Editorial Review

Marriage to Steve Earle (who produced this album) seems to have inspired the musical emancipation of Allison Moorer. Whereas her earliest releases seemed to balance commercial country potential with alt-country attitude, her sixth album achieves a different sort of balance--between fuzztone guitars (which variously recall garage bands, grunge, and Neil Young's work with Crazy Horse) and Beatlesque melodies, hooks, and harmonies. The music would be hard to classify as country, but is difficult to resist. Rather than extending the tradition of Patsy Cline or Dolly Parton, the ebullient propulsion of the opening "Work to Do" and "Fairweather" reminds one more of the Go-Go's and the Bangles. Following the chamber strings and double-tracked vocals that enhance "Where You Are," the intro to "Take It So Hard" pays homage to "Wild Thing," rock at its most primitive. For all of the music's surface catchiness, the writing is some of Moorer's deepest to date, from the bittersweet yearning of "You'll Never Know" and introspective balladry and spiritual refrain of "Hallelujah" to the closing title track's folkish prayer of perseverance. While her soulful singing and Southern accent remain undiminished, the results sound less like a musical progression for Moorer than a fresh start. Read more

Reviews (19)

More than meets the eye
At first listen, 'Getting Somewhere' plays like an Allison Moorer foray into traditional singer-songwriter pop.However, after a few spins, Moorer's personal lyrics begin to come to the surface.'Work To Do' and 'Fairweather' are tight pop songs that deal with moving on after the end of a bad relationship and the resulting promise of a clean slate.While the protagonist of 'The Duel' from Moorer's previous album of the same name was "a newborn atheist", the main character on 'Hallelujah' wearily professes that "faith is hard to find, thank God I found mine in time".Moorer's double-tracked vocals on 'Where You Are' are simply sublime in a touching chamber-pop tune reportedly written for her sister, Shelby Lynne.Moorer's powerful voice is in fine form throughout the album and she is backed by a top-notch band that never overplays its hand.There is not a wasted note or lyric on this album that clocks in at a bit over 30 minutes.Moorer has never been better as a lyricist and this is exemplified by the timely closing song 'Getting Somewhere', with it's eerie slide and electric guitar and lyrics that allude to Hurricane Katrina "broken and banished left there to sink, knee deep in water not one drop to drink" and the Iraq War "motherless babies and husbandless brides, stranded with nothing but tears in their eyes, no home to go to their world ripped apart, look to the sky and they open their hearts".

Enjoyable CD
I enjoyed discovering a new artist! I love some of the songs and like the rest. Pleasant female vocal presentation!

Buy 'Show' instead
Wow, did someone slip the wrong CD into my jewelbox or what?
Read more

Subjects:  1. Americana    2. Contemporary Country    3. Country    4. Neo-Traditionalist Country    5. Pop    6. Progressive Country   

Reviews (9)

Boats to Build
I like the whole CD but I ordered it for one song.And that song is awsome(I Don't Love You Much Do I)

Let it sink in
This is awesome.I didn't like it at first, but after a while I realized this was a masterpiece.The duet with Emmylou Harris is probably the best duet I have heard in ages.If you like good songwriting and artistry, you will like this.But please don't judge it until you have listened 10 or 12 times

Incredible Song Writing
If you are looking for twang and edge, this isn't your album right now.If you are looking for an incredible array of folky songs with a soft, compassionate feel, this IS your album.It is one of the best I own. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Country    2. Country    3. Country & Western    4. Country-Folk    5. Outlaw Country    6. Pop    7. Progressive Country    8. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Having watched him throw away the prime years of his career on smack and prison, Steve Earle fans were reassured by the singer's 1995 comeback, Read more

Reviews (48)

My 3rd favorite Steve Earle CD - this one is essential
#1. Guitar Town
A Classic
Back when this album was released, I remember falling immediately under its spell. Years later and... it's only grown stronger. It may well be Steve's finest hour--that's a tough call, granted, and one that on another day, in another mood, I might quibble with myself. But here he covers all of the bases: acoustic-folk, heavy-duty rock 'n' roll, message music, story songs and ... forget it. Why explain the unexplainable? Just plug this sucker into the CD player and crank it: Buttressed by Emmylou Harris' haunting harmonies and Steve's own gritty delivery, the thud-thick, Crazy Horse-like chords of "Taneytown" will leave you on the floor. Same with "If You Fall": killer chords, killer vocals, killer lyrics .... followed by the birth of something grand: "I Still Carry You Around," the inspiration for Steve's collaboration with The Del McCoury Band, The Mountain. Another highlight is "Poison Lovers," a duet with Siobhan Kennedy that's just plain intoxicating--if you're like me, you'll be hitting the "repeat" button ad infinitum. And then, of course, there's Steve's incisive tribute to the late Townes Van Zandt, "Ft. Worth Blues." In short, rock 'n' roll, country, where ever the hell you classify Steve, music doesn't get any better than this.

My favorite?
I love this album. It contains my favorite bluegrass-style tunes, traditional country, heartfelt political pieces, and driving rock. It's Steve Earle at his best. I think it's a must have for anyone interested in his music. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. New Traditionalist    2. Pop    3. Popular Music    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Ex-Waxwing (Seattle band) frontman Rocky Votolato's third solo record is whispery and understated, full of regret but also the quiet resolve of a man looking forward to whatever's left. It's a warmer, more open record than his comparably feisty 2003 record Read more

Reviews (4)

Into the Great Beyond
Rocky Votolato writes like he's just come back from a near death experience. Many of these songs are filled with a quiet desperation over some introspective awakening about his mortality; and nonetheless they're comforting. His voice is somewhere between Slaid Cleaves and Paul Simon on the emotional richter scale and it calms and soothes and sedates.
Dark and dreary, warm and weary, folky and twangy, hushed and indie
Ahhh, the lonely ballad of the singer-songwriter. A lone troubadour, pouring out their heart and soul, naked and alone, with no band to hide behind, no crashing guitars and pounding drums to shield their delicate psyche.
Mmm Whiskey
~AbsolutePunk.net:
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Country-Rock    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Indie Rock    4. Pop    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Consider this Emmylou Harris's emancipation proclamation--an album that confirms that 1995's adventurously atmospheric Read more

Reviews (188)

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
I have long been a fan of EmmyLou's, going back to the mid-70's, but I stopped listening to her albums because they all started to sound the same.Even so, I still listened and watched whenever she did something new, including Trio, and her collaborations.I purchased this one after taking a chance and getting Wrecking Ball last year, and Stumble Into Grace earlier this year.Her work with Malcolm Burn and Daniel Lanois is incomperable!I keep playing them over and over again, can't get enough!!!The arrangements are so fresh that I never tire of listening to them.I highly recommend this album; you will not be disappointed.

What's not to like?
First listen, not impressed, second I was intrigued, third led to the fourth and on the fifth I finally got out the lyric book, not that I needed it; I can actually understand the lyrics on RDG but NOT on WB.
Underappreciated
I have every Emmylou Harris album back to the beginning. I didn't like this album much when I first got it, put it on the shelf, and sort of forgot about it. Listening to it again after 6 years, I was surprised by the songs and arrangements. I'm not a fan of the production and the sound is raw and overdriven in some areas, but there are still some of the best tracks Emmylou has ever cut on this album. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Country    3. Contemporary Country    4. Country    5. Country & Western    6. Pop    7. Progressive Country   

Editorial Review

Though Ray Wylie Hubbard ran with the rowdiest in progressive country through the 1970s, when he fronted the Cowboy Twinkies and wrote "(Up Against the Wall) Redneck Mother," he has since matured into one of the most reflective of Texas troubadours. Following a pair of bluesier releases, Hubbard returns to his folk roots with a collection that could pass as a Lone Star coffeehouse hootenanny. He applies his warm, weathered voice to "Drivin' Wheel" (popularized by Tom Rush), harmonizes withEliza Gilkyson on her bittersweet "The Beauty Way," and collaborates withCross Canadian Ragweed's Cody Canada on the hipster's credo "Cooler-N-Hell." A hallelujah chorus including Gilkyson, Patty Griffin, Slaid Cleaves, and Bob Schneider transforms a Woody Guthrie lyric into an a cappella spiritual ("This Morning I Am Born Again"), while the acoustic rendition of "Roll and I Tumble" evokes the rural roots of the blues standard. Though this collection spotlights Hubbard more as an interpreter than a songwriter, he revisits his outlaw days with "Dust of the Chase" and "Dallas After Midnight," trading verses with Jack Ingram on the latter. The album pulls out all the stops on the eight-minute closer "Choctaw Bingo," powered by the dual guitars of songwriter James McMurtry and producer Gurf Morlix. Its reckless spirit suggests that Hubbard hasn't totally settled down. Read more

Reviews (10)

Strap them kids in
This album is worth getting if only for the the last track.Choctaw Bingo is killer, one of those songs you wish would never end.You just want him to keep telling you about all these crazy characters that will be at his family reunion. And Ray's voice makes you believe every minute of it, hell I got a few family members like that myself (who doesn't)
I took a chance on this guy
I was shopping for some new music in the Americana section and I picked up this CD and I don't know, for some reason it really appealed to me, so I bought it, which I usually won't do on a whim because I don't like wasting my money on music I don't like. I loved this CD immediately and have really been drawn to it more and more. Ray's voice is very haunting, the music is fantastic, and to me it has this Pentacostal-RebelReligion-Hillbilly type feel with a message and I LOVE IT, reminds me of Lucinda Williams (Get Right With God).
Really a good recording with one exception
Ray Wylie's recording of (mostly) other people's music is a lot better than I expected.I guess I'm still shaking my head over those 70's albums made by Billy Joe Shaver and Guy Clark when their record companies had them record song they didn't write themselves.But this time, it works and it works outstandingly well.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Americana    2. Country-Rock    3. Folk    4. Folk & Traditional    5. Pop    6. Progressive Country    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Rockin' and eclectic, this Austin quintet aims to brighten honky-tonk nights with their fifth album, Read more

Features

• Enhanced

Reviews (8)

Reckless Kelly Rocks My World
A friend of mine (now my fiance!) turned me onto Reckless Kelly about three years ago.What started out as borrowing one CD quickly transformed into me buying all their CDs at a concert in Atlanta.Unfortunately, Willie and the boys don't make it to Georgia nearly often enough for our tastes... but in between gigs, this CD has a regular home in my car stereo.
Irish meets Texas
Willie Braun's vocal is rich and smooth, much like a certain rem singer. The guitars, fiddle and much of a vocal has a strong Gaelic flavor. Add to that the complex arrangements, the Texas independent spirit in concert with the beauty of Willie's singing and you will buy all RK's music as I have. Wicked Twisted Road is a great place to start.

Great Band, Great CD.
Doesn't get much better than this folks.If you're into americana, roots-rock, or alt-country, or if simply like good music, I just can't imagine you not liking this.Highlights for me are the title track, "Dogtown", and "Baby's Got a Whole Lot More", but there's not a bad song on here.Can't beat the awesome packaging, either- they even included a board game (see website for drinking rules).Don't pass this one up.Check out their incredible previous album, too, and also their younger brothers' band called Micky and the Motorcars. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Country    2. Alternative Country-Rock    3. Country    4. Pop   

Editorial Review

Country music reclaimed its traditional soul with the chart-topping triumph of the Read more

Features

• Live
• Soundtrack

Reviews (55)

reasonable good CD
This CD was ok. I enjoyed the actual "Brother, Where Art Thou" soundtrack better. If you are really into these particular artists, you should enjoy this.

I'm a Dapper Dan Man!
I can't express how much I love this movie, soundtrack and documentary. It's a classic in every sense of the word. The movie is hilarious, the music superb and it makes me reminesse (pardon my spelling)about all those times my parents forced me to watch Hee Haw as a child. It's just the PERFECT movie.

Check this out ..
This is a cool movie no doubt.Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Country    2. Bluegrass    3. Country    4. Country Gospel    5. Neo-Traditional Folk    6. Neo-Traditionalist Country    7. Pop    8. Progressive Bluegrass    9. Soundtrack    10. Southern Gospel   

Editorial Review

Wilco's follow-up to Read more

Reviews (86)

Holy Cow! This is such a great cd!
This is when Wilco became special. This is such a sprawling, courageous, daring, creative and (yes) flawed cd. It is similar to the Stone's Exile on Main Street or Led Zep's Physical Graffiti in terms of depth and creativity. The slight flaws even make the cd better since the work is so eanest and real. This was a group taking it to the next level. This is the type of cd that you would have expected from a much more experienced and mature group as opposed to Wilco's second cd. the best . . . so far
if you are a true WILCO fan you already know this is the best. nuf said.

What am I missing?
I have listened to three Wilco albums, this one included. They were all loaned to me. Now, I am a huge Jay Farrar and Son Volt fan, so people told me I would obviously like Tweedy's Wilco. Uhh, I just don't get it. The music is not very complex or entertaining. For lack of a better description, this is dull pop. Yes, Tweedy's voice does sound a little like Paul Westerberg, which is cool. But his story-telling is not nearly as engrossing as that of Farrar's, which is why Tweedy had a subordinate role in Uncle Tupelo, I guess. I am not here to trash this band or album, but it is just not that special a album. Now, "Okemah and Melody of Riot", that is a brilliant album! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Country-Rock    3. Alternative Pop/Rock    4. Pop    5. Popular Music    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

On this 1986 debut, Steve Earle burst on the scene as a fully formed songwriting master, synthesizing effortlessly the finest parts of country-folk troubadours like Townes Van Zandt and the anthemic, working-class rock of Bruce Springsteen. "Someday," a country-rock masterpiece about a kid stuck pumping gas in a dead-end town, remains the perfect realization of this style, and with the exception of the slight and silly "Little Rock 'N' Roller," most everything else here (especially "Hillbilly Highway" and the heartbreaking ballad "My Old Friend the Blues") comes awfully close. The 2002 reissue, overseen by Earle and original producer Tony Brown, offers fresh remastering, new liner notes by Earle, and a bonus live version of Springsteen's "State Trooper." Read more

Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (22)

Five star fabulous!!
Dare I say it, this is THE BEST country album that was recorded in the eighties. So naturally, it was largely ignored by the music row jugheads in Nashville forcing our hero to go into the realm of rock music in order to have his talent appreciated.The first six songs on this release are perfect in every way! Anyone who likes vintage Dwight Yoakam, the folkier side of Springsteen or the seventies era of Waylon Jennings should own this!! The title track is marvelous and just a blast to listen to, "Goodbye Is All We Got Left To Say" is one of the best written songs ever and "Hillbilly Highway" will get stuck in your head for days!! Then as if this trio wasn't good enough, then along comes "Gettin' Tough" to knock you upside the head followed by a couple songs later by "Someday" known as the greatest song Springsteen NEVER wrote! If this album isn't a five star, then I don't know what is!! Buy it, love it, live it!! It's that good!!

Much Improved Reissue
This is a great album that blurred whatever distinction existed between country and rock, and this guy writes really good country lyrics that aren't the least bit corny or stupid. This and the next album he released, Exit 0, are his best - and in my opinion - two of the finest country albums ever made. There was a big problem though; They were recorded digitally on either very bad equipment, or by someone who was clueless (or both), and the result was very harsh with hardly any bass. Steve got this satisfactorily fixed on Guitar Town by converting the digital tape to analog, and then to DSD, and making the nesessary sonic adjustments before down-converting to 16 bit for the cd. The result is much improved over the original CD, making this great performance more enjoyable.

His best got me to throw away my Eagles albums.
This got me to throw away my Johnny Cougar and Eagles albums and into rock with a folk/country feel. This is his best in my opinion. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Country    2. Americana    3. Country    4. Country & Western    5. Country-Rock    6. Heartland Rock    7. New Traditionalist    8. Pop    9. Rock/Pop    10. Roots Rock    11. Singer/Songwriter   

Reviews (13)

almost there...
I have to admit that I like the intention of the Avett Brothers music more than the music itself.I love the idea of bringing American roots music into a more hip scene, however, I don't believe they completely pull it off.I find the music a little lacking and the lyrics slightly sophomoric.Regardless of these observations, I still enjoy the overall album - it just leaves me wanting a little something more.

Pretty durn good
I heard the song "Colorshow" on college radio and had to sing it to the deejay to figure out the artist.It was worth my humiliation!I spend alot of time listening to music and very much appreciate finding 'new' artists with great talents.This is one such band. My music tastes range greatly from Nina Simone to Mozart to Guns and Roses to Outkast,Ben Folds,FooFighters,and the Beatles.If you love originality in lyrics and musical arrangement - songs with heart, passion, and the ability to groove your soul you must add this to your collection.

Unbelievable
Just drove over 13 hours to see these guys in Mass. and Veromont.The cds are all great, but you MUST see them live to truly appreciate what they are all about.Latch onto the purity of this group NOW. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Country    2. Alternative Folk    3. Bluegrass    4. Country    5. Pop    6. Progressive Country    7. Progressive Folk    8. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Leave it to the poker-faced Lovett to use a biblical joke to underline the thread of tangled relationships that weave between the wisecracks on this, his fourth album.With his elegantly drawled tenor and modulated sense of country, gospel, and R&B inflections, the Texan songwriter extends the larger ensemble settings and contrasting moods achieved with his preceding album, Read more

Reviews (33)

Is it just me...or does "Kavity Killer" = Lyle Lovett stalker???
Very strange negative fixation, indeed.Sorry to call someone out, but this person shows up rating every Lovett album!The thing that's most comical to me is that Kavity Killer reviews Lyle more than any other artist.Most people spend their time reviewing artists they actually LIKE, comparing and contrasting the quality of that artist's different albums...cross referencing other artists ("If you like..., you'd enjoy...").Does anyone else just find it very odd that someone would spend so much time reviewing EVERY album of ANY artist with a 1*?I mean, I don't enjoy Aaron Neville's music...therefore, I don't waste my time or anyone else's reviewing ALL his albums.
An Actual Texan's Perspective
Speaking of "self-conscious 'Clev-R-Ness'TM", it's a good thing that Kavity Killer can hide his trembling adolescent frame behind the safe anonymity of the Internet.Because unlike him, I know a few actual cowboys, and they'd be all too happy to kick his a-- in a second.Apparently this kid has it in for Lyle, which only makes sense.I mean, a pale skinny guy writing country songs about relationships?How dare he.How dare Hank Williams, for that matter.Now THAT is some stone-cold rhetoric right there.Truth is, Lyle Lovett is a Texas institution, beloved in both rural and urban areas."Joshua Judges" is of course more of the same, and we wouldn't have it any other way.Lovett's signature folk-country has graced many a BBQ and country drive.Yes, I'm sure some of those fans DO drive Suburbans, but then again so do fans of kavity killer's beloved Van Morrison.This album features some of the most sinewy, unsettling love songs -- the kind many a cowboy has lived and could understand.If kavity killer would leave his computer, he might too someday.Would Tuco from "Good, Bad..." listen to this?I dunno; he's a Hollywood actor.But I do know that Clint does.If that doesn't settle it, I dunno what does.
Excellent
This is a very good CD.More people should listen to the unique sound of Mr. Lovett.There is no one like him!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Country    3. Country    4. Country & Western    5. Pop    6. Singer/Songwriter    7. United States of America   

Editorial Review

A much more quietly celebrated CD than her debut, Gillian Welch's sophomore effort assured fans of old-timey country folk that she was salt of the earth. Her songs speak with both plaintive yearning and a seasoned storyteller's moxie, urged on by her and David Rawlings's economical guitar picking and strumming. Welch's vocal timbre bears ideally twangy power, giving her a constantly strong vault into her similarly creative tales, which help place this CD clearly in the realm of the exceptional. Read more

Features

• Original recording reissued

Reviews (53)

New Favorite!!!!!!
I never new of Gillian Welch until I went to a concert in Berkeley,CA recently. She blew me away!!! This amazing vocalist and musician was by far one of the best I have ever heard. She brings so many emotions with her music.The instruments are soulfinding. Her voice is unbelievable. A must have for anyone who appreciates heartfelt, beautiful music.

New Yorker Profile
There is a great profile of Welch and Rawlings in the New Yorker titled "The Ghostly Ones".Google "Gillian Welch" "New Yorker".

Gillian Welch's Pinnacle Album
What do you get listening to a Gillian Welch recording? You get a collection of heartfelt, melodic, simple, and beautiful songs that range from melancholy to inspiring.Gillian Welch's sophomore album, Hell Among The Yearlings, has to be her best in my best opinion.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Country    2. Americana    3. Folk & Traditional    4. Neo-Traditional Folk    5. Pop    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop    8. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Read more

Reviews (44)

One of my most treasured albums
I got this as a present from a friend.I still don't quite like Wilco, but I learned to like Bragg after this.His sarcasm & reticence combines nicely with Guthrie's lyrics.Great songs to shout along to in the car, especially Joe DiMaggio.Black Wind Blowing is sad but well suited to being played very loud.

Good, but disappointing...3 1/2 stars
My younger brother made a good point, I thought, when he told me this album should never have been made.Instead, he said, Woody Guthrie's daughter should have found two other artists--another singer, and another band, even--and had THEM do volume two.Hayden and The Flaming Lips.Soltero and Yo La Tengo.Daniel Johnston and Neutral Milk Hotel.Morrissey and The Postal Service.It could have still used Woody Guthrie's lyrics, but it would have been something fresh...not this...and that format could have gone on indefinitely for any number of albums.
What did you expect, it's a sequel!
Of course it's not as good as the first. They took the best material they had and used it on Volume 1. Well, mostly. Somehow they left behind "Remember the Mountain Bed," a wistful song with a fairy-tale quality; "Joe Dimaggio's Done It Again," a rollicking period piece; and "Feed Of Man," which I'm still a little puzzled by, but in a good way. I just noticed that the three songs I've mentioned are all sung by Jeff Tweedy. That may be a coincidence, but he does seem to take the reins of this project over from Billy Bragg. Bragg fans needn't worry, though; it's all about the lyrics, and the legacy of the greatest folksinger ever. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Folk-Rock    3. Pop    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. Singer/Songwriter    7. Urban Folk   

Reviews (33)

REAL STUFF
It's pretty bad when it takes a punk rocker to make a great country album. But that's exactly what happened and thank god it did.
this isn't regular social d
mike on his own rocks, but this has a huge "country" type feel to it, if you're not into johnny cash.. or willing to go beyond a punker boy sound.. this isn't for you.mike's voice still rocks, but the country feel might turn some fans off. for those that liked cheating at solitair this is a good bet.this would be a great addition/gift for anyone that likes country rock

Old school country with an edge
Mike Ness' Under the influences is just that, true influences for every style of music.When I bought this cd the second thing I did was buy all of the origional material and it all blew my mind.Every song made to honor the origional artist.Remaking the likes of Marty Robbins, Johnny Cash, and the Clash is a hard task for anyone, a task that should not be taken litely.This cd brings more than just good music it brings an added repect for the songs of the past, the songs that helped make the music of today.Overall a good buy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. American Trad Rock    3. Americana    4. Pop    5. Rock    6. Rock & Roll    7. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Some k.d. lang fans argue that the Alberta-born crooner released her best work during the first 10 years of her career. Dressed in layers of thrift store finery, with stage moves that recalled the Tasmanian Devil, lang's quirky 'cow-punk' style made an unforgettable first impression. Sassy antics aside, her appeal was cross-generational, blowing audiences away night after night with an incredible voice and commanding presence. Lang's new release Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (7)

"BIG BEANS! Oh, luscious greens!"
Since the release of her wildly successful INGENUE in 1989, k. d. lang has largely moved away from the kind of uptempo rockabilly-tinged country twang that marked her early albums, and for many lang fans (such as myself) this has been a tremedous shame. As pleasant as her crooning has been in the last 15+ years, there's nothing to get the heart going faster than those early albums. Now, at last, as her first compilation, lang has reissued these great songs from her early days in collaboration with her gifted longtime collaborator Ben Mink: they've greatly cleaned up the reverberation from many of the reocrdings so you hear them much differently than in the past. And the selection is terrific: though lang re-releases here some of her more beautiful early ballads (including "Pine and Stew" and my favorite of all her songs, "Diet of Strange Places," and songs from ABSOLUTE TORCH AND TWANG that showed the torchy direction her music would take in future albums, like "Pulling Back the Reins"), most of the songs are her quick tempoed dance numbers from the days when she'd spin around on stage like a dervish: "Pay Dirt," "Tune into My Wave," "It's Me," "Big, Big Love," and so on. These songs are wickedly fun to listen to, and remind us that lang used to have an absolutely killer sense of humor.

no me gusta el country, peroooo...
muy recomendable para completar la coleccion de quienes somos mas pop.

Yeee Haaaaa ! But Where's "Johnny Get Angry"??
Twenty ear-cuddling pearls that bring home the country-girl irony, the big-kick fun and the tingling inner gorgeousness of k d's pre-Ingenue period.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Country    3. Canada    4. Neo-Traditionalist Country    5. Pop    6. Pop Vocals    7. Rock/Pop    8. Roots Rock   

Editorial Review

The perfect soundtrack for a summer roadtrip in an old car across Death Valley. Calexico's musical textures are woven out of a dazzling array of instruments and styles, including mariachi trumpets, countrified pedal steel, Latin jazz percussion, and carnival organ, just to name a few. The songs move at siesta speed, casually looping and loping along, never getting overheated. Bandmates Joey Burns and John Convertino have their hands in so many musical pies--including projects with OP8, Giant Sand, Victoria Williams, Giant Sand, and Richard Buckner--one wonders how they find the time to create the sun-soaked music of Calexico. But thank God they have. Read more

Reviews (24)

The Black Light
Awesome, Awesome cd!! If you like slow instrumental music that has a mexican sound you'll adore this. The song Over Your Shoulder is by far my favorite, it was worth the money just for that song. There are some songs that have vocals as well. If you put the cd on it kind of just sweeps you to another place.

Feel good music...sort of.
This album just makes me feel great, not ecstatic and energized 'great', but rather soothed and contented 'great'.The music and lyrics evoke conflicts of the self with society and of the moment with eternity.They illustrate the perfection (by that I mean 'completeness', not necessarily 'flawlessness') of the seemingly simple, perhaps even mundane moments of life, while at the same time recognizing the immense world in which individual lives exist and the grand purpose that each life has.In doing so, the album explores frontiers, those places between humanity and the vast unfamiliar world where everything is strange and new, where there are seemingly endless possibilities and a man has obligations to no one but himself.That feeling of hope and purpose and independence and risk associated with a frontier is what feels so good when I listen to this album.Also, it just sounds really awesome.

one of the most distinctive and traditional styles of the era
Calexico, which was Giant Sand's rhythm section of bassist Joey Burns and drummer John Convertino, coined one of the most distinctive and traditional styles of the era.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Americana    3. Indie Rock    4. Pop    5. Popular Music    6. Post-Rock/Experimental    7. Rock    8. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Few songwriters are as cinematic as Robert Earl Keen. In the tradition of Keen's classic "The Road Goes on Forever" and "Merry Christmas from the Family," his eleventh album finds the Texas troubadour transforming indelible characters, vivid description, and narrative drive into movies for the ear. He delves into the surreal with "The Great Hank," a spoken-word barroom vignette that features Hank Williams in a time warp (and in drag). He turns a fable about animals into a tale as dark and twisted as film noir in "Mr. Wolf and Mama Bear," and enlists a vocal cameo from Ray Price and a serenade from Mariachi Estrella to provide the soundtrack for the droll story of cantina overindulgence in "A Border Tragedy." Even the tender title song, about the touring musician missing his wife, shows his eye for evocative detail, with one of Keen's warmest vocals to date. Produced by his bandleader/guitarist Rich Brotherton, the album's musically expansive arrangements match the ambition of the storytelling, with guest banjo from the Bad Livers' Danny Barnes, a lovely soprano sax by John Mills on the title cut, and Celtic pipes from E.J. Jones on "The Traveling Storm." Keen may well expand his audience along with his musical range, as the uptempo "The Wild Ones" could pass as a John Hiatt cut, while "Broken End of Love" has an echo of Tom Petty. Read more

Reviews (20)

REK Bounces Back
I would agree with a few others that his newest studio offering is a comeback of sorts after lesser CDs Gravitational Forces and Farm Fresh Onions.For me the quality songs are "For Love", "What I Really Mean", "The Great Hank" and "Ride".I still haven't gotten into Mr. Wold and Mamabear, but to each his own I guess.Broken end of love is also a dark screamer,but I guess he had something to say with that one.Overall not near the quality