The Problemaddicts - The Dark Side of Oz

A mere two years following their founding in 2006, 6-man crew The Problemaddicts undertook a project that pulled together two albums that had already coexisted comfortably in smoky dorm rooms around the world for more than 40 years: Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and "The Wizard of Oz" soundtrack (1939). As one might imagine, such an unoriginal pairing could produce one of only two outcomes: Groundbreaking or Heartbreaking. As it should already be obvious from its inclusion here, the release of The Dark Side of Oz put to rest any question of The Problemaddicts falling prey to any pitfalls that may have led to the latter. Never before has a 40-year-old concept sounded so fresh and current.

Much more than a mash-up of already-made masterpieces, The Dark Side of Oz takes elements from many source materials, including interviews with Pink Floyd, an anti-drug George W Bush speech, and plenty of other playful audio pieces-parts, which all come together with precision-cut production similar to Gorillaz or Handsome Boy Modeling School. What The Problemaddicts bring to the table is a wholly-new hodgepodge of hedonistic helpings of hip-hop goodness; and it'll keep you coming back for more. The beats are built organically over repeating riffs mined from Dark Side of the Moon. The rhymes are dropped like pennies from heaven, falling end-over-end, flipping and turning, becoming more and more dangerous as they approach the masses below, yet brilliant and rich nonetheless. Think Wu-Tang. No, I'm not really comparing The Problemaddicts to the untouchable greatness of The Wu (R.I.P.O.D.B.), but the lyrical flow of The Dark Side of Oz lays a little looser in the groove than much of today's click-tracked, on-the-beat borefests. There's something "old school" about it, like something you might've seen stacked between Spice 1 and Run DMC on "Yo! MTV Raps" back in the day.

This is an immensely complex album that could have imploded at a hundred different points along the production path, but it didn't. (Just one advantage of being addicted to problems, I guess.) Instead, this wise-cracking crew from Massachusetts (yeah, you read that right - MASSACHUSETTS) took on the task of breathing new life into old classics, and as Dr. Frankenstein would say, "It's alive!" Best of all: You can preview the whole album right here: http://www.last.fm/music/The+Problemaddicts/The+Dark+Side+Of+Oz. And like your old standardized test instructor used to warn before each section, "Do not skip ahead". This album is like the Yellow Brick Road, the fun is in the journey. The inclusion of poppies are entirely up to you.

Highlights: "Somewhere" and "Home"

Lost In The Trees - All Alone In An Empty House

Shh. As the title of the album suggests, this is best heard "All Alone in an Empty House". Normally, I tend to be drawn to simple music that makes the most of its melodies, whose sum truly outperforms its parts. But then there are multi-instrumental masterpieces like this one that start simple, before stepping outside and bringing back a bit more of the world to share. Lost In The Trees captures a brilliance and beauty that has been left behind by most of their contemporaries. The songs that make up All Alone in an Empty House aren't so much subdued as they are subtle. Sure, there's a quietness to each song that can't be denied, but there's also a creativity that can't be contained. It's a creativity that is both calculated and at the same time completely carefree. Between the finger-picked guitars and swelling orchestration, the balance that exists extends beyond the well-trodden plane where most performers plant their feet. This album is not so much a glimpse into the mind of the musician as it is a black hole of human emotion that sucks in its surroundings like a banshee breathing in reverse, signaling signs of life rather than impending doom.
As a classically trained composer at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA, frontman Ari Picker plows through each song like a balladeer on Benzedrine, melancholic and on a mission. Each song seems to draw power from places most of us can't even point to. To call Mr. Picker a "prodigy" would be to say that The Beatles were "experimental". Much in the same way that Lennon and company pushed the limit of pop music, Lost In The Trees tests the tried-and-true notions of music itself. Attesting to its brilliance is the fact that All Alone In An Empty House was originally recorded and released back in 2007, while Picker was still in school; however, since being signed to Anti- records, the album has been given a grand re-entrance on a much more sizable stage, complete with additional songs and remastering. While there are certainly some similarities with new label mates The Swell Season, Lost In The Trees stands alone in their own realm, in their own room, in their own empty house, as a troubled soul with too much talent to waste and too much time to reconsider the wrongs in life that were never made right. These songs haunt my soul as assuredly as they inspire it. Hearing it for the first time is like waking up from a dream and finding that the other side of the bed has been abandoned: Freedom filled with fear. You place your hand upon your partner's still imprinted pillow, and the band begins to play...

Highlights: "Walk Around The Lake" and "Fireplace"

J Roddy Walston And The Business (self-titled)

All hail the rebirth of Southern Rock sensibilities! J Roddy Walston fuses together dirty blues beats and even dirtier rock runs, creating a raw and raucous album that rolls in like a rush of blood to all the right places. J Roddy Walston and the Business's debut album is everything I ever wanted out of a Jack White album, minus Jack White. Instead, Walston and his Business partners come across as something of a Black Crowes/White Stripes love-child. The resulting album is track after track of loud, proud, pissed-off, right-on rock and roll. You can almost hear the hoarseness growing in J Roddy's vocals as the album advances.

J Roddy Walston and the Business just may be the greatest "bar band" of all time. From the opening piano part of "Don't Break the Needle", you just NEED a beer to fully appreciate all that this album has to offer: a whole damn house party packed into a 37.7-minute mesmerizing, messy masterpiece. The vocals veer high and low like a man who's visited the verge of Hell in his earlier days and now vacations there during down times. The guitars are gritty, gained-up and grab hold of your gut like a pitbull that can't-for-the-love-of-god let go. The percussion pivots from piano to 5-piece kit without so much as a pause, giving the band a broader base by which to build their own brand of southern symphonies. It all comes together in a cohesive collaboration of sonic screams sung to down-home ditties. This kind of rock n roll is why vinyl records and jukeboxes still exist. This isn't one of those albums that I want everyone to hear; it's one of those albums that everyone needs. I repeat: You need this album. Go get it! Now. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Highlights: "Don't Break The Needle" and "Don't Get Old"

Lissie - Catching A Tiger

It's a rare occasion that I stumble upon a new artist whose voice grabs hold of me so tightly as Lissie's voice; it's raspy, sexy, pitch-perfect, and yet not at all pretentious. On her debut album, Catching A Tiger, Lissie lays the groundwork for a career as open as the rural landscapes she recounts in her songs. She could be the next Cheryl Crow. She could turn country and become a new Jewel. Hell, given some of her cover song choices I've heard, "Bad Romance" (Lady GaGa) and "Nothing Else Matters" (Metallica), it's really hard to say where she's headed next. For the time being, I'm hoping that she just continues to pump out more of the Southern-infused folk rock that makes up this entire album. At times beautiful, at times grungy, at times as classic as classic rock gets, Lissie spans the spectrum of musical influences without sounding anything like them. Okay, that's not entirely true; anyone with an ear can hear some distinct throwbacks to bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fleetwood Mac, John Cougar Mellencamp, and others. Hailing from Rock Island, Illinois (pop.39, 684), Catching A Tiger echos the small-town/big-city playfulness that is so prevalent in its songs. Whether you like blues, rock, pop, or folk, you will find something new to love in this album and this artist. I really just can't say enough good things about her. I'm expecting great things in the future from first-name-only Lissie.

Highlights: "When I'm Alone" and "Everywhere I Go"

Elliott Smith - Figure 8

Figure 8 is an important release in the Elliott Smith discography for a number of reasons: 1) It's the last record he released before his death, 2) It's his last release under his DreamWorks contract, 3) It's his most musically exploratory release , and 4) It's the last release before Smith's drug dependencies began to interfere with his music, rather than just influence it. For those of you who've never listened to an Elliott Smith album before, you're in for a real treat. He plays unfolky folk music. He plays unrockish rock music. He plays unpunk punk music. His approach to songwriting was guided by two major components: melody and mood. As such, it's not hard to hear the Beatles fan in him hanging out in the corner of almost every composition. Smith's lyrics really leaned more toward poetic than pop aesthetics, delivered in a whispery rasp that he developed during the later years with his previous band, Heatmiser. (If you do decide to wander into the Smith back catalog, be warned: Though Smith was a frontman for Heatmiser, his solo work bears little resemblance with that band's five releases, except for maybe Mic City Sons.) And while I have a special place in my heart for all of Elliott Smith's albums, Figure 8 is my favorite. It's a bit like saying that I love this orange more than that one, but there it is. Although sometimes criticized for being "too glossy", especially for a guy whose entire repertoire reveled in its rough-around-the-edges executions, Figure 8 seemed to capture a moment in time when Smith was working at expanding his sound with experimental abandon. Having just come off the huge popularity of X/O (which had followed an Oscar nomination for "Miss Misery" from the Good Will Hunting soundtrack), Smith intentionally nudged this new material in another direction. Swelling orchestrations, intricate chord progressions, and meticulous melodies make Figure 8 one of the most beautiful albums ever recorded. Like a modern-day Simon and Garfunkel humming harmonies with himself.

Highlights: "Son of Sam" and "Everything Means Nothing To Me"

The Tom Fun Orchestra - You Will Land With A Thud

Aside from having one of the coolest album titles ever, these guys make some of the coolest music off the mainstream path. To sum them up in a word, The Tom Fun Orchestra is a "blender" band. They cull their musical influences from such vast and far-reaching genres (folk, rock, country, blues, roots) and artists (Tom Waits, for sure) that their resultant sound is one unlike anything you've ever heard before. No doubt, you'll recognize pieces and parts of myriad hitmakers who have come before them, but Tom Fun Orchestra puts all those pieces and parts back together in an odd and refreshing way that leaves you feeling a little confused, like maybe this music is a little too hip and cool for you, but then you realize that there's a nerdiness to it all that seems to open its arms like a giant bearhug holding all the world together as one. Okay, that may be overstating it just a bit, but you get the point nonetheless. What I'm trying to say here is that the music is so inclusive of conflicting genres and song structures that it excludes no one from its potential pool of listeners. If the vocals come off a little rough at first, just give it a few more minutes, it'll grow and change. And that seems to be the constant theme of the album: "growth and change." Every song has its own little existence and groove, but yet they all fit perfectly onto the collective album. And it's no mistake that the word "fun" is part of the band's name; this is a party album! They're not all hooks and grooves and bouncing basslines, (in fact none of them are) but rather just good, fun, upbeat-tempo, get-off-your-bum-and-try-something-new type of tunes. I've listened to this album for weeks at a time over the last few years, and it never gets old - it never even gets older. It's just as fresh, fun and new as the first day I picked it up. Goes well with Crooked Fingers and a party hat... and a feather boa... and a glass of champagne... and jelly beans. In short, don't bottle it up in a pair of headphones; let this one breathe.

Highlights: "When You Were Mine" and "Throw Me To The Rats"

Have Gun, Will Travel - Postcards From The Friendly City

Just released in February, this is perhaps the most recent selection to hold my heart captive. Mostly well-defined by the term "folk", Postcards From The Friendly City has something else going on, which may be called "alt-country" in some circles, even though it's more progressive than most alt-country bands that exist today. Reminds me a good deal of the Deer Tick War Elephant album I posted a few weeks back, which isn't terribly surprising, given that both bands are signed to Suburban Home Records, who also represents some of my other favorite singer/songwriters Chuck Ragan and Tim Barry. (Note to readers: If you ever find an indie band you like, always check out who else is on their label - there's likely a few more you'll enjoy. Saddle Creek Records is a good example.) Hailing from Tampa (I know, who'd have thought?), Have Gun, Will Travel (HGWT) have a sound more representative of Memphis than mid-Florida. What's interesting is that this band just sort of came together with one member at a time, creating a fuller sound with each new player. Those players are: Matt Burke (voice, guitar, harmonica, occasional banjo), Daniel Burke (stand-up/elec. bass, voice), JP Beaubien (drums, percussion), Joshua "The Violation" Hernandez (viola, mandolin), and Scott "Fats" Anderson (elec. guitar, lap steel). The lyrics are really honest, the music is pretty straight-forward, and all of the songs are played in a really loose, live sort of way, which seems to capture the essence of HGWT pretty well. This isn't big music for a big venue, but rather exactly what I have in mind when I think of the perfect bar band, and I don't say that as an insult at all. What I mean is that these are really well-crafted, thoughtful songs that are better suited to a smaller, more thoughtful audience, that's all. And I must warn you: It's a catchy album! So, if you're the kind of person who tends to hear a hook and hum it out loud the rest of the day, just beware. Goes well with The Felice Brothers, The Avett Brothers, or just about any other brotherly bands.

Highlights: "Salad Days" and "Asa Dalton"

Paul Westerberg - Suicaine Gratifaction

Following his time as leader of indie-rock icons The Replacements, Paul Westerberg took to releasing more radio-friendly pop hits as a solo artist, and his success was immediate. Before he could even compile an entire album, Westerberg found fame providing the score for the film Singles, for which he also contributed his most well-known-to-date singles "Dyslexic Heart" and "Waiting For Somebody". These songs would later also appear on his 1993 solo debut, 14 Songs, which bears little resemblance at all to what would be his third solo album, Suicaine Gratifaction. Released just six years after the success of Singles, the songs of Suicaine Gratifaction revealed a deeply personal glimpse of Westerberg's inner demons and insecurities. Widely known for his wry wit and self-deprecating humor, Westerberg went about the writing of this album by bearing whatever soul his pen could provide at the time, and the recordings capture every chord (and discord) his muse could muster. Truthfully, this is in fact the most personal album I've ever heard by any major artist. Toned-down productions that often seem to be secured from a single take, this album is full of emotional breakdowns beaten back by upbeat breathers that keep it from falling apart completely. While Westerberg sometimes seems like the kind of songwriter whose songs might fare better in a friendlier voice, there's no substitution for the real connection the artist shares with his work; someone else could sing the lyrics, but few could feel the weight of Westerberg's words. His first and only release under contract with Capitol Records, Suicaine Gratifaction received little (if any) marketing support, resulting in no single for the album and sales that slipped before they even started, which all contribute to making this one of the greatest diamond-in-the-rough finds of all time. The songs are beautiful (even in Westerberg's sometimes beastly bear-growls), and no matter how many times I listen to them, they always seem to find new ways for me to identify with them. As far as hearts on sleeves go, this is verbal voyeurism at its very best. Go get a copy.

Highlights: "Lookin' Out Forever" and "Tears Rolling Up Our Sleeves"

Rage Against The Machine (self-titled)

Let's be clear: This particular pick is NOT everyone's cup of tea, and I respect that; however, since my goal of this blog is to promote albums that I feel EVERYONE should hear, I'd be derelict in my duty if I excluded it based on popular tastes. Whether you appreciate music as loud and vulgar at times as Rage Against the Machine, the fact remains that this band (with this album) changed what was happening in music at that time (1992). Unlike most musical trends and emerging genres, there weren't a lot of Rage Against the Machine copycat bands that followed, leaving the band in a class all their own. Blending and bending genres ranging from metal to funk to rap, rock, reggae and everything else in between, RATM wasn't just taking on the American government, they were taking on the American music culture. Incorporating politically-charged lyrics with grunge-rock grooves and earth-pounding percussion, this band boldly went were no band had gone before, and achieved a level of success that few bands this heavy ever will. Don't make the mistake of lumping this band together with the lump-headedness of most 90s metal meatheads! RATM contains some of the most intellectual and creative lyrics I've ever heard. This isn't just a band full of rage, they're a band full of righteousness. In a genre filled with angry mama's boys and misfits, RATM members Zack de la Rocha, Tom Morello, Tim Commerford, and Brad Wilk were the "real deal"; Morello was himself a Harvard grad who worked as an aide to Democratic Senator Alan Cranston prior to joining the band. They talked the talk louder than anyone else out there, but they also walked the walk, even if that meant getting arrested for inciting riots now and again. RATM was one of the few bands since the sixties that led a charge of change and actually had a chance of achieving it. I first heard these guys play as the first band on the bill at Lollapalooza 93 in New Orleans. The show opened with an elderly woman raising her middle finger to the crowd and asking us to join her in chanting "F... the New Orleans Police Department". As an angst-ridden teenager, I was instantly hooked. As I review the album some 18 years later, I realize that as a teenager I hadn't even begun to understand the true power this band possessed. For anyone who's ever felt fearful that America is just an "old boy's club" disguised by democracy, this band's for you.

Highlights: "Wake Up" and "Freedom"

Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous

Aside from being the album that catapulted Rilo Kiley from the indie scene into the mainstream, More Adventurous was exactly what the title suggested: An adventure into variations of sounds unseen in the band's prior releases. In fact, as Rilo Kiley's third full-length album, you get a glimpse into the band's past sound, as well as a look ahead to what would become their next album, Under The Blacklight. For a band that never hit a sophomore slump, they came out swinging with More Adventurous, like they were out to prove themselves somehow. Even now, I don't know what they were trying to prove, but they succeeded, and I'm a believer. More Adventurous doesn't have a bad track on it. No filler tracks. No b-side speedbumps. Frankly, I'm surprised that the physical CD can support the weight of the content on this album; the songs are that heavy. Released not long after the suicide of Elliott Smith (whose music we'll feature soon), two of the songs ("Ripcord" and "It Just Is") were written with his loss in mind. The lyrics are thoughtful and genuine, the music is carefully constructed, and the production is perfectly balanced between polished-up and stripped-down. Led by the bright, beautiful voice of Jenny Lewis, there's enough going on here for anyone to appreciate it. Be sure to check out any and all side projects related to the members of this band; it's all good.

Highlights: "It's A Hit" and "Accidntel Deth"

Various Artists - Dream With The Fishes (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Not as hard to find in this digital age as it once was, the soundtrack for the film Dream With The Fishes is well worth the digging. Much in the same way that the films Singles and Almost Famous (yes, I realize those are both Cameron Crowe examples) were told through the music within them, this soundtrack helps move the story along, making it a story in and of itself. After scouring various record shops for nearly two years, I finally found this gem hiding out in the French Quarter of New Orleans, which is strangely appropriate given the tone of the album. That said: If you're looking for an upbeat, party mix, keep looking - this ain't it. Blending variations in mood that range from somber to dark to melancholic to depressing, Dream With The Fishes is an album that requires the right atmosphere. Now, if you find yourself in the mood for such feelings, you won't find a better album out there. Best of all, it's not jam packed with a bunch of unrelated hit songs you already own; in fact, I'd be surprised if you own a single album from more than two or three of the artists featured here. Needless to say, this album kept me running back and forth to the record store, trying to find more related music. (Though not featured on the soundtrack, it was Dream With The Fishes that originally introduced me to Son Volt's "Ten Second News" from their Trace album, which I wrote about last week.) There's a lot of music to be discovered for anyone who isn't already a "music person". Might not be for everyone, but for those who are open to it, there might not be anything that compares.

Highlights: Nick Drake's "River Man" and Waterboys' "Fisherman's Blues"

Deer Tick - War Elephant

Not only do I not remember where I first picked up Deer Tick's War Elephant, I also don't know what it is about the album that has kept me so drawn to it ever since. Of course, I wouldn't take the time to blog about it here, if it weren't a great album, but that's hardly what I'm talking about when I say that its attraction eludes me. Without even getting into the discussion of what constitutes good music or bad music, there's another level to music (any music - good or bad) that exists, and that is the draw. Sometimes, the draw is synonymous with originality, but sometimes it's something else entirely. In the case of this particular album, its draw is its production: just dirty enough to match the songs. The tracks feel like they've been pulled right from the soundboard of a corner bar concert that was played in some sleepy town on Saturday night. Just the kind of show you'd stumble into on accident and end up having one of the best nights of your life. Now, what's really cool about this band is that it's one guy, John Joseph McCauley III. Well, at least on the War Elephant album anyway; the band has since grown into a 5-piece group. While listening to the album though, just keep McCauley in mind - one guy, alone in a studio, laying down track after track, not knowing what it would all sound like when it came together in the end. With his gritty guitar style and even grittier singing, McCauley's Deer Tick has a sound unlike any others. It's part country, part rock, part folk, and all good. The other thing to look for is the diversity of the album. While most of the tracks find themselves swimming in the same vein, you'll find a few songs sliding off into the superunknown in terms of style. In the end, I'm left wondering where this band can't go.

Highlights: "Long Time" and "These Old Shoes"

The Killers - Sam's Town

This album gets a lot of flack, and I have no idea why, though I am comforted in knowing that I am not alone on this issue. In a December 2009 poll of Rolling Stone readers, Sam's Town was hailed as the most underrated album of the decade. (And just when I think Rolling Stone has completely lost its sense of good music! See their review of this album from 2006 for evidence.) Aside from being somewhat of a complete departure from the band's glam-emo-electronic debut album, Sam's Town is somewhat of a complete departure from everything else that was released by any artist at that time. With this release, The Killers gave listeners something of a back-to-the-drawing-board approach to the traditional rock n roll album, which sounds like it would be right at home in a 100,000+ arena setting. All of the songs have such a huge presence, it's as if the band were building a town of their own, and this album is their account of the town's journey from birth to death. You can't help but settle in and start to feel right at home in the howling dust winds swirling all around this hot desert wasteland. What I love about The Killers is their ability to take simple parts and put them together in complicated and completely new ways, so that a single-note guitar strike looping over and over suddenly becomes the spine of an epic swell of sound that sweeps inland, gathering emotional intensity from each new inch of the world it washes over. Make no mistake about it: This is not just a record; it's a ride - so buckle up. Borrowing a bit of inspiration from the greatest American artists of their time, Sam's Town sounds at times like a really good Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, or Neil Young album that you've never heard before. The songs are genuine in theme, yet unapologetically grand in style. Don't sell this album short by sticking to the singles; Sam's Town is meant to be heard in its entirety - one track followed by the next. Welcome to Sam's Town; I hope you enjoy your stay.

Highlights: "When You were Young" and "Read My Mind"

Guns N Roses - Appetite For Destruction

Today's selection shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. After all, Guns N Roses' Appetite For Destruction has been a staple on pretty much every "best of" list since its release in 1987. Aside from its claim to the title of "fastest-selling debut album in history", Appetite has held its own as an enduring top producer, selling more than 33 million copies worldwide, with more copies sold each day. Sure, historically-speaking, this album is a "no-brainer", if for no other reason than the impact that it had on popular music at the time; however, it is the continued relevance of the album that has landed it here today, more than 22 years after the fact. On average, I would say that I still listen to Appetite For Destruction at least once a week, and it hasn't lost an ounce of the energy or attitude that it had when I first listened to it, back in the days of cassette tape. This is the album that made me want to play guitar. Even today, when I listen to Slash's screaming guitar solos, I am in awe of the feel that he has as a player (and that's different from his technical prowess). You can actually hear Slash speaking through his playing: emotional, hungry and ready for a fight. Now combine those chops with Steven Adler's lazy drum style, Duff's bouncy punk rock bass lines, Axl's catch-a-tiger-by-its-tail vocals, and Izzy's blues-based songwriting structures, and you have a band that can't be beat by anyone but themselves. All of the songs here pushed the limits of what was being done and prepared the world for what was to come. Appetite For Destruction is rebellious rock at its raunchiest. From the first note of the first song, there's no mistaking where you are: You're in the jungle, and you're gonna die.

Highlights: "Welcome To The Jungle" and "Mr. Brownstone"

Son Volt - Trace

Following the split from Uncle Tupelo, Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt, which helped to define the sound of the alt-country genre. Picking up where Uncle Tupelo had left off, Farrar took over all of the vocal duties and set to crafting a straightforward rock album tinged with country sensibilities. Trace is the resultant record. Unlike the more Americana sound of Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt has a rough-around-the-edges quality to it that blends perfectly with Farrar's growl. This record just runs front to back like a roadtrip across the Deep South; it just feels like a hot slice of hard-working American piety. There's a certain level of respect and care given to the working-class compositions on Trace, similar to what you'd expect from say a Bob Seger song, like taking pride in the modesty of an honest living. This is the soundtrack of rural America's blood, sweat and tears, and the traces they leave behind. If you've never listened to Trace before, then take the time to do it right: get in your car, roll down the windows, get out on the highway and tap your steering wheel. Freedom never felt so good.

Highlights: "Windfall" and "Ten Second News"

Tom Waits - The Early Years, Volume 2

I continue to be amazed by the number of times I loan this album out to friends who've never heard it and, in most cases, never heard of it. Tom Waits has been around long enough to be considered an icon in the music business, but despite all his success, still seems somehow relegated to a cult status among insiders and songwriters. What gives? Understandably, many listeners are turned off by the sheer gruffness of Waits' voice. Also understandably, many listeners are turned off by the often strange instrumentation, which Waits himself calls his "junkyard orchestra", and cacophonic arrangements. However, if you just drill down to the heart and soul of the matter, you'll quickly find that there's not a better songwriter alive today anywhere in the world, and The Early Years Volume 2 does all the work for you. On this album, Tom Waits has re-recorded many of his best songs for a stripped-down, acoustic sound that really allows his songwriting to shine. And with songs like "Diamond on My Windshield" and "Mockin' Bird", you get beyond your standard songwriter comfort zones, you get a little jazz, a little blues, and a lot of solid well-structured songs. In all honesty, this is the album that changed my life forever. There are plenty of albums that have blown me away over my lifetime, and more even before my lifetime, but Tom Waits' The Early Years Volume 2 opened up a world of "cool" that even the coolest cats I knew never knew about. This is the kind of music that requires you to swagger even when you're just sitting still; it's just that cool.

Highlights: "Blue Skies" and "I Want You"

Sibylle Baier - Colour Green

Haunting, beautiful, and as pure and honest as music can get. The story of how Sibylle Baier's Colour Green came to be is almost as touching as the music itself. Recorded back in the early 1970s on a home reel-to-reel system, the songs on Color Green were never intended for anyone other than the artist to hear. In fact, this album wasn't published until 2006, when her son, Robby, compiled all of the songs on CD as gifts for family members. As luck would have it, one of the discs ended up in the hands of J Mascis (of Dinosaur Jr fame), who was so impressed with the rawness of the recordings that he passed it along to a label that wasted no time in its release. Though it is not Sibylle who is the lucky one in this story, it is all of us. One gets the sense in listening to this album that this music was created alone in a dimly lit room with no other sound than the flicker of a candle and the hiss of a recorder, and all of that ambiance is captured in the sound of the guitar and the lyrics; this is the sound of a woman bearing her soul privately and provocatively. From the moment you hit play on "Tonight", Colour Green draws you in like a child in awe of his mother, staring up at her from the floor and wondering if there are any more beautiful women in the world than her, though you're sure that there are not. This album is as close as many people may ever get to being serenaded. Do yourself a favor: Turn out the lights, get a glass of red wine, sit on the couch, put your head back and your feet up, and push play. You won't be disappointed.

Highlights: "Tonight" and "Colour Green"

Andrew Morgan - Please Kid, Remember

Drawing a little inspiration from Elliott Smith and perhaps even Badly Drawn Boy, Andrew Morgan's Please Kid, Remember holds a little something for everyone who still remembers the magic of being young. There's a bit of innocence trapped in this record that for some reason or another reminds me of Ben Kweller's Sha-sha, in that it feels profoundly personal and honest. Like Sha-sha, the songs here are simple at their core, though Andrew Morgan has taken to spicing up each track with a little tamborine hit here or xylophone melody there, which ultimately makes for a beautiful, whimsical journey that stays consistent from beginning to end. Like a fantastic film score, Please Kid, Remember maintains a central theme that appears again and again throughout the album, taking you here, there and everywhere, but always reminding you that you're not far from home. More than anything, upon first hearing this album, I was touched by how instantly comfortable it felt to me. And isn't that the sign of a truly great album? Perhaps too soft for some listeners, something about these songs does more than remind me of a better time, it transports me there. Give it a listen, and maybe I'll see you there.

Highlights: "Turn Your Collar To The Cold" and "Three Months In Cook County"

Crooked Fingers - Dignity and Shame

Between roles as frontman for Archers Of Loaf and his To The Races solo album release, Eric Bachman was hard at work on one of my favorite bands of all time, Crooked Fingers. With his instantly recognizable growl (taking cues from Tom Waits), Bachman transforms simple chords into bombastic ballads that stick to your brain like melted ice-cream under a sweltering summer sun. Less raucous than any of the output from Archers Of Loaf and more upbeat than To The Races, Dignity and Shame catches Bachman at the crossroads of somber and sanguine, creating songs with a quick tempo that are more than happy to take their time getting where they're going. Bachman's works tend to tinker a bit with the space that surrounds them, finding unusual genius in what might otherwise have been a generic piece of music. Front to back, this album continues to astound me, even years after its initial release. If you like this album, don't be afraid to venture off and explore the entire breadth of Bachman's musical makings.

Highlights: "Call To Love" and "Sleep All Summer"

Fyfe Dangerfield - Fly Yellow Moon

As leader of Guillemots, Fyfe Dangerfield has already proven himself in the music scene by creating some of the most spectacular new sounds in recent years; however, it is his latest solo release, Fly Yellow Moon, that has moved me most of all. With obvious inspirations from The Beatles and Morrissey, Fly Yellow Moon moves along in a palpable progression few songwriters seem capable of catching onto these days. It's soft, bouncy, melodic, melancholic, catchy and utterly awe-worthy. Trust me, if you haven't heard it, you should.

Highlights: "Barricades" and ""She Needs Me"