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CD Reviews
Submitted by sramser on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 20:51.
Record Label: Shout! Factory For his fourth solo album (counting his long out-of-print debut, Mythologies), Rhett Miller finally gets to just be himself. His last two albums had him playing the roles of The Instigator (2002) and The Believer (2006), but now, with this self-titled release, Miller strips away those labels and the one for which he’s best known, lead singer of the Dallas band Old 97’s, and offers up a set of tunes that reflect a conflicted psyche. Lyrics come from a dark place, but are masked by jaunty melodies and Miller’s exuberant charm.
Submitted by sramser on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 20:52.
Far more than a tribute, Steve Earle’s Townes helps correct the record, so to speak. The man he calls the “maestro” was not all that well represented by most of his studio recordings, with the exception of 1987’s At My Window. Even though all 15 tracks here bear Earle’s firm and unmistakable artistic stamp, they also evoke visions of what might have been had Townes Van Zandt’s albums been produced with the insight, imagination and artistic empathy they deserved.
Submitted by sramser on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 20:54.
Given that it’s been 11 years since his rock-solid major-label debut, Life of the Party, and five since his last outing — the very good Good Times — it’s easy, on first pass, to mistake Beautiful Day as the best record Charlie Robison’s ever made. Frankly, it’s a three-way tie, though Beautiful Day does stand out as the best work he’s ever done without Lloyd Maines at the helm (Robison produced this one himself).
Submitted by sramser on Tue, 07/07/2009 - 20:56.
Album: Dirty Little Secret Record Label: www.carycooper.com True to its title, Cary Cooper’s Dirty Little Secret plays like a night of bedside confessions — some fun and flirty, others hinting at perhaps even deeper secrets best left hidden. But even when revealing her guilty pleasure of sharing questionably platonic phone calls on the sly with a man who’s not her significant other, Cooper’s delivery is softened with a reassuring sweetness that makes you want to hear more.
Submitted by sramser on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:43.
Album: Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away Maine-born, Austin-based troubadour Slaid Cleaves really knows how to time an album for the depths of a recession. His breakthrough release, Broke Down, coincided with the economic downturn of 2001, and now Everything You Love Will be Taken Away comes, well ... now.
Submitted by sramser on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:45.
 The last we heard from Fastball was 2004’s Keep Your Wig On — a terrific outing handicapped by scant promotion. The band took a break, worked apart and then came together again in 2007 to start writing new material.
Submitted by sramser on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:46.
Album: Heat Sin Water Skin Record Label: www.bettysoo.com If her first album since adding “Kerrville New Folk Winner” to her resume isn’t quite the revelation that Betty-Soo’s second album was, that’s only because 2007’s Little Tiny Secrets didn’t leave a whole lot of room for improvement. Heat Sin Water Skin adds producer Gurf Morlix to the mix — an inspired, left- field pick — but more than anything, this outing’s more of a reinforcement of the Spring native’s considerable strengths as a singer and songwriter than a radical change of pace. And that’s a compliment both to BettySoo and Morlix.
Submitted by sramser on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:48.
Record Label: Smilin' Castle The members of Del Castillo wrote most of the songs on this self-titled album together in the space of one week. Maybe that’s why they have a unity and strength that makes the band’s fourth release their best yet. A balanced mix of ballads and higher-intensity tunes sung in English and Spanish, Del Castillo conveys a new level of nuanced fluidity, with a greater maturity in Alex Ruiz’s vocals and lyrics, particularly on the sweet love song “Little Angel.” Of course, guitarists Rick and Mark Del Castillo are never less than impeccable.
Submitted by sramser on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:49.
Record Label: Lost Highway Like his label-mate, Hayes Carll, Ryan Bingham is one of the few young guns to come out of the Texas scene in recent years to garner critical cred on par with his Lone Star draw. Winning a following with the frat crowd is one thing; but Bingham’s ragged-beyond-its-years voice and equally world-weary words earned him raves from elder statesmen of Texas cool Joe Ely and Terry Allen long before his 2007 major-label debut, Mescalito. Fittingly, Roadhouse Sun swaggers a lot more than its predecessor; who wouldn’t swagger with accolades like that?
Submitted by sramser on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 21:50.
Album: The Century of Self Record Label: Richter Scale/Justice Released through their own Richter Scale imprint, Trail of Dead’s sixth album feels like a re-affirmation of self and constitutes their best effort since 2002’s Source Tags and Codes.
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