n her Matador Records debut, Over the Mountain, Across the Valley, and Back to the Stars, Jennifer O’Connor delivers a pleasant album full of hum-along melodies.
It's been five years since Pete Yorn released his charming debut Musicforthemorningafter, which vaulted him to the top of the singer/songwriter charts. Since that time, Yorn has been accused of sounding too bland on his second effort, Day I Forgot, leaving fans wondering if they would ever hear another classic album from him.
Matthew Ryan’s latest, From a Late Night High-Rise, could certainly be called his life-support project, only because there is a certain strain, a certain struggle that clings to the thinnest ice on every note, where the sadness becomes beautiful.
Ben Kweller writes pop songs. They're cheerful and they fly by in a way that belies the forty-minute clock of his new self titled album. Sure, there are the overly sweet and sentimental lines (“Until I Die”) and the guitar riffs that hearken to his teenage days in the post grunge trio Radish (as on album closer “This Is War”). But they're all pop songs at heart and the nice thing about Kweller is that he makes no apologies for this.
Three years after the Irish singer-songwriter had us weep with 2003’s Shortlist Prize winning O, Rice has returned with another round of seductive ballads. Vocal companion Lisa Hannigan has returned to provide the essence, as Shane Fitzsimmons (bass) Vyvinne Long (cello) Tom Osander (drums) and Joel Shearer ( guitars) nail the “sparse climatic" on 9.
Somehow, whenever Edie Carey and Holly Figueroa get together for a show at Seattle’s Tractor Tavern, the weather seems incapable of cooperating. Such was the case for Monday’s show, during which Seattle got a wicked (to borrow from Carey’s Bostonian vocabulary) snow and ice storm, leaving the roads unto impassable.
Despite the show’s technical shortcomings, Joseph Arthur proved to be a true professional, giving his all to a small crowd on a Friday night. Lets hope he receives bigger crowds soon – his oversized talent deserves it.
Be Here to Love Me documents the life of one of America
With The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album, Stevens presents 21 tracks, including three versions of
