country
CD: Fleet Foxes – Helplessness BluesWednesday, 20 April 2011
Without intending to, Fleet Foxes set a benchmark with their debut album in 2008. One that resonated. So much so that the release of their second album, Helplessness Blues, is accompanied by sell-out shows at top-drawer venues. The love of their... Read more... |
CD: Emmylou Harris - Hard BargainSunday, 17 April 2011
Always renowned as an interpreter of other artists' material, Emmylou Harris has been a late developer as a songwriter. On 2008's All I Intended to Be, she successfully balanced cover versions with her own songs, but this time she has written... Read more... |
CD: k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang - Sing it LoudWednesday, 13 April 2011
With k.d. lang's original "cowpunk" days of Absolute Torch and Twang now a distant memory, she has settled into the role of deluxe vocal stylist with a bit of heritage balladry on the side (for instance, her collaboration with Tony Bennett, A... Read more... |
CD: Alison Krauss & Union Station - Paper AirplaneSunday, 03 April 2011
Alison Krauss hasn't made an album of new material with turbo-bluegrass combo Union Station since Lonely Runs Both Ways, from 2004. Having filled some of the time in between by co-starring with Robert Plant on the mesmerising (and Grammy-guzzling)... Read more... |
CD: Low - C’monFriday, 01 April 2011
Low undeniably create a music of rare beauty. Elegiac and affecting, their unhurried evocations of intimacy urge reflection. They've ploughed this furrow for a while though. C’mon is Low’s ninth album. Their first was issued in 1994. Things are... Read more... |
Country StrongThursday, 24 March 2011
Hollywood stars are well known for bragging they do all their own stunts, often at the expense of the genuine daredevils who risk their lives on their behalf. With the advent of CGI and motion-capture technology, though, it is becoming increasingly... Read more... |
Ray LaMontagne, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 23 February 2011
Rock-folkies can sure be snobs. Even though New Hampshire-born Ray LaMontagne is still relatively unknown over here, there are still purists who view his records with suspicion. They feel the voice is just too huge, the sound too commercial. The... Read more... |
CD: Teddy Thompson - BellaThursday, 03 February 2011
It seems amazing that this is Thompson Junior's fifth album, and it's evidence that perseverance pays. Earlier in his career, Thompson radiated a sort of flaccid indecisiveness, but that has been replaced here by a quiet confidence, perhaps... Read more... |
Teddy Thompson, Queen's Hall, EdinburghSunday, 30 January 2011
When the spotlight caught Teddy Thompson in profile last night it seemed to capture the physiology of an old-school country icon: tall and lean, his pale, angular face appeared all the more classically archetypal jutting out from his jet-black... Read more... |
New Music CDs Round-Up 14Saturday, 30 October 2010
This month's epic collection has a somewhat retro feel, with CDs by Ray Davies, Neil Young, Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan. The CD of the Month is all-conquering Tennessee rock band Kings of Leon. The Box Set of the Month comes from the vaults of... Read more... |
Willis, The Electroacoustic Club, ClerkenwellTuesday, 28 September 2010
“Thank you for waiting. I know some of you have been waiting a long time – about seven years – but it takes me a while to get things done.” Thus did singer/songwriter Hayley Willis greet the audience at her return to active service. Two Willis... Read more... |
Wilco, Royal Festival HallWednesday, 15 September 2010
Rock music doesn’t get much better than this. For two hours, the raggedy Chicago band Wilco poured out song after song from a repertoire that stretches back 15 years, slipping effortlessly between gentle alt-country and avant-garde rock, between the... Read more... |
