Album Reviews

The Jimi Hendrix Experience Winterland single CD, just released by Legacy Recordings through its affiliation with Experience Hendrix, is not the same music as originally put out through RykoDisc in 1987. It is, instead, a distillation of the four CD deluxe package available the same day as this new release, which is, in turn, a condensed representation of recordings made over three nights in October of 1968 at the now defunct San Francisco venue once overseen by the late impresario extraordinaire Bill Graham.

The sweet closing tracks are punctuated by the crowning final minute of “Held My Head,” a gorgeous blending of instrumentation. Throughout the album, precise musicianship, appealing song-craft and intertwining waves of melancholy and joy create a balanced collection of ten songs, an excellent early-morning album to accompany the rising sun.

On the whole, the Earth Division EP works structurally, serving an image of a classically-informed sandwich with some meaty sounds left in the middle to savor.

This is one spark-plug of a new artist we got right here.  Lydia Loveless Bloodshot Records debut Indestructible Machine kicks ass, leaving a a scattered wake of creepy stalkers, shot glasses and bibles as it blows by.  Loveless was reared on country twang, but came of age in the adolescent rage of punk rock and both can be felt wrestling with the singer/songwriter throughout the release.

The title of The New Mastersounds’ latest, Breaks from the Border, refers to the fact that the album was recorded in the border town of Tornillo, Texas, but it may as well refer to the musical position in which the band finds itself in the wake of the album’s release.

With tunes from The Beatles (McCartney’s “I Will”) residing comfortably next to standards of a different era ("I Loves You Porgy"), the array of songs matches the versatility of the musicians involved. Deserving an audience beyond that of the genre itself A Moment’s Peace is a seamless piece of contemporary jazz that that never betrays an unnecessary compromise to broaden its appeal.

Above all, Neon Indian’s sophomore effort Era Extraña illustrates the band’s musical maturation and showcases the evolution of their style, departing from their ambient, sample-speckled debut without losing its defining characteristics.

All troubled thoughts and hand-wringing should cease however, as Wilco has released The Whole Love, a fully realized collection of tunes versatile, commanding, and magnificent.  This album is bold, yet painted with deft touches; powerful and evolved, yet simple and stripped down when need be; grippingly philosophical yet still fun enough to demand sing-alongs.

This is her most consistent effort yet, and the process of building the songs up from programmed sounds reveals Herzig’s deft architectural hand, and the fact that she’s chosen bouncy, spirited and cathartic as her palette further bolsters the album. The next step will be learning how to incorporate lyrically the more intimate and raw moments of introspection, but this is an admirable first step in the right direction.

With his newest release – The Lost Cause Minstrels – on the Potato Head Family label, Grayson Capps takes his music in a new direction.  Having lived in both New Orleans and Nashville, the Alabama native recently returned home and seems to further embrace his roots.