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Old 12-24-2010, 08:49 AM   #3 (permalink)
TheBig3
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Nels Cline, Dirty Baby
Wilco’s lead guitarist found time in the past few years to record a solo guitar album, a Nels Cline Singers session, and this double album of music inspired by the paintings of Southern California artist Ed Ruscha. Fronting two different large ensembles (with organ, violin, percussion, reeds, electronics, and more), Cline lays out a cornucopia of mind-bending acoustic and electric riffs, colors, and textures, always in the service of the bigger picture. (Cryptogramophone)


Ralph Towner and Paolo Fresu, Chiaroscuro
Playing classical, baritone, and 12-string guitars, Towner matches wits with Sardinian trumpeter Fresu on six new and old Towner compositions, the Miles Davis/Bill Evans classic “Blue in Green,” and two improvisations. If you’re drawn to lustrous trumpet (open and muted) and flugelhorn melodies and gleaming guitar arpeggios, filigrees, and single-note runs, this duo album is indispensable. (ECM)


Clogs, The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton
When he’s not playing guitar with his brother, Aaron, in the National, Bryce Dessner showcases his acoustic patterns alongside composer/violinist Padma Newsome, percussionist Thomas Kozumplik, and bassoonist Rachael Elliott in this post-rock chamber quartet. With more vocals (by Newsome, Shara Worden, the National’s Matt Berninger, and Sufjan Stevens) and guest instrumentalists than ever before, Clogs turn this vague concept album into a grand textural statement. (Brassland)


Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, Ali and Toumani
The pairing of Malian guitarist Touré and kora master Diabaté yielded one more sweet-spirited, dreamily drifting collaboration before Touré’s death in 2006. The crystalline delicacy of interlocked plucking is undisturbed by minimal guest appearances (including bassist Orlando “Cachaíto” Lopez and Vieux Farka Touré on congas and vocals) on this beguiling follow-up to the Ry Cooder–graced, Grammy-winning In the Heart of the Moon. (Nonesuch)


Gyan Riley Trio, New York Sessions
On his two previous studio albums, new-music scion Gyan Riley employed overdubbing and guests (including his genius dad, Terry Riley) to realize his compositional dreams. Here’s a working trio, with Timb Harris (violin and viola) and Ches Smith (drums and hand percussion), applying free-jazz energy and astounding chops to original compositions that draw from classical, Indian, and African sources. (gyanriley.com)


Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, Hawk
First, over a delicately goth acoustic-guitar foundation, split Leonard Cohen into his yin and yang sides. Then throw in some Townes Van Zandt (“No Place to Fall”), a James Brown piano-guitar riff (“Come Undone” = “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”), a dollop of grunge (the Smashing Pumpkins’ guitarist James Iha), and two exquisitely atmospheric voices, and you have 13 songs of unbearably dark beauty. (Vanguard)


Various artists, We Are One, In the Sun: A Tribute to Robbie Basho
Basho acolyte Steffen Basho-Junghans opens and closes this absorbing homage to the Eastern-influenced “American Primitive” pioneer. Buck Curran, who performs here with his wife, Shanti, as Arborea, put together an often-psychedelic, mostly new-folk, mostly guitar collection with Helena Espvall, Meg Baird, Glenn Jones, Fern Night, and others. (Important)


Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang, The Wonder Show of the World
As prolific as Elvis Costello was in the 1980s and ’90s, Will Oldham fashions yet another achingly intimate collection of acoustic confessions that pivot on uniquely frank lyrics buoyed by guitarist Emmett Kelly and bassist Shahzad Ismaily. Does anyone else think he sounds like a young (but humble and more introspective) Stephen Stills? (Drag City)


Tin Hat, Foreign Legion
In two different concert settings, this quartet version of Tin Hat—Mark Orton, acoustic guitar and dobro; Carla Kihlstedt, violin and vocals; Ben Goldberg, clarinet and contra alto clarinet; Ara Anderson, trumpet, pump organ, piano, glockenspiel, percussion—again defies “genre-fication” (folk? jazz? world? classical? film score?) with the loose charm it brings to live performance. (BAG Production)


Various artists, Beyond Berkeley Guitar
The title of this generation-spanning anthology refers to both its less far-ranging predecessor, Berkeley Guitar (also curated by fingerstylist Sean Smith), and the legacy of John Fahey, Robbie Basho, and other San Francisco Bay Area acoustic masters. From veteran Richard Osborn to 20-year-old Aaron Sheppard and experimentalist Ava Mendoza, this sampling of old- and new-guard instrumental styles is unrelentingly enthralling. (Tompkins Square)

Odair Assad, El Caminante
Odair Assad plays solo on this album with all the brilliant clarity and passionate sensitivity that has made the Assad Brothers among today’s most sought-after classical performers. From Brouwer to Piazzolla to Mangoré’s “Choro da Saudade,” Assad’s interpretations are nothing short of thrilling. (GHA)


Black Prairie, Feast of the Hunter’s Moon
Featuring guitarist Chris Funk (of the Decemberists) on Weissenborn and dobro, Black Prairie is stretching the strings of the string-band model into quirky, spooky shapes on this accomplished debut, with ingredients from bluegrass to traditional Romanian music. (Sugar Hill)


John Jorgenson Quintet, One Stolen Night
The John Jorgenson Quintet inhabits the same space as Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli’s Quintet and Hot Club of France. Here—as if Jorgenson’s scorching playing isn’t enough—his quintet takes it a step further, with the addition of bouzouki, clarinet, and sax. (J2)


LAGQ, Interchange
The LAGQ, with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, offers both the first concerto ever written for the guitar, Rodrigo’s lovely Concierto Andaluz, and the most recent, Sérgio Assad’s Interchange for guitar quartet and orchestra, written specifically for the group, referencing the heritage and extraordinary musical gifts of each member. (Telarc)


Gareth Pearson, Urban Echoes, Vol. 1
Called the “Welsh Tornado” by Tommy Emmanuel, Pearson is a whirling dervish of virtuosity and verve. But with these 12 compositions, including two jaw-dropping arrangements of Michael Jackson hits, he also shows a tender, lyrical side. (CandyRat)


Ben Powell, Preliminaries
Animated by the mountains of Tibet and other remote locations, Powell’s debut collection of original compositions exudes serenity. That ruminative spirit, and his effortless virtuosity, places him in direct lineage from fingerstyle giants like Michael Hedges and Pierre Bensusan. (Yellow Gecko)


John Prine, In Person and On Stage
In Person and On Stage is the ultimate Prine, a retrospective of his career with songs from his entire playbook—and the closest thing to going on tour with the raconteur/singer-songwriter and guests Emmylou Harris, Iris Dement, Josh Ritter, and Sara Watkins. (Oh Boy)


David Russell, Sonidos Latinos
Incomparable classical guitarist David Russell explores the varied works of Latin American composers Augustín Barrios Mangoré, Manuel Ponce, Jorge Morel (two of the works were written for Russell), and Héctor Ayala in a must-have collection. (Telarc)


Aleksandr Tsiboulski, Australian Guitar Music
Winner of numerous guitar competitions, Aleksandr Tsiboulski astonishes with the clarity of his sound, flawless technique, and passionate interpretations of Australian composers on this debut collection. (Naxos)

John Mellencamp, No Better Than This
Recorded on vintage mono gear in three historic locations in the South, John Mellencamp’s second collaboration with celebrated producer T Bone Burnett conjures the spirit of rockabilly cats, bluesmen, and troubadours past with grit and fire. Guitarists Andy York and Marc Ribot contribute expert, no-frills support throughout, and the veteran singer’s weathered pipes fit the rough-edged material to a T. (Rounder)


Robert Plant, Band of Joy
When an attempt to reprise his acclaimed 2007 collaboration with Alison Krauss went south, Robert Plant instead teamed with Nashville hotshot Buddy Miller, and the former Led Zeppelin front man’s new incarnation as a mystic folk-rocker resumed its upward trajectory. Carried aloft by Patty Griffin’s incandescent vocal harmonies, Plant imbues nuggets by Los Lobos, Richard Thompson, Townes Van Zandt, and others with a mesmerizing muscle all his own. (Rounder)


Kim Richey, Wreck Your Wheels
With the self-assurance of a well-oiled road machine, a genre-blending songwriter’s songwriter and her crack touring band gathered shoulder-to-shoulder in a small Nashville recording space and successfully generated intimate magic. Richey’s warm vocals, evocative imagery, and unerring pop instincts have never jelled to more compelling effect. (Thirty Tigers)


The Innocence Mission, My Room in the Trees
Creators of a singular brand of dreamy alternative pop with a deceptively earthy core, Don and Karen Peris and the married duo’s longtime collaborator Mike Bitts return with another distinctive set of lilting, impressionistic gems. Shaped by Don Peris’s elegantly spare guitar work and his wife’s endearing vocals, the band’s time-tested themes of resilient spirit, durable faith, and unjaded wonder continue to ring fresh and vital. (Badman Recordings)


Mary Gauthier, The Foundling
Just as you’d expect from one of our most unflinchingly honest chroniclers of the heart, Mary Gauthier’s real-life bid to locate and connect with the unwed mom who put her up for adoption in 1962 provided grist for some powerful reflections indeed. Achingly poignant at times, almost defiantly resolved at others, these 13 tracks ultimately tell a tale of acceptance and compassion for the flaws and noble aspirations in all of us. (Razor and Tie)


Josh Ritter, So Runs the World Away
An uncommonly literate and bold storyteller, Josh Ritter follows the breakthrough triumph of 2007’s The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter with a thematically unified collection of songs that measure the costs and rewards of a life dedicated to exploration and momentous journeys. Ritter’s theatrically crafted narratives and his versatile band’s subtle flourishes take listeners on a sonic journey that lingers in the mind long after the last notes have faded. (Pytheas Recordings)


The Jayhawks, The Bunkhouse Album
Finally released for the first time on CD, the previously out-of-print 1986 debut album from the Americana movement’s finest band captures the group in heavily countrified mode before its artier and harder-edged tendencies surged to the surface. But while pedal steel-driven echoes of the Flying Burrito Brothers abound, the quirky intelligence of primary songwriters Mark Olson and Gary Louris already foretells a band’s eventual transition into rockier terrain. (Humphead)


Marc Cohn, Listening Booth: 1970
An album of stripped down 1970s covers, smoky voiced Marc Cohn’s tribute to the eclectic soundtrack of an era runs the gamut from Bread to the Grateful Dead. Custom-made for a candlelit rendezvous or a late-night drive under the stars. (WEA)


Ray LaMontagne, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise
New England troubadour Ray LaMontagne’s soulful baritone is a remarkable instrument unto itself, and these ten rhythmically charged, expertly crafted songs offer its most riveting showcase to date. String wizards Eric Heywood and Greg Leisz anchor the tight ensemble sound of LaMontagne’s backing band, the Pariah Dogs, who nailed down their performances live in the singer’s Massachusetts home studio. (RCA)


Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962–1964
Bob Dylan opens the vault once again to offer a double-disc set of simple acoustic guitar and voice publishing demos that includes 15 previously unreleased tracks. Even this early in the game, it’s clear that Dylan’s epic evolution from earnest folkie to Beat-influenced rock ’n’ roller is well under way. (Sony)
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Last edited by TheBig3; 12-24-2010 at 09:00 AM.
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