...Geoff Smith - "Fifteen Wild Decembers" - Contemporary, cool-blooded, piano-driven minimalism with Nicola Walker Smith's soaring vocals filtered through some nineteenth century-ish existentialism. Think Shelly, Bronte, Keats, Dickenson, etc. Lovely and smart music in all respects. Rewards repeated listening.
...Lila Downs - "La Sandunga" - The epitome of modern Mexicana vocal art. At once classically traditional and jazzily fresh. Feminine, worldly and delicately commanding. A breathtaking beauty. An unknown star.
...Mark-Almond - "Night Music" - These guys are more adaptable to the times than Hall and Oates. Lush, electrified, pro-ambient, discretely soulful, gentle jazz with an edge. A brilliantly crafted studio disc of non-ironic pop romance for grown ups.
...Prazak Quartet - Janacek's String Quartet #1 (" Kreutzer Sonata") - These Bohemians have been together since students in 1975. It shows. Loving and masterfully instructive in the music and the form. It is a wonder to see them live. Formal and immensely engaging.
...Tony Joe White - "Lake Placid Blues" - ...Of "Poke-Salad Annie" and "In The Ghetto" fame. This man is crafty. You've never heard of any of these songs but every single one coulda/shoulda been a hit. Artful, richly common stories of life on the road and in the swamp. J.J. Cale's smart, twin brother separated at birth. Love and regret abounds but tomorrow is a new day.
Bonus. Black Diamond Heavies - "You Damn Right" - The Doors on meth meet Robert Johnson on heroin. Heavyweights in more than name alone. This poor, white trash Blues trio is full of naive courage and a sweaty, consumptive hunger. They cast a mist of fun afloatin' in the heat rising off the thighs of nineteen year virgins. Quirky, dark, sexy, punkish first tier blues. Organ-driven, "slides"ville. Best played real loud.
