Album Reviews

Before changing their name to the Ryan Cavanaugh Trio earlier this year – due to the departure of percussionist Chris Dougherty – Space Station Integration released Live from Nowhere. Fusing the traditional banjo with high-energy, jazz-fusion, Cavanaugh and company heighten the bluegrass bar by further adding elements of rock, bluegrass, funk, Celtic and Indian to the mix. All done of course with a definitive focus on improvisation.

Backed by remarkably accomplished musicians, including acoustic guitar role model Bryan Sutton and steel guitar master Dan Dugmore, Ms. Smith seems satisfied with pretty acoustic arrangements that only rarely give way to more aggressive expressions. It’s not a bad formula, as shown in “Angel Doves,” but it dominates the disc until the listener’s stupor is interrupted by the processed vocals of “Hard to Know,” a near-rocker that would be far more convincing if Ms. Smith’s tenuous voice could carry the voltage she wrote into the tune.

Working on solo projects outside a touring band has become commonplace, but recording and touring with two bands above and beyond a solo career is a rarity. The unassuming focal point of a small, simmering music scene in Boston, keyboardist/composer Neil Larson is usually found bringing the synth-madness to Amun Ra and moonlighting with Nikulydin, but has somehow managed to keep his day job as solo artist, Dr Nigel.

Phantom Planet is still trying to find their identity. After two moderately successful albums of melancholy, California pop rock, Phantom Planet has taken a cue from some of their East Coast counterparts and released a self-titled LP of straightforward, guitar driven rock. Offering their best Strokes imitation, Phantom Planet has concocted a solid post-punk/post-grunge album that becomes more engaging upon each listen.

Teitur, a self-professed troubadour from Denmark’s Faroe Islands is a songwriter first and foremost, as he manages to blend voice and poetry into a polished acoustic realm – think Badly Drawn Boy or Coldplay with a splash less rock and roll. But it’s his acoustic confessional lyrics, with a knack for gentle pop harmonies that make Poetry and Aeroplanes, a collection of twelve stark confessional pangs, a cozy listen.

With a mix of instrumentals and compositions featuring guest vocalists, the album has two distinct feels – one of vital rock and one of 80’s throwback. But it’s the strong guest vocal numbers, such as David Bowie’s spectral croon on “Isn’t It Evening,” adding a mysterious aura over Slicks’s subtle guitar fades that provides us with a handful of ripe moments.

Joss Stone may only be 16 years old, but with radiating pipes that can jump start a dead battery in the dead of winter, age is a mere afterthought on her debut – The Soul Sessions. Displaying the explosive anguish of Aretha Franklin, this young blonde from the Southwest of England surely hits the sweet spot, while taking the listener back to the early 70s’ era of Motown and adding her own 21st century spin.

Not to be confused with its soundtrack follow up The September Sessions, Thicker Than Water serves as Jack Johnson’s coming out party – as filmmaker and musician. Although the film is defined as a collection of images and memories hauled in for an eighteen month journey through the North Atlantic, South Pacific and the Bay of Bengal; Johnson’s music plays a small part in this compilation featuring ten different artists.

From the first glance at Gathering One

What took almost four years and seven studios to record, The Spirituality aptly leads the listener on a quest for inner peace and eternal life with songs revolving around an introspective dream-state. But the music is definitely not for the casual listener, as the abstract rhythms and convoluted vocals can border on distracting as opposed to mesmerizing.

Since the mid 90

Drop the smile and empty soul describes this album perfectly. It is a brilliant reminder of everything that is wrong in rock today – complete soullessness. Made up of three guys who met during high school, Smile Empty Soul is yet another ‘I

Over the past few months, cozying up in his personal studio, piano man Ben Folds has recorded and simultaneously released three EP

It

Never underestimate the power of a well-wielded fiddle. It can throw some earth into an air-and-water mix, the result being a musical concoction that breaks you out of your usual genre-hungry mold. Such is the case with Wisechild

This Sweedish five piece, Mando Diao stirs smart flavors of new wave glamour, supercharged electric blues and dirty rock chords to the masses in Bring

Through varied life experiences involving farming, arts, studying the fiddle in Ireland, and spending some time at sea, Kris Delmhorst has built a career as a multi-talented artist. Still, her popularity and success have been primarily achieved through word-of-mouth, as her solid live performances, energy, and a smooth, sensuous voice have garnered her praise that keeps fans coming back for more.

The Journey Within

Green has spent the last two decades focused on a more gospel platforms, preaching to the congregation rather than the clubs. Returning to his roots, Green