Featured Releases 9/1/09

A.A. Bondy

When the Devil's Loose

[mp3] A.A. Bondy: "I Can See the Pines are Dancing"

When the Devil's Loose, Bondy's sophomore record, features the same excellent songwriting that made his debut American Hearts one of the finer folk/americana releases of the past few years. This go round the tunes are expanded into full-band arrangements, but retain their intimacy and charm. 

These United States 

Everything Touches Everything

[mp3] These Untied States: "I Want You To Keep Everything"

These United States have turned in a so-so effort, following up their praised album Crimes.  Everything suffers from a slight case of schizophrenia. It tries to update the americana sound with flashes of modern "indie" that somehow don't seem to gel. This is a solid band, and they didn't make a poor record, it's just hard to understand what it wants to be. 

Black Crowes

Before the Frost / Until the Freeze

[mp3] Black Crowes: "I Ain't Hiding"

We haven't made it all the way through this record yet, so we will reserve judgement. Yet, this morning we've been previewing tracks, and damn if this doesn't sound like a badass modern take on The Band. Of course, one would expect that, given the Crowes recorded in Levon Helm's home studio. Yet, there is a looseness and flexibility here that hasn't ever been seen on the Black Crowes' more radio focused records. So far, this has been a fantastic listen, and we're looking forward to hearing more.