Category Archives: Music

Jethro Tull’s The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

Now I have to tell you, when I first saw this album listed on the Jethro Tull Web site I did a double take. I read it like this: “The JETHRO TULL CHRISTMAS???? album?” I was not the only surprised … Continue reading →

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Various artists’ Music from the Tea Lands

11Putumayo comes up with some interesting compilations. Tea Lands is less successful than most. The concept is to present a variety of music from Asian lands and cultures, and it’s not a bad one. But not all of the selections … Continue reading →

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Various artists’ Mali to Memphis: An African-American Odyssey and Louisiana Gumbo, and Oliver Mtukudzi’s The Oliver Mtukudzi Collection: The Tuku Years

These three discs from world music purveyors Putumayo present a study in how the music of America and Africa have influenced each other. Mali to Memphis Well before the deluge of blues-roots discs that accompanied 2003’s “Year of the Blues,” … Continue reading →

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Peter Gabriel’s Secret World Live

Peter Gabriel’s so much an intrinsic aspect of the Green Man motif and of the interstitial arts movement in general that Terri Windling in The Essential Bordertown anthology uses his WOMAD festival as ‘Womad on the Border’. (Don’t ask me … Continue reading →

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Howe Gelb’s The Listener and The Band of Blacky Ranchette’s Still Lookin’ Good to Me

Howe Gelb is one of the most prolific of American independent recording artists. He’s based in Tucson, Arizona, although he now spends about half of his time in Denmark, where his wife is from. Recording under his own name, or … Continue reading →

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Suzy Bogguss’ Swing!

Suzy Bogguss is a highly popular country star, and something of a Nashville maverick. Which means she got famous enough before Music City was totally taken over by the big labels and the suits that she can continue to make … Continue reading →

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The Handsome Family’s Singing Bones

Brett and Rennie Sparks, a.k.a. The Handsome Family, have been releasing records for the better part of a decade now. Singing Bones, their sixth regular release (not counting the internet-only rarities disc Smothered and Covered in 2002), is their first … Continue reading →

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Robert Earl Keen’s Farm Fresh Onions

OK, I confess! I’ve occasionally judged a book by its cover. And I’ve sometimes judged a musician by his or her fans. Robert Earl Keen, f’r instance. Keen’s a good ol’ Texas boy best known for his frat-guy party anthem, … Continue reading →

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Wicked Tinkers’ Banger for Breakfast

Recently I attended a Wicked Tinkers show at the Portland Scottish Highland Games. As I said in my review of the show, “The Wicked Tinkers are crazy in the way that only very, very good performers can be, with a … Continue reading →

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Various artists’ It’ll Come to You … The Songs of John Hiatt

If any American popular songwriter is due a tribute, it’s John Hiatt. He’s been writing and recording his pithy, blues-influenced songs for some three decades, and had songs covered by dozens of more popular artists, but has never had his … Continue reading →

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