pop punch, as on the gleeful "Sylvia," as she is to construct studies of down-and-out characters. So instead of retreating into bygone beat archetypes, she, for example, refers to a "punk rock cat" on the title track. Still, Mandell is a throwback of sorts-a troubadour with a big aching heart-and most of her songs could just as easily come from a pre-rock era. That is, they are mostly (with the exception of "Sylvia" and "Careless Driver") not dependent on rock attitudes or musical textures, and the instrumentation is far from rock-based, incorporating such instruments as chamberlain, pianet, tack piano, vibes, banjolin, vibes, and pedal steel guitar. Although Mandell can come across as a dead ringer for PJ Harvey, affecting a similar plaintive, woozy wail on "Wishbone" and "Meant To Be In Love" and delving into snake imagery on "Snake Song," and although the music of each is, according to emotional resonance if not structure and texture, pure blues, she falls much farther from the rock tree. The album is very percussive, with Mandell's acoustic guitar even seeming more percussive than anything else, and the songs mostly slink by seductively like mournful Mexican ballads. Wishbone, though, should not be confused for a downer of an album. Mandell's vocals generally betray a sly exuberance that balances out any downheartedness, as if she, more than anything, enjoys delving into the raw, blunter side of life.

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Sia #2

Sia • Healing is Difficult
Genre Electronic
Year 2002
Length 1:05:02

1 Fear 5:11
2 Drink To Get Drunk 4:41
3 Taken For Granted 4:35
4 Blow It All Away 4:40
5 Get Me 3:14
6 I'm Not Important To You 6:09
7 Sober and Unkissed 4:01
8 Healing is Difficult 5:24
9 Judge Me 4:15
10 Little Man 6:05
11 Insidiously 8:50
12 Drink To Get Drunk (Dance) 7:56

Even though Zero 7 have enlisted the abilities of the Australian born vocalist and writer, there is a bigger and better reason to be excited about Sia Furler, namely her debut album Healing Is Difficult. This combination of R&B, two step and jazz flavours provides a backdrop for one of the most exciting voices to have emerged in recent years.

Prior to the album's release "Taken For Granted" crashed the charts last year at number 10 and "Little Man" had the overhaul from UK garage star Wookie and sold 10,000 white labels to the dance music underground. With the full showcase now available, Sia has pulled a handbrake turn and skidded neatly in to the space marked 'this year's diva'.

The title of this album is not without good reason as Sia's past has been a trying one with the tragic loss of a partner and subsequent grieving providing the basis and catalyst for much of the writing. From the outset we are exposed to a brutal honesty as the opening track, "Fear" confesses, 'And sometimes I worry my boyfriend will die, my first love is already dead. You see fear is only holding us back'.

Complementary to this, the hip hop beats of "Taken For Granted" have been layered over Prokofiev's 'Romeo and Juliet' - whether this choice reflects a darker irony and further mediatation on the subject only adds to the track's mystique and appeal. However bold, her sensitivity never descends to self-depreciation or pity, in fact, it is tempered with a well developed sense of humour - a natural extension of her playful nature. By way of an illustration, she arrived on stage to perform "Destiny" at the recent Zero 7 show to a rapturous applause, took the mic and in the thickest of Australian twangs exclaimed, 'I probably shouldn't talk, should I? It'll spoil the illusion!'

Mindset aside, it is the delivery that singles Sia out. Her range and versatility across the album mark her as being both natural and at ease in a jazz mode, "Drink To Get Drunk", as well as down tempo in the seductive R&B ballad "Blow It All Away". That said, the soaring vocal power on the exceptional "Judge Me" proves she can belt it out with the best of them.

Sexy, soulful and masterful, she is without question a kick ass singer! It's not really a question of drawing parallels with other vocalists rather that in years to come it is others that will be compared to her. The road has been long with too many winding turns to mention but Sia is finally here. Intelligent, moving and funny which begs the question, 'What does the girl do for an encore?'. Do not deprive yourself of this little gem.

Reviewer: Andy Puleston

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Christian Kjellvander #2

Christian Kjellvander • Songs from a two-room chapel
Genre Alt. Country
Year 2002
Length 42:12

1 Homeward rolling soldier 3:55
2 Words in the wires 3:10
3 Allelujah 5:09
4 Broken wheels 4:14
5 Log at 25 4:53
6 Oh night 3:42
7 Deliverance 4:24
8 Polish daughter 4:23
9 At the rapids 4:00
10 Rid 4:22

Swedes going alt. country ? Seems a bit odd at first sight, but not for Christian Kjellvander. Having spent his childhood and teenage years in the USA, this ex-Loosegoats is certainly more qualified than most of his countrymen to tackle this typically North-American music style.

Even as leader of his former band, Kjellvander had managed to make them evolve from sharp-edged rock'n'roll ( in which they excelled !) to country-rock with undeniable success. Albums like " Her, the city et al" or " Plains, plateaus and mountains" ( Rockomondo's album of the month in july '99) provided examples galore of his warm singing, gifted songwriting and intuitive understanding of American music.

First release under his own name, " Songs from a two-room chapel" displays the same qualities, but allows him also to widen his inspiration and musicianship.

With its compelling push drive, opener Homeward Rolling Soldier is still very much in the late Loosegoats vein, a link between Kjellvander's full-band efforts and his solo work. But Words In The Wires really breaks new ground. The Loosegoats would have played it all guitars plugged. Kjellvander and his new backing band give it a light yet dynamic treatment of acoustic guitars, mandolins and violins to amazing results. This subtle approach is even more obvious on their hushed rendition of Allelujah, one of the album's highlights. On this crystal pure melody, Kjellvander's velvet voice, gently underlined with ghostly backing vocals, sparse harmonium touches and tearful musical-saw licks achieves a heart-rending tenderness and beauty. In contrast, Broken Wheels offers a catchy singalong chorus that should click to radio DJ's ears ( in an ideal world, that is...) while the hazy and nostalgic mood of Log At 25 introduces new Celtic influences, quite unexpected in this context, but which fit perfectly to this story of impossible love. Throughout the album, Kjellvander keeps on blowing hot and cold, switching from mid/uptempo numbers like the violin-driven Oh Night or the horn-laden Polish Daughters, to slower and more melancholic songs like Deliverance or At The Rapids, a killer ballad sung sotto voce on a moving combination of mandolin and pump-organ. The last number, Rid, is another stand-out track. It builds up gradually on a mesmerizing mid-tempo canvas and culminates in a feverish trumpet solo that provides the climax to both song and album.

Sweden can now boast an alt. country artist of its own who is able to match most of our transatlantic heroes. But songs like the atypic Ride prove that our man is not that easy to pigeonhole. Who knows where he'll be next time ?


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Kasey Chambers #3

Kasey Chambers • Barricades & Brickwalls
Genre Alternative Country-Rock
Year 2001
Length 53:35

1 Barricades & Brickwalls 3:14
2 Not Pretty Enough 3:21
3 On A Bad Day 2:53
4 Runaway Train 3:26
5 A Little Bit Lonesome 3:00
6 Nullabor Song 4:29
7 Million Tears 5:03
8 Still Feeling Blue 2:46
9 This Mountain 4:56
10 Crossfire 2:18
11 Falling Into You 3:46
12 If I Were You 4:11
13 I Still Pray 4:31
14 Ignorance (Bonus) 5:42

Review by Robert L. Doerschuk
On Barricades & Brickwalls, Kasey Chambers exceeds the high standards that critics had already attached to her even at age 25. The instrumental tracks, raw and unpretentious, provide an ideal setting for her vocals, whose hint of world-weary reflection suggests significant growth even in the brief span of time since her American debut, The Captain. The material is presented concisely, never so much as a verse too long; from the title track, a menacing meditation on obsession, to gentler and more traditional reflections such as "On a Bad Day," Chambers delivers each lyric with disarming artlessness, after which the music simply stops or fades without flourish. Images of restless and rootless wandering crop up repeatedly, appropriate in different ways to a variety of settings: a "lonesome whistle cries" like a promise of danger in "Barricades & Brickwalls," while "the railway line" points toward a chaos of ecstasy on "Runaway Train" and "the whistle blows" rumors of faraway wonders through the desolation of her homeland on "Nullabor Song." Chambers is strongest when evoking these metaphors of distance, isolation, and redemption; on harder-edged material, such as the rock-oriented "Crossfire," she seems, by comparison, a step or two outside of her comfort zone. The replication of a Patsy Cline vibe on "A Little Bit Lonesome," complete with vintage production and bouncy fiddle fills, clarifies that Chambers draws from the most vital currents that feed the body of her chosen tradition. Guest appearances by Lucinda Williams, Buddy Miller, and Matthew Ryan further authenticate Barricades & Brickwalls as prime-cut Americana — an ironic appellation, perhaps, given Chambers' Australian roots, but appropriate nonetheless.

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Maria McKee #2

Maria McKee • The Ultimate Collection
Genre Rock
Year 2000
Length 1:16:03

1 Lone Justice • Ways To Be Wicked 3:27
2 Lone Justice • Sweet, Sweet Baby (I'm Falling) 4:12
3 Lone Justice • Do'nt toss us away 4:21
4 Lone Justice • Shelter 4:34
5 Lone Justice • Wheels 5:00
6 Panic Beach 5:53
7 Only Once 4:06
8 Absolutely Barking Stars 4:24
9 I'm Awake 3:52
10 Scarlover 5:17
11 If Love Is A Red Dress (Hang Me In Rags) 4:57
12 Show Me Heaven (Acoustic Demo Version) 3:45
13 Sweetest Child (Single Mix) 4:12
14 Sweet Jane (Live) 6:59
15 Lone Justice • Dixie Storms 3:35
16 Breathe 4:36
17 Am I The Only One (Who's Ever Felt This Way) 2:54

Review by Heather Phares
The Ultimate Collection collects Maria McKee's definitive moments with Lone Justice and as a solo artist. Her sensual yet down-to-earth vocals and gritty songwriting stand out on Lone Justice tracks like "Don't Toss Us Away," "Shelter," and "Ways to Be Wicked"; her growth as both a singer and a writer is reflected on solo songs such as "Absolutely Barking Stars," "Breathe," and "What Else You Wanna Know." The collection also includes some interesting bonuses, including Lone Justice's live version of "Sweet Jane," an acoustic demo of "Show Me Heaven," and "If Love Is a Red Dress," which originally appeared on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. At 17 tracks long, This One Is for the Girl comes pretty close to being an ultimate collection of McKee's body of work.

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d o w n l o a d part 1
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Mary Gauthier

Mary Gauthier • Dixie Kitchen
Genre Americana
Year 2002
Length 37:09

1 Ways of the World 3:20
2 I Don't Know Nothing About Love 3:16
3 The other side of free 3:18
4 Goddamn HIV 4:00
5 Old Love Never Dies 3:59
6 You're All I Wanna Do 4:07
7 Ever Easy 2:47
8 Skeleton town 4:56
9 Rock and Roll lies 3:49
10 Mama Louisiana 3:37

Similar Artists
John Prine, Richard Buckner, Richard Shindell, Dar Williams, Rosanne Cash, Iris DeMent, Gillian Welch, Stacey Earle, Lucinda Williams

Dixie Kitchen is about the most down home that country's likely to get. Mary didn't go to opera class to learn how to sing country; she doesn't pull any punches; she lays it on the line; and lays it down clean. "When you're 10 years old, it's cute to be a tomboy, but in a couple of years you gotta deal with the ways of the world," she sings on the opener, shouting out, "Sorry, Mom," as her live wire acoustic guitar sails through the song. The breakup song "I Don't Know Nothin' About Love" is a track that went past me the first few times with this CD, but now is one of my favorite tunes. "The Other Side of Free" with its slow mandolin is pretty good. In a most unlikely country setting, Gauthier does a real good job on the anti-AIDS ballad "Goddamn HIV." "I've been a queer since the day I was born," she sings from a gay man's point of view recounting the ravages of that brutal disease. "Old Love Never Dies" is a soft song that she as much moans as sings. "You're All I Wanna Do" is a lustful country tune with a bouncy guitar line, "Sexual satisfaction turned into a chicken fight." Matt Leavenworth's gorgeous fiddle enhances the simple melody of "Ever Easy," "I don't want to leave you; and I don't want to stay; I don't want to keep going on this way." "Skeleton Town" is a peppy little tune about terminal illnesses. In "Rock & Roll Lies" Gauthier references Jack Kerouac, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley & Jim Morrison with a vocal holler straight from Hank Williams, "What's left when the glory consumes you & you can't tell the truth from the lies, while the one thing you still believe in, you must sell to whoever will buy." She nails the contradictions of popularity and commercialism. The CD concludes with country hoedown "Mama Louisiana." Mary Gauthier's music is rustic, rough edged, not perfect pitched -- she won't be doing duets with Celine Dion. But on Dixie Kitchen, she sings with honesty; her music is about something; and the musicianship is first rate.
Amazon

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Ocean Colour Scene #3

Ocean Colour Scene • One From The Modern
Genre Rock
Year 1999
Length 43:29

1 Profit In Peace 4:14
2 So Low 3:54
3 I Am The News 4:03
4 No One At All 2:40
5 Families 2:56
6 Step By Step 2:35
7 July 3:34
8 Jane She Got Excavated 3:11
9 Emily Chambers 3:44
10 Soul Driver 3:35
11 The Waves 6:08
12 I Won't Get Grazed 2:53

Amazon.co.uk Review
Want to relive the past? For heaven's sake, learn restraint. Don't mar your production with fancy digital frills. Be like Ocean Colour Scene. OCS know when to pitch a note, and when to stand back. They might've been unfairly tarnished with the "Dad Rock" badge because of their association with mentor Paul Weller (Weller sings back-up on one song here, the blissfully low-key "No One at All"), but they have the authentic, rootsy feel of the 60s white-boy beat groups down pat. On songs like the anti-war, defiant "Profit in Peace" and solipsistic "Emily Chambers", OCS prove that the lessons they've learnt at the hands of The Small Faces, The Spencer Davis Group and The Yardbirds, they've learnt well. One From the Modern is a mini-masterpiece of restraint and passion, albeit passion displayed through a rosy-tinted, time-distorted lens. Half the songs here could be mistaken for Pebbles-era garage classics. And that's some compliment. --Everett True

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The Go-Betweens #4

Go-Betweens, The • The Friends of Rachel Worth
Genre Alt. Pop/Rock
Year 2000
Length 39:51

1 Magic In Here 3:52
2 Spirit 3:59
3 The Clock 4:06
4 German Farmhouse 3:51
5 He Lives My Life 3:58
6 Heart And Home 3:13
7 Surfing Magazines 4:34
8 Orpheus Beach 4:48
9 Going Blind 2:56
10 When She Sang About Angels 4:32

Review by Hal Horowitz
Twelve years after disbanding the Go-Betweens, Melbourne-based singer/songwriters Robert Forster and Grant McLennan reformed the band they began in 1978 for their seventh album. While they haven't quite picked up where they left off (none of the other original members hopped on board), and the violin/viola that was such an integral aspect of their last few albums appears sporadically, this isn't a huge departure from the trademarked Go-Betweens sound. Poetic, languid, spoken/sung vocals similar to Lou Reed weave between lovely melodies whose appeal unfolds with repeated listens. Strummed guitars and sympathetic drums (sadly, the marvelous percussionist Lindy Morrisson, a mainstay of the band, is missing) spar with Forster and McLennan's breathy, often stream of consciousness vocals. But since the singer/songwriters evenly split the ten tracks, this sounds more like a combination of two solo albums rather than one from a cohesive unit. The backing musicians, which include Olympia's similarly hyphenated Sleater-Kinney, are generally faceless except on the riff-rocking "German Farmhouse" where the band sounds even more like the Velvet Underground than usual. Forster's ode to Patti Smith, the album closing "When She Sang About Angels," is occasionally gorgeous, with half-recited lyrics that sometimes flow yet often sound uncomfortably meshed with the beautiful melody. But on the effervescent "Going Blind," the duo returns to the uncluttered, wistful, folk-pop sound of their best work. While it won't garner new fans, or even make newcomers search out their earlier work, The Friends of Rachel Worth is a convincing if inconsistent return to form. Its highlights recall the past glories of this commercially overlooked band and add a handful of keepers to their best work.

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Sophie Zelmani

Sophie Zelmani • Sophie Zelmani
Genre Pop
Year 1995
Length 38:51

1 I'd Be Broken 4:17
2 Stand By 3:02
3 There Must Be A Reason 2:27
4 So Good 4:15
5 Always You 2:51
6 A Thousand Times 2:42
7 Tell Me You're Joking 2:44
8 Woman In Me 2:06
9 You And Him (string version) 3:30
10 Until Dawn 3:20
11 I'll Remember You 3:18
12 I'll See You (In Another World) 4:18

Reviews:
Calgary Sun
SOPHIE ZELMANI -- Sophie Zelmani (Columbia) In this age of angry female artists like PJ Harvey and Alanis Morissette, Zelmani sounds like a throwback to a less confrontational time. This quietly assured debut album presents an artist who's as vulnerable as her music is delicate. The sweet-voiced Swede sings of heartache and longing without a drop of sentimentality; her uncluttered folk-rock sound (acoustic guitars only, please) and lack of guile bring to mind the early-'70s work of Jackson Browne, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Zelmani may not be as noisy as her female contemporaries, but she deserves to be heard. Rating: HHH*

Everyday gazette
Come closer, come in, listen to me! Sophie Zelmani feels very urgent. She writes songs with an American singer/songwriter - base instead of the Swedish folk - singer tradition, despite that the distance isn’t that great. "Oh no this cannot be / My father would never leave me", is a typical Sophie Zelmani - line. While for example Anna Nederdahl fall on that she feels pretentious and conventional Zelmani manages to keep the grip of the listener with small means. The singer/songwriter tradition relies on that the singer invites the listeners and makes them feel like they are participating in the lyrics. Sophie Zelmani succeeds in this, despite that English isn’t her mother tongue. So if you like Neil Young or Maria McKee, buy Sophie Zelmani’s CD. You get the steel guitar for free.
by Richard Sandenskog

Aftonbladet
One thing is for certain: if I had no idea of who Sophie Zelmani was I wouldn’t guess that she’s from Skogås outside Stockholm. The feeling is classic, traditional and very American. But still it has a unique feeling. Already the first song "I’d be broken" is a small orgy in acoustic guitars, pedal steel, crisp singing and Sophie’s beautiful voice. A still knockout. But Sophie can toughen up when she wants to. In "There must be a reason", a dispute between mother and daughter, she sounds a lot tougher. And what a choir part descending from Crosby, Stills, Nash&Young. Sophie’s CD breathes self-confidence in every detail; from the nice photographs, through the stylistically pure production of Lars Halapi to Sophie’s singing and marvellous song. What a debut. One o the most memorable in 1995.
by Anders Hvidfelt

Urban Desires
Sophie Zelmani I wondered how this little slip of a girl could hold a crowd in NYC. She is maybe five feet with shoulder length brown hair and piercing green eyes that are edged with dark eyeliner. Waifish definitely describes Sophie Zelmani. When I replayed the tape of our interview I had a hard time hearing her voice she spoke so quietly. She had never played a live gig before she had a record contract. She sent in her tape to Columbia in Sweden and they signed her, gave her a band, made a record (Self Titled Columbia Records) booked her a gig and presto instant rock star. In the little time she has been playing she has won two Swedish Grammys (Best Newcomer and Best Female Pop Singer) and gold records in Sweden and Japan. This was her first time in New York and she said she had heard lots of stories about New York and was scared at first. Hey that's how I felt when I got to New York City. I went to see her play at the Mercury Lounge and I have to admit I was worried for her. She seemed small and nervous up there and her command of English is only Okay. Once she started singing though I couldn't take my eyes off her, she has a quiet intensity and a deep connection to her music. Her band was excellent and both guitarists played acoustics. Most of her songs are about love or lost love and when I asked her if she was in love she replied, " I'm always in love." She writes very simply and the arrangements by Lars Halapi pay tribute to the likes of Van Morrison (one of her favourites) and Neil Young. Sophie writes good repetitive hooks for her choruses and they hang around in your head. Her lyrics are so honest that you can forgive the total lack of guile, or rather admire the total lack of guile. Simply repeat these words- It's Always You. Zelmani grew up a tomboy outside of Stockholm playing soccer and other sports but told me she quit because, "My legs were getting too big." She said she wrote songs pretty much in a vacuum. She didn't listen to American music, didn't have records. I asked her if she had heard of the record Nashville Skyline by Dylan or the song from it, Lay Lady Lay and she said no. Obviously Lars Halapi her producer/arranger had because the strains of the pedal steel were very reminiscent. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I asked Sophie if she ever writes in Swedish and she said she never has. She only writes in English and it shows. When you listen to these songs you think she's American and probably from the south. Listen to her on A Thousand Times or “Stand By” which sounds a lot like a Neil Young song, the harmonica and the quiet background vocals. There are other songs that are good but I only have the three song E.P. Off the cassette I liked I'd Be Broken and So Good but you'll have to buy the disc to hear those because I can't digitize them for you off cassette. If you like Swedish women singing folk rock you'll love Sophie Zelmani. Okay forget that, you don't even have to like Swedish women but if you like simple earnest songs sung from the heart you might want to check out Sophie.
by David Levine

M.U.S.I.C.
This Swedish import brings another talented singer songwriter to Sony's adult pop stable. Zelmani's North American debut fuses a breezy, in your ear vocal (not unlike Susannah Hoffs without the nasal inflection), onto a rhythmic backdrop reminiscent of Harvest-era Neil Young. Zelmani's songs are capable and direct, the best pieces on the album being the obvious single, "Always You", You & Him" and the bouncy "There Must Be A Reason". The band comes up with their best impression of Neil's Stray Gator line-up on "Until Dawn" and the opener, "I'd Be Broken". An engaging experience for everyone from early Neil and late Van Morrison fans to students of the Jewel fem-wave school.
by Tez

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Sia

Sia / Colour The Small One
Year 2004
Genre: Indie Pop
Length 50:49

1 Rewrite 4:46
2 Sunday 4:18
3 Breathe Me 4:35
4 The Bully 3:51
5 Sweet Potato 4:01
6 Don't Bring Me Down 4:25
7 Natale's Song 2:33
8 Butterflies 3:26
9 Moon 5:02
10 The Church Of What's Happening Now 4:27
11 Numb 4:40
12 Where I Belong 4:45

PopMatters review by Mike Schiller (US 2006 release)

...Claire steps into the car and puts the very much misnamed “Ted’s Deeply Un-Hip Mix” into the CD player. Slowly, carefully, a lovely mix of gently cascading pianos and breathy vocals (followed eventually by a slow rock beat) seeps out of the speakers as the requisite final-episode montage graces the eyes of HBO viewers. And thus, Six Feet Under ends, leaving the lasting question on the minds of paralyzed, misty-eyed watchers everywhere:

“What was that deeply un-hip song?”

That song was and is “Breathe Me”, by the artist known only as Sia. The song’s placement at the end of Six Feet Under has ultimately, finally resulted in Sia’s second album Colour the Small One getting a much-deserved release in the United States nearly two full years after its release in the UK. And yes, I said “much-deserved,” and I don’t say that lightly—this second release from the Australian artist is packed full of at least as much alliteration-inspiring exquisite emotion and melancholy melody as “Breathe Me” would imply.

Sia’s first album Healing is Difficult is an album that falls closer to slightly skewed R&B than any other genre, but Colour the Small One is likely to appeal more to those fans of her work with the UK purveyors of downtempo in Zero 7. Colour the Small One is an incredibly “internal” album, one where we feel as though we’re hearing the stream of Sia’s consciousness, listening to her thoughts as much as we are hearing her words. “And I’m addicted to the joy that the little things / Those little things / The little things they bring,” she sings in the cinematic, string-enhanced “Don’t Bring Me Down”, coming off something like Natalie Imbruglia as heard from inside the womb, all poppy chord changes and slow builds in a soupy, near-whispered haze. “You’ve drawn me into your world / Now I too spin, limbless,” she sings in “Moon”, whispering a striking, almost violent concession of loving submission to an unnamed lover. That sense of loss of control, more contemplated than acted upon, is the essence of what Colour the Small One exemplifies most consistently.

Of course, such a loss of control is understandable given the inspiration for much of Sia’s music. She has mentioned that her first album was a direct reaction to the tragic death of her lover, but much of that album feels detached, as if Sia was purposefully avoiding the sorrow that comes with such catastrophe. Colour the Small One is the confrontation, as Sia continually talks herself through her darker thoughts: “Give yourself a break / Let your imagination run away” is her advice in the faux-chipper “Sunday”, yet by the next song (the aforementioned “Breathe Me"), she’s back to sentiment more in line with mourning, singing “I think that I might break / I’ve lost myself again and I feel unsafe”. Hers is a psyche on the edge, simultaneously disturbing and beautiful. It all makes the payoff at the end that much more satisfying, as “The Church of What’s Happening Now” brings Sia’s focus to the present, while the upbeat, out-of-character “Where I Belong” keeps one eye on a brighter future while giving some closure to the past, ultimately closing on the line “There’s a place here for you with me”.

So it goes. Colour the Small One has all of the attributes of a Hollywood movie in which the protagonist and the foil both happen to be the same person. There’s conflict, there’s high drama, there’s tragedy, and there’s a happy ending. There’s even a subplot added for character development in which our heroine deals with a less-than-flattering portrait of the person she once was ("Bully", co-written with Beck in sad sack Sea Change mode). And, as an added bonus, America gets the expanded DVD edition of said movie, complete with deleted scenes (lovely UK B-Sides “Broken Biscuit” and “Sea Shells") and alternate takes (two remixes of “Breathe Me"), all of it filling up over 70 minutes of the CD on which it is housed.

That’s 70 minutes to savor, to let the words run through you, to let the melodies wrap around you. 70 minutes to treasure, for that’s what Colour the Small One is, a treasure chest unlocked, a tin foil ball of emotion unwrapped for all to see, finally noticed two long years after its announced presence. So notice it.
Rating: 9/10

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Karine Polwart

Karine Polwart • Faultlines
Genre Folk
Year 2003
Length 42:58

1 Only One Way 2:53
2 Fault Lines 3:17
3 Four Strong Walls 3:48
4 The Sun's Comin' Over The Hill 4:58
5 Resolution Road 3:38
6 Water Lily 4:35
7 What are you waiting for 2:48
8 Skater Of The Surface 3:28
9 Harder To Walk These Days Than Run 3:49
10 The Light On The Shore 4:25
11 Azalea Flower 5:20

Review by Chris Nickson
Karine Polwart's first solo disc brought plenty of success to the former Malinky singer, and it's no surprise. Her writing blossoms here on Faultlines, with fully formed, confidently performed material that actually leans a little more towards American alt country rather than her native Scots folk, as on "The Sun's Comin' Over the Hill." There's a definite darkness to a lot of the material, but it's treated with beautiful observance and compassion, while the acoustic arrangements give it a sense of lightness. There's a sly humor in her words, too, which serves to underline her characters, and her voice, beguiling and intimate. Not everything is perfect — a couple of tracks don't quite match the quality of the others — but there's ample material here to commend Polwart not as a talent to watch, but as one who's fully arrived

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Helldorado

Helldorado / The Ballad of Nora Lee
Genre Rock
Year 2005
Length 45:59

1 The Ballad of Nora Lee 5:02
2 Just Like Fire 4:07
3 Helltown 3:24
4 The Black Winds 4:36
5 Down to the Water 4:38
6 Guitar Noir 3:46
7 Rock Your Soul 3:48
8 So Long Ago 3:36
9 Honky Tonk Aliens 3:21
10 A Drinking Song 3:15
11 The Devil's Kiss 2:47
12 Waiting Around To Die 3:40

About Helldorado
Any attempt to define Helldorado would reveal that they are firmly entrenched in the indierockpunksurf-americana- country tradition, with Tarantino hiding in the wings... They succeed in combining elements of all their favourite American music and subculture, and still manage to sound unmistakebly like Helldorado. "HELLDORADO - Director's Cut (Glitterhouse): This is an aptly named album by this excellent Norwegian outfit - their echoey, gothic take on rock'n'roll drips atmosphere and attitude, and would be perfect soundtracking some Quentin Tarantino flick. Blood Shack's clattering tale of lust and vampirism sets the mood, and the other 11 tracks are filled with epic quantities of murder, deceit, guts, gore, hellfire and brimstone, all of it leavened with a dark, twisted sense of humour. There's also more than a hint of Nick Cave in Dag S Vagle's songs and voice, and in a fair and just world, Helldorado would find similar amounts of fawning press coverage and sales. Some chance." (The Belfast Telegraph)Directorscut Helldorado was formed in the spring of 2001 in Stavanger, Norway. Most of the members had been playing in the local band The Tramps for several years, and had considerable live and studio experience with that band. They where looking for a much darker and broader muscial landscape than they could find in The Tramps, and got together playing punked up surf covers with their new band Helldorado. After a while the band and their sound started to develop. They started adding their own songs to the set, and after a couple of gigs the rumours about the band was flying around town. In the fall of 2002 they entered the Stavanger traditional ZOOM week at Checkpoint Charlie in Stavanger (a full week of local bands playing & batteling for a spot at the ZOOM national finals in Oslo). Helldorado won the Stavanger leg, went to the final in Oslo and won there as well. The band was awarded a full tour of Norway + a couple of gigs in the UK and Germany (Popkomm in Cologne). In November 2002, shortly after winning the national ZOOM finale they released their first mini album Lost Highway at the local label CCAP. In November 2002 Helldorado released their debut EP Lost Highway cover The album received stunning reviews in the Norwegian music press (Dagbladet; ..six strong, minor tuned songs, VG; Dusty and dramatic, Stavanger Aftenblad; Helldorado is a mescaline cactus. The best Norwegian rockband today, Rogalands Avis; Americana to kill for, Nordlys; This is the best CD I have heard in a long, long time) After they finished the extensive ZOOM tour, they spent considerable time in the studio in the summer of 2003. They developed a more aggressive, heavier and minor based edge. The fall was spent touring and perfecting their skills and their live sound In February 2004 Helldorado finally released their long awaited debut album Directors Cut in Norway and after Directors Cuts release in Europe by Glitterhouse in October 2004, both critics and music lovers all over the continent are discovering the band. Glitterhouse UK says this about the Directors Cut album: Hellfire seems to be burning in each of their songs, be it the mighty, but balladesque tracks like "Diesel & Bones", the hard-rocking tracks like "Payrolled" or "Killer on the Highway" or the plain desert-rock anthems, such as the masterful "Blood Shack", there can be no doubt, Helldorado rocks! Apart from that, they are looking way cool (as if they just escaped the lunatics' asylum), and their live shows are legendary. Their musical roots are pretty clear: Gun Club, 16 Horsepower, Morricone, Chris Isaak and/or The Cramps, obviously without being copy cats of the aforementioned, they add something very specific to their music. It may be their ability to write fantastic tunes, hooklines that will make you shiver, and their ability to keep the quality of their songs, as diverse as they may be up on the highest level throughout the 11 tracks of "Director's Cut". The Ballad Of Nora Lee is the third release from the Norwegian quartet Helldorado. balladofnoralee The album shows a band that is still deeply fascinated and inspired by American music and subculture, combining elements from different genres but still managing to sound unmistakably like Helldorado. These guys are no copycats, they mean it man! They pick from the best and make it their own. Mighty ballads, stompinrockers, desert-rock anthems, Mexican trumpets, spooky strings and rockinattitude, Helldorados got it all. Since their last album, Directors Cut, the band has taken a step closer to the Mexican border, but the band still evokes the sensation of a burning sun on your neck, crunched sand between your teeth, a salty taste on your lips, a shaky finger on the trigger of a Colt 45, circling vultures silhouetted against a blue-white sky, a double whiskey on an empty stomach, and the smell of bacon, beans, gunpowder, leather & sweat. Helldorado have done four European tours and are building a solid fan base all over Europe. Not surprising really, they are a fantastic live band and their gigs are legendary. Combine their abilities as a live band with their natural coolness and a bunch of rocking tunes that other bands would kill for, and you have a success in the making. So get into your 65 Chevy, a few bottles of Whiskey, grab some good looking, mini-skirts wearing girls and drive through the night, waiting for what will happen. The perfect soundtrack is already there! Discography Lost Highway - minialbum (CD & vinyl) - CCAP019/020 Directors Cut - album (CD) - CCAP029 The Ballad Of Nora Lee (CD) - CCAP040 Helldorado website

Review
Norwegian contribution to world music has often been entrenched in the slightly bizarre and comical. Famous for an ignominious brand of death metal and often-hilarious Eurovision song entries, Helldorado could be the ticket to resurrect some Scandinavian respectability. Formed in 2001 in Stavanger, Norway, this four-piece defies categorisation and excels at it. All multi-instrumentalists, the performances captured here really showcase the talents of musicians with years of live experience.

Twelve songs of loss, losers and old Lucifer himself, The Ballad of Nora Lee is the long lost soundtrack to David Lynch’s ‘Wild at Heart’. Comparisons to film scores don’t end there. Helldorado have fattened their sound on Ennio Morricone spaghetti, the regurgitated mélange reeks of refried beans and corn chips. Helldorado’s interpretation of the sounds associated with the American West and the dodgy border territory just South of the Rio Grande is infectious.

In a nutshell, The Ballad of Nora Lee eloquently rocks. It infuses the subconscious with layers of guitars (both twangy and surfed up), harmonicas, trumpets, banjo and glockenspiel. Instrumentation chimes in unison with the fantastic vocal delivery of Dag S Vagle who really captures the best elements of the American accent, and a not bad Nick Cave impersonation either.

The album is littered with standout tracks, from the opening tale of dangerous liaisons in The Ballad of Nora Lee to the slide guitar and reeds blowing down the tumbleweed-strewn alleys of Guitar Noir. There is rarely a dull moment and surprises lie around every corner. The Mariachi trumpets serenade the intoxication on A Drinking Song and Rock Your Soul kicks the spurs into overdrive, inciting a bar room brawl. Final track Waiting around to die takes the prominent theme of death to a new epoch, built upon a haunting Chris Isaac –ish vocal. Helldorado ain’t a bad place to be.

Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed By: Mark Orton

review: americana-uk . com
Third release from Norwegian quartet Helldorado which immediately evokes not only Tarantino and Morricone but moreover Calexico, and while they gloss over the quieter moments of said band, everything else about “the Ballad of Nora Lee” easily rivals the finest Mexicana-type music you will have heard. Gloriously dark chord changes, deep Sadies like twang and blazing horns turn already huge melodies into individual landscapes full of shadows, desert shimmers and numerous bottles of whiskey. On top of which, lead singer Vagle not only growls like he means every word but writes seemingly endless permutations of a formula that Helldorado perform to perfection. MW


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Christian Kjellvander

Christian Kjellvander / Faya
total time: 38:00
year: 2005
genre: Alt. Country / Country-Folk / Singer-Songwriter

1. 1:02 As It Where
2. 3:37 Reverse Traverse Blues
3. 4:51 Drunken Hands
4. 3:48 Juanita
5. 4:09 Chose The City
6. 2:57 Drag The Dirt In
7. 1:58 Dreadful (Isn't It)
8. 3:26 Foreign Rain
9. 2:48 Silver & Blue Line
10. 5:08 Roaring 40's
11. 4:14 Union Lake

Similar Artists: Damien Jurado, Richard Buckner

INFO:
"Faya” is the second solo album from Sweden’s leading alt-country singer - songwriter Christian Kjellvander and follows the 2002 debut “Songs From A Two-Room Chapel”. He spent his childhood and some recent years in the States and was the founding member of The Loosegoats and Songs of Soil (with his brother Gustav).

This record is a winning blend of American/European folk, country and rock. The songs are powerful, steeped in emotion, soaked in a mexican/midwest atmosphere. There is excellent variety here, from breatless ballad, 'Juanita', with gentle rolling guitar and piano back drop to 'Union Lake', slow, moving, soaked in guitar reverb building up, reminiscent to Damien Jurado. Elsewhere, with 'Reverse Traverse Blues', 'Drag The Dirt In' and 'Roaring 40s' (a duet with The Cardigans' Nina Persson), he strikes up a fuller sound.

He provides further evidence that Scandinavia is the unlikely home to some excellent exponents of this kind of material. Some of it isn’t a million miles away from the songs on "Veneer", the album by fellow Swede, José González. Obvious references are Richard Buckner (with more reverb and a rockier approach) and Jurado, but also Calexico, Matthew Ryan amongst others.

Just listen to Christian's warm voice over the beautifully textured music and try not to dream away. If you love slow burning gems, this is one cracking album!

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MP3@vbr average 217,8 kbps
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Adrianne

Adrianne - 10,000 Stones
total time: 49:58
year: 2004
genre: Adult Contemporary

1 Shooting Star 3:42
2 10,000 Stones 3:08
3 Love to You 3:30
4 Feel You Breaking 2:53
5 New Kind of Cool 4:59
6 When She Takes 3:33
7 Comets 3:53
8 Hurricane 3:27
9 Dream of Rome 3:25
10 December 2:58
11 Just Can't Wait 4:02
12 Strange 3:58
13 Free 6:34

Review By Jennifer Layton
I'm just so darned proud of this kid. I reviewed Adrianne's first CD (For Adeline) a few years ago, and I marvelled at how this twenty-something could write with such insight and honesty about the kind of pain most thirty-somethings don't like to talk about. On this new album, 10,000 Stones, I get a sense of joy and freedom. Yes, the lyrics still lean toward the melancholy, but Adrianne is better equipped to deal with it. In this CD, I hear more confidence and the sheer joy of playing her music. By moving to Los Angeles (she was a Bostonian last go-round), she has found a home for her music and her own unconventional soul. That would explain the triumphant ring I hear in her voice in so many places on this CD.

Her studio collaborators, wise men and women all, recognize the value of that amazing voice and make sure it takes center stage. At times her voice is so crisp and close, I have to wonder if they surgically implanted a minature microphone right next to her vocal chords. Each musically rich pop/rock track is given an edge by that warbling, husky, real voice. She may sound stronger these days, but the vulnerable underside of that voice can still connect with the weaknesses in every listener. In tracks like "What It Takes" and "Hurricane," I found myself holding back tears without even knowing specifically why the tears were there in the first place.

Maybe not knowing why just enhances the connection. Songs like the title track prove that even when we don't know her specific experiences, we know exactly where she's been:

My days are filled with mistakes
Some that I didn't make
I carry them around ...

"Love To You" is another standout, with great lines like "Dangerous moon making a ghost of you." This is a haunting, thrilling, gorgeous song that sounds so perfectly suited to an indie film soundtrack. Songs like this are perfect examples of why this entire album makes longtime Adrianne fans almost burst with pride. Her voice is the female counterpart of Kurt Cobain's -- yearning, rough, and so unconventionally beautiful. Just like the koal-eyed, pensive-looking artist child staring out from the 10,000 Stones artwork.

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d o w n l o a d 67.4 MB
MP3@cbr 192 kbps
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Michelle Malone #2

Michelle Malone and The Low-Down Georgia Revue / Stompin' Ground
total time: 44:02
year: 2003
genre: Folk-Rock; Blues-Rock

1 Lafayette 3:17
2 2 Horns and 2 Wings 3:34
3 Moanin' Coat 5:02
4 Flagpole 3:28
5 Cypress Inn 4:21
6 Preacher's Daughter 3:20
7 Cry Me a River 3:39
8 Snack N Shack 1:31
9 Samsonite 3:25
10 Camera 3:41
11 Honeysuckle Lullaby 3:30
12 True 5:19

Review by Hal Horowitz
Stompin' Ground, Michelle Malone's first solo album for longtime friend/associate Amy Ray's Daemon imprint, continues her trend of tough rockers mixed with melodic but no less aggressive ballads. She gets Dylan-ish on "2 Horns and 2 Wings," a burner heavily influenced by Bob's "Maggie's Farm," right down to her ragged harmonica. Although most of the songs involve matters of the heart, Malone leans left with some political jabs on the surging "Flagpole," one of her most explosive tracks and a highlight of this disc. Her vocals shift from raspy to silky throughout, especially on the mid-tempo strum of "Cypress Inn." There are also hints of Sheryl Crow and Lucinda Williams in the effortless way she constructs songs. But Malone is far more bluesy, especially on the acoustic stomp of "Preacher's Daughter," a tune that shares a similar approach to the Stones' "Prodigal Son." Malone unleashes some swamp rock on "Samsonite," the opening "Lafayette," and the closing "True" that features greasy slide guitar from Jonny D. reminiscent of David Lindley's work with Jackson Browne. The slightly experimental funk with distorted vocals of "Snack n Shack," a minute-and-a-half mid-album detour named after the Atlanta studio where the album was recorded, sets the listener up for "Cry Me a River" (a Malone original, not the well-worn standard), the disc's most commercial stab at country-rock. Here Ray's mandolin and Sheila Doyle's fiddle add twang, taking Malone to Jayhawks territory. Call this the singer/songwriter's Harvest or Beggars Banquet then, since it revels in rootsy strumming and harder-edged, bluesy rock. It's propelled by Malone's tough and tender style and a dozen great songs you'll want to hear again.

Link:
d o w n l o a d
MP3@cbr 192 kbps
rar pass: eldorado

The Innocence Mission

The Innocence Mission / Glow
total time: 40:31
year: 1995
genre: Folk/Pop

1 Keeping Awake 3:59
2 Bright As Yellow 3:33
3 Brave 3:52
4 That Was Another Country 4:18
5 Speak Our Minds 2:56
6 Happy, The End 3:38
7 Our Harry 2:24
8 Go 3:08
9 Everything's Different Now 3:17
10 Spinning 3:16
11 There 3:58
12 I Hear You Say So 2:13

Similar Artists
Sarah McLachlan, Bic Runga, Natalie Merchant, The Sundays, 10,000 Maniacs

Review by Darryl Cater
The Innocence Mission fully realized their tremendous potential for the first time on Glow, which is only their third album after a decade together. They finally managed to strike the perfect balance between the little everyday themes of their lyrics and the sweeping cinematic atmospheres of their guitar reverb and keyboards-in part thanks to an increased reliance on acoustic guitars and pianos. The result is a thoroughly original pop gem. Glow evokes with amazing clarity the sights, sounds, feelings and smells of quiet middle class lives; of curious children, late evening discussions in neighbor's kitchens, "taking blankets to the bay, " "catching snow in our cupped hands, " "going through yellow yards to the library lions." Lyricist/vocalist Karen Peris has a gift for choosing little snatches of imagery which add up to a gorgeously complete picture, like the dashes of paint in a Seraut or a Monet (the comparison to 19th century artists seems inevitable somehow-other critics have mentioned Jane Austin and Louisa May Alcott). Those fragmentary images are inflated with full emotional heft by the glowingly polished production. This time around, the band replaced its longtime producer, Larry Klein (Mr. Joni Mitchell) with an obviously gifted newcomer, Dennis Herring (Camper Van Beethoven). Herring shows a greater sensitivity to the band's songs, making the sound considerably more intimate. This was perhaps all the Innocence Mission needed to adequately distinguish its sound from their beloved influences (although the similarity to the Sundays' brand of mellow ambience is still a mite to close for comfort). Karen Peris' distinctive childlike warble is even more childish this time-more restrained and less strident. With someone else's songs, that might seem grating or affected. But here it's simply another example of Herring's perfect tweaking and adjusting of the Mission's unique sensibility. Their songs hum and reverberate with sheer wonder at life's smallest pleasures, and even life's little frustrations. This group of quiet Catholics communicate unassuming spirituality and inexlicable hope without glossing over the negatives, and their giddy joy is contagious even when they're luxuriating in melancholy. That was particularly refreshing in the famously cynical world of mid-1990s Alternative pop radio-the band finally scored some national airplay with "Bright As Yellow," after a decade of glowing critical notices and disappointing sales.

Link:
d o w n l o a d
MP3@cbr 160 kbps
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The Wrens

The Wrens / The Meadowlands [limited edition]
Genre Indie Rock
Year 2003
Length 1:07:11

1 The House That Guilt Built 1:22
2 Happy 5:33
3 She Sends Kisses 5:57
4 This Boy Is Exhausted 4:18
5 Hopeless 5:09
6 Faster Gun 3:50
7 Thirteen Grand 4:09
8 Boys, You Won't 4:30
9 Ex-Girl Collection 4:39
10 Per Second Second 3:38
11 Everyone Choose Sides 4:40
12 13 Months In 6 Minutes 6:50
13 This Is Not What You Had Planned 1:52
14 Splitter #7: Fireworks • James, I Wanna 3:14
15 Our Brightest New Year 4:21
16 Green Tides 1:23
17 Blue Lips 1:45

Review by Heather Phares
The Wrens' third album, The Meadowlands, is a sprawling, shifting affair, perhaps reflecting the fact that it took four years to create. It's easy to take the sweet, slightly alt-country "13 Months in 6 Minutes" at face value — the song's epic feel suggests the passing of a considerable chunk of time, and at the Wrens' pace, it's possible that it did take over a year to craft. Rather fittingly, the album itself is also long, and the way that its songs jump and shift in tone and mood suggests a series of journal entries strung together, connected loosely by an overall brokenhearted feeling. A pair of bitterly pretty songs open The Meadowlands after the interlude "The House That Guilt Built" sets the tone with its early summer evening atmosphere: on "Happy," the Wrens sing "Are you happy?/You got what you want/I'm over it now," revealing their true feelings before shimmering guitars carry the song off on another tangent; "She Sends Kisses" goes from whispery, late-night anguish to high drama. Like Secaucus, most of the album trades in a classic indie rock sound — just this side of accessible, but not overly experimental either. "This Boy Is Exhausted" and the new wavey "Faster Gun" are deceptively simple, bright, and shiny but with underlying complexities that provide a sharp contrast to the album's gentler moments, such as the shambling beauty of "Thirteen Grand" and the sweetly twangy "Ex-Girl Collection." The Meadowlands saves some of its most rock moments for the end of the album: "Per Second Second," an angular, Pixies-esque bit of punk, and the anthemic "Everyone Chooses Sides" send the album out in a blaze of glory that initially seems a little at odds with the melancholy tone of the rest of the album but, after a few listens, reveals itself as strangely appropriate. It's possible that The Meadowlands might be a "better" album if it were more focused and logical, but there's something to be said for its immersive, stream-of-consciousness approach. It's also tempting to say that hopefully it won't take the Wrens as long to make their next album as it did to make The Meadowlands, but when the results are this good, the time it took to make the album is more than justified.

Links:
d o w n l o a d part1 95.4 MB
d o w n l o a d part2 10.1 MB
MP3@vbr 217,5 kbps
Rar pass: eldorado

Billy Bob Thornton

Billy Bob Thornton • The Edge Of the World
Genre Roots Rock
Year 2003
Length 1:13:53

1 Emily 2:47
2 Everybody Lies 4:13
3 Island Avenue 4:55
4 The Desperate One 5:00
5 Everybody's Talking 4:38
6 Fast Hearts 6:57
7 Baby Can I Hold You 4:13
8 The Edge of the World 5:57
9 God 3:36
10 Pieces Of A Man 6:19
11 Pieces of a Man (Part II) 1:12
12 The Edge Of the World (Reprise) 3:21
13 Do God Wop 6:21
14 Savior 5:14
15 Midnight Train 3:39
16 To The End Of Time 5:30

Review by Thom Jurek
On Private Radio, his first album, Billy Bob Thornton and his co-collaborator Marty Stuart crafted a quirky, off-kilter series of haunting songs/stories that walked around country music like it was the middle of the night. The result was a poetic and moving recording filled with expressionistic images and characters who could have come from Sling Blade. Not so with Edge of the World. Thornton is less a poet here than a guy who wants to write and sing rock & roll songs. And he does it in spades. This is the real working-class hero album. There is no rebellious street corner poet here informing listeners of the hidden greater meaning in broken narratives of everyday life with elegant language and vulnerable hooks and melodies. Nope. This is a balls-out rock & roll record where Thornton takes off the gloves; it could have been recorded by the sheriff Darl, the character he plays in The Badge. In songs like "Emily," "Everybody Lies," and "Island Avenue," Thornton is the unredeemed side of Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp. Here's the guy who is trying to learn to write songs and gets to record them. He talks plenty of garbage, but it all feels true rather than, as in the case of the aforementioned songwriters, an archetype for truth. He's not interested in convincing the listener of anything. These songs are small truths, they reflect some picture Thornton has decided is worth etching into his psyche and coming up with a way of expressing: which is rollicking, freewheeling, full of a biker's hidden human charm and a reluctant, Monday through Friday garage mechanic's wild heart on a lonely Saturday night. On these sides, Thornton relies on his road band with the requisite appearances by special guests. The late Warren Zevon appears on "The Desperate One," the most poignant song on the record, where Thornton's voice spits his anger through a rambling, anthemic country-rock wall of noise that the Eagles tried many times to construct but could never let go enough to pull off. Daniel Lanois, Chely Wright, David Briggs, and Marty Stuart are also present in strategic places, such as on "Savior," where Lanois' trademark atmospheric approach to playing the steel guitar puts the message of the tune in the blood of the listener. The chunky organ playing of Zevon is a stark contrast to Lanois' guitars on "Midnight Train." On "To the End of Time," a broken and edgy love song near the end of the album, Mickey Raphael and Stuart turn in tough, bluesy performances to root the track in some obsessive bloodline of desire never extinguished. The only thing that doesn't work all the way here is the overly lush cover of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking," but even this — with its organs, twanging Telecasters, and strings — is compelling for its shambolic treatment. This record isn't a train wreck, but it is a messy living room on Sunday morning after a haphazard party the evening before. It feels real, dirty, overly ambitious, and necessary for anybody who enjoys the sound of rock & roll as a soundtrack to life rather than as an artistic concept.

Links:
d o w n l o a d 1 57.2 MB
d o w n l o a d 2 43.1 MB
192 kbps MP3
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Oi Va Voi

Oi Va Voi / Laughter Through Tears
Genre Pop
Year 2003
Length 53:05

1 Refugee 3:38
2 Yesterday's Mistakes 4:40
3 Od Yeshoma 4:55
4 A csitári hegyek alatt 4:15
5 Ladino Song 4:13
6 7 Brothers 4:33
7 Dror Yikra 5:57
8 Gypsy (feat. Earl Zinger) 4:47
9 Hora 3:58
10 Pagamenska+Hidden Track: 7 Brothers (Hefner Remix) 12:10

REVIEW
Any indie band who received two nominations in the latest BBC Radio 3Awards for World Musicwithout any official CD release to their name had to have something going for them. And so it comes to pass, as Oi Va Voi's extraordinary debut finally reaches retail.

You can have fun closing your eyes and free-associating with this disc. Here's what I got: Manu Chao; David Byrne; 'Twin Peaks'; late-period Floyd; Bjork; the Klezmer Kings; Nick Drake; Paco Pena; the Penguin Orchestra; the Truby Trio; my best friend's nephew's Bar Mitzvah party last year. Let's just say they're that kind of a band.....Technically, Oi's music is a subtle combination of klezmer (traditional Mittel-European Jewish dance and party music), contemporary club beats, and Mediterranean and East European gypsy airs.

But it's not as simple as that. "Refugee" is Dido with a political conscience. "Ladino Song" combines Ibero-Sephardic undertones with nuevo-flamenco. "Gypsy" starts like part of the soundtrack from the gypsy movie classic 'Gadjo Dielo' before drifting into Trinidad rapso territory, 3 Canal-stylee.

And the individual band members? In years to come, Sophie Solomon's prodigious resources will be legend.She combines authentic gypsy/klezmer fiddle styles with viola, piano, accordion, and melodica (oh, and she was a drum-&-bass dj till recently). Steve Levi provides the all-important clarinet, without which klezmer...well, just wouldn't be kosher. Lemez Lovas has that classical 'cantor' voice when he's not playing trumpet, piano and keyboard parts. The icing on the cake for Oi Va Voi is undoubtedly the appearance of guest vocalist K.T.Tunstall, a chameleonic vocalist of extraordinary power and presence whose full potential should be there for all to see in her own solo debut for Outcaste in the near future.

Producers Kevin Bacon (David Bowie, Finlay Quaye) and programmer Tony Economides (Da Lata, Nitin Sawhney) keep the whole project dark and special (as it should be). Leon Bryant and Josh Breslaw (bass, drums) make sure that the whole damn balloon doesn't just float off into the multi-cultural stratosphere (although that'd be OK, too...)

Oi Va Voi have come up with a debut album of uncommon grace, diversity and beauty. They perform it with the confidence and agility that suggests there's plenty more where that came from. I, for one, can't wait for the next dispatch.

There will be those who will tell you: 'Don't go there - the music's too difficult'. Ignore them. Cook some heimische, crack a good bottle of Palwin's, increase volume, close eyes, and all will become clear.

Reviewer: Andrew McGregor

Links:
d o w n l o a d 1 81.1 MB
d o w n l o a d 2 32.4 MB
320 kbps MP3
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Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge

Kris Kristofferson & Rita Coolidge / Full Moon
total time: 44:43
year: 1973
genre: Country-Rock

1 Hard to Be Friends 3:25
2 It's All Over (All Over Again) 2:45
3 I Never Had It So Good 4:08
4 From the Bottle to the Bottom 4:06
5 Take Time to Love 2:55
6 Tennessee Blues 5:20
7 Part of Your Life 3:09
8 I'm Down (But I Keep Falling) 3:08
9 I Heard the Bluebirds Sing 2:48
10 After the Fact 5:05
11 Loving Arms 3:50
12 Song I'd Like to Sing 4:00

Review by William Ruhlmann
Kris Kristofferson was at his commercial peak as a recording artist at the time that Full Moon, his first duo album with Rita Coolidge, was released in September 1973. His single "Why Me" had topped the country charts two months earlier, and his album Jesus Was a Capricorn was about to do the same thing. And, only weeks before Full Moon's release, the couple had gotten married. All of that made for a terrific send-off for the record, which benefited the careers of both participants. Not surprisingly, it was an album of love songs. Despite Kristofferson's greater celebrity, the LP was made with Coolidge's strengths in mind. David Anderle, its producer, was her producer, and it was released on her record label, A&M. The songs were set in her key, with Kristofferson crooning along in an unusually high register. The tempos were mostly slow, emphasizing the dreamy quality of Coolidge's voice. And the songs were mostly covers, though there were two joint compositions by the couple, one old Kristofferson song ("From the Bottle to the Bottom," a Top 20 country hit for Billy Walker in 1969), and one new Kristofferson tune, the Caribbean-flavored "A Song I'd Like to Sing," which was released as the first single and became a Top 40 pop hit while also reaching the country and easy listening charts. With that, the album became a number one country hit. "From the Bottle to the Bottom" won the 1973 Grammy Award for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. The album's second single, a cover of Tom Jans' "Loving Arms," also made the pop, country, and easy listening charts, and because it was released in the 1974 eligibility period for the Grammy Awards, it earned the couple a second nomination in the same category the following year.

Link:
d o w n l o a d 62,0 MB
192 kbps MP3
pass: eldorado

Michelle Malone

Michelle Malone / Home Grown
total time: 54:10
year: 1999
genre: Folk-Rock

1 Avalon 4:04
2 Strength for Two 3:22
3 Floating Down a Dream 3:01
4 Suddenly 3:42
5 Keeping Score 3:50
6 Brand New Dream 4:12
7 Learn to Cry 5:06
8 Tonic 3:58
9 On My Way 4:43
10 Home Grown 3:55
11 Havasu Falls 4:00
12 Cheap One Star Hotel 4:37
13 Nothing More 5:44

Review by Stacia Proefrock
Home Grown, by singer/songwriter Michele Malone, builds on her previous acoustic, folk-rock, girl-with-a-guitar output. Feel-good lyrics combine with Indigo Girls-style strumming to produce an album with several strong songs. Among the most interesting is "Tonic," which sounds so much like Kansas' "Dust in the Wind" that they should have probably been given a credit. "Avalon" is not treading any new ground musically but manages to be passionate and catchy. Also try "Strength for Two," which has the kind of touching writing that makes music in this genre worthwhile.

Similar Artists
Band de Soleil, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Amy Ray

Link:
d o w n l o a d 73.29 MB
192 kbps MP3
pass: eldorado

15 Years of Merge Records

Various Artists / Old Enough to Know Better: 15 Years of Merge Records (three-disc set)
Genre Indie
Year 2004
MP3@cbr 192 kbps

Formed in 1989 by Mac McCaughan and Laura Balance of Superchunk, Merge was initially a small Chapel Hill indie-punk label. It released mostly loud, noisy guitar rock by Mac and Laura's band, plus a few local groups they were friendly with. Due to a welcoming atmosphere towards musicians, and a refreshingly catholic approach to band choices, Merge soon found itself at the forefront of the underground, putting out tons of records that helped to define what indie rock was all about: a sense of community, innovation over production values, and an optimistic approach to punk's ideals. Fifteen years on, and Merge is now the happy, smiling face of a world it helped to create. And while the Magnetic Fields may have jumped to a major, it's perhaps unwise to assume that Merge (or indie rock) is past its prime.

Consider that Merge put out the Magnetic Fields' smash 69 Love Songs and recently signed the Buzzcocks and Lou Barlow, and you'll get an idea of where independent labels are going. Like New York's Matador, Merge has grown into the position to release ambitious projects by influential musicians still capable of exciting work. Independent labels are no longer doomed to break new bands only to have them poached by the majors. If the early days of independent music were about building networks and creating viable financial structures, the future may involve a steadily expanding base of labels and listeners capable of supporting bands on a level that the majors don't or won't understand. And with the big labels steadily falling apart, outfits like Merge could conceivably redefine what "independent" music is capable of.

In Merge's case, the label has always been about providing a place where good bands will be supported and given the space to explore their ideas, in relative freedom from harsh economic demands. A simple, potentially naïve ideology, but it's easy to find other labels and bands who check similar values at the first sign of financial opportunity. This kind of fundamental consistency isn't particularly sexy, but it stands for something, and the quality of Merge's recent output (and the label's continued solvency) makes its own point.

I once read a Superchunk review that described the band's sound as "stadium rock in a basement", which is how I've always thought of indie rock. Powerful, direct, and unconcerned with how the world at large felt about it, populist even though it exists among a relatively small audience. It's not so long ago that a band "failed" if it didn't have radio hits and sell out Dodger Stadium. Indie rock successfully recontextualized underground music, simultaneously embracing punk's defiance and popular music's yearning for community. Bands of the sort that ended up on Merge showed us what a great group could do, and that a show in front of 50 screaming people meant just as much, if not more, than U2's laser show and the alienating experience of "huge" bands. At Maxwell's, I saw a Magnetic Fields performance where Stephin Merritt jumped off stage, mic in hand, and proceeded to sing perched atop a bar stool, which he would move around the room every few seconds, momentarily disappearing before popping up again. It was both hilarious and heartfelt, a perfect little moment in a club in New Jersey.

Those feelings are encapsulated on Old Enough To Know Better, a three-disc set of Merge's best and brightest songs, a massive, sprawling testament to the last 15 years. If you lived through the early years represented on the compilation, then the strains of the Magnetic Fields' "Long Vermont Roads" or Spent's "Excuse Me While I Drink Myself To Death" will surely send shivers down your spine. For those wishing to dip a toe in Merge's waters, the collection also offers a fine starting point, covering nearly the whole history of the label's output.

Will Merge still be relevant in another 15 years? It's hard to say, especially since whatever it is that we know as "indie rock" has changed dramatically in the last decade. Independent bands are making greater commercial inroads, and everyone from the middle-aged Sonic Youth to the teens of Black Eyes are making great records. No one can agree on any one sound, every other dude with a guitar and a sampler is forming a band, and people are constantly sifting through vinyl stacks for new reference points. In other words, music is exciting, messy, and fun again, and Merge is a large part of that equation. Are the bands now as good as the bands then? Who knows? In 1989, very few people would have championed lo-fi electro-pop and melodic garage rock, but Merge did, and we're all the better for it. It's a very different label now, with new bands that sound nothing like what Merge produced in its infancy, which is no doubt a good thing, whether you like every band on the label or not. It means they're still taking risks, challenging their fans, and (hopefully) gearing up for that great 30-year anniversary comp.

By Jason Dungan

CD1
1 Neutral Milk Hotel • Song Against Sex 3:43
2 Superchunk • Cool 3:37
3 Butterglory • She's Got the Akshun! 3:19
4 3Ds • Beautiful Things 3:32
5 East River Pipe • Shiny, Shiny Pimpmobile 3:38
6 The Clientele • (I Want You) More Than Ever 3:01
7 Guv'ner • Break A Promise 3:22
8 Lambchop • Your Fucking Sunny Day 3:46
9 Pram • Track of the Cat 4:10
10 Polvo • Tragic Carpet Ride 3:17
11 The Magnetic Fields • Long Vermont Roads 3:28
12 Portastatic • Noisy Night 4:38
13 Buzzcocks • Jerk 2:22
14 Spent • Excuse Me While I Drink Myself to Death 3:44
15 The Rock*A*Teens • Hwy R 4:03
16 Ganger • Cats, Dogs, and Babies Jaws 5:56
17 The Beatnik Filmstars • Now I'm a Millionaire 3:12
18 Ashley Stove • Dancing Music 3:47
19 Breadwinner • Exploder 0:25
20 Pipe • Chula 2:04
21 And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead • Mistakes & Regrets 3:51

Link:
d o w n l o a d part1
d o w n l o a d part2
pass: eldorado

CD2
1 Spoon • Anything You Want 2:17
2 The Ladybug Transistor • Oceans in the Hall 3:36
3 M. Ward • Outta My Head 3:01
4 Versus • Eskimo 4:16
5 Third Eye Foundation • In Bristol with a Pistol 3:00
6 Imperial Teen • Ivanka 3:16
7 Bricks • A History of Lies 3:26
8 Matt Suggs • Where's Your Patience, Dear? 2:29
9 Annie Hayden • Slip is Showing 3:09
10 David Kilgour • Today Is Gonna Be Mine 3:16
11 Seaweed • Thru the Window 3:05
12 Erectus Monotone • Old New 1:39
13 Destroyer • Modern Painters 3:00
14 Paul Burch • Isolda 5:14
15 Mad Scene • Spilled Oranges 3:12
16 The Essex Green • The Late Great Cassiopia 3:30
17 Karl Hendricks Trio • Naked and High on Drugs 3:00
18 The Rosebuds • What Can I Do? 2:05
19 The Clean • E Motel 2:32
20 Music Tapes • An Orchetration's Overture 1:36
21 Spaceheads • Angel Station 5:17

Link:
d o w n l o a d
pass: eldorado

CD3
1 M. Ward • One More Goodbye 3:28
2 Angels of Epistemology • Fiction Romance 3:31
3 Radar Bros. • Painted Forest Fire 3:03
4 Portastatic • Some Small History 4:15
5 The Ladybug Transistor • Jersey Streets 3:31
6 Camera Obscura • San Francisco Song 2:18
7 Shark Quest • Monsters 3:17
8 East River Pipe • Crystal Queen 2:31
9 The Essex Green • Mendocino 3:04
10 The Clientele • Where the Universes Are 3:26
11 Richard Buckner • Dogwood 2:05
12 The Rosebuds • Happily Ever After 3:37
13 Crooked Fingers • La Maleta Fea 2:29
14 Spent • Corvette Summer 2:33
15 Spoon • Decora 3:12
16 Lambchop • The Gap in My Education (Berman) 2:44
17 Destroyer • Streethawk II 3:28
18 Superchunk • Freaks in Charge 3:49
19 David Kilgour • On the Outside 4:12

Link:
d o w n l o a d
pass: eldorado

Wilco

Wilco / Kicking Television - Live in Chicago
Genre Alt. Country-Rock, Indie Rock
Year 2005
Length cd1 55:31, cd2 58:36

Disc one
"Misunderstood"
"Company in My Back"
"The Late Greats"
"Hell Is Chrome"
"Handshake Drugs"
"I Am Trying to Break Your Heart"
"A Shot in the Arm"
"At Least That's What You Said"
"Wishful Thinking"
"Jesus, Etc."
"I'm the Man Who Loves You"
"Kicking Television"

Disc two
"Via Chicago"
"Hummingbird"
"Muzzle of Bees"
"One by One"
"Airline to Heaven"
"Radio Cure"
"Ashes of American Flags"
"Heavy Metal Drummer"
"Poor Places"
"Spiders (Kidsmoke)"
"Comment"

Review by Mark Deming
While Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born established Wilco's reputation as one of America's most interesting and imaginative rock bands, both albums were the product of a band in flux, and this was particularly evident to those who saw the group on-stage after the release of YHF. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot may have blazed new sonic trails for Wilco, but the departure of Jay Bennett in the latter stages of its production left the band with an audible hole when they played the new material on-stage, and while multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach may have been a technically skilled player, he looked and sounded like a cold fish in concert, unwittingly emphasizing the cooler surfaces of Wilco's new music and negating much of the passion of Jeff Tweedy's songs. However, by the time Wilco hit the road following the release of A Ghost Is Born, the group's latest round of personnel shakeups had the unexpected but welcome effect of spawning one of the group's best lineups to date; after Bach amicably left Wilco, the addition of keyboard and guitar man Pat Sansone and especially visionary guitarist Nels Cline gave the band players whose energy and passion matched their technical skill, and suddenly the band was playing its challenging new material with the same sweaty force Tweedy and company conjured up in the band's earlier days. Thankfully, Tweedy had the good sense to document the prowess of Wilco's latest incarnation on-stage, and Kicking Television: Live in Chicago, recorded during four shows at the Windy City's Vic Theater, offers a welcome second perspective on the band's more recent work. With the exception of two numbers from Wilco's collaborative albums with Billy Bragg (in which they set Woody Guthrie's poems to music), Kicking Television focuses exclusively on their "post-alt-country" work, but while many of the songs featured here sounded cool and mannered in the studio, here they gain new muscle and force, not to mention a great deal of enthusiasm, and while tunes like "Ashes of American Flags" and "Handshake Drugs" are never going to be crowd-pleasers in the manner of "Casino Queen," the élan of this band in full flight shows that the fun has been put back in Wilco, albeit in a different and more angular form. Nels Cline's guitar is especially bracing in this context, and his marriage of melodic weight and joyous dissonance fits these songs while expanding on their strengths at the same time. And the title cut thankfully proves that Wilco still can (and still does) rock on out. Kicking Television is the best sort of live album — a recording that doesn't merely retread a band's back catalog, but puts their songs in a new perspective, and in this case these performances reveal that one great band has actually been getting better.

Links:
d o w n l o a d cd1
d o w n l o a d cd2
192 kbps MP3
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Elliott Murphy #3

Elliott Murphy - New-York /Paris (2cd Compilation)
Genre Rock
Year 1992
MP3@vbr avg 196 kbps

cd1
1. Out of the killing (new mix)
2. Clean it up
3. Taking the silence (new mix)
4. People don't learn (new mix)
5. Change will come
6. The eyes of the children of Maria
7. Many can read
8. Chain of pain
9. You got it made
10. The fall of Saigon
11. Continental kinda girl
12. Dusty roses
13. It feels like
14. Razor love
15. You never know what you're in for

cd2
1. The last of the rock stars
2. Rock balled
3. Diamonds by the yard
4. Talkin' about America
5. Euro-tour
6. Sicily
7. On Elvis Presley's birthday
8. If poets were king
9. Niagara falls (new version)
10. In a minute (prev.unreleased)
11. Time flies (prev.unreleased)
12. Let it rain (live)
13. Sacrifice (live)
14. I couldn't touch you (live)
15. Party girks & broken poets (live)

1.2. from "Milwaukee" / 1.5 to 1.8 from "Change will come" / 1.9 to 1.12 from "Murph the Surf" / 1.13, 14 from "Après le Déluge" / 1.15 to 2.3 from "Live Hot Point" / 2.4, 5 from "Affairs" / 2.6, 7 from "12" / 2.8 from "If poets were king"


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The Go-Betweens #3

The Go-Betweens / 16 Lovers Lane
Genre Alternative Pop/ Rock
Year 1988
Length 37:08

1 Love Goes On 3:18
2 Quiet Heart 5:20
3 Love Is A Sign 4:13
4 You Can't Say No Forever 3:57
5 The Devil's Eye 2:05
6 Streets Of Your Town 3:36
7 Clouds 4:03
8 Was There Anything I Could Do? 3:07
9 I'm Alright 3:11
10 Dive For Your Memory 4:17

Review by Thom Jurek
Arguably Australia's greatest pop group ever, The Go-Betweens seemed to save the best for last when they split in 1989. (They reunited in 1999, and have issued two more studio recordings since that time). 16 Lovers Lane is simply breathtaking; it is a deeply moving, aurally sensual collection of songs about relationships and the broken side of love that never lapses into cheap sentimentality or cynicism. Songwriters Robert Forster and Grant McLennan had always been visionary when it came to charting personal and relational melancholy and heartbreak, but here, their resolve focused on charting the depths of the romantic's soul when it has been disillusioned or crestfallen, is simply and convincingly taut. While it's true that the group was going through its own version of a soap opera-styled romantic saga, that emotional quagmire seemingly fueled its energies and focus, resulting in an album so texturally rich, lyrically sharp, and musically honest, its effect is nothing less than searing on an any listener who doesn't have sawdust instead of blood in his or her veins.Opening with McLennan's "Love Goes On," the stage is set for a kind of refined yet primal emotional transference that pop music is rarely capable of revealing. As he sings: "There are times when I want you/I want you so much I could bust/I know a thing about lovers/Lovers lie down in trust/The people next door they got problems/They got things they can't name/I know about things about lovers/ Lovers don't feel any shame/Late not night when the light's down low/The candle burns to the end/I know a thing about darkness/Darkness ain't my friend/Love goes on anyway," the doorway to the heart and its secrets opens. In the grain of his voice lie the flowers in the dustbin whose names are desperation and affirmation. With its hyperactive acoustic guitars, Amanda Brown's cooing string arrangements, and the deftly layered, subtly played brass instruments, the tune becomes a gauzy anthem; it celebrates the ravaged heart as a beacon of strained hope in the entryway to a hall of bewilderment. He follows it with "Quiet Heart," a song whose opening was admittedly influenced in structure by U2's "With Or Without You," but blows it away lyrically and with its subtly shifting melody and harmony between the guitars. Brown's multi-layered strings actually stride the backbeat's pulse. His protagonist speaks to an absent lover. His ache offers a view of his own weakness, desperation, and an all-consuming tenderness: "I tried to tell you/But I can only say when we're apart/How I miss your quiet, quiet heart." Forster seems to underline McLennan' s raw emotionalism with his painterly, nearly baroque, "Love Is A Sign," where images from visual art, remembered scenarios, and real life brokenness intermingle effortlessly with the elegance of mandolins, a string orchestra, and a shimmering bassline. With "Streets Of Your Town," the Go-Betweens scored a minor hit in the U.K., and even got played on American radio for a moment, but despite the fact that it has the most memorable hook on a record filled with them, it merely underscores how constant the quality is on the record. Evidenced further by "The Devil's Eye," and the shattering closer "Dive For Your Memory," 16 Lovers Lane is melancholy and somber in theme, but gloriously and romantically presented. Despite the fact that band has but a cult following, even in the 21st century, the Go-Betweens have nonetheless given us a far more literate, magnificently written, performed, and produced slab of pop classicism, than Fleetwood Mac's wonderfully coked out, love as co-dependency fest, Rumours.

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Ocean Colour Scene #2

Ocean Colour Scene / Marchin' Already
Genre Rock
Year 1997
Length 48:37

1 Hundred Mile High City 3:58
2 Better Day 3:45
3 Travellers Tune 3:41
4 Big Star 3:12
5 Debris Road 3:10
6 Besides Yourself 3:13
7 Get Blown Away 4:43
8 Tele He's Not Talking 3:02
9 Foxy's Folk Faced 2:10
10 All Up 2:49
11 Spark And Cindy 4:01
12 Half A Dream Away 4:22
13 It's A Beautiful Thing 6:33

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Ocean Colour Scene reinvented themselves as trad rock journeymen with their second album, Moseley Shoals, a record indebted to late-'60s blues-rock, mod pop, psychedelia, and prog rock. Surprisingly, the album became a blockbuster in the U.K., so it isn't entirely surprising that its successor, Marchin' Already, is essentially Moseley Shoals, Pt. 2 with a bigger budget. Despite a few production flourishes — heavily panned, distorted psychedelic guitars, trombone solos, and two P.P. Arnold backing vocals — Ocean Colour Scene doesn't sound at all different on Marchin' Already, and their songwriting shows no noticeable improvement. But the album isn't a retreat; it's a continuation of everything that made Moseley Shoals such an entertaining record, and it's nearly as good as its predecessor. Marchin' Already is equally balanced between soulful stompers ("Travellers Tune"), rockers ("Hundred Mile High City"), and prog-inflected ballads ("Better Day," "Besides Yourself"), all delivered with almost too much passion. But the key to Ocean Colour Scene is that they are fervently committed to trad rock, which means they pour themselves into predictable songs that turn out to be quite satisfying, even if they are guilty pleasures. And if that's the case, Marchin' Already is a great guilty pleasure.

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"Rockabilly"

Atomics - Atomic Age (1999)

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Boppin` B - Bop Around The Pop (2004)
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Brian Setzer - 13 (IMPORT) (2006)
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Buzz And The Flyers - Buzz And The Flyers (1981)
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Deke Dickerson And The Ecco-Fonics - Rhythm, Rhyme & Truth (2000)
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Flea Bops - I`m Ready (2000)
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Frantic Flintstones - The X-Ray Sessions (1996)
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Hi-Dramatic - Thrift (2001)
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Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Bourgeois Baby (2004)
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Ike And The Capers - Four Alley Cats (1997)

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"Psychobilly"

Banane Metalik - Requiem De La Depravation (1994)

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Big John Bates - Flamethrower (2001)

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Blazing Haley - Sleeper (1998)

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Demented Scumcats - Splatter Baby (2005)

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Fireballs - So Bad It`s Good (1996)

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Gazoo Bill - Think About It (2002)

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Grave Stompers - Funeral Suite (1996)

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Heartbreak Engines - Good Drinks, Good Butts, Good Fellows (2003)

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Long Tall Texans - Texas Beat The Best Of Long Tall Texans (1995)

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"SURF"

Deadbolt - Shrunken Head (1993)
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Fifty Foot Combo - Go Hunting (1997)
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The Astroglides - Channel Surfing with the Astroglides (2003)
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The Atlantics - Bombora (1963)
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The Dynotones - The Dynotones (1999)
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The Pyramids - Penetration! The Best Of The Pyramids (1995)
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Some Personal Favorites of 2006 !!!

Richard Buckner - Meadow d o w n l o a d
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Cat Power - The Greatest

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The Be Good Tanyas - Hello Love

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Dave Alvin - West Of The West

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T-Bone Burnett - The True False Identity

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Shawn Colvin - These Four Walls

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Kasey Chambers - Carnival

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Jason Molina - Let Me Go Let Me Go Let Me Go d o w n l o a d
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Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing And A Curse d o w n l o a d 1

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Deadboy & The Elephantmen - We Are The Night Sky

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Howe Gelb - 'Sno Angel Like You

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The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldier

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Howlin Rain - Howlin Rain

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Comets On Fire - Avatar

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Alejandro Escovedo - The Boxing Mirror

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Matt Keating - Summer Tonight

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Laura Gibson - If You Come to Greet Me

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Ayo - Joyful

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Black Heart Procession - The Spell

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Paolo Nutini - These Streets

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Trespassers William - Having

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Ebba Forsberg - Ebba Forsberg

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Hazmat Modine - Bahamut

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Grant-Lee Phillips - Nineteeneighties

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Damien Rice - 9

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Rosanne Cash - Black Cadillac

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Espers - Espers II

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Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

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Buffalo Tom #4

Buffalo Tom • Sleepy Eyed

Genre Rock

Year 1995

Length 49:48
1 Tangerine 2:43 2 Summer 4:03 3 Kitchen Door 2:58 4 Rules 2:57 5 It's You 2:50 6 When You Discover 2:25 7 Sunday Night 6:08 8 Your Stripes 3:02 9 Sparklers 4:49 10 Clobbered 3:16 11 Sundress 2:27 12 Twenty-Points 4:07 13 Souvenir 2:34 14 Crueler 5:30

Review by Mark Deming

Put Sleepy Eyed in your CD player, hit play, and prepare to be amazed — "Tangerine," the lead-off cut, signals the brief but welcome return of "Dinosaur Jr. Jr." with two-and-three-quarters minutes of charging neo-grunge guitars and galloping drums, the likes of which you haven't heard from this band since Birdbrain. But, of course, Buffalo Tom sound a lot tighter, stronger, and more confident when they dig into the big shaggy dog rock than they did five years previous, and while they never get quite as rollicking as "Tangerine" again on Sleepy Eyed, cut for cut it's a far more direct and straightforward rock album than anything they'd managed since their creative breakthrough on Let Me Come Over. To some listeners, Sleepy Eyed might sound like a regression, moving back into noisy power trio mode after the more polished surfaces and intricate arrangements of Let Me Come Over and Big Red Letter Day, but play Sleepy Eyed back to back with Birdbrain and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the differences. Sleepy Eyed decisively proves Buffalo Tom write better hooks and better melodies, write smarter lyrics, and even rock harder than when they were still trying to find their way out from under J. Mascis' shadow, and they sound like they're having a great time just turning up the amps and letting rip, especially Bill Janovitz, whose rock-dude guitar outros are a hoot (and this is one band who I cannot begrudge for enjoying themselves every once in a while). On Sleepy Eyed, Buffalo Tom go back to the old neighborhood and show everybody how much bigger and stronger they've become — it's sorta like a high school reunion, but louder and a lot more fun.

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d o w n l o a d 94.4 MB

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The Replacements #5

The Replacements • All Shook Down
Genre American Underground
Year 1990
Length 41:32

1 Merry Go Round 3:40 2 One Wink At The Time 3:05 3 Nobody 3:11 4 Bent Out Of Shape 3:46 5 Sadly Beautiful 3:16 6 Someone Take The Weel 3:40 7 When It Began 3:07 8 All Shook Down 3:16 9 Attitude 2:43 10 Happy Town 2:55 11 Torture 1:52 12 My Little Problem 4:04 13 The Last 2:56

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Although Don't Tell a Soul sounded like a Replacements record, it felt like a Paul Westerberg album. All Shook Down continues that trend — it's a Replacements record only in name. Recorded with a variety of session musicians and sporting no individual credits, All Shook Down emphasizes the songs, not the band, and it's a weary, beaten set of songs. Despite a handful of forced rockers — especially the downright embarrassing Johnette Napolitano duet, "My Little Problem" — the album is a low-key and primarily acoustic set, finding Westerberg knowing that the band is over and wondering where it all went wrong. While All Shook Down doesn't have any nakedly emotional stunners like "Answering Machine" or "Skyway," it has a unified atmosphere and an off-the-cuff, unpretentious feel which comes as a relief after the weighty ambitions of Don't Tell a Soul. It also has a number of excellently crafted songs, ranging from the wistful "Sadly Beautiful" and the druggy "All Shook Down" to snappy pop/rockers like "Merry Go Round," "When It Began," and "Happy Town." As the loungy closer suggests, the record is meant to be "The Last," and few bands ended their career in such a knowing, worn-out fashion.

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Blue Rodeo #5

Blue Rodeo • Outskirts

Genre Roots-Rock, Folk-Rock

Year 1987

Length 49:56
1 Heart Like Mine 4:52 2 Rose Coloured Glasses 4:30 3 Rebel 3:51 4 Joker's Wild 4:11 5 Piranha Pool 6:33 6 Outskirts 4:47 7 Underground 5:06 8 5 Will Get You Six 4:26 9 Try 4:05 10 Floating 7:36

Review by Chris Woodstra

Outskirts is a highly likeable debut featuring mid-tempo country rockers fleshed out by tasteful use of organ in the arrangements — a subtle touch that, along with the sheer quality of the material, distinguished Blue Rodeo from the hordes of other Gram Parsons devotees in the mid-'80s.

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The Go-betweens #2

The Go-betweens • Tallulah

Genre Alternative Pop/ Rock

Year 1987

Length 39:03

1 Right Here 3:54 2 You Tell Me 3:39 3 Someone Else's Wife 4:10 4 I Just Get Caught Out 2:17 5 Cut It Out 3:59 6 The House That Jack Kerouac Built 4:42 7 Bye Bye Pride 4:07 8 Spirit Of A Vampyre 3:57 9 The Clarke Sisters 3:23 10 Hope Then Strife 4:56

Review by Thom Jurek

Tallulah, the Go-Betweens fifth album, was supposed to be the band's breakthrough recording in America. That said, its sound is nearly a full-on break with the edginess that began to fade on 1986's Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express. More lush, rounded, polished, it sounds like a record made in the mid-'80s thanks in large part to Lindy Morrison's use of drum programs in addition to her trap kit. Add to this the contributions of new member Amanda Brown on violin, oboe, and backing vocals and one has a revamped band. Fans didn't take to the new sound with kindness initially, but the songwriting of Forster and McLennan was so much more focused and taut, it more than compensates for production errors. Nowhere is this more evident than "Right Now," the album's opener. The multi-tracked violins drive the center of the tune sprightly, in an off-rail, cut-time tempo. Robert Vickers' colorful keyboards and Morrison's programming are truly adornments, but McLennan's soulful yet philosophical vocal anchors the tune on bedrock and is supported by a beautiful chorus of backing vocals led by Brown. "You Tell Me," sung by Forster, leads with distorted guitars held in check by the sweetness of the melody and Morrison's meld of trap and synthetic drumming. Once more, keyboards counter the guitars as Vickers accents the beat pushing Forster and the wafting backing vocals deeper inside lyric and melody. McLennan's "Someone Else's Wife," is, by contrasts, stark, dark, and suffocating with moody strings accenting the protagonist's plight. The driving "Cure-ish" riff that kicks off Forster's "I Just Get Caught Out," is nearly transcendent; its pained verses are juxtaposed against backing vocalists filling the refrain with a cheery ba-ba-ba-ba-bum. The nearly funky organ and bass swirl of "Cut It Out," is unlike any Go-Betweens song before or since. The beautiful cello and violin section that fuels "The House That Jack Kerouac Built," with a shimmering rhythm guitar line, is the perfect maelstrom for Forster's gorgeous images of stolen illicit love in a dodgy cinema and are topped only by his desperate delivery. This recording may not have had fans of the band swooning at the time, but despite its production it has aged exceptionally well although it remains a product firmly of its time. The raw emotion, vulnerable tenderness and romantic desperation in its songs, textured by the blend of strings and keyboards, adds depth and dimension to this well of fine songs.

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Ivy #6

Ivy • In the Clear
Genre Indie Pop
Year 2005
Length 43:22

1 Nothing But the Sky 5:13
2 Thinking About You 4:13
3 Keep Moving 4:44
4 Tess Don't Tell 4:35
5 Four In The Morning 5:11
6 Corners of Your Mind 2:49
7 Clear My Head 3:30
8 I've Got You Memorized 3:49
9 Ocean City Girl 4:25
10 Feel So Free 5:09

Review by MacKenzie Wilson
Ivy follow up 2001's Long Distance with their sophisticated fourth album, In the Clear. The ten-song set shines with smooth synth beats, breezy acoustic guitars, and elegant string arrangements. It's refined and focused, but also sexy and intimate. The band's airy softness turns dark, and it's an inviting listen. Dominique Durand's honeyed, warm vocals are as seductive as ever, especially on skin-tight tracks such as "Four in the Morning" and "Keep Moving." "Tess Don't Tell" is classic Ivy. Andy Chase's post-punk-influenced background fits Adam Schlesinger's pop roots so nicely on this track, and it's playful in mood without going overboard. Ivy didn't overdo things in the studio. It's an album that breathes easy while also one that struts in slow motion. The dreamy, piano-laden opener, "Nothing But the Sky," is testament to that. Slow-building pastel-colored melodies mixed between cool, chilled rock moments capture the essence of In the Clear. It's most definitely an impressive culmination of Ivy's career to date.

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Elliott Murphy #2

Elliott Murphy / Aquashow
Genre Folk-Rock
Year 1973
Length 37:19 1 Last Of The Rock Stars 3:43 2 How's the family 4:24 3 Hangin' Out 4:20 4 Hometown 4:34 5 Graveyard Scrapbook 3:00 6 Poise 'n Pen 2:39 7 Marilyn 4:20 8 White Middle Class Blues 3:01 9 Like a Great Gatsby 3:13 10 Don't Go Away 4:05

Review by Brett Hartenbach

With all the praise accorded every other artist anointed with the "new Dylan" tag, Elliott Murphy burst onto the scene in 1973 wearing the mantle proudly. His debut, Aquashow, came on like the son of Blonde on Blonde, but with the streetwise poetic bent of Lou Reed. And, as is the case with most 24-year-olds armed with pen, paper, guitar, and harmonica, he has plenty to say. There is the tendency to wield a heavy hand when it comes to his takes on love, fame, growing up, and the underbelly of middle-class life, but Murphy, whose insights cut deeper than the majority of writers his age, is successful more often than not. If the irony of "How's the Family" or the overstated "Marilyn Monroe died for our sins" are a bit much, tracks such as "Hangin' Out," "Scrapbook Graveyard," and "Last of the Rock Stars" more than make up for it, painting a vivid picture of disenfranchised youth — searching yet self-destructive. Still, as good as Murphy can be lyrically, it's the music that first draws you in. From his own electric guitar, and a rhythm section made up of brother Matthew Murphy and Byrd Gene Parsons, to Highway 61 Revisited pianist Frank Owens' organ and piano, Murphy creates some of the most convincing Dylan-esque folk-rock to come along since 1966. In and out of print over the years, Aquashow, thanks to a keen eye, intelligence, and a sparse, straightforward sound that stays clear of trends, remains a minor classic.

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d o w n l o a d 53.5 MB
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16 Horsepower #3

16 Horsepower • Secret South

Genre Alternative Country-Rock

Year 2000

Length 42:14
1 Clogger 3:28 2 Wayfaring Stranger 2:43 3 Cinder Alley 4:42 4 Burning Bush 4:00 5 Poor Mouth 4:39 6 Silver Saddle 3:12 7 Praying Arm Lane 3:19 8 Splinters 5:20 9 Just Like Birds 3:44 10 Nobody 'Cept You 3:35 11 Straw Foot 3:31

Review by Hal Horowitz

Sin, salvation, deliverance, redemption, the Holy Spirit, divine intervention, and prayer; it's all in a day's work for 16 Horsepower singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist David Eugene Edwards. On their third album and first for indie Razor & Tie, the band works within the unique sound they've already defined. With a voice as windswept, barren and generally spooky as the Bates Motel, Edwards unravels 11 mini-sermons with a frightening intensity and emotional edge. When he sings, the ghostly moan that emanates, sounds like he's overcome by forces beyond his control. It's that creepy voice, similar to Michael Been of The Call, along with sparse but powerful instrumentation, and a fire and brimstone lyrical slant that separates 16 Horsepower from the rest of the alt-Americana pack. Seldom have banjos, violins, organ, and bandoneon (an old accordion that helps define the band's unique sound), let alone guitar, piano and, stand-up bass, seemed quite as intimidating and brooding as in the hands of this band. The songs are texturally diverse, but the dark, menacing atmosphere, especially in the stark banjo led disc closing "Straw Foot" and the pounding album opener "Clogger," is pervasive, giving the disc an ominous feel that rarely lets up. Their unadorned version of the traditional "Wayfaring Stranger" with Edwards singing through what sounds like a paper cup, could have come off an old Library of Congress album. Although they're working within a genre they practically define and this album doesn't push them in any radical new directions, Secret South is another worthy entry into the catalog of a band unafraid to explore the shadowy side of spiritual territory with the passion, fervor, and conviction of a backwoods preacher.

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d o w n l o a d 70.5 MB

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Go-Betweens

Go-Betweens • Before Hollywood

Genre Alt. Pop/Rock, New Wave

Year 1983

Length 39:07
1 A Bad Debt Follows You 2:25 2 Two Step, Step Out 3:28 3 Before Hollywood 3:45 4 Dusty In Here 4:09 5 Ask 5:15 6 Cattle and Cane 4:21 7 By Chance 2:20 8 As Long as That 5:25 9 On My Block 3:49 10 That Way 4:09

Review by Ned Raggett

The Go-Betweens were already a good band well before they made Before Hollywood, but this second album is what proved for many listeners that they were great. For good reason — both Robert Forster's and Grant McLennan's singing sounds much more honestly theirs, finding their own voices, while collectively the trio create a series of intricate, surprising melodies and songs which balance past and present beautifully. Strange as it may sound, the band's peers at this point could and did range from the Cure (for both melancholic intensity and guitar — check some of the electric work on "Ask") to more obvious cohorts such as Orange Juice, but the Go-Betweens already had their own identity firmly established. For many the album's reputation rests on the presence of one song alone, and understandably so: "Cattle and Cane." Arguably the band's absolute highlight of its earliest years and one of the early-'80s' utter classics, the combination of McLennan's nostalgia-laden but not soppy lyric, his flat-out lovely singing and overdubbed backing vocals, and the catchy, beautifully elegant acoustic/electric arrangement is simply to die for. There are plenty of other songs that demonstrate the threesome's collective strength. "Two Steps Step Out" is a prime example, with sudden tempo shifts, from a more straightforward beat on the chorus to the sudden breakdown on the brisk chorus, and McLennan's lovelorn lyric and quietly impassioned singing making it an instant winner. Another McLennan winner is "Dusty in Here," soft piano from Bernard Clarke adding just enough to the spare but warm arrangement. Forster gets his own share of memorable moments, not least of which is the title track, not to mention the edgy, desperate "By Chance" and slightly calmer "On My Block." Lindy Morrison's abilities as a drummer are similarly improved, the at-times strident work of Send Me a Lullaby here replaced with a good balance between impact and steady swing.

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Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper

Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper / Bo-Day-Shus!!!

total time: 48:55
year: 1987

genre: Alternative

1. 4:52 Elvis is Everywhere 2. 3:55 We Gotta Have More Soul! 3. 3:57 I Ain't Gonna Piss in No Jar 4. 2:17 The Polka Polka 5. 2:30 I'm Gonna Dig Up Howlin' Wolf 6. 3:50 The Story of One Chord 7. 3:16 Gin Guzzlin' Frenzy 8. 2:55 B.B.Q. U.S.A. 9. 5:46 Positively Bodies Parking Lot 10. 3:43 Wash No Dishes No More 11. 2:53 Lincoln Logs 12. 4:41 Wide Open 13. 4:18 Don't Want No Foo-Foo Haircut on My Head

Allmusic Review by Kieran McCarthy (AMG Album Pick rating 4 1/2 stars)

When Mojo Nixon and his partner in silliness, Skip Roper, released Bo-Day-Shus!!! in 1987, it opened a Pandora's Box of attention for the charismatic funnyman. The song "Elvis Is Everywhere" found itself on television and radio programs all over the United States. As did its author, who became a part-time VJ on MTV on the heels of its success. Not every joke Mojo Nixon lets fly on Bo-Day-Shus! is a knee-slapper, but one cannot deny his persistence. If you don't like the first quip, he might catch you on the second one, or the tenth. And if you never laugh, well, he'll keep going anyway. That's what he does. "Elvis Is Everywhere plays out as you'd expect: Nixon rants about how Elvis constructed the Great Pyramids of Giza and claims that he can see the King in everyone around him, while Roper backs him up with a pre-Beatles bluesy riff. The Story of One Chord is no less self-explanatory: He sings of a time when prehistoric man had only one chord to play on their primitive two-string guitars. In "I Ain't Gonna Piss in No Jar," Nixon threatens to personally deliver his marijuana-contaminated urine to the first lady herself, Nancy Reagan. None of the songs are brilliant, but every track is worth at least a couple of chuckles.

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d o w n l o a d 45.3 MB

128 kbps m4a

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Kathryn Williams #2

Kathryn Williams • Relations
Genre: British Folk, Folk Revival
Year 2004
Length 44:32

1 In A Broken Dream 3:38 2 Birds 2:27 3 Thirteen 2:57 4 Hallelujah 5:10 5 The Ballad Of Easy Rider 2:50 6 A Guy What Takes His Time 2:59 7 Candy Says 3:33 8 How Can We Hang On To A Dream 2:34 9 I Started A Joke 3:08 10 Easy And Me 2:46 11 Spit On A Stranger 3:23 12 All Apologies 3:34 13 Beautiful Cosmos 1:31 14 These Days 4:04

Amazon.co.uk Review

Kathryn Williams, who claims to have recorded Relations to help herself "fall in love with music again", aims high with her choice of songs--artists covered include Leonard Cohen, Nirvana, Tim Hardin, Neil Young, Lee Hazlewood, Lou Reed, The Byrds and Big Star--but there's an essential modesty to her approach that makes Relations sound much more like affectionate homage than the usual state of affairs with cover albums; (generally colossal self-indulgences by spent or non-existent talents seeking to prop themselves up with the work of superior performers--the musical equivalent of stalkers posing for photographs with bewildered celebrities). Not quite all of Relations works. The version of Nirvana's "All Apologies" aims for deceptive innocence, but just sounds twee. The take on Lee Hazlewood's "Easy and Me" is a nice try, but hobbled by an annoying stop-start arrangement. For the most part though, Relations is a startling collection of things that just shouldn't work, but they do. Anyone attempting Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is dooming themselves to toil in the shadow of Jeff Buckley's definitive version, but Williams, in a live recording, applies a slightly lighter touch with tremendous results. She performs similar small miracles with Neil Young's "Birds" and The Byrds' "The Ballad of Easy Rider". --Andrew Mueller

Description

Fourth album from celebrated English contemporary folk singer and guitarist follows 2002's 'Old Low Light' and is a collection of cover versions of pop and rock songs from the last 30 years, recreated within the low-key acoustic template which has served her well over previous releases. Tunes versioned on this record include Python Lee Jackson's 'In A Broken Dream', The Byrds' 'Ballad Of Easy Rider', The Velvet Underground's 'Candy Says', The Bee Gees' 'I Started A Joke' andNirvana's 'All Apologies'.

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d o w n l o a d 40.8 MB

128 kbps MP3

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Sixteen Horsepower #2

Sixteen Horsepower / Sackcloth 'n' Ashes

Genre Alternative Country-Rock
Year 1995
Length 42:58


1 I Seen What I Saw 3:26 2 Black Soul Choir 3:52 3 Scrawled In Sap 2:48 4 Horsehead 3:03 5 Ruthie Lingle 2:45 6 Harm's Way 3:23 7 Black Bush 3:17 8 Heel On The Shovel 3:12 9 American Wheeze 3:34 10 Red Neck Reel 2:44 11 Prison Shoe Romp 3:13 12 Neck On The New Blade 3:17 13 Strong Man 4:23

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Driven by off-kilter fiddles, a bizarre sense of humor, and punk-inflected country-rock, 16 Horsepower's second album, Sackcloth 'n' Ashes, is a weirdly captivating listen. Nearly every song is a strange, backwoods fable, delivered with clever irony that never undercuts the essential, disturbing intentions of the songs. It's not for everybody, but for alt-country fans tired of Gram Parsons homages, Sackcloth 'n' Ashes is a welcome listen.

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d o w n l o a d 77.6 MB

248,6 kbps vbr MP3

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Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo / No Depression
Genre Alternative Country-Rock
Year 1990
Length 41:50 1 Graveyard Shift 4:44 2 That Year 3:00 3 Before I Break 2:49 4 No Depression 2:20 5 Factory Belt 3:14 6 Whiskey Bottle 4:46 7 Outdone 2:49 8 Train 3:19 9 Life Worth Livin' 3:32 10 Flatness 2:59 11 So Called Friend 3:13 12 Screen Door 2:43 13 John Hardy 2:23

Review by Jason Ankeny

Uncle Tupelo's landmark opening salvo is the group's most rock-oriented album, steeped more in breakneck speed, punk crunch, and guitar dissonance than any of their subsequent efforts. Indeed, despite the presence of mandolins, fiddles, and banjos — as well as inclusion of the title track, a faithful cover of the A.P. Carter classic — the trio's vaunted country leanings are less musical than thematic on No Depression, thanks in large part to singers/songwriters Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy's acute depictions of rural, blue-collar life. Like the Replacements — never more obvious an influence than on this LP — Uncle Tupelo's songs paint grim, unrelenting portraits of aimless Midwestern existence, split between days working on the opening cut's "Factory Belt" and nights spent blurry-eyed and wasted ("Whiskey Bottle," "Before I Break"). Still, for all of the record's doleful cynicism — virtually every cut nods toward dashed hopes, broken promises, and paralyzing fear — there's an undeniable electricity afoot as well; by channeling the mournful clarity of country into the crackling fury of punk, No Depression brings new life to both musical camps.

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d o w n l o a d 75.2 MB
248,3 kbps vbr MP3
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Afghan Whigs

Afghan Whigs / Black Love
Genre Rock
Year 1996
Length 51:56



1 Crime Scene Part One 6:00 2 My Enemy 3:11 3 Double Day 4:40 4 Blame, Etc. 4:12 5 Step Into The Light 3:40 6 Going To Town 3:17 7 Honky's Ladder 4:16 8 Night By Candlelight 3:42 9 Bulletproof 6:37 10 Summer's Kiss 3:56 11 Faded 8:27

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Following the dense, pseudoliterary aspirations of Gentlemen, Black Love sounds nearly lighthearted. That doesn't mean it's a light record — lead singer/songwriter Greg Dulli has an overwhelming affection for the morose and the twisted. From the grinding guitars to the hardboiled lyrics, the Afghan Whigs revel in the dark side. The problem is, Dulli isn't a compelling enough melodicist to make the songs stick; furthermore, his lyrics frequently sound like posturing, as if they were learned from books and movies. When the Afghan Whigs are at their best, they create a soundscape that evokes the lyrical world Dulli tries so hard to conjure. Rooted in indie guitar rock, the band blends in slight elements of early-'70s soul and R&B, with an occasional country overtone. It reads better than it sounds — though they play with organs and attempt to land in a groove, but it doesn't amount to genuine, gritty soul. Instead, their funk experiments add another thick layer of grunge. Combined with the clanging guitars and the willfully bleak lyrics, the result is an album so lumbering and unmelodic that it can only be admired, not enjoyed.

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d o w n l o a d 99.0 MB

262,2 kbps vbr MP3

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The Replacements #4

The Replacements / Stink EP

Genre American Underground
Year 1982
Length 15:16

1 Kids Don't Follow 2:50 2 Fuck School 1:26 3 Stuck In The Middle 1:49 4 God Damn Job 1:19 5 White and Lazy 2:07 6 Dope Smokin Moron 1:31 7 Go 2:30 8 Gimme Noise 1:43

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Following quick on the heels of the group's debut, the Stink EP takes the loud-hard-fast attitude of Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash to the extreme, mistakenly giving the impression that the Replacements were a hardcore band. Even though the EP isn't much more than clamor, it's better clamor than before — the band doesn't sound tighter, but their noise is more galvanizing and a handful of songs ("Kids Don't Follow," "Fuck School," "God Damn Job") suggest Paul Westerberg is improving as a songwriter.

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d o w n l o a d 21.2 MB

192 kbps MP3

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Nanci Griffith #3

Nanci Griffith / Little Love Affairs
Genre Contemporary Country
Year 1988
Length 36:40

1 Anyone Can Be Somebody's Fool • Songwriter: Nanci Griffith 2:43
2 I Knew Love • Songwriter: Roger Brown 3:19
3 Never Mind • Songwriter: Harlan Howard 3:43
4 Love Wore A Halo (Back Before The War) • Songwriter: Nanci Griffith 3:23
5 So Long Ago • Songwriter: Nanci Griffith 4:11
6 Gulf Coast Highway • Songwriter: James Hooker, Nanci Griffith, Danny Flowers 3:08
7 Little Love Affairs • Songwriter: Nanci Griffith, James Hooker 3:10
8 I Wish It Would Rain • Songwriter: Nanci Griffith 2:40
9 Outbound Plane • Songwriter: Nanci Griffith & Tom Russell 2:40
10 I Would Change My Life • Songwriter: Robert Earl Keen Jr. 3:09
11 Sweet Dreams Will Come • Songwriter: John Stewart 4:34

Review by William Ruhlmann
Little Love Affairs, Nanci Griffith's second MCA Records album, and sixth album overall, was the crucial release in her attempt to achieve success as a Nashville-based country artist, and in that context it was a failure. But it was also an artistic success, containing 11 well-written and well-performed songs in the reflective style that the singer/songwriter had established previously. Griffith's first MCA album, Lone Star State of Mind, had been a moderate seller, reaching the Top 40 and spawning two country chart singles. MCA prefaced Little Love Affairs with perhaps its most overtly country song, "Never Mind," written by veteran songwriter Harlan Howard, and prominently featuring a pedal-steel guitar in its arrangement, but the single's failure to crack the country Top 40 suggested trouble, confirmed when the album peaked lower than Lone Star State of Mind. "Never Mind" gave a good indication of the album's theme, embodied in its title, of carefully examining the romantic lives of common people. Howard's lovers were itinerant laborers who came out of the Depression, and other songs also looked back at stories of romance past, such as Griffith's compositions "Love Wore a Halo (Back Before the War)," and "So Long Ago." The music, supplied by Griffith's backup band and New Grass Revival, was in her familiar country-folk style, and her vocals, with their ringing, aching tone, conveyed the songs' sense of longing and regret effectively. Country critics and radio programmers complained that, if anything, she was too country, her voice having an off-putting twang and nasality, but that was just an excuse for rejecting her literate lyrics and sophistication. At 33, she wasn't about to become some empty-headed Nashville bimbo willing to mouth romantic clichés, and for that she paid the price of being denied country stardom. Her fans breathed a sigh of relief.

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d o w n l o a d 63.5 MB
240,7 kbps vbr MP3
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Alejandro Escovedo #2

Alejandro Escovedo / Por Vida Live

Genre Americana

Year 2004

Length 1:11:57

1. Wave 2. All About This Love 3. The Way It Goes 4. Everybody Loves Me 5. Sacramento & Polk 6. Follow You Down (Intro) 7. Follow You Down 8. Try Try Try 9. Rosalie 10. I Was Drunk 11. Castanets 12. Irene Wilde(Intro) 13. Irene Wilde 14. Sad & Dreamy(The Big 10) 15. Velvet Guitar(Acoustic Demo) 16. Sad & Dreamy(The Big 10)*

Not to be confused with the tribute record this is a live CD. This CD is a 16-track collection that has until recently only been available through the fan club. All songs recorded live at various locations. Alejandro Escovedo is one of the most critically acclaimed artists in contemporary music, hailed by Rolling Stone critic David Fricke for creating 'his own genre' and named Artist of the Decade for the 1990s by No Depression magazine. Widely admired for the stylistic breadth and innovation of his compositions and his facility for translating his personal experiences and observations into universal truths, he fell ill from the effects of Hepatitis C in April 2003.

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d o w n l o a d 1

d o w n l o a d 2

208,8 kbps vbr MP3

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Drive-By Truckers #2

Drive-By Truckers / Decoration Day

Genre Southern Rock

Year 2003

Length 1:04:53

1 The Deeper In 3:16 2 Sinkhole 3:27 3 Hell No, I Ain't Happy 4:39 4 Marry Me 5:40 5 My Sweet Annette 3:51 6 Outfit 4:04 7 Heathens 4:48 8 Sounds Better In The Song 4:09 9 (Something's Got To) Give Pretty Soon 3:39 10 Your Daddy Hates Me 6:40 11 Careless 2:08 12 When The Pin Hits The Shell 4:10 13 Do It Yourself 3:20 14 Decoration Day 5:48 15 Loaded Gun In The Closet 5:15

Review by Mark Deming

For a musician, the trouble with making your best album is you have to figure out a way to top it next time out, and that isn't always easy. On their first three albums, the Drive-By Truckers were a better-than-average band from the harder-and-faster end of the alt-country spectrum who blended Replacements-esque snot and slop with a Lynyrd Skynyrd-influenced shot of twangy hard rock. But it was when the Truckers confronted the ghost of Skynyrd as well as the often confusing legacy of both Southern rock and what DBTs leader Patterson Hood calls "the duality of the Southern thing" that they finally achieved greatness; Southern Rock Opera was that modern rarity, a successful concept album, a thoughtful examination of race and class in America, and a superb, balls-out hard rock album wrapped up in one proudly homemade package. The brilliance of Southern Rock Opera certainly upped the ante for the DBTs' follow-up, and it would be a lie to say Decoration Day is just as remarkable as the album that preceded it. But Decoration Day is every bit as ambitious a work as Southern Rock Opera, broadening the band's sound and style while staying true to their ideals and approach. If you're looking for tough, Southern-styled rock, "Marry Me," "Careless," and "Do It Yourself" offer it up in spades (and "Hell No, I Ain't Happy" sounds like it could be a new generation's "Take This Job and Shove It"); but the quiet bad-seed ballads "The Deeper In" and "Heathens" and the tragic love songs "My Sweet Anette" and "Sounds Better in the Song" all display a subtlety and restraint one might not have expected from this band, while still boasting the flinty honesty of the Truckers' best work. Decoration Day lacks the narrative cohesion of Southern Rock Opera, but all of these songs are informed by the experience of living and dying in the Deep South, described with a deeply felt compassion but with no false illusions, and the DBTs draw their portraits with a deep and telling eye for the details; Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp never wrote a Farm Aid song as bitter and pointed as "Sink Hole," while "Outfit" and the title tune both celebrate a man's Alabama heritage while examining the toll it has claimed of his sons. Somber and smart, Decoration Day also manages to kick like a mule, and if isn't the same sort of masterpiece as Southern Rock Opera, it's strong enough to suggest the Drive-By Truckers may have a handful of masterpieces up their sleeves.

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d o w n l o a d 1

d o w n l o a d 2

249,9 kbps vbr MP3

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Kelly Willis #2

Kelly Willis / What I Deserve

Genre Contemporary Country
Year 1999

Length 50:13

1 Take Me Down 3:46 2 What I Deserve 4:20 3 Heaven Bound 3:20 4 Talk Like That 3:09 5 Not Forgotten You 3:36 6 Wrapped 4:28 7 Cradle Of Love 4:57 8 Got A Feelin' For Ya 3:25 9 Time Has Told Me 4:37 10 Fading Fast 2:54 11 Happy With That 3:34 12 They're Blind 4:37 13 Not Long For This World 3:30

Review by Rick Anderson

This effort from country singer Kelly Willis has a number of important things going for it. First of all, there's her voice, which is an almost archetypally perfect blend of sweetness and grit. Then there are her backing musicians — in particular guitarist Mark Spencer, who makes a recognizably country sound without overdoing it or descending into bathos and stereotype. Last, and very importantly, there's producer Dave McNair, who has crafted a beautifully balanced and full-bodied sound for the album without allowing things to get too slick and prettified. What's lacking, for the most part, are melodies strong enough to grab your interest and hold it. There are some hooks — "Take Me Down" is quite singable, and there's a great version of Nick Drake's "Time Has Told Me" — but they're relatively few and far between, and scarcity of hooks can be death for a country album. In this case the lack is far from fatal, but it's noticeable. Recommended with reservations.

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238,6 kbps vbr MP3

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Indigo Girls

Indigo Girls / Indigo Girls
Genre Folk-Rock
Year 1989
Length 43:53

1 Closer To Fine 4:02 2 Secure Yourself 3:37 3 Kid Fears 4:35 4 Prince Of Darkness 5:23 5 Blood And Fire 4:39 6 Tried To Be True 2:59 7 Love's Recovery 4:25 8 Land of Canaan 3:58 9 Center Stage 4:50 10 History of Us 5:25

Review by Kelly McCartney

With their first major label release, the Indigo Girls come on strong with an outstanding batch of tunes, watertight harmonies, impeccable musicianship, and flawless production. And entering the folk-rock music scene on the successful heels of R.E.M., Tracy Chapman, and 10,000 Maniacs pushed their sales over the million mark and earned the duo a Grammy for Best Folk Recording. The eponymous release kicks off with the upbeat jangle bounce of "Closer to Fine," a modest hit, all-time fan favorite written by Emily Saliers, and a tune the Girls still play at every concert. A particularly fascinating point is that the Indigo Girls never write songs together, but they compliment each other perfectly. The difference in styles becomes immediately apparent when the more dark and brooding Amy Ray steps up. Her remarkable contributions include "Secure Yourself," "Kid Fears," and "Blood and Fire," spiritual ruminations of life, love, pain, and faith which bury themselves deep inside your core whether invited or not. Weighting the opposite scales, Saliers offers a tender balance to Ray with two beautiful ballads, "Love's Recovery" and "History of Us." (Ray's "Land of Canaan" was once a ballad, but then she heard the Replacements and it became a bit of a rocker.) Chiming in with musical support are Hothouse Flowers, Luka Bloom, and fellow Georgians R.E.M. This self-titled release captures the passion of their youth with voices that are a little cloudy, untamed, and raw, but the power that surges through them suggests a maturity far beyond their years. The same can be said of the songwriting — sheer poetry. To attempt examinations of these songs would not do them justice, for the layers of meaning and emotion unfold best upon repeated listening.

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192 kbps MP3

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Maria McKee

Maria McKee / Peddlin' Dreams
Genre Americana
Year 2005
Length 45:09 1 Season of the Fair 3:33 2 Sullen Soul 4:26 3 Turn Away 3:23 4 Peddlin' Dreams 4:31 5 My One True Love 3:39 6 People in the Way 4:14 7 The Horse Llife 3:07 8 Drowned and Died 4:15 9 Appalachian Boy 5:05 10 Everyone's Got a Story 3:04 11 Barstool Blues 3:04 12 (You Don't Know) How Glad I Am 2:55

Review by Thom Jurek

Peddlin' Dreams is Maria McKee's fifth studio outing since 1989. Since leaving Lone Justice in 1988, she has consistently frustrated her fans' expectations, not only for her infrequent recordings, but also for her restless muse that has taken her from pop (Maria McKee) to roots Americana and R&B (You Gotta Sin to Get Saved), squalling art rock (Life Is Sweet) and textured neo- psychedelia (High Dive). There was a live album issued in 2004 as well, but for the most part, McKee has stubbornly followed her own path for the past 16 years. While her label touts Peddlin' Dreams as a return to rootsy American rock and folk styles, and as the album that logistically follows You Gotta Sin. Simply put; this isn't true. This is not a look back but a further look in. It's true that acoustic guitars permeate this mix by producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist Jim Akin, and the songs walk the folk-rock border, but they are the frame for the rich, labyrinthine, multidimensional songs here. McKee wrote or co-wrote nine of the album's 12 tracks. Using folk, country and rock backdrops, McKee's songs offer stories of the broken, the lost, the wider-eyed and the hopeless. There's the confessional longing of the protagonist in "Season of the Fair" where memory, evoked by emptiness and rejection, wraps itself in the warm embrace of strummed, unplugged six-strings and lets itself fall framed by an organ, a lone electric guitar punching through the refrain, and the singer's voice, trying hard to hold what is not only fleeting but weighted in unrelenting pain. The loose, slippery country-rock of "Sullen Sou," alternates between the balance of guitars and just behind the beat drums as the singer lets the depth of her emotion flow in images from her mouth like raw honey. The cover of Neil Young's "Barstool Blues," is faithful, shambolic, and drunken. But McKee's delivery carries an emotional weight that Young's never did. This isn't reverie; it's misery. "The Horse Life" is a waltz, layered in staggered guitars and pedal steels, where yearning and fantasy crisscross with fleeting hope, and shimmering poetry with poignancy and elegance. Peddlin' Dreams is a melancholy record to be sure, but it's moving, utterly beautiful and carefully, artfully wrought. It is the work of a masterful songwriter whose senses of time, place and character are impeccable.

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d o w n l o a d 63.4 MB
192 kbps MP3
pass: eldorado

Laura Cantrell

Laura Cantrell / Humming by the Flowered Vine
Genre Neo-Traditionalist Country
Year 2005
Length 39:36

1 14th Street 3:17 2 What You Said 2:53 3 And Still 3:57 4 Khaki & Corduroy 4:28 5 Letters 4:52 6 California Rose 2:52 7 Wishful Thinking 2:53 8 Poor Ellen Smith 4:00 9 Bees 4:10 10 Old Downtown 6:14

Review by Mark Deming

Laura Cantrell knows and loves good music too well to be a purist, and while her first two albums, Not the Tremblin' Kind and When the Roses Bloom Again, were firmly grounded in her great fondness for country music, she expands her boundaries a bit on her third set (and first for Matador), Humming by the Flowered Vine. While the feel of Humming by the Flowered Vine isn't radically different than her previous work, the sound and arrangements offer some new wrinkles, with producer J.D. Foster and a superb cast of musicians edging Cantrell into an inventive pop direction. The pensive love song "14th Street," a strong but sorrowful reading of "And Still," and the rare Lucinda Williams composition "Letters" all speak of a riskier musical mindset than Cantrell has allowed herself in the past, and the results are beautifully expressive and gracefully executed while quietly bearing a considerable musical weight. Fans of Cantrell's more traditionally oriented work need not fret, as her lovely covers of "Wishful Thinking" and "Poor Ellen Smith" confirm she still has a superb command of classic country styles, and her voice has lost none of its lovely clarity while revealing an even greater emotional force on these sessions. And while Cantrell is a marvelous interpretive songwriter with nearly faultless taste, her originals rank with the album's finest material; "Khaki & Corduroy," "Old Downtown," and "Bees" are all crafted with the wisdom and care of a fine short story. Humming by the Flowered Vine is an album that's a joy to listen to without sounding simple or hollow, and resonates with an evocative beauty comprised of both compassion and intellect; this music easily raises the bar for this gifted artist.

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d o w n l o a d 55.5 MB

192 kbps MP3

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Laura Veirs

Laura Veirs / Year of Meteors
Genre Americana
Year 2005
Length 47:41

1 Fire Snakes 4:57 2 Galaxies 3:36 3 Secret Someones 5:16 4 Magnetized 2:37 5 Parisian Dream 3:06 6 Rialto 4:00 7 Through The Glow 2:42 8 Cool Water 2:52 9 Spelunking 3:06 10 Black Gold Blues 3:12 11 Where Gravity is Dead 3:40 12 Lake Swimming 6:54 13 Untitled 1:42

Review by James Christopher Monger

With its brooding intellectualism, intricate arrangements, and clever wordplay, Laura Veirs' 2004 debut on Nonesuch, Carbon Glacier, found its way on to a great many critic's "best-of" lists (and rightfully so). The Seattle-based singer/songwriter once again pays homage to her geology background with Years of Meteors, a diverse collection of meandering pop songs that parallel her most recent European/American tour. Transience is the common theme here, and Veirs sets her enviable verbal skills to task on standout tracks like "Magnetize," "Parisian Dream," and "Secret Someone" — the latter boasts a divine bit of travel-weary imagery: "A smile would melt me to an asphalt strip/where all would travel/where all would tread and trip." As with Glacier, Veirs employs her trusted backup band, the Tortured Souls, to flesh out the material. Led by drummer/producer Tucker Martine, they sound like a tightly knit group now, trading tasteful licks and never overplaying. Flashes of viola, upright bass, and ultra-compressed percussion float in and out like a less-stylized version of the Suzanne Vega's 1992 Mitchell Froom-produced 99.9 F°. That Veirs manages to keep the mood so sparse while so much is going on is impressive in its own right, but it's that old reliable brooding intellectualism, the intricate arrangements, and the clever wordplay that will keep listeners glued to each and every track.

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d o w n l o a d 73.5 MB

215,6 kbps vbr MP3

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