A.A. Bondy- When the Devil's Loose
I got A.A. Bondy's first album, American Hearts, last May (I did a post on it then) and loved it. When the Devil's Loose, his second album, has been out for a little while, but just I finally got around to buying it. I purchased it with little hesitation, and upon the first couple of listenings, it has not let me down. It should be noted that Bondy is originally from Birmingham, so obviously it's good, since nothing bad has ever come out of Birmingham (except for Larry Langford).
Robert Plant & Allison Krauss- Raising Sand
I based my decision to buy this album mostly on hearing the songs "Killing Blues" and "Please Read the Letter," which I had heard on internet radio stations before. I figured that it might be similar to All the Roadrunning, the album that was put out in 2006 by Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris (an album which I hate at first, but eventually became one of my favorites). The actual duet on Raising Sand are easily some of the highlights of the album, and I feel like Krauss' solo songs are a lot weaker. It could have something to do with all of the pedal steel that's present in the duets... Perhaps the other songs will grow on me as I listen more.
Zac Brown Band- The Foundation
Part of me still can't believe I bought this album. One of the main reasons I don't like popular country music is because of the trite and cliche lyrics. Perhaps no song embodies trend this more than the Zac Brown Band song "Chicken Fried," but for whatever reason, I absolutely love it. There are a couple of Jimmy Buffetesque songs on here too which I would love to listen to while sitting on the beach by the Gulf (assuming there aren't tar balls everywhere). It comes across as a pretty unsophisticated album at first, but I think that there is some better instrumentation and some more lyrical depth than there initially appears, and the guys are from Georgia, so how could I not like them? Plus, Ben the Bunnyman, of the Regular Guys fame, is featured on the last track. I guess I can consider this my "guilty pleasure" purchase.
Posts
5 comments:
Love reading your blog; found it somehow through the blogosphere. You might be interested in Futurebirds from Athens, GA. Give it a shot when you have some time.
"Raising Sand" is one of my favorite albums. Hubby and I saw Robert Plant and Allison Kraus in concert a couple of years ago and it was amazing. They sang a duet of Zepplen's "Black Dog" that was so cool. Hope the album grows on you - it's great!
I think Zac Brown was a solid purchase, especially because it fits into the Southern genre and into the Jimmy Buffet country/Caribbean genre. Another words, you killed two musical birds with one album.
I absolutely love raising sand. What a great album.
It's time to check out Ray LaMontagne if you're not familiar.
Post a Comment