The Lonely Goatherd Blog And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats - Matthew 25:32
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Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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All original content on MoreThings.com copyright 2008 Albert Barger or the respective authors
March 17, 2009
New CD Album Releases, 3-17-2009: Marianne Faithfull, Willie Nelson, Nick Lowe There's at least one worthwhile new album this week, Easy Come Easy Go by Marianne Faithfull. She presents herself her as an interpreter of songs - and quite a good one. Her singing here is about the best she's ever done, and the arrangements are unique and strong. The more I listen to this, the more I dig it.
Pretty nearly all these performances range from good to excellent, but I'm most taken with the opening "Down From Dover." This jazz arrangement and her singing will run head to head even with Dolly Parton. That's pretty damned good right there. Her version of Bessie Smith's "Easy Come, Easy Go Blues" is pretty sweet too.
This American release features 12 songs. There was an English release last fall with 18 songs. Most of the best are naturally among the 12 songs here, but I note the absence of two particularly good songs among the half dozen missing. Sarah Vaughn's "Black Coffee" is an obvious good fit for Ms Faithfull, though her arrangement is closer to the original than most of the album. Most missed though is "Salvation." The power of her arrangement - particularly the swirling organ, combined with the pure authority of her voice absolutely runs rings around the original by the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Naked Willie might be subtitled Willie Nelson's Revenge. These are recordings he made on RCA from 1964 to 1970. In Chet Atkins' Nashville, the songs were served up Nashville Sound pop style, with lots of slick group vocals and strings and such - exactly the stuff that inspired the whole country outlaw movement. These 17 tracks are his original 1960s recordings with all that stuff he always hated scraped off.
Quiet Please: The New Best of Nick Lowe is certainly a bargain for $17 with 49 tracks on two CDs plus a DVD. About the only song I notice missing is "Failed Christian," but you can't have everything. The DVD includes nine videos of various vintage, plus a whole concert recorded in Belgium.
Here's the complete list of this week's major new album releases:
Nick Lowe Quiet Please: The New Best of Nick Lowe Yep Roc Pub Rock, Pop/Rock, Power Pop, New Wave, Country-Rock, Rock & Roll, Roots Rock
Willie Nelson Naked Willie RCA Nashville/Legacy Outlaw Country, Country-Pop, Progressive Country, Traditional Country
Kelly Joe Phelps Western Bell Black Hen Contemporary Blues, Modern Acoustic Blues, Acoustic Blues
Wavves Wavvves [De Stijl] De Stijl Noise Pop, Noise-Rock, Indie Rock, Lo-Fi
Sam Bisbee Son of a Math Teacher Le Grand Magistery Adult Alternative Pop/Rock
Bonnie "Prince" Billy Beware Drag City Indie Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Lo-Fi
Marianne Faithfull Easy Come Easy Go Decca U.S. Pop/Rock
Mick Fleetwood Blues Band Blue Again! Savoy Jazz Blues-Rock
Angela Gheorghiu Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly EMI Classics Post-Romantic Opera
Heavy Metal Kids Anvil Chorus [Bonus Tracks] Lemon Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Heavy Metal Kids Heavy Metal Kids [Bonus Track] Lemon Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Henri Ledroit Charpentier: Rendez-moi mes plaisirs Ricercar Baroque Music for Voice and Ensemble
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! Lost Highway Retro-Soul, Modern Electric Blues, Retro-Rock
The Long Blondes Singles Angular New Wave/Post-Punk Revival, Indie Rock
Mazes Mazes Parasol Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop
Ian Munro Blue Rags Tall Poppies Contemporary Piano Music
Aldo Nova Subject...Aldo Nova Portrait Album Rock, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Aldo Nova Twitch Portrait Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Katrin Scholz Haydn: Violin Concertos Berlin Classics Classical Violin Concertos
Trio Dali Ravel: Piano Trio; Sonata for Violin & Cello; Violin Sonata Fuga Libera Modern Chamber Music
Seeland Tomorrow Today Loaf Indie Electronic
Static-X Cult of Static Warner Bros. Alternative Metal
Status Quo Pictures: 40 Years of Hits [2CD/DVD] Universal Psychedelic Pop, Boogie Rock, Hard Rock, Psychedelic, Pop/Rock
Sum 41 All the Good Shit: 14 Solid Gold Hits 2001-2008 [Best Buy Exclusive Edition] Island Punk-Pop, Punk Revival
Superdrag Industry Giants Superdrag Sound Laboratories Pop Underground, Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
U-Roy 30 Massive Shots from Treasure Isle Attack UK DJ, Roots Reggae
Various Artists Coolest Songs in the World, Vol. 8 Wicked Cool Garage Rock Revival, Garage Rock
