CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Raising Sand

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Rounder

Release Date October 23, 2007
"Raising Sand" is the haunting and brilliant collaboration between Robert Plant and Allison Krauss; it opens with my favorite track - the Sam Phillips song "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us", which quickly demonstrates that there's a lot more going on here than the "Led Zeppelin goes Country" preconception that the notion of these two artists working together conjures up. The album continues with track after track enjoyment and surprise. This is yet another triumph for producer T Bone Burnett, who has incisively crafted a breath-taking soundscape, supported by some of the finest musicians working today, where the whole is deliriously more than the sum of the parts. It all sounds so effortless that you know it must have been quite the opposite ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Last Days At the Lodge

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Amos Lee

Release Date June 24, 2008
Though the singing is great and the instrumental pleasing throughout, this CD doesn't quite match the lofty standards set by his first two CDs.

But it is still a strong album and, after a few more listens, grew on me so much that it's now on constant rotation at my house. Highlights include "Listen," "Baby I want You," "What's Been Going On," and "Better Days."

Give it a try. It gratifies in a way most music cannot.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Dans les Airs

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Le Vent Du Nord

Release Date October 09, 2007
Every time I listened to this album I remember seeing Le Vent du Nord live.

I discovered them at the Sebastopol Celtic Festival. The positive energy level in the room was amazing! I just wish I could have been there the day before when they (along with Baka Beyond) gave a concert for 500 local elementary school kids. Reports are that the kids went totally nuts: jumping up and down, twirling around, and dancing in the aisles.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Dirt Farmer

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Levon Helm

Release Date October 30, 2007
This is my favorite album of the past two years. That 's saying alot because many fine albums have been pressed. However Levon Helm captures the soul of America and sings with a heartfelt passion very seldom heard. Bravo to Leon

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

A Piece of What You Need

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Teddy Thompson

Release Date June 17, 2008
Definitely a different style of production for Teddy Thompson. I like that he challenges himself on each record and this one is no exception. It is more "poppy," but I think that it works well for him. Teddy is one of the few new artists that I look forward to each new release. There's nothing about this CD that won't have me buying the next one.

Really good music, played well, and with a great vibe.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Yael Naim

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Yael Naïm, David Donatien

Release Date March 18, 2008
For those who like the new generation of female singers like Sarah Harmer, Ingrid Michaelson and Feist, Yael Naim is a great addition. Her songs, in English, French and Hebrew, are very melodic but not too slow or countrish. I like the fact that she doesn't have a heavy accent but nevertheless has one. I think that her songs even has some sort of "coolness", which may be the reason why Apple chose to use one of her songs on the commercial of the new Mac Air.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

CD-Charts > Music > General
from: Buena Vista Pictures

Release Date December 05, 2000
especially "Lonesome valey" - i like it most - this one is the peace of masterpeace.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Essential Leonard Cohen

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Leonard Cohen

Release Date October 22, 2002
I downloaded this album from Amazon after seeing the Leonard Cohen documentary ("I'm Your Man") on the Sundance Channel. You just forget how many great songs Leonard wrote until you hear a compilation like this. I had also recently downloaded the 25th anniversary edition of Jennifer Warne's "Famous Blue Raincoat" album (another collection of Cohen songs) and the two have quickly become members of my top ten albums on my iPod...

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

The Very Best of Peter, Paul & Mary

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Peter Paul & Mary

Release Date August 23, 2005
Listening to these powerful and earnest songs some 40 plus years on is to marvel at the times they were created in. Modern Folk music has its roots in socially progressive activism (think Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie) which then evolved into the more psychedelic aspects of Bob Dylan. The magic of Peter, Paul and Mary was in the presentation. They mixed sweet harmonies into the messages and then took them to the pop charts. As such, their importance to musical history simply can not be understated.

Their discography includes top ten singles from Seeger ("If I Had a Hammer"), Dylan ("Blowing In The Wind") and powerful statements of their own. "The Great Mandela" is the apex of 60's moral questions; Do you fight for your country or do you resist the ethical quagmire ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too

CD-Charts > Music > General
by: Martha Wainwright

Release Date June 10, 2008
I was really looking forward to another Martha Wainwright release. This album disappoints on so many levels. It is not even comparable to her self-titled album that came out a few years ago. Her folksy sound is all but drowned out by electronic drum beats, strings and electric guitars. If her previous album hadn't been so good maybe I would have been a little more fair with the review of her latest one. I've listened to the album several times now and there really isn't a high point to remember. Boring.