Album Reviews

Howie Day: Stop All the World Now

Courtney Darby February 24, 2004 No Comments

If love-torn, boy-pop is what you want, you are much better off with John Mayer than this distant runner up.

The Del McCoury Band: It

Jeremy Sanchez February 23, 2004 No Comments

Bluegrass legend Del McCoury pipes a

Norah Jones: Feels Like Home

Dustin Glass February 23, 2004 No Comments

Feels Like Home builds on the jazzy-pop sounds that made Jones’ debut album, Come Away With Me, such a huge success, but broadens the playing field a little wider by also venturing into the styles of bluegrass and country. Norah’s gentle voice and subtle piano playing is somehow both relaxing and energizing at the same time, and the album opener and first single, “Sunrise,” pulls you in from the get go with her soulful vocals.

Dolly Parton Tribute: Just Because I’m a Woman: The Songs of Dolly Parton

Brian Gearing February 20, 2004 No Comments

Just Because I

Steve Morse: Major Impacts 2

Kenny Bohlin February 20, 2004 No Comments

Steve Morse is the guitar virtuoso behind Deep Purple, the Dixie Dregs, and the Steve Morse band. He

Edie Brickell: Volcano

Heather Handler February 19, 2004 No Comments

One strum of a guitar and then Edie Brickell

Liars: They Were Wrong So We Drowned

Shane Handler February 19, 2004 No Comments

The only promise these tunes can deliver is one for the cult lavish, who enjoy their music on the dirty and dark side. It’s been said the Liars frenzied live performances are quite the catch on the New York scene, so hopefully that energy is a bit more cohesive than the one preserved on record.

Carrie Newcomer : Betty

Jason Gonulsen February 18, 2004 No Comments

Betty

Ryan Cavanaugh Trio: Live from Nowhere

Dan Bliss February 11, 2004 No Comments

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.

Mindy Smith: One Moment More

Dean Barnett February 9, 2004 No Comments

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.