Roseanne Cash - The List

Read the press release below and tell me how this won't bw great. Then check out the track list and imeem link.

ROSANNE CASH TO RELEASE BRAND-NEW ALBUM, THE LIST,
ON MANHATTAN RECORDS ON OCTOBER 6TH, 2009

ALBUM FEATURES CASH'S CONTEMPORARY INTERPRETATIONS OF
SONGS FROM A LIST OF ESSENTIAL COUNTRY SONGS
PASSED ON TO HER BY HER LEGENDARY FATHER

SPECIAL GUESTS INCLUDE ELVIS COSTELLO,
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, JEFF TWEEDY, RUFUS WAINWRIGHT


Acclaimed singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash will release her 12th studio album, entitled The List, on Manhattan Records on October 6th, 2009. This stunning work features Cash's contemporary interpretations of 12 classic songs culled from a list of essential country tunes that her legendary father Johnny gave her in 1973, and filtered through her own unique, sophisticated perspective.

Known primarily for her stellar songwriting, Cash showcases her incredible voice on The List -- her first-ever covers record. As a result, the album is Rosanne Cash like you've never heard her before as she embraces her heritage and sings for the pure love and beauty of these songs which have shaped who she is as an artist.

The idea for The List came about while Cash was on tour promoting her 2006 studio album, the critically heralded, Grammy-nominated Black Cadillac -- a reflective song cycle about the loss of her father, mother Vivian Liberto, and stepmother June Carter Cash. During the well-received multi-media event Black Cadillac: In Concert, Cash told audiences how, when she was 18, her father became alarmed that his daughter appeared to lack a deep understanding of country music (having been obsessed with The Beatles and steeped in Southern California rock and pop music). Johnny gave her a list of the "100 Essential Country Songs" and told her that it was her education and she should learn them all.

The track-listing for The List :
1. "Miss the Mississippi and You"
2. "Motherless Children"
3. "Sea of Heartbreak" (w/ Bruce Springsteen)
4. "Take These Chains From My Heart"
5. "I'm Movin' On"
6. "She's Got You"
7. "Heartaches by the Number" (w/ Elvis Costello)
8. "500 Miles"
9. "Long Black Veil" (w/ Jeff Tweedy)
10. "Silver Wings" (w/ Rufus Wainwright)
11. "Girl From the North Country"
12. "Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow"

Long Black Veil with Jeff Tweedy
imeem

Kieran Kane - Somewhere Beyond the Roses

An album doesn’t have to have great lyrics for me to connect with it. A good song doesn’t need to possess deep meaning for me to enjoy it. In fact there is nothing more formulaic and boring than a guy with an acoustic guitar pretending to hold the meaning of life. However, when I come across an album with lyrics that have a genuine and distinctive reflection on life I develop a spiritual connection that goes beyond the music. That is the way I feel about the new Kieran Kane release Somewhere Beyond the Roses. It would be great if it stopped there; but in this case the instrumentation and arrangement of the songs makes the album one of the top releases of the year. Kane has been cranking out the brilliance in the last several years both as a solo artist and with Kane, Welch and Kaplan. However, with this release Kane is playing his trump card.

To begin with it is hard to even adequately describe the style of his banjo playing it is so eclectic. He combines this on the songs with a Baritone Sax that hearkens back to the alternative rock band Morphine. Deanna Varagona (Lambchop) supplies this baritone sax, Richard Bennett (Neil Diamond, Mark Knopfler) is on electric guitar, and Lucas Kane (Kane’s son and contributor to Kane, Welch, Kaplin) is on drums. David Olney provides backing vocals on “Don’t Try To Fight It” and Fats Kaplin plays steel guitar on “Unfaithful Heart”. The unusual banjo and Sax combination gives the music complexity even though the production is stripped down and raw. In almost perfect harmony with this minimalist yet edgy instrumentation the lyrics are infused with a raw spirituality. The spirituality is earthy. There is nothing esoteric about the lyrics. They are deep and infused with timeless truth.

Sample Tracks

Stephanie Schneiderman

Tony Furtado recently produced an interesting project, Dangerous Fruit by Portland, Oregon Indie Pop artist Stephanie Schneiderman. It is some masterful songs that are bent and twisted in some different directions. Fans of Feist should really like her. She is creating a Buzz in the Northwest.