Corrina Rose Logston - Bluegrass Fiddler

Rating: 4/5

Review
Fine music and playing

As its name suggests, this is an album of bluegrass music where the fiddle is strongly to the fore throughout.  It's well played and enjoyable, although I find that a few tracks at a time are enough.

Corrina Rose Logston is a very fine player indeed.  She has delved into some of the less well-known parts of the bluegrass repertoire, which makes for an album with a very traditional feel which I like a lot.  Her band of guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass play excellently, most of the time in a support role but with the occasional lead sound which shows what fine musicians they all are.  There are just two vocal numbers (I Don't Blame You and Foggy Mountain Top) in which Logston does a good singing job, too. 

My only reservation about this disc is that in spite of the variety of waltzes, hornpipes, reels and so on, I find an entire album of fiddle music just a bit much.  However, in smaller chunks it's just great and you may not share my personal reservations.  Certainly it's an album of enjoyable music, excellently played by very good musicians and I can recommend it.

Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker - Overnight

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A lovely album

This is a lovely disc.  I saw Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker supporting Richard Thompson recently and was impressed enough to try their album; I'm very glad I did.

This could be described as modern folk music with Josienne's voice and Ben's guitar well to the fore.  There is some occasional subtle added instrumentation and the effect is lovely.  Josienne has a very beautiful voice and really knows how to use it to put a song across; she has an excellent balance of emotion and restraint which gives every number a real meaning.  Ben is a very fine guitarist who is thoughtful, imaginative and very skilful in his work, so the combination of the two of them produces something rather special in places, I think. 

The material is thoughtful with a tendency to melancholy, which is fine by me, but I do think it could do with a little more variation in emotional tone.  On stage, Josienne has a very engaging dry wit in her introductions and I'd like to see a little more of that shine through the music.  Nonetheless, this is an album of good songs, very well performed and I can recommend it warmly.

Magna Carta - Seasons

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Still good in parts

This remains a pretty decent album in places, but for me it's more of a pleasant nostalgia trip than something which still has real musical merit.  I never owned a copy of Seasons, but heard it a lot as someone would often play it when I met up with friends when I was 17 or 18.  It may give you an idea of the sound of Magna Carta that I did (and still do) own a copy of Tir Na Nog's eponymous album and I realise I've muddled tracks from the two albums up in my mind in the near half-century since then.

Track 1, Prologue lasts about 20 minutes, took up the whole of Side One of the LP and has that acoustic guitar and pleasantly harmonized folky sound which I loved, along with spoken passages about minstrels, a pilgrim drawing his mantle tight about him and so on which really appealed to me at that age.  Frankly, it sounds a bit juvenile to me now but it still has a period charm which I rather like.  It was always a very one-sided album for me and Side Two's collection of shorter songs still sounds pretty thin, I'm afraid.

I have rounded 3.5 stars up to a rather generous 4, because  if you have an interest in the folky sound of the late 60s/early 70s, this is probably worth getting for Prologue and – who knows? – you may like the rest more than I do.  Cautiously recommended.

Doo-Wop - The R&B Vocal Group Sound 1950-1960

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A cracking set

This is a cracking 3-CD set.  It's a refreshing mixture of very well-known tracks and some real obscurities which forms a very decent guide to R&B-style Doo-Wop in the 1950s.  The digital transfers have been well done and the sound quality is very good.

Frankly, the track list speaks for itself.  Serious collectors will probably have these tracks (although perhaps not all of them); I'm a more casual enthusiast with quite a few of these elsewhere in my collection but there's a whole lot here I didn't know and which I'm very glad to have.  It's terrific music and a source of huge pleasure.  Very warmly recommended.

Amelia White - Rhythm of the Rain

Rating: 4/5

Review;
A very good album

Amelia White is a fine artist and this is a very good album.  I liked last year's Home Sweet Hotel and Rhythm of the Rain is even better, I think.

The album has plenty of punch from both White and her band, with songs to match.  They are well crafted and tell a good variety of stories; the standard is good throughout with evocative lyrics based in telling detail and couple, like the opener Little Cloud Over Little Rock and Said It Like A King really stand out for me.  She has a great, smoky, laid-back voice with real soul and power and I was powerfully reminded of Eliza Gylkison several times – which is high praise.

In short, if you like good Americana you'll like this.  Warmly recommended.

Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings - Rocking The Roots

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Great stuff

This is an album to make you tap your feet and smile.  It's not a wild departure for Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings; as you'd expect from the title, it's a live album of Rock & Roll, Blues and Jive gems, which is exactly what I want from them.  It's all brilliantly done, as you'd expect from a band of this quality – including true greats like Georgie Fame and Albert Lee.

It's well recorded and is just a pleasure to listen to.  Probably not much more needs to be said; if you like Bill Wyman's work, you'll like this.  Warmly recommended.

Top Topham - The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Disappointing

I have discovered many, many very fine albums through Mark Barry's recommendations.  For me, though, this wasn't one of them.  

Unusually, I wasn't quite as taken with this album as Mark and some others have been.  It's an instrumental album which is fine by me; my reservations lie in that I don't find Top Topham's playing very inspiring.  He's a good guitarist, there's no doubt about it, but much of the time here I don't find much in the way of soul or inner fire in what he does.  The style struck me as bit like Hank Marvin's playing on the early Shadows records; I love those records and Hank's playing is simply great in the context, but for me that same slightly pop-ish feel doesn't quite fit with the bluesy material here.  As a result, I found this a bit of a disappointment.  It's not a bad album by any means, but after a while I start to miss any real guts in the music and I get that "do I really want to hear another track of this?" feeling.

Plenty of good, thoughtful reviewers think this is a really good album so don't let me put you off, but personally I'm not bonkers about it.

Chris Smither - Live As I'll Ever Be

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A brilliant album

This is a brilliant album.  I'm generally not all that keen on live albums, but Chris Smither is often at his best when playing live and solo, and this is an example: it's a songwriting and guitar genius at work.

Smither has been making quietly excellent albums for almost 40 years now.  His songs are enjoyable, original, thoughtful and often witty and they are widely admired and recorded by other songwriters and musicians.  No-one does them quite like he does, though; he's a fabulous guitarist and a really good singer of his own material and the combination (with his feet providing a rhythm track) produces something really special.  There are endless highlights here, including an utterly wonderful cover of Killing The Blues, and it's an album I return to again and again.

If you don't know Chris Smither's work, this would be a pretty good place to start.  If you do, just buy this; it's the great man performing superbly.  Very warmly recommended.

Sharon van Etten - (It Was) Because I was In Love

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent album

This is excellent.  I came rather late to Sharon van Etten's work with Are We There and then the wonderful I Don't Want To Let You Down EP, but I hadn't heard her debut album before this remastered reissue.  I am very glad to have heard it now.

Sharon van Etten is an excellent songwriter; she manages to be quirky, often eschewing ordinary structures, while remaining melodic and very listenable.  Her lyrics are often quite dark, often remarkably honest and always fascinating and the combination produces something special, I think.  She is also a very fine performer, with an almost agonised delivery sometimes, excellently thought-out harmonies and a way of often sliding around and onto a note which brings real depth of feeling to her vocals.  The remastering seems very good to me, giving each song depth and genuine atmosphere, and it's a very fine album as a result.

In short, this is a really good album by a really good singer-songwriter.  Warmly recommended.

Kris Delmhorst - The Wild

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A fine album

This is a good album from a very fine artist.  Kris Delmhorst, as well as being an excellent songwriter, has a lovely, individual delivery.  It's less evident in The Wild than in some of her previous albums, but she has a way of sometimes hitting a note from below and sliding onto it which is extremely effective and evocative.  Combined with good material and excellent production, this makes the album a bit of quiet class, I think.   For me, it tails off a bit with the two closing tracks, but it's still a fine piece of work and warmly recommended.

(I would also strongly recommend Delmhorst's Strange Conversation from 2006, which I think is an absolutely superb album and one of my all-time favourites.)

Rough Guide to East Coast Blues

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A great collection

You simply can't go wrong with these Rough Guides to the Blues.   I have lots of them now and they are all excellently curated, have remarkably good sound for the age of the recordings and, above all, contain fantastic music.

This is a collection of East Coast Blues which is very ragtime-influenced, so it's often pretty good-time, foot-tapping music.  There are some very well-known names here, including people like Blind Blake, Blind Willie McTell (from whom Ralph McTell took his stage name), Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee…it's a roll call of astonishingly brilliant musicians which speaks for itself.  There is also some less well-known people, but they're all very good and I am glad to have made their acquaintance.

I make no pretence at expertise in the Blues, but I am a fan and I listen to a lot (and attempt to play some, too).  These Rough Guides are a treasured part of my collection; they are invariably an great listen in themselves and often introduce me to stuff I didn't know and send me off looking for more.  Personally, I am especially fond of this kind of ragtime blues and the wonderful guitarists who play it, and I can recommend this very warmly indeed.

Megan Henwood - River

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A fine album

I have somehow contrived to miss Megan Henwood's music until now and I took a bit of a punt on River having heard good things about her.  I wasn't sure what to expect but I'm impressed.

This is an album of melodic songs with both musical and lyrical intelligence.  They are very well produced so the overall sound is just great and Henwood's vocal performance is terrific, I think.  She sounds at times a little like Martha Tilston with echoes of Thea Gilmore and – especially in The Dolly, her love song to Oxford – of Janis Ian.  She deserves comparison with these excellent singers, but she's unmistakeably her own woman with her own sound and her own message. 

Just as a little example of Henwood's lyrical ability, I think this, from Apples, makes a telling comment rather beautifully:

"She wipes her tears with her sleeves

Where her heart used to be

For she's swallowed the keys

With her medicine."

River is a fine, thoughtful and very enjoyable album with a good, varied selection of material.  Even at a time when we exceptionally blessed with so many very fine female singer-songwriters, I think it stands with some of the best of recent albums.  Warmly recommended.

Blodwyn Pig - Ahead Rings Out

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Still a good album

Well, this took me back - and it has aged pretty well, I think.  I was 15 when Ahead Rings Out came out and had a mate who was bonkers about Blodwyn Pig.  (The only reason I remember the French for pig is that he once wrote a piece for French homework about his favourite group, Blodwyn Cochon.)  I heard this a *lot* as a result and liked some of it very much, while I wasn't so keen other parts.  Nearly 50 years on, that's still the case.

I agree with other reviewers that this is a very good album of blues/jazz. For me the strongest tracks are the straight-up blues like Dear Jill and The Change Song (both superb) and a lot of the funkier fusion tracks are also good.  I still struggle with the more modern-jazz parts (I've never been able to cope with The Modern Alchemist, for example) but that's just me.  There is quality music-making throughout and that is what gives this album such durability.

The remastering is excellent.  Personally, I can take or leave the bonus material because I like to hear an album as the set list was originally conceived, but I know plenty of people will enjoy it and overall this is still a very recommendable, enjoyable album.

The Perfumed Garden (5CD Box Set)

Rating: 5/5

Review:

A track list for this very good set

This is an extraordinary set.  There are a lot of very good psych/underground compilations available from this period but I think this is probably the one I like best of those I have.  That's mainly because I have very little of it anywhere else.  (I have added a track list to the end of this review because there isn't one on this page.)

The Perfumed Garden really does find some obscurities.  I was aged 11 to 18 when this music was coming out and a pretty diligent listener to John Peel and other radio which played out-of-the-mainstream stuff, but I didn’t know an awful lot of what's on here.  In all honesty, in some cases that turns out not to have been much of a loss, but the vast majority is good stuff, with the occasional real stand out – which is exactly what I'd expect from a big compilation like this.  And, of course, you will have different loves and dislikes from me.

In short, this is a really good box.  The transfers are good; the slightly mushy sound on a few track is just how some records sounded then and reflects the original recordings (and to me is extremely evocative).  You get an awful lot of music for your money and almost all of it is good, so if you have an interest in 60s/early 70s psych, then I can warmly recommend this.

Disc 1
1. Factory - Try A Little Sunshine
2. Eyes - You're Too Much
3. Syn - Grounded
4. Nimrod - The Bird
5. Smoke  - Sydney Gill
6. Birds - No Good Without You Baby
7. Shy Limbs - Reputation
8. Game - It's Shocking What They Call Me
9. Frame - Doctor Doctor
10. Mandrake Paddle Steamer - Strange Walking Man
11. French Revolution - Nine Til Five
12. Vamp - Floatin'
13. Syndicates - Crawdaddy Simone
14. Sands - Listen To The Sky
15. Tintern Abbey - Vacuum Cleaner
16. The Craig - I Must Be Mad
17. Open Mind - Magic Potion

Disc 2
1. Kult - No Home Today
2. Eyes - When The Night Falls
3. Poets - Baby Don't You Do It
4. Ace Kefford Stand - For Your Love
5. Rupert's People - Reflections Of Charles Brown
6. Thane Russal & Three - Security
7. Deviants - I'm Coming Home
8. Fleur-De-Lys - Liar
9. Kult - Mister Number One
10. In-Be-Tweens - You Better Run
11. Uglies - I See The Light
12. Glen Athens & The Trojans - Let Me Show You How
13. Gary Leeds & Rain - Francis
14. Les Goths - Turn Over
15. Drag Set - Day & Night
16. Fleur-De-Lys - Mud In Your Eye
17. Accent - Red Sky At Night

Disc 3
1. Longboatmen - Take Her Anytime
2. Miller - Baby I Got News For You (Oak Version)
3. Les Goths - Out Of The Sun
4. Shyster - Tick Tock
5. Majority One - Get Back Home
6. Groundhogs - Sad Go Round
7. Herbal Mixture - Please Leave My Mind
8. Pete Sully & The Orchard - Evil Woman
9. Adams Recital - No Place For The Lonely People
10. Cedars - For Your Information
11. Wolves - Lust For Life
12. Actress - It's What You Give
13. Reign - Line Of Least Resistance
14. Barry Mason - Over The Hills
15. Boeing Duveen & The Beautiful Soup - Which Dreamed It
16. Andwella's Dream - Felix
17. Serendipity - Through With You
18. Rupert's People - Hold On

Disc 4
1. Flies - Magic Train (Demo Version)
2. Joint - Dinosaur
3. Blonde On Blonde - Spinning Wheel
4. Magic Mixture - When I Was Young
5. Tucky Buzzard - Time Will Be Your Doctor
6. Timebox - Barnabus Swain
7. Simon's Secret - I Know What Her Name Is
8. Please - The Road
9. Orang Utan - Magic Playground
10. Arcadium - Poor Lady
11. Flaming Youth - Pulsar
12. Monument - Give Me Life
13. Five Day Week - Straw People - Does It Rain
14. John Mclaughlin - Siren
15. Animals - Gratefully Dead
16. Arzachel - Leg
17. Deviants - Jamie's Song

Disc 5
1. July - The Way (Long Version)
2. Pacific Drift - Feelin' Free
3. Camel - Where Is My Mind

4. Bulldog Breed - I Flew
5. Wynder K Frog - Eddie's Tune
6. Aynsley Dunbar - Warning
7. Will Malone - Love In The Afternoon
8. Dear Mr Time - Your Country Needs You?
9. Complex - Self Declaration
10. Twink - Fluid
11. Eyes Of Blue - Crossroads Of Time
12. Dogfeet - Mr Sunshine
13. Bram Stoker - Extensive Corrosion

Cara Dillon - Wanderer

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A lovely album

This is a lovely album.  Cara Dillon is a very fine singer and she has put together a collection of beautiful songs in largely acoustic arrangements which suit both the songs and her voice very well.

The songs are mainly traditional, with just a couple of (very good) original pieces and they are all very well done.  It takes a brave artist to tackle Blacwater Side, for example, given the greatness of existing versions by Bert Jansch and others, but this is terrific; like every song here it is heartfelt, thoughtful and musically excellent.

If I have a quibble with Wanderer, it's that it's a little relentlessly melancholy, with a preponderance of songs of heartbreak, betrayal and yearning for home.   Each track is lovely of itself, but as an album I think it could do with just a little more of an emotional lift in places.  Listening to it all through it can begin to sound just a little samey – which is a shame for such lovely music.

Nonetheless, this is a fine album of lovely songs, excellently performed.  Recommended.

Chris Smither - Leave The Light On

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Brilliant

This is a brilliant album.  How have I not come across Chris Smither before?  He's been making superb records since the late 70s and I am deeply indebted to Mark Barry for introducing me to him a little while ago.  (Do check out Mark's excellent "guidebooks" to great recordings – I have found them a rich source of great recommendations.)

Chris Smither is a brilliant guitarist in a blues/alt-country-ish genre.  Echoes of people like Doc Watson, Leo Kottke and John Fahey are detectable in his style, but he has his own marvellous, smooth and apparently effortless way with the guitar which is just a joy to listen to.  Combine this with a great vocal delivery which is somewhere between JJ Cale and Leon Redbone and excellent, often witty songwriting and you have someone who should be far, far better known than he is.

Leave The Light On is a terrific album from 2006 with a fine variety of songs from the quiet and touching Father's Day, through things like the great blues playing and singing on Shilling For The Blues to the brilliantly witty Origin Of Species.  It's just an album of fine songs, brilliantly performed and which I keep going back to.  I strongly, strongly recommend giving this a try; I'll bet that, like me, you love it and then search out Smither's other work.  This is a rare, top-quality treat.

Fotheringay - Fotheringay 2

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Genius singing, less good in other ways

I know that many people regard Fotheringay as a truly great album by a great group, but for me, this album confirms what I have thought since I bought their first album all those years ago: that Fotheringay were a competent band with an absolute genius as a singer. It's really good in places, but when Sandy Denny isn't singing, I think it's pretty ordinary.

Sandy's vocal work on Fotheringay 2 (compiled from recordings made in 1970) is just fantastic. Her distinctive timbre, her beautiful phrasing and genuine feeling are there in everything she does, and it's a poignant reminder of what we lost by her death. Even thoroughly well-worn songs like Wild Mountain Thyme become truly moving when she sings, even with a slightly unsympathetic backing. The rest is…well, it's OK. Knights Of the Road, for example, doesn't feature her and it's perfectly decent, but for me doesn't stand out from the huge swathe of similar stuff from around that time.

So, a qualified recommendation from me, although plenty of people think far better of it than I do. For me it's some welcome Sandy Denny but not much more – but it's still well worth hearing.

John Moreland - Big Bad Luv

Rating: 5/5

Review :
A very good album

This is a really good album.  I tried it (like a lot of other people) having seen John Moreland supporting Jason Isbell a while ago.  I liked his set then, but there is so much good Americana around at the moment that I wasn't sure this would stand out.  I was wrong - it really does stand out: good tunes, fine singing and intelligent, thoughtful lyrics engaged me on first hearing and the album has grown on me since then.

Moreland's voice and style has echoes of both Isbell and Springsteen to me, but he's his own man with his own stories and insights.  The tone is rather downbeat (although there's a very moving expression of hope and redemption in the last few lines of the closing track) but it's never depressing.  Moreland has fine a lyrical gift, often expressing things freshly – like this little example from the excellent Lies I Chose To Believe:

"Good luck finding your peace of mind

Being born into these gruelling times;

These days I don't pray when I close my eyes,

I just bite my tongue a bit harder."

or this fine, arresting opening from another standout, No Glory In Regret

"Did you hear the Devil laughing as the ambulance passed

Or was that just my troubled mind?"

I think these are very classy lyrics throughout which, combined with fine, straightforward tunes, very good arrangements and performance and a great vocal delivery make this a really good piece of work.

Big Bad Luv is one of my albums of the year so far, and I don't say that lightly.  If you like Americana, make sure you give this a try.  Personally, I'm going to have a good look at Moreland's back catalogue; on this evidence he's a class act and I can recommend this album very warmly.

Blue Angel - Blue Angel

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Fine vocals from Cyndi Lauper

This is a pretty good album.  I missed it completely when it came out in 1980, but tried it now because I wanted to hear Cyndi Lauper's early work and I'm glad I did.

What lifts this above the ordinary is Lauper's vocals.  The band is decent but nothing special and the material is pretty generic stuff, with nothing to stand out.  However, Cyndi Lauper brings a touch of real class here, with her slightly quirky but very powerful and often quite soulful delivery.  Without her, this would be a very forgettable effort, I think, but the singing makes Blue Angel an album which I'll keep listening to.

So, not a classic, but a decent effort made into a good album by a genuinely star singer.  Recommended.

Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs Present English Weather

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A terrific compilation

This is a terrific compilation.  There's a mixture of fairly well-known bands and (to me, anyway) very obscure stuff, and it gives a really good picture of the prog scene as the 60s moved into the 70s.

I turned 16 in 1970, so this is pretty much the sound of my adolescence.  I knew some of this music at the time, largely through listening to people like John Peel on Top Gear (later excitingly retitled Sounds Of The Seventies), but some of it was entirely new to me.  As with any compilation, I like some more than others, but it's a very intelligent and lovingly compiled selection, much of which is surprisingly melodious with some very lovely harmonic work, too.  Prog could be a pretty hard slog sometimes, but I found little of that here and most of it is very listenable without ever being facile.  (I'd forgotten quite how many flutes there were at the time – and not a Jethro Tull track in sight on this album, either.)  It's both musically intelligent and an enjoyable listen.

If you have any interest in the prog/underground music of the late 607s and early 70s, I can warmly recommend this disc.

Rough Guide To Ragtime Blues

Rating: 5/5

Review:
An excellent compilation

Amazon seem to have conflated reviews from a variety of discs here; to be clear, this is a brief review of The Rough Guide To Ragtime Blues.

It's brief because all that really need be said is that this is another excellent selection from Rough Guide.  The music is simply fantastic and a reminder, if one were needed, of what phenomenal guitarists and performers so many of those old blues players were.  There's lots of terrific stuff here from people I knew but some more obscure gems which I didn’t know, like the Allen Brothers and Pillie Bolling, for example.  It's enormously enjoyable stuff throughout.

The sound quality is pretty good in general, especially considering the age and circumstances of some of these recordings, and this is a really cracking compilation all round.  Very warmly recommended as an introduction to this wonderful blues genre.

Stephen Stills & Judy Collins - Everybody Knows

Rating: 3/5

Review:
Unexciting stuff

I'm afraid I don't think all that much of this album.  It's performed by two towering greats of music, but the result really isn't that great; it's pleasant enough but pretty forgettable and with none of the stardust which covered the work of both Collins and Stills in their glory days.

The album actually gets off to a pretty decent start, with a version of The Traveling Wilburys Handle With Care which has enough originality in it to make it a worthwhile cover version.  However, this is a complete album of covers, and I find the rest of it pretty bland and unimaginative.  Girl From The North Country?  Again?  Why?  Everybody Knows is just more evidence for the old saw that no-one can sing a Leonard Cohen song the way Leonard Cohen can't…and so on.

I don’t want to be too harsh, because there are some decent harmonies in places and the band do a good job with some slightly unimaginative arrangements, but overall I can't get very excited about this.  It's not going to get many airings here, and I'll be sticking to my Collins and Stills albums from that magical period in the late 60s and early 70s which produced so much great stuff from both of them.

Paul Brady - Unfinished Business

Rating: 5/5

An excellent album

I think this is an excellent album.  To my shame, I hadn't come across Paul Brady until recently when Mark Barry's fine book of Overlooked Albums guided me to Brady's 1978 album Welcome Here Kind Stranger.   I liked it enough to try this new release and I'm very glad I did because it's a very enjoyable bit of class.

Unfinished Business is a very enjoyable, varied collection of songs; it includes a couple of traditional ballads in excellent arrangements and a great collection of co-written material which goes from the touching to the witty (I *love* I Love You But You Love Him, for example), to the toe-tapping and everything in between.  Musically it's great, with direct melodies and great arrangements and production which make it accessible without ever being facile.  Brady himself is a terrific musician and a very fine singer, and the overall effect is just great.

It's always a real pleasure to come across an unexpected gem and that's what this has been for me.  There's a lot of very good folky/country-ish music being made at the moment and this is among the best of it, I think.  My advice is to listen to a few samples and if you like what you hear, don't hesitate.  This is a fine musician in great form and very warmly recommended.

Brandy Clark - Live From Los Angeles

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A very good live album

This is a very good live album from Brandy Clark.  She's a fine songwriter and her albums so far have been excellent.   Here she shows that she can give a very fine live performance, too.

This is a small-scale, acoustic set; Clark is backed by just her own guitar and the vocals and excellent guitar work of Miles Aubrey and the effect is great.  Her songs tell fine stories and they come across with genuineness and real power here.  Even rockers like Stripes lose none of their bite and the tender songs like Hold My Hand are beautifully intimate.  The chat between songs is engaging and witty and although I could have done with a little less whooping from the audience, the recorded sound is excellent and very nicely balanced.

I have loved Brandy Clark's two studio albums so far and this is a fine addition to her output.  She deserves far greater recognition, in my view; I doubt that a live album will achieve this, but it's a very pleasing treat for her existing fans.  Warmly recommended.

Jake Bugg - Hearts That Strain

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A very good, country-tinged album

Ladies and gentlemen, Jake Bugg has left the building.  Or at least, he's left the building in Clifton where he grew up and has moved on a long way from that raw, electrifying power which made his first album so spellbinding.  Here he has moved as far as Nashville, and it shows in the very country-tinged sound of this album.  I think it's a very good album, although not everyone may agree.

You can't go on being an angry teenager forever, and Jake Bugg has mellowed but his songs still retain a melancholy, rather bleak tone.  I suspect some of the people I grew up with in Nottingham might have described him as a bit of a miserable bogger.  There's nothing wrong with that in music, though, and there are some lovely songs on Hearts That Strain.  In The Event Of My Demise, Indigo Blue and the title track show a real musical depth and developing lyrical skill, I think; he has the ability to write words which don't quite make literal sense sometimes, but still convey something important.  It's a major quality of Dylan's and Leonard Cohen's work, and while I don't want to bracket him with those two towering geniuses it's a sign that there's enduring and developing talent here.

I liked Jake Bugg's first two albums very much but wasn't nearly so taken with On My One.  This, while not quite having the sensational impact of those early records, is a fine album again and an indication that Bugg still has a lot to offer us.  Recommended.

Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue & Bambu

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A very good package

Most Beach Boys fans (like me) will want these two albums in their collection, and this is a good package.  You get plenty of bonus material with the original Pacific Ocean Blue, which is a very decent album, and Bambu, which…well…isn't, really.

Pacific Ocean Blue, originally released in 1977 is rather a lovely album, I think.  I can't agree that it's a major classic, but then very few albums are.  It has some fine songs on it – River Song and Rainbows especially, for me – and lots of genuine feeling and atmosphere.  It is quite lushly produced with strings and choirs, and it works extremely well.

Bambu, the intended follow-up, went unreleased for decades and frankly, I can see why.  It's unfinished work, but even allowing for this, it is very weak by comparison.  The material is pretty forgettable and Dennis is trying out a range of different styles; the result isn't dreadful, but after a while I just start to think "Why am I listening to this?"  It's interesting historically, but not really musically.

So, this package is ideal for me.  You get all the relevant material without having to splash out on the mediocre Bambu on its own - which I would have done, and then been disappointed.  Dennis Wilson's overall legacy is huge, of course, and it's good to have all of this available in addition to all the wondrous Beach Boys work – and Pacific Ocean Blue is one to cherish.

Hadda Brooks - Jump Back Honey

Rating: 5/5

Review:
A cracking collection
 

Hadda Brooks was unknown to me until I was steered toward her by Mark Barry in his excellent Overlooked Albums book.  I tried this, and it's terrific.

Hadda Brooks was a fine singer and a very good pianist, too.  This is a collection of varied songs from love songs and heartbreak ballads to some terrific boogie-woogie.  It's an absolute delight as a collection, and the transfers and remastering seems excellent to me, so the sound is very good.  I can recommend this to anyone with an interest in the music of this period, or just very good quality music.  It's a little cracker.

Jason Isbell - Southeastern

Rating: 5/5

Review:
Exceptionlly good

I think this is something rather special. This was an almost random selection for me on a vague recommendation and it turned out to be an outstanding album of real quality, with fine songs and excellent performances.

The album has a feel of singer-songwriter about it. Even though there is some lovely support work from a band and some other singers in places (including the very good Kim Richey), the real impact is from Jason Isbell's fine singing and guitar work. There is a melancholy air over the album, with the songs dealing with loneliness, broken relationships, human flaws and the like. This sounds very miserable but isn't; Isbell creates lovely singable melodies with excellent arrangements and production, and a variety of tones from solo voice and guitar to full rock band sound. It is certainly often poignant and touching but somehow never depressing.

What makes this quite exceptionally good, though, is Isbell's lyrics, in my view. He tells stories and conjures emotional states with exceptional depth and it gives the songs real impact. This is at its most raw in Elephant, a stunning song about a friend dying of cancer. There are a lot of great lines in it, like "Surrounded by family, I saw that she was dying alone..." I have had far more experience of loved ones dying of cancer than any one person ought and, among the euphemism and untruth the living comfort themselves with, it is very unusual to find anyone with the perceptiveness and insight to see the truth and the courage to speak it. I think it's a remarkable song, and Isbell brings a similar level of thoughtfulness and honesty to many of the songs on this album.

It is always a joy to discover new music of this quality, and I will certainly be listening to Jason Isbell's back-catalogue very soon. For now, I'm listening to this album repeatedly and getting more out of it each time. I'd recommend this very warmly to anyone who likes beautiful, thoughtful and intelligent songs.

For Adults Only (Compilation, Fireball Records)

Rating: 4/5

Review:
Very amusing and some good music, too

This is very funny, and in places rather good musically.  It's what it says it is: a load of filth in various styles from Doo-Wop to Soul to Surf… you name it, really.  Much of the humour comes from the contrast between the apparent innocence of the style and the frankly outrageous language and subject matter of the lyrics.  I'm afraid it just makes me smile to hear explicit sexual acts described in a song which sounds like one of those completely innocent Inkspots numbers, for example.  And Think Twice by Jackie Wilson is a first-rate soul record, to – albeit with language which is not for the faint hearted.

Not all of this is all that good and it's not something I listen too regularly, but just a few favourites now and again always lift my mood.  Pretty obviously, if you're offended by explicit sexual references and bad (well, appalling, really) language, then this isn't for you, but personally I think it's an enjoyable hoot.

(I have appended a track list, with some words abbreviated to try to allow this review throught Amazon's filth filters.)

1. Marty And The Mufftones  - It's So Hard To Say I Love You (When You're Sitting On My Face)  

2. Connie Lingus - F Me Forever       

3. The Perversions - Did He Eat Your Titty? 

4. The Echos - Sit On My Face          

5. Couto & The Milligans - Everybody Is An A-hole (To Somebody Sometimes)    

6. Jackie Wilson & LaVern Baker - Think Twice ['X' Version]        

7. The Blenders - Don't F Around With Love

8. Harry Hepcat & The Boogie Woogie Band - Streakin' USA          

9. The Clovers - Derby Town

10. Screamin Jay Hawkins - Bite It (Last Night)        

11. Blackie Kidd - Hot Nuts  

12. Slim Gaillard - F Off (The Dirty Rooster)           

13. The Bangers - Baby Let Me Bang Your Box        

14. The Clovers - The Rotten C-suckers Ball

15. Chinga Chavin – A-hole From El Paso    

16. Connie Vannett - The Pussy Cat Song      

17. Adam Martin & The Pickers - Yo Yo      

18. P. Vert - Stickball

19. Jack & Basil - Get Ready (French Style) 

20. The Dildos - F Off           

21. David Trout - The Fast Food Song           

22. Dicky Williams - Come Back Pussy        

23. Dick Curless - The Iceman           

24. James Lee Meadows - Uranus Is Out Tonight      

25. Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Constipation Blues       

Suzanne Santo - Ruby Red

Rating: 4/5

Review:
A very good album

I am very impressed by this album.  I tried it because I like HoneyHoney but wasn't sure what to expect from Suzanne Santo on her own; what I got was a very good album with some fantastic highlights.

The first thing to say is that this woman can really sing.  I don't mean that she belts it out all the time (although she has real power when it's needed), but she has a great, slightly husky voice, excellent control and an ability to really put the meaning of a song across.  There are places here (notably in Best Out Of Me) where her tone, phrasing and ornamentation remind me quite strongly of Adele – and I mean that as high praise.  The material is pretty raw stuff, with lots of drink, drugs, unhealthy relationships and obsessions and so on (including some very frank language); Santo sets the tone in the searing opener, Handshake, and although the album is quite varied in style, it's largely pretty dark – which is just fine with me. 

I confess to being surprised by how good this album is.  Not everything is brilliant, but there's nothing poor or weak, and the best tracks are really excellent.  Ruby Red deserves plenty of attention, and personally I'll be looking out for more of Suzanne Santo's solo work.  Warmly recommended.