Jimmie Vaughan, Blues, Ballads and Favorites

The blues-rock master’s first album in nine years! Blues, Ballads and Favorites is blues-rock pioneer Jimmie Vaughan’s tribute to the music that inspired him, with covers of songs by Little Richard, Jimmy Reed, Roy Milton, Roscoe Gordon and others. The album was recorded in Austin, Texas, and features legendary blues singer Lou Ann Barton on two tracks. Other highlights include a brand-new instrumental, “Comin’ & Goin’,” and a version of Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away” featuring vocals by Bill Willis, the famed Hammond organ player who recorded with James Brown and Bill Doggett. Vaughan founded the iconic Fabulous Thunderbirds in 1974, and they became famous for the high-octane blues-rock sound that earned them critical acclaim in the ’70s and platinum-selling albums in the ’80s. In 1990, Vaughan recorded a duets album, Family Style, with his brother, Stevie Ray Vaughan, shortly before the latter’s untimely death, and then went on to a successful solo career.

Peter Case, Wig!

In early 2009, like thousands of artists, 3-time Grammy nominee Peter Case found himself ill and without insurance. Following sudden open-heart surgery, Case walked out of the hospital with two things: a renewed vigor for life and music, and a six-figure medical bill he couldn’t pay. Case’s fans and peers like T-Bone Burnett, Richard Thompson, Joe Henry and Loudon Wainwright III immediately rallied to organize a benefit concert to help with his obligations.

Recovered physically and emboldened by the generosity of his fans and friends, Peter recorded the raucous and dirty electric blues rock of Wig! in only three days. ”It felt really good to rock again,” says Case. The album features X drummer DJ Bonebrake and Ron Franklin (Gasoline Silver).

With heart pumping and blood flowing, Wig! sees Case reinvigorate the rock n’ roll roots he laid down in his seminal bands The Nerves and The Plimsouls.

Suzanne Vega, Love Songs

The first in a series of four albums on which she revisits old material in a stripped-down acoustic setting, Love Songs gives the impression of having Vega perched on a stool and strumming away in the corner of your kitchen. Her records were rarely swamped by multitudes of guitars or keyboards – not even during the obligatory excess of the 80s – but the intimacy of these reworkings is especially attractive.

Though clearly inspired by Joni Mitchell, both in musical adventurousness and intricate wordplay, Vega’s never had as broad a vocal range, but the simplicity of the arrangements perfectly complement any perceived limitations. The gentle bossa nova of Caramel stands out here, and the more naked reading of her breakthrough hit, “Marlene On The Wall”, better suits the stream-of-conscious narrative of the lyric.

It’s been argued that Vega’s later releases, for all their instrumental reserve, still suffered from too much studio sheen, unwisely pandering to the glossy demands of FM radio, so it’s a pleasure to hear her rediscovering her subdued folk chanteuse roots. The tender picking of “Song In Red & Grey “and the defiance of “(I’ll Never Be) Your Maggie May” serve to remind us why we fell in love with her in the first place.

Jewel, Sweet and Wild

Two years after she got her twang on, Jewel is still a country girl on her latest album, Sweet and Wild. But she steps a touch closer to the pop side than she did on 2008 set “Perfectly Clear.” Fiddle, pedal steel and the occasional banjo flavor rather than define the 11 songs here, and the bare-bones acoustic versions on a second disc included in the album’s deluxe version put Jewel right back into coffeehouse (or perhaps campfire) mode. The song “Summer Home in Your Arms” recalls her 1995 breakthrough hit, “You Were Meant for Me” (and, in fact, dates back to the same period), while “No More Heartaches” slyly but defiantly kisses off a man who’s done her wrong. And the lushly drawn “Fading” mixes a moody ambience with a quiet sense of desperation. The set is more sweet than it is wild, but it finds an effective middle ground between the multiplatinum troubadour and the modern country songstress.

John Mellencamp, On the Rural Route 7609 [Special Edition / 4 CDs]

On the Rural Route 7609 isn’t a boxed set meant to show off how many hits John Mellencamp has. There’s no “Small Town” or “Hurts So Good” — most of the big ones aren’t here. Instead, this handsomely packaged four-disc, 54-track collection (complete with song-by-song annotation and full lyrics) documents the Indiana rocker’s career as ambitious songwriter, insightful societal observer, sharp-tongued sociopolitical commentator and, occasionally, raconteur — a performer who’s done far more than just R-O-C-K in the USA. Dotted with 14 unreleased tracks (including readings of “Jim Crow” by Cornel West and “The Real Life” by Joanne Woodward), it allows listeners to rediscover such laudable fare as “Jackie Brown,” “The Full Catastrophe,” “Theo and Weird Henry” and “Rural Route,” as well as appreciate Mellencamp’s music in fresh contexts. Particularly illuminating is a triplet of the abandoned “Jenny at 16,” a precursor of “Jack and Diane,” which follows in both demo and finished form. On the Rural Route 7609 is a deserving and serious-minded overview for one of America’s underappreciated titans of song.

Good Old War, Good Old War

“Together as Good Old War the trio have mastered the art of three part vocal harmonies and their lively and intricate songs are a throwback to the days when Crosby, Stills, & Nash ruled the Rock world” – Alternative Press

Seldom do band members rebound gracefully after their main musical effort falls apart, but Keith Goodwin (vocals/guitar) and Tim Arnold (drums/vocals), members of the once up-and-coming progressive rock band Days Away have managed to do just that, pulling a 180 with their sound to a great degree of success in their new acoustic folk project Good Old War. Rounding out the trio is Dan Schwartz (guitar/vocals) from the Americana tinged 6 piece band, Unlikely Cowboy.   Read more...

Mitch Woods, Gumbo Blues

For 30 years, Mitch Woods has been waging a war. While other similarly classically trained pianists of his generation slipped into the annals of modern jazz and found success, Woods’ crusade has been more than that of the traditionalist. The arsenal at his disposal might be boogie-woogie, jump blues and New Orleans R &B, but the soldier’s battle isn’t about traditional songs and an old-timey sound. No, if that was it, then Gumbo Blues would be like some bayou voodoo zombie shuffling about, a dead thing raised from the grave for evil. But Woods’ war is more basic: he wants to keep the blood in the music. And if anyone can stand up to the task of naming their record after a Smiley Lewis classic, it’s Woods. But where Lewis caressed the keys into that legendary striptease of his, Woods’ modus operandi is speed, dirt, and gravel. Even when he slows the tempo down, like on David Bartholomew penned standards “Blue Monday” and “I Hear You Knockin’,” the pianist manages to keep the blood pumping and the music alive.

Grip Weeds, Strange Change Machine

“Sparkling, insanely catchy psyche-pop”: The Grip Weeds are a critically acclaimed Psychedelic Rock /Power Pop quartet consisting of brothers Kurt and Rick Reil (on drums and guitar respectively), Kristin Pinell (guitar) and Michael Kelly (bass). Surrounded by their vintage equipment, this talented four-piece band records slices of perfect, radio-friendly guitar-pop, psychedelic enough to appeal to record junkies and Sixties-retro fans, but edgy enough to fit into a modern rock set.   Read more...

Scissor Sisters, Night Work

A genre- and gender-defying mix of rock, pop, and dance inspired by burlesque, drag queens, and glam rock, New York’s Scissor Sisters made a splash in late 2003/early 2004 with their neon-bright reimagining of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” the B-side to the band’s first single, “Electrobix.” The song made quite a name for the band, which features singers Jake Shears and Ana Matronic, keyboardist/bassist Babydaddy, guitarists Del Marquis and Derek G, and drummer Paddy Boom: along with becoming the calling card that got the band signed to Polydor in the U.K., “Comfortably Numb” was heralded Single of the Month by Dazed and Confused and Jockey S**t magazines, named an Essential New Tune by Pete Tong on Britain’s Radio 1, and also received considerable play by DJs including Felix da Housecat and Tiga. Scissor Sisters (whose name is slang for a lesbian sex act) came from the cutting edge of New York’s nightlife and gay culture, incorporating elements of burlesque and drag shows, as well as performance art, into their theatrical live shows. This was the perfect setting for their music, which gleaned the best of Elton John, the Bee Gees, the B-52′s, David Bowie, and many other artists with a campy sense of humor and impeccable style.

After proving themselves as one of the city’s most dynamic live acts, Scissor Sisters won over British and European audiences on a tour early in 2004 that coincided with the release of their self-titled debut album. That March, they returned stateside for a South by Southwest gig with Junior Senior and the B-52′s before returning to the U.K. to tour with Duran Duran in support of the “Take Your Mama Out” single. The band continued to have a busy spring and summer, launching its first U.S. tour in May — coinciding with the stateside release of Scissor Sisters — and returning to Europe in June and July. These dates included two gigs supporting Scissor Sisters’ spiritual and musical godfather, Elton John, as well as appearances at festivals such as Glastonbury, T in the Park, Roskilde, and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Late that year, Scissor Sisters were nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Record for “Comfortably Numb.” The band kept busy with touring and producing remixes during 2005, and returned with new material in fall 2006, when the single “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” hit number one in England. The band’s subsequent album, Ta-Dah, also topped the charts in Great Britain. In 2008, Paddy Boom left the group and was replaced by Randy Schrager. Scissor Sisters worked with producer Stuart Price on their third album, Night Work, which was released in 2010 and was preceded by the single “Invisible Light.”

The National, High Violet

High Violet, the new full-length record by the National, is a nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set of songs that find the band at the height of their collaborative powers. The music is wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. Berninger’s singing—wild, half-broken, sly—evokes a feeling of being haunted, by love, by paranoia, by something just out of reach. High Violet may be The National’s most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate.

Setting up their tunes on a creative territory amid American electric rock and indie rock’s mellowest tunes, the National ultimately present melodious and inspiring compositions also enlightened by a set of influences, including country-rock and even British pop/rock. Originally coming from Ohio, the band eventually formed in New York in the late ’90s, with a five-piece lineup, embodied by brothers Scott (guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums), Aaron (bass) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), and by vocalist Matt Berninger. Following a series of live presentations, the group eventually managed to enter the studio to record their first record. The National, their debut and self-titled album, hit the record stores in 2001, achieving considerable acclaim. The Ohio natural crew then continued to play on several live shows, eventually securing a growing fan base. In 2003 the group released Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, a deft blending of alternative country and chamber pop, followed by the EP Cherry Tree in 2004. The following year the band signed with Beggars Banquet and released Alligator. The National returned in 2007 with Boxer, an ambitious effort that featured orchestration by the Clogs’ Padma Newsome and Sufjan Stevens on piano.