Various Artists - Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf
Nina Gerber, Kate Wolf's longtime friend and musical collaborator, is an accomplished, versatile guitarist, and one of the most respected accompanists and arrangers in acoustic music today. For some time, Gerber has contemplated making a solo album. While compiling material, she realized that the enormous influence Wolf had
Johnsons - Odessa
It's a little curious to come across an album with 11 musician credits that still sounds like a Texas singer-songwriter record, with traces of and nods to Guy Clark ("Hallowed Ground"), Townes Van Zandt ("Adios Colorado" and "Between The Moon And Memphis&
Paul K - A Wilderness Of Mirrors
The "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" banner across the top of the cover is either a sardonic jab at the trend of best-selling faux-"soundtracks" (i.e., music "inspired" by, but not included in, said film), or a desperate attempt to sell the thing
Josh Rouse - Dressed Up Like Nebraska
While not necessarily triggering any specific imagery, the album title says it all. Though I'm still unsure of exactly what the intended conveyance is, it's nonetheless one hell of a metaphor. And one hell of a lyric. And it's just one example of the
Willard Grant Conspiracy - Flying Low
What began two years ago as friends giving a new home studio a trial by fire has blossomed into a genuine musical phenomenon. Flying Low, the sophomore album from Boston's Willard Grant Conspiracy, is a marvel of depth and atmosphere that references nearly every archly weird musical endeavor
James McMurtry - Walk Between The Raindrops
James McMurtry, stand-up comic? Well, not exactly, but the melancholic singer-songwriter actually has a funny little ditty, "Airline Agent", on his new album, Walk Between The Raindrops. Previously, McMurtry's wry wit tended to be hidden by his deadpan delivery. And his earlier records could