Monday, September 19, 2011


ROUTES & BRANCHES
September 17, 2011
Scott Foley

AA Bondy's Believers really sounds nothing like his previous two albums. 2007's American Hearts was Joe Pug-like folk, with strum strum-a-strum acoustic guitar and earnest lyrics. When the Devil's Loose loosened things up a bit, but still was recognizable as the same guy. Believers is a good record, mind you, coming from a different place lyrically and musically. While the guitars are still there, they are electric, layered and atmospheric. Lyrics are less direct, too, dreamlike and more impressionistic. But it all works, perhaps like M Ward or Joe Henry at moments. While my initial listen to Believers found me double checking to make sure I'd inserted the correct CD, I have found myself returning to it, catching onto themes and floating atop the album's groove.

Also on this Episode of R&B, a fine collaboration between Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland under the guise of Whitehorse, and a great new track from Have Gun Will Travel, out soon on Suburban Home records.

* Elizabeth Cook w/Bobby Bare Jr, "Rest Your Weary Mind" Balls (30 Tigers, 07)
* Eric Lindell, "Sentimental Lover" West County Drifter (MC, 2011)
* Broken Spoke, "Vamps In the Valley" Before There Were Easy Riders (Self, 11)
* Duke & the King, "Shaky" Duke & the King (So, 11)
* Whitehorse, "Broken" Whitehorse (Six Shooter, 11)
* Reckless Kelly, "I Never Liked St Valentine" Good Luck & True Love (No Big Deal, 11)
* Nick 13, "101" Nick 13 (Sugar Hill, 11)
* Andy Thorn, "Carolina Song" Fire In the Sky (Self, 11)
* Verlon Thompson, "Show We Call the Business" Works (Victor Tango, 11)
* Tift Merritt, "Write My Ticket" Tambourine (Lost Hwy, 04)
* Ryan Adams, "Lucky Now" Ashes & Fire (Lost Hwy, 11)
* William Elliott Whitmore, "Not Feeling Any Pain" Field Songs (Anti, 11)
* Micky & the Motorcars, "Thousand Tears" Raise My Glass (Smith, 11)
* Bare Bones, "Come In/Stay Out" Bare Bones (Self, 11)
* Shelby Lynne, "I Don't Need a Reason To Cry" Revelation Road (Everso, 11)
^ AA Bondy, "Heart Is Willing" Believers (Fat Possum, 11)
* Lyle Lovett, "If I Needed You" Step Inside This House (MCA, 98)
* Ana Egge, "Bad Blood" Bad Blood (Ammal, 11)
* Lydia Loveless, "Can't Change Me" Indestructible Machine (Bloodshot, 11)
* Dirt Daubers, "Can't Go To Heaven" Wake Up Sinners (Colonel Knowledge, 11)
* Have Gun Will Travel, "Thirteen Miles" Mergers & Acquisitions (Suburban Home, 11)
* Brigitte DeMeyer, "Rose of Jericho" Rose of Jericho (Self, 11)
* James McMurtry, "Red River Valley" Dark River: Songs of the Civil War Era (Blue Corn, 11)
* Casey James Prestwood, "Drug Store Truck Driving Man" Jukebox Is Busted (Self, 11)
* Blitzen Trapper, "My Home Town" American Goldwing (Sub Pop, 11)
* Chuck Ragan, "Nothing Left To Prove" Covering Ground (Side One Dummy, 11)
* Water Tower Bucket Boys, "Meet Me Where the Crow Don't Fly" Where the Crow Don't Fly (Self, 11)

1 comment:

getyaya said...

Hi:

You dont have a podcast of your shows?

hanks