| Tabu Ley Rochereau | Africa Worldwide | Rounder | Infectious Zairean Soukous
|
| * Salif Keita | Folon.. The Past | Mango 162531022 | Fascinating African cross-cultural pop
|
| Bobby McFerrin | Bang Zoom | Blue Note 31677 | Vocal
virtuoso this time works w/ instruments
|
| Van Morrison & Georgie Fame | How Long Has This Been Going On | Verve 314529136 | Morrison does songs of jazz composer Mose Allison
|
| * Loudon Wainwright III | Grown Man | Charisma 40625 | Witty
veteran folkie does not disappoint, great songs mostly of domestic life
|
| Patrick Street | Cornerboys | Green Linnet 1160 | One of
Ireland's best Celtic bands in fine set
|
| Capercaillie | Delirium | Green Linnet 3108 | Scottish
Celtic w/ some pop infl.
|
| Dar Williams | Mortal City | Razor & Tie 2821 | One of the
finest up-&-coming folkies
|
| Skeleton Crew | Pre Historic, Dig! | Intersound 9165 | Melodic Beatles-influenced pop
|
| Big Mountain | Resistance | Giant 24633 | Outstanding
latino reggae band
|
| Catie Curtis | Truth from Lies | Guardian | Another fine
mostly acoustic singer-songwriter
|
| * Duke Robillard Band | Duke's Blues | Pointblank 41311 | One of the year's best blues CDs from Roomful of Blues founder
|
| John Hammond | Found True Love | Pointblank 40655 | Veteran bluesman in both acoustic & electric set
|
| Lara & Reyes | Two Guitars, One Passion # | Bluemoon 7082 | Pleasing flamenco-influenced ac gtrs.
|
| Tori Amos | Boys for Pele | Atlantic 82862 | Fascinating
stark set from genuine original
|
| Jimmy Witherspoon | Live at the Mint | On the Spot 100588237 | Veteran bluesman with guitarist Robben Ford
|
| Fito Paez | Circo Beat | EastWest 450998242 | Clever art
rock a la XTC from Argentina in Spanish
|
| Marta Sebestyen | Kismet | Hannibal 1392 | Fascinating
Eastern Euro + Celtic
|
| Cephas & Wiggins | Cool Down | Alligator 4838 | Carrying
on Sonny Terry/Brownie McGhee blues trad. in both electric & acoustic
|
| Seamus Egan | When Juniper Sleeps # | Shanachie 79097 | New Agey Celtic
|
| John McEuen | Acoustic Traveller | Vanguard 79484 | Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band founder does mostly inst. New Acoustic style
|
| Jackson Browne | Looking East | Elektra 61867 | Browne
turns in respectable set of typically thoughtful songs
|
| McKinley | McKinley | Burnside 0022 | Fine one-named
female singer-songwriter, somewhat jazzy
|
| * The Subdudes | Primitive Streak | High Street 10344 | N'Orleans infl. roots rock group in exc. new set
|
| Jon Anderson | Toltec | High Street 10346 | Yes founder
does some nice art rock
|
| * Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans | Upstroke for the Downfolk | Don't 16 | Fun rock, blues, R&B and clever lyrics
|
| * John Wesley Harding | New Deal | Forward/Rhino 72250 | Superb Brit. singer-songwriter with rapier wit
|
| Strange Cargo | Hinterland # | Discovery 77033 | Interesting electronic, bit of new age, bit of dance
|
| Alison Brown | Quartet # | Vanguard 79486 | Fine jazzy
acoustic banjo
|
| Mary Ellen Bernard | Coney Island Mojo + | Triple Z 002 | Nice set of fun carabet music, fun lyrics
|
| * Vicky Pratt Keating | Blue Apples | Prime CD 014 | Folkie
with fine voice, nice songs
|
| Taj Mahal | Phantom Blues | Private Music 100582139 | Taj
does electric blues + R&B
|
| Ansel Matthews | Workings on the Heart | Palmetto 2016 | Big-voiced folkie from NYC
|
| Jars of Clay | Jars of Clay | Silvertone 124141580 | Tasteful Beatles-infl. pop with religious bent
|
| Vernon Jones | Legacy | Windfall + | Nice jazzy
electronic
|
| * The Philosopher Kings | The Philosopher Kings | Columbia 67451 | Superb debut of Toronto group spanning folk to acoustic hip/hop
|
| Mike Stern | Between the Lines | Atlantic 82835 | High-class electric gtr. jazz-rock
|
| Cowboy Junkies | Lay It Down | Geffen 24952 | Nice new set
from moody band
|
| The Cardigans | Life | Minty Fresh MF-15 | This
small-label CD much better thean their commericial 96 hits. Clever, 60s infl.
pop
|
| Country Joe McDonald | Carry On | Shanachie 8019 | 60s
icon & Fish founder still at it, sounding good
|
| The Chieftains | Film Cuts | RCA 68438 | Celtic masters do
music from films they scored
|
| Steve Earle | I Feel Alright | Warner Bros. 46201 | Country-rock singer-songwriter in good new set
|
| Marti Jones | Live at Spirit Square | Sugar Hill 5502 | Mrs. Don Dixon in pleasing live set of clever pop w/ husband
|
| Stan Rogers | For the Family | Gadfly 312 | Late Canadian
folkie in nice live set
|
| Common Cents | Fish Road + | Duo 002 | Pleasing folk duo in well-written songs
|
| Rory Block | Tornado | Rounder 3140 | Acoustic blues to
near-pop in nice new set
|
| various | Minneapolis Does Denver | October 89303 | Good
roots-rock versions of John Denver by MN groups
|
| Nashville Mandolin Ensemble | Plectrasonics # | CMH 8010 | Remarkable mando music from jazz to near-classical to bluegrass
|
| New World Parade | New World Parade + | New Par 296-1000 | Fine jazz-rock fusion w/ vocals from Harrisburg
|
| The Rankin Family | Endless Seasons | Guardian 32348 | Eclectic Canadian folk ensemble
|
| God Street Wine | Red | Mercury 314 532 146 | Rockier 2nd set by Steely Dan infl. group
|
| * Mollie O'Brien | Tell Me True | Sugar Hill 3846 | What a
great voice. Superb folk/bluegrass/jazz mix
|
| * Sting | Mercury Falling | A&M 314540483 | One Mr. Sumner's best: sophisticated, jazzy, thoughtful, w/ superb musicians
|
| Hunter Moore | Delta Moon | Tangible 56804 | Appealing,
articulate Nashville singer-songwriter
|
| Victor Wooten | A Show of Hands + | Compass 74231 | Bela
Fleck's bassist does all-solo bass CD with facsinating results
|
| Barenaked Ladies | Born on a Pirate Ship | Reprise 46128 | Fun, eclectic Canadian folk-rock group in good, witty set
|
| The Beatles | Anthology Vol. 2 | Capitol 834448 | Excellent documentary on the Fab Four's finest years, 1966-68
|
| The Skatalites | Greetings from Skamania | Shanachie 45024 | Eclectic, danceable covers in ska styles
|
| Rev. Billy C. Wirtz | Songs of Faith and Inflammation | Hightone 8069 | Humorous boogie-woogie, rock satire
|
| * Jupiter Coyote | Lucky Day | Autonomous AR3 | Fine young band in Allman Bros. tradition
|
| Ron Levy | Zim Zam Zoom | Bullseye Blues 9570 | Great
blues by ubiquitous keyboardist
|
| Gary Moore | Blues for Greeny | Charisma 243840507 | Brit.
blues guitarist in tribute to Peter Green
|
| Larry Mitchell | Escape #+ | String Time 2503 | Very nice acoustic guitar inst. w/ group
|
| * Mark Knopfler | Golden Heart | Warner Bros. 46026 | Best yet from Dire Straits founder -- superb writing & musicianship
|
| Margo Hennebach | Michaelean + | Prime CD 022 | Fine
singer-songriter w/ great voice and thoughtful song
|
| Nil Lara | Nil Lara | Metro Blue 831603 | Interesting Brazilian influenced pop
|
Best of 1996, Part 3: July-September
Best of 1996, Part 4: October-December
The 1996 Graham Awards
Index of Weekly Album Reviews
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