Over two albums, the Books have plucked sampled voices from their original context and arranged them inside simple compositions for sliced-and-diced guitar, banjo, and cello. They’ve taken moments of contemplation– when one understands something on an emotional level but can’t quite articulate his thoughts– and dressed it up in a melodic frame. By transmitting at the frequency of pre-conscious association and intuition, Thought for Food and The Lemon of Pink were immediately accessible despite absences of obvious reference points. Both records felt like gifts, demanding little from the listener but paying out...

Wrecking Ball is a 1995 Emmylou Harris album that found the country music singer veering away from the traditional acoustic sound for which she’d become known, to team up with rock producer Daniel Lanois (most commonly associated with U2). The album has been noted for its murky, atmospheric feel, and featured guest performances by Steve Earle, Larry Mullen, Lucinda Williams, and Neil Young (who wrote the title song). Though her choice of songs had always been eclectic, the album was regarded as a departure for Harris who, by the age of 48, had become something of an elder stateswoman in country music. It received almost...

“…located along the boardwalk in downtown “Seabrite, on the Joisey shore, home of the 5 cent beer, women and lowly blues…”.  well, this is the mindset offered by this interesting group of wannabees (except for one professional who keeps as low key as possible) who create a wonderful parody of the blues performed of days gone by, or at the very least how they envision it;  “if only they could play it.”   Too bad their talents aren’t quite equal to their vision, but they more than make up for it with energy, enthusiasm,  satire and style.  They perform in secret and only to a lively,...