BUY THIS ALBUM!

Ok, I can't give any better recommendation than the fact that I did buy this album, even though I'm supposed to be getting a free copy in the mail.  (You can still send it Mary, I bought it on ITunes and would still enjoy having a physical copy of the album.)  I've been excited about this album for awhile now, even before she decided to record it.

The album is Mary Lasseigne's Mary Jane and the Brian Surgeon.

I first became a fan of Mary Lasseigne when I saw her singing background for other acts.  She been around for awhile now, singing as part of a group or doing backups with such artists as Susan Cowsill or Paul Sanchez.  For a brief while she was a member of Cowboy Mouth.

This is pop music at its best.  Mary has a wonderful voice and her music is as good if not better than anything out there right now.  While the music bounces the lyrics deal with love lost, parents missed and memories of Katrina.

Till now she's been content to be in the background.  To be a member of a group.  I hope this won't be the only solo album we see from her.  Coming up soon will be our first full length Voices to hear interview and Mary Lasseigne will be our first interviewee.

BUY THIS ALBUM!

I admit I'm a late comer to the party.  This is Caroline Herring's fourth album and somehow I've missed out on how good this woman is until recently.  Originally from Mississippi but more associated with the Austin music scene Caroline took herself out of her comfort zone to make her newest album.  She made the album in Connecticut away from her usual studios and with only the producer David Goodrich adding sparse accompaniment.

As a songwriter herself Caroline decided to put the words of other writers on this album.  She covers "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper and taking nothing from the original she makes the song her own.  While she covers other writer's song on this album she still contributes her own material to the album.  For her writing is not a quick easy process as she explains on how she came to write the first song of the album:

"I've been working on the first song, "Tales of the Islander," for several years.   The melody has changed a lot, the structure has evolved. It's about Walter Anderson, a Mississippi artist whom I've always loved. He was a naturalist and I'm not. It took me awhile to understand his world. I was intrigued with his long trips to the islands around Mississippi, and I wanted to know what he got out of them, what he saw. He was so thirsty for life, and when he was on a good jag, he was so aware and just drinking in everything at once. In the end, I built the song around this little cottage he lived in that no one was allowed to go into. After he died, his family went in and discovered in addition to thousands of pieces of art that he had painted magnificent murals on the walls. Each wall was part of a day's cycle: sunrise, sunset..."

Some other reviews of this album:


Folk singer-songwriter Caroline Herring’s keening alto and hummingbird vibrato will grab you hard on her blisteringly beautiful new album, Golden Apples of the Sun.
                                                                       No Depression


Simple, austere, and lovely, the best moments from Golden Apples shine under a classic folk glow, as crisp and clear as a New England fall morning.
                                                     Pop Dose


Caroline Herring has a warm and earthy presence that just oozes off of Golden Apples Of The Sun. Her songwriting is top notch and her vocal performances are warm and right and draw the listener out of his/her shell.
                                         Wildy's World

 Full of fingerpicked acoustic guitar and solo vocals Herring's album is an intimate musical document that will remind anyone who was around in the ‘60's why they loved "folk music."

                                                   Enjoy The Music.com

As should be evident this is a really good album.  It made the top ten list of our Best Albums of 2009, so it definitely is worth buying.

BUY THIS ALBUM!

This is going to be hopefully a regular column, appearing every Monday, that will talk about an album that we feel is worth your hard earned coins.  There's a lot of music out there and probably not enough money in your wallet to buy all that you want, so our aim in this column is to try and steer you to what we feel is worth the money.  It's not always going to be new stuff, our criteria will be that the album is available from at least Itunes or Amazon.  Nothing we hate more than to hear about some great music and than not be able to find it anywhere.  Of course we'd like to point you towards a lot of new stuff, so if we have it we'll do the pointing.  Any artists that want to send us your album for a chance to be featured see the sidebar with info on how to contact us.  

Our choice to lead off our new column is the anthology album Bound To Go.  The album is by Andrew Calhoun and friends.  The description of the album from its home page is:

Bound to Go includes authentic spirituals, shout songs from the Sea Islands, prison ballads and rare secular folk songs. “Run to Jesus” is the song that first gave Frederick Douglass the notion of escaping from slavery. With an essay and historical/folklore notes on the songs. Recorded with trumpet, fretless gourd and 5-string banjo, guitars, fiddle, cello, harmonica, piano, percussion and many wonderful singers! 72 minutes running time. Cover painting by Gullah artist Jonathan Green. In memory of Joy Calhoun, who worked for justice in the Civil Rights movement, 10% of income from sales goes to support programs for children, half to College of Charleston's African-American history camps, half to Williams Preparatory Academy Arts programs, 2710 S. Dearborn in Chicago.(www.jonathangreenstudios.com)

This is an amazing album.  If you're looking for a pop hit this is not the place to be looking at.  These songs are part of history.  The singing on the cuts bring you to the feel of when they were first sung.  There's not a lot I can say about this album but it is definitely worth you buying.