Josh Rouse, Country Mouse, City House (Full CD) Josh Rouse has been a Twangville favorite for some time now. Of course, we’re partial to his Nashville release, but there’s not much to dislike about any of his many songs to date. Like Ryan Adams, Rouse keeps making music and never looks back. The songs and […]
The 2007 Musical Eclipse
About once a year the earth, sun and moon align and a plethora of great new music arrives on a single day. In 2007 that day is July 10th. Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch (New West Records) The former Drive-By Trucker rolls on to great success. Isbell’s tunes were among my favorites on the […]
The Return of Justin Currie (Del Amitri)
Anybody remember Del Amitri? They released a number of solid pop albums in the 90’s before disappearing from the scene by the turn of the century. Although I was never a fan of the band’s biggest hit “Roll to Me,†their catalog is rich with intelligent pop songs. Singer-songwriter Justin Currie excelled at capturing a […]
Warren Zevon – Stand in the Fire
The best album not on CD…is finally on CD. Rhino Records rescued Warren Zevon’s classic live album from Asylum’s vaults and released an expanded and remastered version in late March. This album isn’t just live; it’s ALIVE — a vicious assault on songs taken (mostly) from Zevon’s first (and best) two albums. Almost without exception, […]
Bright Eyes & More, Album Previews
Bright Eyes, Cassadaga (Saddle Creek) Under normal circumstances, Connor Oberst aka Bright Eyes is the kind of guy I want to chaperone to the gym. Aside from his tender heart, his music is generally hit or miss for me. For many others (including one of my all time favorites, Michael Stipe), he is highly revered. […]
Randy Newman in Defense of our Country
When he’s not composing movie soundtracks and collecting Oscar nominations, Randy Newman writes pop songs filled with biting social and political commentary. So it should come as no surprise to see Newman offer his perspectives on today’s highly charged global political environment. “A Few Words In Defense of Our Country”, by Randy Newman A president […]
Josh Rouse, EP Available
A personal favorite artist of mine ever since my cousin Ken mentioned him to me back in 2003, Josh Rouse released a new EP this week. This time as a duo. He’s partnered up with Spanish native, Paz Suay, who’s smooth vocals you might recognize from his last album, Subtitulo. The new EP is aptly […]
SXSW 2006: The Bands (Part 2)
Coulda, shoulda, woulda… With over 1,200 bands appearing during the course of the festival it was inevitable that I would miss a few gems. Here are a few artists that may have slipped by me at SXSW but they didn’t escape me completely. Susan Cagle – I missed her in Austin but I made up […]
Best of Winter 2006, a Playlist
The bar has been set high! I’m astounded by the number of great albums that have already surfaced this year. Will Hoge shunned traditional record promotions by leaning heavily on juggernauts MySpace and Purevolume all the way to offering up a free download from the album once every week. Josh Rouse travelled to Spain offering […]
Susan Cagle: The Subway Recordings
I paid my cover – a New York subway ticket – and headed down into the Times Square subway station for this show. While I may have been the only one who was in the station solely to hear Susan Cagle perform, the size of the crowd revealed the extent of her reputation among New […]