New Music
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Bestival Live 2011
"When The Cure 2011's Bestival back in September it marked their first UK show in some two years. But little had changed in the band's world - unsurprising, really, as few contemporary bands can claim to have spanned features in Sounds, Smash Hits and NME with such enviable ease." -- BBC Music
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Common Ground
Grammy-winning jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton's first studio album since 2005 showcases a new quartet. The quartet was one of the headliners at the Twin Cities Jazz Fest this summer.
"Common Ground stands alongside the many landmark albums in Gary Burton's vast discography." -- 4 ½ out of 5 from All Music Guide
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Cults
This debut from Brooklyn natives Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin of Cults is full of dreamy girl-group-inspired melodies while the songs touch on deeper issues of substance abuse and the pain of moving from adolescence into adulthood.
-- Midwest Tapes"...Cults plants something a bit darker beneath its sunny pop songs..." - NPR Music
"8.5 out of 10...it executes what it sets out to do masterfully while allowing the group room to grow and mature." - Pitchfork
"...hummably sweet." - Entertainment Weekly
"...deliciously young pop... " - SPIN -
El Camino
Guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney conjure up an exhilarating, stadium-sized sound in collaboration with producer and friend Danger Mouse. El Camino boasts a no-nonsense brilliance: The pace is fast, the mood is upbeat, the choruses unfailingly addictive made for shouting along, preferably in a large, sweaty crowd.
A band already at the top of its game has gotten even better. -- Amazon.com -
Eleven Eleven
Dave Alvin revisits the burning, guitar-centered blues rock that initially defined his career along with his band the Blasters in the late 1970s.
-- Midwest Tapes"3 1/2 out of 5...Roots-rock vet blasts through American's back roads." - Rolling Stone
4 out of 5 from All Music Guide
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Emotional Traffic
"Tim McGraw is country's tough-but-tender specialist, at ease enough in his Stetson to forsake macho posturing and plunge into emotional thickets. His 11th LP is his most assured, with a dozen sharp songs about middle-American struggles." -- Rolling Stone
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Lioness: Hidden Treasures
Following her tragic passing on July 23, 2011, some of the producers and musicians who worked closely with Amy Winehouse spent time listening over the many recordings that Amy had made, before, during, and after the release of albums Frank and Back To Black. It quickly became apparent that they had a collection of songs that deserved to be heard.. -- Amazon.com
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My Heart
Classics and previously-unheard tunes.
"...that crystalline voice remains a welcome delight." -- Entertainment Weekly
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Red
"Some fans may know Frampton as the titular second half of pop-punk outfit Meg & Dia, but to most, she's the throaty pixie who finished second on The Voice. With Red, she pledges allegiance to no single genre, flitting confidently from Blondie-style disco-pop and floaty acoustic folk to the kind of big-chorus country proffered by her Voice coach Blake Shelton, who turns up for a duet on "I Will"."-- Entertainment Weekly
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Ruthie Foster: Live at Antone's
Recorded live at Antone's in Austin, Texas, these tracks captured from all of Grammy-nominated Ruthie Foster's acclaimed albums including Stone Love; Runaway Soul; and Ocean of Tears.
-- Midwest Tapes"Soul, blues, gospel, and to a lesser extent, folksinger Ruthie Foster was probably tired of hearing fans say her albums were good but never quite captured the vitality of her live show. She rectifies that on this CD/DVD set. It captures her with an expanded and very hot band in front of a rowdy crowd at Austin's legendary hot spot Antone's."
-- 3 ½ out of 5 from All Music Guide -
Smod
The debut from SMOD fuses American rap, folk, and blues music with traditional Malian styles. It is a politically-conscious album that addresses inequalities across African history via impassioned French lyrics.
-- Midwest Tapes"4 out of 5." - Songlines
"Afto-hip-hop from a band of Maian pop royals...The album brings Bagayoko's gorgeous West African-style guitar work and a sweet French flow." - Rolling Stone
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The Essential Rosanne Cash
The idiosyncratic and innovative music of Rosanne Cash, daughter of Johnny Cash, made her one of the pre-eminent singer/songwriters of her day. Although she is often classified as a country artist, her music draws on many genres, including folk, pop, rock, and blues. Many of the selections on the Essential compilation are signposts of sorts for the landmarks of her life, and the personal and musical are essentially interwoven.
-- Midwest Tapes". . . Essential is more than just a well-compiled greatest-hits album: it allows us to watch an artist evolve from strength to strength over the course of 36 songs, and it's a fascinating and truly impressive collection from an artist who has never chosen to stay in the shadow of her father and his legendary music . . . "
-- 4 ½ out of 5 from All Music Guide
