n 1999, A New Found Glory released Nothing Gold Can Stay, a sappy pop punk album that made me feel the pain of being 17 again. Sure, some of the lyrics were over-dramatic and the vocals were whiny, but the album connected with me even though it was written for kids ten or so years my junior. T
As the liner notes describe, all across the country on a Saturday night music and good times go hand in hand and always have. American roots music, from bluegrass to zydeco, has been an influence on modern music as well as a vital part of life for many, many people. It's the latter that this compilation tries to capture.
This album, recorded at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ in the summer of 1990, finds Johnny Cash on his way back up. He was working with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings on the Highwaymen's second album during this time and this was not the shell of Johnny Cash that did variety shows in the 70s, but a very vital artist. All of this points in one direction: a fine performance. And that's just what was uncovered here.
ith a title like Viva Las Vegas, I suspect many people's expectations are very low, associating this with the lounge lizard Elvis. However, that turns out to be an off-base assumption. The truth is this album captures Elvis during his second-wind. True, the young, hungry singer from the days before the Army and the movies is gone, but he still had an awful lot of performance left in him and these 16 tracks, all but one recorded live between 1970 and 1972, find his great voice backed by a much bigger sound.
John Lennon once said, "If there wasn't a fight, it wasn't a good gig." So, what is it if no one even moves? Lennon was clearly arguing that a sterile show is never good and sterility is exactly the problem with SXSW Live 2007. The DVD is a collection of songs from shows at two Austin venues, the Bat Bar and the Lonestar Lounge, during SXSW back in March. While some of the artists offer decent performances the clubs and the crowds hardly have a pulse.
Reggae is the primary ingredient of Street Gospels, but by no means the only one. With punk running generally under the covers and surfacing occasionally on tracks like "Walls Fall Down" and even more so on "Gunships," soul is more overt. Soulful vocals, especially in the harmonies, roots each song without exception in something genuine, so much so that the album doesn't miss a beat on the a capella "Hush." In fact, the song is essential to Street Gospel’s flow.
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles do more than just channel the past. True, Diamonds in the Dark is full of imagery of days gone by, but the package is fresh.
The Toronto-based band Picastro combines elements of classical, folk and rock into a unique mix of low-key songs for those less than excitable moments. Straying away from typical rock instrumentation, Picastro employs cello and violin in addition to guitar, piano and drums to provide their odd comfort to the melancholy.
