Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Jenny Lewis: Acid Tongue

I'm a big fan of Jenny Lewis (also of Rilo Kiley) and her first solo record, Rabbit Fur Coat (with the Watson Twins). That album featured such great songs as The Big Guns, Rise Up with Fists!! and a fantastic cover of The Traveling Wilbury's Handle with Care featuring Death Cab's Ben Gibbard, Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and She &amp Him's M. Ward. Rabbit Fur Coat was released on the New York-based Oberst/Krenkel-founded label Team Love .

Released on 9/23, Acid Tongue (click for production and label credits) is Jenny's second solo album and it's got some great stuff, I particularly like the title track which features just an acoustic guitar and a bass playing behing Jenny and the backing vocal talents of (Lewis' boyfriend) Jonathan Rice and Chris Robinson (of the Black Crowes).

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Blitzen Trapper: Furr



I've been really enjoying Portland, Ore.-based Blitzen's Trapper new pastoral folk-rock album Furr (released in September on Sub Pop). The previous three albums were self-released and Wild Mountain Nation, clearly got people's attention. They've been getting a lot of positive press lately from Billboard, The Onion, and Rolling Stone, among others. Their touring a lot this Fall as well.

Title Track (Furr) via SubPop.

Blitzen Trapper on the web:

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Amie Miriello

From Richard Paton of the Toldeo Blade:

I CAME AROUND Amie Miriello (BellaSonic)

This is the debut both of Miriello and her label, and it is a fortuitous pairing. Miriello is a fresh new voice, though she also shows the confidence and flair of a more seasoned artist on this disc of songs that she co-wrote and which journey through pop, rock, folk, and alt-country.
The songs are rich melodically, given vitality and rhythmic energy by her tight backing band, and feature lyrics that are everything from clever to sad to wry.
She sometimes affects an almost conversational style of writing, as on "Brand New," when she talks of the guy who looks like "the kind of a person who would take me to a party on the wrong side of town." On the wonderful, folky "Drifter," she writes of a relationship in which "Tonight I feel you come back home like a drifter, finding shelter in these arms."
There are occasional echoes of other singers - can a hint of Joni Mitchell be heard in "Beauty of Goodbye," a folk-rock hybrid with a great chorus? - but Miriello has her own voice as performer and writer.
As if to prove it, she closes out the disc with a tougher, more bluesy sound on "Hey," showing yet one more side of a singer comfortable in many genres.
This is a strong debut. One of those discs that keeps getting better each time you hear it.

Amie on the web: