8. Joan Osbourne – Little Wild One
For her latest album, Joan Osbourne has turned to the production team that made 1995’s Relish a breakthrough album: Rob Hyman, Eric Bazilian and Rick Chertoff. Little Wild One shows off Osbourne’s gospel-tinged songs and soulful but sweet vocal delivery. The album contains many songs written as a tribute to NYC in the wake of 9/11, so it makes sense that the album hits stores next Tuesday two days before the seventh anniversary of that tragic day. Take a look at the Cathedrals video for an idea of what we can expect on Little Wild One.
7. PBS w/ Page McConnell – MOODOO
Back on November 2, Vida Blue’s Page McConnell sat in with Porter, Batiste and Stoltz at Club Metronome in Burlington for what turned into an epic set of music. On September 30 we’ll finally be able to hear what went down at the club when PBS releases MOODOO, an album of ten songs recorded that magical evening. Head over to the MOODOO website to download an mp3 of I Get High from the album.
6. Michael Franti – All Rebel Rockers
In catching Michael Franti’s festival sets over the past few years the music has become a little stale. He seemed to lean heavily on his old tunes, so it’s really good that he’s got a new batch of songs to play with Spearhead. On Tuesday All Rebel Rockers hits stores with more of a reggae feel than Franti’s most recent albums. That’s probably due to the fact it was recorded in Kingston, Jamaica with legendary producers Sly and Robbie. Find out how Franti’s feelin’ these days by checking out the video for Say Hey, the first single off of All Rebel Rockers.
5. Lindsey Buckingham – Gift of Screws
Former and future Fleetwood Mac frontman Lindsey Buckingham heads off for a six week tour this weekend and if you’re gonna catch one of these shows be sure not to buy his new album when it comes out on September 16. That’s because everyone who attends one of his shows will receive a copy of Gift of Screws as part of the ticket price. Every time Buckingham starts to record a solo album Mick Fleetwood comes calling with a new Fleetwood Mac tour to book and album to make. In fact in numerous interviews Buckingham makes it clear that once this tour is over he’s gonna start rehearsing with the Mac. Yet Lindsey likes this batch of songs so much that he actually kept them for himself.
One of the best bands I caught at the Newport Folk Festival was Tucson, AZ’s Calexico. I had a really hard time trying to describe the band’s sound because they are a mix of so many different styles. One minute they sounded like a rootsy band from the mountains, while the next track sounded like a Tex-Mex shuffle. Calexico’s latest album, Carried To Dust, shows even more sides of this incredibly eclectic band. You can pick it up online or at your local record store next Tuesday.
Here at Hidden Track we’ve always advocated Keller Williams fronting a band, so we were thrilled when he put together a band with the underrated all star team of Jeff Sipe, Keith Moseley and Gibb Droll. Keller’s latest album, Live, was recorded with this band at select live shows during the winter of 2008. This double album hits stores on September 16 and contains 17 tracks that span K-Dub’s lengthy and illustrious career.
On September 30 we’ll all be treated to Ben Folds’ latest solo disc, Way to Normal. Last month, Ben had fun with his fans when he released a faux copy of the album on the ‘nets featuring six made up songs such as a fun little ditty called Bitch Went Nuts. Ben bundled three real tracks with the fakes including the deliciously radio-friendly You Don’t Know Me featuring Regina Spektor. I can’t wait to hear the rest of the disc.
1. Kings of Leon – Only By the Night
The Kings of Leon fourth album drops on September 23 and hopefully this will be the album that breaks them in America so we aren’t subjected to all of those “why aren’t KoL big in the States” articles anymore. Check out this teaser for a taste of the new tracks.
One Response
Great job Scotty. Really looking forward to the KoL and Ben Folds discs.