Album Reviews

In the same vein as the Pickin

Like Marvin Gaye

For die-hard fans of the so called

The latest from Tortoise – It’s All Around You -moves in slow transcendental fashion, with a swirling, new age psychedelic force that is hypnotic, but as a result carries non-stimulating results.

By making music out of a bit of everything, with the assistance of loops galore, TV On The Radio meld woozy break beats with cryptic energy that hits hard in the originality department.

Renee Lamoureux and Keith Macpherson, who make up the Canadian pop/rock duo Easily Amused, are passionate musicians. The two have performed nearly 400 shows over the past two years and have kept the bus rolling in 2004. For this, I salute them. For their latest record, Simple Stuff, I have many reservations.

Tim O’Brien has spent most of his life on the road. Thankfully, when he sets his hand to writing about travel, the result is a wonderful montage that captures both giddy fun and personal costs the road extracts.

With a handful of new musicians added since their last album five years ago, Leftover Salmon has returned with a more mature edge, that blends their unique bluegrass with new spicy ingredients.

Leave it up to a 19 year old from London, England to put out one of the very few albums in years to be true to the

Recorded in 1999 after the dissolution of Todd Sheaffer’s old band, From Good Homes, this performance predates Railroad Earth but stands as a document of Sheaffer’s nascent talents and burgeoning skills that play such a pivotal role in the RRE sound today.

Grown Backwards, stems from a “top down” approach to songwriting, with David Byrne developing melodies first and then figuring out which chords and structures best fitted his vivid imagination. It wasn

Weir Here is a two-CD retrospective, the first being a chronological journey through his studio work, the second a collection of essential Weir moments caught on stage. And yes, two full albums of Bobby tunes comes with more yelps, hollers and high-pitched screams than you can shake a pair of tight shorts at.

The songs might not be as catchy as those on his debut album, but On My Way exhibits Kweller

Recorded from their 2003 March run at New York

What do you get when two of the most melodically-gifted mandolinists get together? Into the Cauldron, a collaborative effort that seems almost Grammy worthy.

Scott McCaughey has been blazing pop and rock since the early 80

Toying from the past and fine tuning with the present, Gary Jules makes Trading Snakeoil For Wolftickets, an all-around winning work of songwriting and arranging that should not be missed.

Night of Joy is the first of three new live albums to be released by Widespread Panic over the couse of 2004, a year in which the hardworking band is taking their first break in 18 years. This release stars the The Dirty Dozen Brass Brand on horns and rhythm and features some new and old Panic favorites.

America first heard of The Von Bondies in that now infamous bar fight where Jack White pummeled lead singer Jason Stollsteimer. Stollsteimer was a bloodied mess and White has now been convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery, but it would be entirely unfair to judge The Von Bondies on a scrapple between Detroit

Jim Payne has been a fixture in the jazz scene for a number of years. Having produced the first two albums for Medeski, Martin and Wood, and recording and touring with Slickaphonics and Maceo Parker, among others, he brings a wide range of influences to his music