folk

Music Road Records A take-home version of the celebrated 2003 Woody Guthrie tribute tour, this outstanding double-disc release is filled with covers of, dedications to and songs inspired by Oklahoma folk hero Woody Guthrie, all performed live. The “Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway” tour was organized by Austin, Texas, singer/songwriter Jimmy LaFave, the disc’s producer, […]

n the Grass” overthinks the most interesting song parts and buries some of Lienke’s best musical moments with reckless, uncomplimentary ideas.   “?Joe Wertz

Saddle Creek Get your diaries, plastic framed glasses and ratty Converse sneakers ready, kids’ it’s time for a new Bright Eyes album.   A few tracks on “Cassadaga” are fresh and fun. “Four Winds” is upbeat and twangy, contrasting nicely with front man/loner icon Conor Oberst’s shaky and often feminine voice. “Soul Singer in a […]

From Pennsylvania came the cold and The Innocence Mission. “Bright As Yellow” on the “Empire Records” soundtrack may have been the highest level of notoriety the dream-folk band achieved since beginning in the late Eighties. The band fell somewhere between adult contemporary and cult status with classic-rooted compositions tailor-made for NPR segues. Today, from a […]

L oveless  Tom Brosseau’s fifth release is a thematic tribute to the Grand Forks, N.D., which flooded in April 1997, displacing some 60,000 residents; 10 years later, Brosseau mourns for his hometown’s suffering while celebrating its elasticity. It’s an honorable effort, and his heart is in the right place. If only it weren’t so understated. […]

Trakwerx 17 Pygmies have been away for 17 years, but the 10-member 2006 version of the California consortium has returned younger than yesterday to produce its best work yet, a 30-track, two-disc beguiling behemoth. Even if you discount the fact that disc two is 13 versions of the same song, done in wildly differing ways […]

Light in the Attic Records Bob Dylan and Devendra Banhart named her as their favorite singer. Nick Cave lists her among his faves. Enid native Karen Dalton was part of the early-Sixties Greenwich Village folk boom, but played the part of wallflower when it came to recordings, producing only two in her lifetime.   Her […]

Warner Bros. The mental image I’ve had of eternally dour troubadour Damien Rice’ as a leaky human sieve, barely held together and struggling to stay whole amid a near-constant barrage of debris’ is only reinforced with his sophomore disc “9.” Love is either unrequited, spurned or dreamt in Rice’s songs, acoustic shards of folk-pop that […]

Transmit Sound/Legacy Son Volt’s dour Jay Farrar continues his quest for the world’s slowest tempo, this time enlisting Varnaline leader Anders Parker in a (probably) one-off duo.   Gob Iron specializes in traditional folk and blues, with Farrar frequently reworking the lyrics. Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times” is changed to great effect, though it bears little […]

Fat Possum Records This, the final album from the late Paul “Wine” Jones (1946-2005)’ an original member of the Fat Possum Records family and a specialist in the raw, quirky, electric blues that put the label on the map’ begins unexpectedly: with a hard-driving, hip-struttin’ dance number. It’s basically Jones’ version of disco, and it’s […]