country
CD: Willie Nelson - God's Problem ChildThursday, 27 April 2017
He’s in his ninth decade, but with no signs of slowing down on stage or in studio, and the good news is that, while God's Problem Child may be no essential release, it remains hugely enjoyable – and that’s mainly down to the lucky seven new... Read more... |
CD: Bonnie Prince Billy - Best TroubadourMonday, 24 April 2017
Best Troubadour is Bonnie Prince Billy's musical tribute to his "forever hero", country singer Merle Haggard. Haggard was best known for his song "Okie from Muskogee", a wry homage to small-town Southern values. Students of country... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Brinsley SchwarzSunday, 23 April 2017
In the second week of September 1979, Nick Lowe’s “Cruel to be Kind” entered the Top 40. A month later, it peaked at number 12. The commercial success was belated validation for a song with a history. In May 1978, an earlier version was the B-side... Read more... |
CD: Be Myself - Sheryl CrowSaturday, 15 April 2017
My ears are doing the time warp. If I close my eyes, I'm in high-heeled jelly shoes, wearing silver lipstick, and with my hair in Bjork buns – back when a satin slip dress over a T-shirt was cool as opposed to vintage. The first track of Sheryl... Read more... |
CD: Imelda May - Life. Love. Flesh. BloodWednesday, 05 April 2017
As Imelda May releases her fifth CD, it can’t but help that Bob Dylan has come out as a fan – it was, she wrote, "like being kissed by Apollo himself". No doubt his buddy T Bone Burnett passed him a copy of the album, for he produced it in Los... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: George JonesSunday, 26 February 2017
In May 1956, the Texan label Starday issued a wild rockabilly single by Thumper Jones. Its top side, the kinetic “Rock It”, was primal, uncontrolled and wild. The flip, “How Come It”, was less frenzied but still driving and infectious. Original... Read more... |
CD: Alison Krauss - Windy CityThursday, 23 February 2017
An album to please old fans and make new ones, Windy City is a peach – even at first playing it feels like slipping in to a worn-in pair of jeans or boots, a comfy ol’ fit. And that’s because the songs are country classics and in our musical DNA.... Read more... |
CD: Courtney Marie Andrews - Honest LifeSunday, 29 January 2017
The heartbreak of poor, rural America has an urgent topicality for the first time in decades. Wisely, country singer Courtney Marie Andrews has left her views on the Mexican wall unspoken, but on the other staples of folkloric woe she proves to be... Read more... |
CD: Johnnyswim - Georgica PondSaturday, 28 January 2017
If there's one thing I've learned from Nashville the TV show it's that the best musical collaborations can birth the most beautiful love stories.Johnnyswim is the real life version of boy (Abner Ramirez) meets girl (Amanda Sudano) in Nashville... Read more... |
Reissue CDs Weekly: Roy AcuffSunday, 15 January 2017
In 1942, Roy Acuff set up Acuff-Rose Music in partnership with Nashville-based songwriter and talent scout Fred Rose. The new publishing company was dedicated to treating songwriters decently. They would not be cheated out of their copyrights. There... Read more... |
Albums of the Year: Anohni - HopelessnessWednesday, 04 January 2017
Much like the year itself, 2016's strongest albums tapped into a spirit of restlessness, defiance and disorientation. But unlike the punk explosion of 1977, there was no real sound or even genre that this mood of rebellion cohered around.Grime came... Read more... |
Albums of the Year: Dolly Parton - Pure & SimpleSaturday, 31 December 2016
The unsinkable Dolly Parton turned 70 in 2016 and the new year marks the 50th anniversary of her debut album, Hello, I’m Dolly. Pure & Simple is her 43rd studio album, its genesis a brace of stripped-down concerts given at Nashville’s Ryman... Read more... |
