Compact Capsules for July 1, 2009by Dan Ferguson Slaid CleavesEverything You Love Will Be Taken AwayMusic Road Records Be it teardrop sad or happy go lucky, the songs of Austin-based Slaid Cleaves have always been marked by literate wordplay and …
Compact Capsules for June 23, 2009by Dan Ferguson Scott H. BiramSomething’s Wrong/Lost ForeverBloodshot Records Scott H. Biram’s story is a nasty one with the centerpiece his head-on collision with an 18-wheeler in 2003 which he luckily survived. Just a month …
Continue Reading “CD Reviews for 06/23/09 – Scott H. Biram, Steve Earle”
Compact Capsules for June 9, 2009by Dan Ferguson Jessica Lea MayfieldWith Blasphemy So HeartfeltPolymer Sounds Born into a family band, bluegrass was the first calling for Jessica Lea Mayfield. There’s nary a note of it on her debut With Blasphemy …
Continue Reading “CD reviews for 06/09/09 – Jessica Lea Mayfield, The Flatlanders”
Compact Capsules for June 1, 2009by Dan Ferguson Various ArtistsMan of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute to Chris GaffneyYep Roc Records YEP-2198 Dave Alvin & The Guilty WomenLast Exit to HappylandYep Roc Records YEP-2155 The tragic passing of both his band …
Continue Reading “CD Reviews for 06/01/09 – Chris Gaffney tribute, Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women”
Compact Capsules for May 19, 2009by Dan Ferguson Wayne HancockViper of MelodyBloodshot Records Stylistically speaking, Wayne “The Train” Hancock records may not vary much from album to album but you can always count on plenty of hot picking oft-times in …
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson Sarah Borges & the Broken SinglesThe Stars Are OutSugar Hill Records While there were glimpses of it on her last release (Diamonds In the Dark, 2006), with the new The Stars Are Out, Bay State gal …
Continue Reading “CD Reviews for 05/14/09 – Sarah Borges & The Broken Singles”
Compact Capsulesby Dan Ferguson The New York Dolls‘Cause I Said SoATCO Records My copy of the original LP from the New York Dolls, bought through one of those records clubs that got me eight albums for a penny, has an …
Continue Reading “CD Reviews for 05/06/09 – New York Dolls, John Doe & The Sadies”
Compact Capsules by Dan Ferguson Justin Townes EarleMidnight at the MoviesBloodshot Records BS-160 On his stellar 2008 debut The Good Life, the territory covered by Justin Townes Earle ran old-fashioned country shuffles to swing to folk. With Midnight at the …
Continue Reading “CD Review for 04/21/09 – Justin Townes Earle, Keep Your Soul-Doug Sahm Tribute”
Compact Capsules by Dan Ferguson Dex Romweber DuoRuins of BerlinBloodshot Records When artists the likes of Jack White and Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power) cite someone as a chief influence, you know the person has to have some shit in …
Continue Reading “CD Reviews for 04/14/09 – Dex Romweber Duo, Black Joe Lewis & Honeybears”
Compact Capsules by Dan Ferguson Neko CaseMiddle CycloneAnti Records Contrary to what has become the shuffle set era in popular music as brought on by the Ipod explosion, Neko Case’s albums of recent years have not lent themselves to the …
Continue Reading “CD Reviews for 04/06/09 – Neko Case, Hell on Wheels DVD”
