New Music - April 2011

Lloyd Jones

Genre: Blues

Longtime Oregon bluesman sets his band on the backburner for this collection of traditional folk blues. Throughout his career, the guitarist has played with Big Mama Thorton, Charlie Musselwhite, Big Walter Horton, and more.

Too Slim & the Taildraggers

Genre: Pop/Folk

Bombino

Genre: World

A young and charismatic Tuareg guitarist came of age during an era of armed struggle. His music echoes the sound of fellow Africans Tinariwen and Ali Farka Toure.

Paul Simon

Genre: Pop/Folk

Songs that, "combine the freewheeling folk of 1972's Paul Simon with the brilliant studio sculpting of Graceland. It's his best album since 1990's The Rhythm of the Saints, and it also sums up much of what makes Simon great."

Brett Dennen

Genre: Pop/Folk

Laid-back folk/pop singer-songwriter's fourth album. With a jazz-influenced manner of phrasing and singing, and a socially conscious mindset to his songs, Dennen is influenced as much by Billie Holiday as Tracy Chapman and Dave Matthews. ($13.95)

k.d. lang

Genre: Pop/Folk

Lang returns to the "torch and twang" of her earlier albums, backed by her new band, the Siss Boom Bang. Lang's new material ranges from Roy Orbison-like country crooners to a tender cover of David Byrne's "Heaven."

Steve Earle

I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive

Genre: Pop/Folk

Produced by T Bone Burnett, alt-country chart-topper Earle calls this his most country album in several years. Earle has also released a novel with the same title.

Thao & Mirah

Pop/Folk

Two Portland musicians, as heard on NPR: "Separately, each has crafted a distinct identity. Mirah's songs are intimate yet robustly produced folk songs built around her breathy, mercurial voice. Thao's approach is more rollicking; she wails and warbles with raw energy and plays guitar with loose but impeccable chops. Together, they complement each other perfectly."

Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland

Jazz/Blues

 The two-year-old co-operative James Farm – saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland – have the look of a post-bop supergroup. Improvisationally, they sound like that, too, particularly with Redman's slow-burn subtlety and purity on ballads, and agility and punch on fast pieces.