4. March 2014
Things You Can Buy Today 04 March 2014
 |
| Drive-By Tuckers – ‘English Oceans’ |
Drive-By Truckers – ‘English Oceans‘
“English Oceans also marks the first time that Cooley effectively shares the spotlight with Hood. Despite being a founding member and full partner since the band’s inception, Cooley has always sort of been regarded as the band’s secret weapon. He was the man whose classic country baritone voice and spare, quick-witted lyrics provided a refreshing change of pace three or four times an album from Hood’s more elaborate storytelling and thin tenor vocals. This time around, though, Cooley has six songs, Hood has six songs, and Cooley sings a Hood-penned track for the first time. This even split turns out to be a near-perfect adjustment to the band’s lack of a third songwriter for the first time in a dozen years, as it keeps the album from feeling like a Hood record attributed to the whole band.” – Chris Conaton (PopMatters.com)
Rufus Wainwright – ‘Best Of Rufus Wainwright‘
“Despite some inevitable omissions, Vibrate is a faithful survey of the now 40-year-old’s career, from the lush piano and strings-based pop of his early material ( Foolish Love, April Fools with sister Martha on backing vocals, Grey Gardens ) through to 2012’s Mark Ronson-produced Out of the Game…The tracks from Want One , Wainwright’s 2003 magnum opus, are especially spellbinding for different reasons – from the grandiose baroque pop of I Don’t Know What It Is and Go or Go Ahead to the heartrending Dinner at Eight , one of the finest father-son songs ever committed to tape. The simplicity of his simple piano ballad The Art Teacher (culled from 2004’s Want Two ) beautifully showcases Wainwright’s rich, swarthy voice, a characteristic that continues to define his music today, as heard on a new song, Me and Liza .” – Lauren Murphy (Irish Times)
FUEL – ‘Puppet Strings‘
“Rock & Roll is very much alive and well on this album,” says Brett Scallions, the frontman of Fuel. The band’s new album Puppet Strings marks its first with Scallions in 10 years.
The sound is pure, anthemic rock inspired by the punk records of the band’s youth (the heavy, driving “Yeah” and first single, “Soul to Preach To”) and the Memphis blues sound that taps into Brett’s Tennessee roots (“Hey Mama”). “We were simply trying to write the best songs we possibly could, ” adds Brett, who wrote the album with guitarist Andy Andersson and bassist Brad Stewart, formerly of Shinedown. “With Andy and Brad, I found the unity I’d always craved.”
nothing – ‘Guilty Of Everything‘
“A profoundly thoughtful, beautifully crushing wave of droning distortion, the album is epic and stirring, even unnerving at times, but it carves a path toward enlightened serenity. Guilty of Everything opens with a warm, ringing guitar as Palermo, his gentle falsetto buried just behind the mix, sings of “summers spent in a well,” alone and far from home. It’s melancholy, but it feels like a reassuring balm to life’s ills — just before the song erupts with the pulverizing tumult that comes to define much of the record.” – Robin Hilton (NPR.org)
Support Great Artists & Your Local Indie Record Shop,and Buy Some Records