Chris Thile & Mike Marshall
Live Duets
(Sugar Hill)

B

Website: www.mikemarshall.net, www.nicklecreek.com

Darol Anger
Heritage
(Six Degree Records)

B



Website: www.sixdegreesrecords.com

Darol Anger is a producer/arranger who has become fascinated with the reinterpretation of traditional folk tunes. On Heritage he has assembled an all-star cast including Willie Nelson, David Lindley, Jane Siberry, Vassar Clements, Sam Bush, Mary Chapin Carpenter and others who lovingly breathe new life into bedrock folk melodies such as Shenandoah, The Water is Wide and Hard Times Come Again No More. Darol coaxes out some heartfelt performances which prove yet again that the essence of great music lies in the quality of the lyrics, the sincerity of the performance and the appeal of the melody. These songs’ longevity can be traced to their universal themes that span decades and resonate with the hardships, joys and fears of this or any generation. A quiet, moving album. Folk fans take note.
Chris Brown

Frigg
Oasis
(Northside)

A-

I know absolutely nothing about Finnish or Norwegian traditional music, but boy do I like this disc. Frigg is a seven-piece unit that features violins, double bass, mandolin, Estonian bagpipes, something called the ‘Hardanger fiddle,’ as well as a host of other instruments, all of which are put to great use in offering up a cross-section of both original and traditional Finnish and Scandinavian tunes. Sometimes haunting and evocative, sometimes scorching and a bit wild, the music contains hints of the Celtic tradition, Eastern European folk music, an occasional hint of American bluegrass and even classical chamber music. Tepeq, for instance, is described as being inspired by Ingrian herdsmen’s music and French-Canadian traditional music. Somehow it all comes together as a highly listenable and integrated whole. Fun.
Jamie Howison

James Dewees (aka Reggie), keyboardist for The Get up Kids and drummer for Coalesce, is the main songwriter and multi-instrumentalist behind Songs Not to Get Married To. After going through a bitter divorce, Dewees takes a more serious look at life on this disc, creating his own sound with inspiration from his other bands. The rock songs rock hard, but the cheesy ’80s new wave makes the disc drag. Killer guitar riffs lead songs such as The Trooth, What the Hell Is Stipulation and The Fuck Stops Here with an angry, industrial stomp. The problem is the ’80s-influenced tracks don’t even approach the quality of the rockers. Sure, Deathotronic is cool, but trendy ’80s songs are just that — trendy. If you like keyboards mixed with your rock, then this is made for you.
Ashley McCurdy

Simon Bonobo has ditched the band he toured with while promoting last summer’s Live Sessions EP and returned to twiddling knobs on his own. The disc starts out with a couple of jazzy tunes. Forget the air guitar — pretend to play the trumpet on Diesler’s Sandcastles, or try belly dancing to Karminsky Experience’s Exploration. The mood gets crazy as the afro-beat of Munchies’ by Belgrade Sound System pounds through your stereo, but then it’s back to slow and soulful when Bonobo spins several of his own gems. He begins with Recurring, a track from his forthcoming album, before mashing Change Down and The Sugar Rhyme into a dreamy mess of pianos, horns and beats. Play this disc before you get to bed; the swirling sounds and twinkling harp of Super Numeri’s Otter’s Pond could make an insomniac drift off to sleep.
Shannon Ander

From Denver comes The Fray, which tries its damnedest to sound like a British band. The piano is the lead instrument, and the quartet builds emotionally charged mini-epics. With sparse instrumentation, the songs have to be extra special to come across to the audience, but it all becomes old extremely quickly. Over My Head (Cable Car) is a good radio single, but the album doesn’t offer anything more. The band compares its sound to Counting Crows and U2 — a second rate Crows, maybe. U2? Not even close. Piano-based Coldplay and Keane have songs that leave you feeling hope or sadness, but How to Save a Life leaves you feeling... well, nothing. Twelve songs will leave you comatose and bored out of your skull. Pass on this CD unless you need a surefire cure for insomnia.

Ashley McCurdy

Roots/folk girl-next-door Tristan Prettyman may be only 23, but she’s the owner of a voice that’s well beyond her years. Going from husky and seductive to sweet and girlie, Prettyman’s range keeps the otherwise simplistic Twenty Three interesting. Though this debut is a bit sunshine and lollipops, Prettyman sings like a female Jack Johnson, which adds a bit of grit to an otherwise squeaky-clean album. Joined by Jason Mraz on the sexy standout Shy That Way, this blues-afflicted songstress goes beyond the boundary of straight acoustic pop rock, but she doesn’t quite go far enough. The little bits of naughty just don’t break up all the nice on this one. Twenty Three is pretty and playful, but it lacks the substance it needs to make Prettyman more than just another girl with a guitar. We’ll give her a few more years to figure it out.

Jen Zoratti

Originally released on vinyl in the 1960s, this set of hauntingly beautiful archival recordings has been fleshed out with unreleased bonus tracks and a DVD. Compiler/annotator John Cohen has a CV that is without peer, and his tireless commitment makes this and other similar albums historically important. Dark Holler is over two-dozen tracks of unaccompanied, solo Appalachian ballad songs sung by singers seemingly frozen in time. The feature artist is the ghostly Dillard Chandler singing songs that were handed down from some of the earliest settlers in Madison County, N.C. Somewhere between a yodel and a wail, his voice sends chills down the sturdiest spine. The accompanying DVD features a black-and-white short that documents Dillard and his way of life — it’s as stark, frightening and real as the lives these people lived.
Jeff Monk