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CD Reviews

Various Artists: Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies from the Canyon

Numero Group
Who’d have guessed we’d live to see a revival of the ’70s female singer-songwriter?

By ELIOT WILDER | May 01, 2006

Dave Attell, Sean Rouse, Greg Giraldo, and Dane Cook

Dave Attell's Insomniac Tour Uncensored! | Comedy Central
Even if Attell and his cronies couldn’t say “fuck” on this DVD record of a wild on-stage night in Vegas, they’d still be funny.

By TED DROZDOWSKI | May 01, 2006

Dave Douglas

Meaning and Mystery | Greenleaf
Dave Douglas’s expansive vision has encompassed chamber groups like his Tiny Bell Trio, a string ensemble, large- and small-scale electronics, Balkan folk music, and Messaien.

By JON GARELICK | May 01, 2006

The New Orleans Social Club

Sing Me Back Home | Burgundy/Sony
Good intentions do not great art make.

By CLEA SIMON | April 24, 2006

Keith Fullerton Whitman

Lisbon | Kranky
Consisting of one new 42-minute track recorded live in guess-where, Lisbon encapsulates the best moments from Keith Fullerton Whitman’s two Kranky-released full-lengths.

By ELI ANDERSON | April 24, 2006

The Fiery Furnaces

Bitter Tea | Fat Possum
Last fall, Matt Friedberger told me that he and his sister Eleanor had been working on some snappy girl-group love songs for their next album.

By SIMON W. VOZICK-LEVINSON | April 24, 2006

Amandine

This Is Where Our Hearts Collide | FatCat
Amandine are four Swedish guys who used to call themselves Wichita Lineman after the Glen Campbell tune.

By MIKAEL WOOD | April 24, 2006

Vernon Reid & Masque

Other True Self | Favored Nations
Guitar hero Vernon Reid is a multi-faceted player who’s lucky enough to have outlets for all his roles.

By TED DROZDOWSKI | April 24, 2006

Cassandra Wilson

THUNDERBIRD | Blue Note
Cassandra Wilson seemed to have settled into a steady state of artful, loose-tempo, dreamy jazz pop. Which is why it’s so refreshing to hear her singing over actual grooves on Thunderbird .

By JON GARELICK | April 24, 2006

T.I.

King | Grand Hustle/Atlantic
Atlanta rapper T.I. pushed 500,000 King units the first week, but I don’t think his pro forma rags-or-riches movie debut ATL or America’s boner for all things Southern deserve the credit.

By NICK SYLVESTER | April 20, 2006

Built to Spill

YOU IN REVERSE | Warner Bros.
With the exception of certain hipper-than-thou types, the verdict on You in Reverse , Built To Spill’s first album in five years and their sixth overall, is unanimously — almost giddily — positive.

By MATT ASHARE | April 14, 2006

Wooden Wand & The Vanishing Voice

Gipsy Freedom | 5RC
This sprawling New York–based freak-folk collective, led by James Toth (who’s recorded solo as Wooden Wand, minus the Vanishing Voice), play some of the scene’s loosest, least crossover-concerned music.

By MIKAEL WOOD | April 14, 2006

Two Gallants

What The Toll Tells | Saddle Creek
It’s not difficult to figure out how Two Gallants, a band who borrow their name from the title of a James Joyce short story, wound up on Conor Oberst’s indie powerhouse Saddle Creek.

By CHRIS BROOK | April 14, 2006

Tres Chicas

Bloom, Red & the Ordinary Girl | Yep Roc
For Tres Chicas — Whiskeytown’s Caitlin Cary, Hazeldine’s Tonya Lamm, and Glory Fountain/Let’s Active’s Lynn Blakey — it’s all about the harmonies.

By TED DROZDOWSKI | April 17, 2006

Edu K

Frenetiko | Man
Edu K may be among the first of a wave of Brazilian artists to bring the recently popularized style of bass music to the States via domestic release, but don’t call it “baile funk.”

By CHRIS NELSON | April 17, 2006

The Sounds

DYING TO SAY THIS TO YOU | Scratchie/New Line
The lanky fashion plates in this likable Swedish combo like to play up their punk pedigree in publicity photos.

By MIKAEL WOOD | April 10, 2006

Din

LONGHAIR MUSIC | Din
If you’ve seen Din play clubs, odds are you’ve been both impressed and confused.

By BRETT MILANO | April 10, 2006

King Edward

THE HISTORY OF KING EDWARD | self-released
Deep in the Mississippi Delta there’s still a breed of performer who’ll play until the last drunken soul can sit on a stool and wrench everything out of what would seem to be utterly shopworn blues.

By TED DROZDOWSKI | April 11, 2006

Tchicai/Kohlhase/Fewell

GOOD NIGHT SONGS | Boxholder
Despite the low-key instrumentation — two reeds, one guitar — and predominantly slow tempi, this disc offers new rewards on every spin.

By JON GARELICK | April 10, 2006