When Ian Hunter Is 'President'
Recently, I was listening to a new tribute album covering the songs of Fleetwood Mac, and thought once again how dreadful most tribute albums are: They don't add much to the legacy of the artists being...
View ArticleBob Dylan's Baffling And Sometimes Beautiful 'Tempest'
Bob Dylan made the rare mistake of talking about his creative process shortly before the release of Tempest. He told Rolling Stone that he'd originally wanted to write a collection of what he called...
View ArticleDwight Yoakam: Weary And Wary On '3 Pears'
Dwight Yoakam persists in mixing genres in a way that may leave him out of the country mainstream, but puts him in a good position to make a personal album with some of his best music.
View ArticleAimee Mann: The 'Charmer' And The Disciplined Id
If you listen to the music on Charmer, hearing Aimee Mann's vocals as just another lilting instrument, you'd probably think the album was just what the title suggests: a charmer. The melodies have an...
View ArticleLow Cut Connie: The Self-Deprecating Bar Band
Low Cut Connie is one of an increasingly rare breed: a party band, a bar band, a band with a sense of rock 'n' roll history that isn't weighed down by nostalgia or the foolish feeling that music was...
View ArticleIris DeMent's Emotionally Complex 'Sing The Delta'
Iris DeMent possesses one of the great voices in contemporary popular music: powerfully, ringingly clear, capable of both heartbreaking fragility and blow-your-ears-back power. Had she been making...
View ArticleGary Clark Jr.: A Raucous Blues Shout
On his major-label debut Blak and Blu, you can hear the roar in Gary Clark Jr.'s blues guitar, and in his vocal throughout "Bright Lights." It's one of the few straight-up blues songs on what is...
View ArticleCody ChesnuTT Contains A Universe On 'Hundred'
Cody ChesnuTT is the best sort of egomaniac. He places himself at the center of his musical universe; he contains that universe within him. On his new album, Landing on a Hundred, he sings one song in...
View ArticleAn Unlikely Tribute: Jamey Johnson Covers Hank Cochran
Jamey Johnson, one of the most popular country singers of recent years, has just released an album titled Living for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran.
View Article'Buddy And Jim': Friends In Life And Songwriting
Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale are singer-songwriters who've each written hits for country and rock acts, and have enjoyed extensive solo careers as performers and producers. Buddy and Jim is their...
View ArticleTracey Thorn: 'Secular Carols' For The Holidays
Tracey Thorn's interpretation of "Maybe This Christmas," by the Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith, is typical of her new holiday album, Tinsel and Lights: It's simply arranged, emphasizing...
View ArticleKe$ha: A 'Warrior' In Search Of Legitimacy
Ke$ha uses a dollar-sign instead of an "s" in the middle of her stage name. It's one of those gestures that's meant to bait her detractors — suggesting before anyone else does that she's only in it for...
View ArticleKen Tucker's Top 10 Albums Of 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIlLq4BqGdghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNBD4OFF8cchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0DkddeTSEMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfhBHu6yFQAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l...
View Article'Nashville' Soundtrack Stands On Its Own
"Telescope," the fictional hit single by the fictional country star Juliette Barnes on Nashville, is sung by the actress who plays Juliette, Hayden Panetierre. If it didn't become a real-life hit when...
View ArticlePaloma Faith's 'Fall To Grace' Is A Keeper
In culling through albums released late last year that I still play with pleasure, Paloma Faith's Fall to Grace was a real keeper. In contrast to my joy, Faith was singing about her agony: her broken...
View ArticleRichard Thompson's New Album Examines 'Electric' Love
Delicate phrasing, with both voice and guitar, has always made Richard Thompson a musician worth hearing — and sometimes even liking on a personal level. For a man who can make such pretty music, it's...
View ArticleAshley Monroe Is 'Like A Rose,' Briars And All
The high lonesome sound of Ashley Monroe's Tennessee voice in "Like a Rose" serves as a clear signal that she's working within a tradition that extends back well beyond her twentysomething years on...
View ArticleDavid Bowie Awakens To 'The Next Day' Of His Career
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH7dMBcg-gE
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