RIYL43
A bunch of new releases this fine Shrove Tuesday [mmm.... pancakes...] and one I forgot to mention before.
Jill Cunniff City Beach & Luscious Jackson Greatest Hits On the same day that Capitol Records releases the best of Brooklyn's long-gone, all-girl, sass-and-soul, named-after-a-former-Sixer Luscious Jackson, one of the band's founders drops her first solo album. Folks stuck listening to her former band's last album, Electric Honey, for the past seven years, rejoice! And if you liked Electric Honey (or even Fever In Fever Out) you should enjoy City Beach just fine. This is the smooth side of the LJ equation. There's still a bit of funk in there - as well as a little of a bossa nova beat - but most of LJ's trademark sass has been replaced by a more laid-back vibe. The perfect disc to listen to while you try to figure out just how you're going to afford that week downtheshore this summer. AOL is streaming LJ's Greatest Hits this week, and Cunniff is streaming a couple songs at her myspace page and her whole album at her website.
The Frames Cost Did you know there are good Irish bands other than U2? It's true. Now that you know that, image a talented Irish band that features songs that go from quiet to soaring without its lead singer having to getting all bombastic and melodramatic. It exists, I tell ya. The Frames have been around for a while now, but haven't gotten much attention over here (not that I'm way ahead of the curve on this one, having only heard of them last year). It might finally happen with this release. Lead singer Glen Hansard somehow does the whole broken-hearted troubadour thing that the ladies like so much without getting annoying, which in itself is worth a listen. Their label is serving up a couple free downloads.
The Frames - "Sad Songs" [mp3]
The Frames - "Falling Slowly" [mp3]Charlie Louvin Charlie Louvin I know I give artists grief for not putting some samples on the web, but I'm going to let country legend Charlie Louvin slide, seeing how he's older than my mom and she only just got her myspace page going a couple of days ago (that's a joke, or at least I pray to God it's a joke). Uncle Tupelo has a song called "Acuff-Rose" that celebrates that Nashville duo's songwriting abilities, but I'm betting that Jeff Tweedy, along with a bunch of other alt-country folks, were listening to the Louvin Brothers, too. Now they all come back and play with their Americana muse. Tweedy joins Charlie on his "Atomic Power" (which was on Uncle Tupelo's first disc, I believe), Will Oldham's here helping out, as is Tift Merritt, Elvis Costello, Bobby Bare, Sr. and some guy named George Jones. I would love to hear what this album sounds like, but all I've got to work with are the thirty second samples at Amazon.
The Autumn Defense The Autumn Defense Remember how I wrote about that America comeback/tribute a few weeks ago and I was all like "eh"? Maybe that's because while I don't necessarily have a problem with softer, gentler seventies-style music, I also don't think you should have to go back to the original source to get it. Two guys from Wilco, John Stirratt and Pat Sansone, have proven me right (I love when people prove me right). Working as the Autumn Defense, they provide perfectly pleasant - beautiful even - music without the polyester flashbacks. They give you plenty of opportunities to download stuff from their past releases at their website, but you'll have to settle for a myspace stream for songs ("Canyon Arrow" and "Winterlight") from the new album.
This week's list:
- THE SHINS Wincing the Night Away
- RICKIE LEE JONES The Sermon on Exposition Blvd.
- CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Some Loud Thunder
- THE AUTUMN DEFENSE The Autumn Defense
- ERIN McKEOWN Sing You Sinners
- JILL CUNNIFF City Beach
- THE FRAMES Cost
- SONDRE LERCHE Phantom Punch
- PATTY GRIFFIN Children Running Through
- MARK KNOPFLER & EMMYLOU HARRIS Real Live Roadrunning
- HARRY CONNICK, JR. Oh, My Nola
- OVER THE RHINE Discount Fireworks
- RON SEXSMITH Time Being
- THE DECEMBERISTS The Crane Wife
- LUCINDA WILLIAMS West
- VARIOUS ARTISTS Endless Highway: the Music of the Band
- BAND OF HORSES Everything All the Time
- CHARLIE LOUVIN Charlie Louvin
- LUSCIOUS JACKSON Greatest Hits
- JOE ELY Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch
- KRISTEN HERSH Learn to Sing Like a Star
- SAM ROBERTS Chemical City
- MY MORNING JACKET Okonokos
- THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN The Good, the Bad and the Queen
- THE PERNICE BROTHERS Live a Little
- JOHN HAMMOND Push Comes to Shove
- BILL RICCHINI Tonight I Burn Brightly
- THE HOLMES BROTHERS State of Grace
- THE HOLD STEADY Boys & Girls in America
- BIRDIE BUSCH The Ways We Try
Dropping off the list this week:
- SERA CAHOONE Sera Cahoone
- NEKO CASE Live from Austin, Texas
- YOUTH GROUP Casino Twilight Dogs
- CROWDED HOUSE Farewell to the World
- THE BROTHER KITE Waiting for the Time to be Right
RIYL for the week beginning February 19, 2007. Backstory here.
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