CD-Charts Position 21
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Mescalito

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Ryan Bingham

Release Date October 02, 2007
Karma ? Yin and Yang ? Synchronicity ? Who Know's.

What I do know for sure, however, is that having spent
a couple of painfully wasted hours listening to Santogold's execrable
debut album I was very ready for some honest musical sustenance.

I found it here In Ryan Bingham's most recent album 'Mescalito'.

Comparisons abound but try to put them to one side.
Let's listen to Mr Bingham on his own evident merits.

Somehow honesty and authenticity shines through in all
music of worth and this is indeed a very worthy little album.

The grit and gravel in our hero's voice serves his material well.
Whether in slippin' and slidin' stompers such as 'Bread and ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 22
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The Felice Brothers

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Felice Brothers

Release Date March 03, 2008
Although these guys have adopted the hairy bearded look of the Band and occasionally sound Dylanesque they stamp their own identity firmly on this disc - a set of 15 songs without a dud to be found. Tales of the old and new West predominate as evoked in titles like Frankie's Gun, Whiskey in my Whiskey and Helen Fry. In a strange way the sound evokes not just alt-country legends like Green on Red but also the swirling organ and heavy back beat of the Wailers at their best. This is an outstanding collection which rewards repeated listening.

CD-Charts Position 23
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We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions / American Land Edition [CD+DVD]

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Bruce Springsteen

Release Date October 02, 2006
As a Springsteen fan of over thirty years' standing, I was wary of this album. I am not the kind of fan who follows "their" artist, right or wrong, and after witnessing a live BBC broadcast of some of this material, I was not of a mind to purchase it. The concert had Springsteen and an entourage of fiddlers, led by E Street violinist Soozie Tyrell, being lauded by an audience of bearded, out of time clapping, ageing folkies and I simply could not reconcile the performer I saw on stage that night with the author of "Thunder Road", "Badlands" and "Jungleland" ! However, upon listening to this album, I have to swallow my pride and admit I was wrong in my preconceptions. This is a truly great musical and lyrical album, and great fun to boot !

In ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 24
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Clouds

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Joni Mitchell

Release Date January 15, 1988
Had this album on vinyl years ago, and recently bought the digitally remastered CD. Wow! It's even better than my most golden memories of it! I had forgotten just how good a singer Joni Mitchell was/is. Most of these songs are just Joni with her guitar. One of them - 'The Fiddle and the Drum' - is just Joni without even her guitar. But these are not simple three chord strumalong songs. In spite of tending towards the sparse and austere, they are also quite complex. There are unconventional guitar tunings, chord progressions and key changes that keep these songs fresh, however often I listen to them.

Then there is the Joni Mitchell voice. She really has been one of the best singers of the late 20th century in any genre. (Is that a bit over the ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 25
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Copperhead Road

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Steve Earle

Release Date March 20, 1999
Steve Earle music is best described as country-rock. The skull and cross bones that form the cover of Copperhead Road album warn of what is to come, a heavy mix of potent music shot through with the reflections of an wild young man who is older than his years. Inserts show a relaxed Earle, fag in mouth, black shades and dressed in denim.

A strong start with 'Copperhead Road' on which you can apparently 'smell the whisky burnin'; 'The Devil's Right Hand' refers to a pistol and though the song has a strange lyrical resonace it isn't until 'Johnny Come Lately' (on which the Pogues play) when the album begins to rock..

'Johnny Come Lately' tells the story of a soldier off to Vietnam who hopes to return to his girl in London and take her home to the USA. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 26
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Court and Spark

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Joni Mitchell

Release Date September 20, 2004
I discovered Joni about a year ago, hearing the song Case of You in the film Practical Magic and looking it up online. I bought the album Blue and completely fell in love with its mellowness and her wonderful voice.

Having listened to Blue about 7 million times i decided to seek out more of Joni. I read the reviews on a few of her albums on Amazon and settled on Court and Spark.

I expected it to be pretty similar as it was released only a few years after Blue, and was surprised to find it different. It's not as mellow as Blue, it's more jazzy and funky, more instruments are going on, backing singers- everything. But it doesn't take away the feeling she puts into the music, and of course her wonderful voice is still there (if a little lower?).
... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 27
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Revival

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: John Fogerty

Release Date October 08, 2007
The trademark guitar and voice are in place, one of the most distinctive sounds in late 20th century music, yet it's 40 years since Creedence's heyday. So inevitably you're wondering, can the old man crank it up again? The album starts unpromisingly with 'Don't You Wish It Was True' a sedate rumination on wishful thinking. In fact side 1 (as we used to say) is workmanlike, enjoyable enough, but nothing to justify the hullabaloo. But side 2 kicks off with 'Summer of Love' and suddenly things look up, it's Fogerty, but the guitar echoes Hendrix and Clapton as much as his own playing, 'Natural Thing' follows with a straightforward celebration of love and lust, then it's back to that old time rock'n'roll for 'It Ain't Right's swipe at the pampered and privileged and 'I Can't Take It No ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 28
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Highway 61 Revisited

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Bob Dylan

Release Date March 29, 2004
I know this is supposed to be one of Dylan's best albums... but I don't think it is. Since I was born in 1978, I can't really comment on how revolutionary this record was, and I can't comment on Dylan's abandonment of folk for the new rock n' roll sound. Unlike Dylan's audience in 1965, I am unhampered by any anti rock n' roll prejudices, but I'm afraid that for me it's just a fact that Dylan's early folk albums are better than his mid 60s rock n' roll albums. I say it's a fact, but of course you know that I mean it's just my opinion. It's not a case of whether he betrayed his fans, folk music or the civil rights movement. It's just that I don't respond emotionally to the tunes on Highway 61 Revisited. I've always thought that Like A Rolling Stone was bland, and the rest of the album strikes ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 29
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Solitude Standing

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Suzanne Vega

Release Date April 23, 1987
I love Suzanne Vega - she is probably remembered by her more famous tracks, Luka and Tom's Diner, but her album provides us with a wealth of beautiful, meaningful lyrics and her striking and soulful voice. My favourites tracks are Fancy Poultry/ Ironbound and Language, with beautiful lyrics such as 'if language were liquid, it would be rushing in, instead here we are in a silence more eloquent than any words could ever be'. Lovely album.

CD-Charts Position 30
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The Colourful Life

CD-Charts > Music > American Folk
by: Cajun Dance Party

Release Date April 28, 2008
i noticed someone else likened them to The Kooks, which is true. But really am I the only one who thinks that this is actually Robert Smith singing!? - perhaps under a psydonym or maybe his offspring? - If you like The Cure (Head on The Door stuff) then you'll be charmed by this - they are so similar it's unbelievable. But nice that someone is carrying on The Cure banner.