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6 February 2010 Theater is life. Cinema is art. Television is furniture. So, 
Steve Eaves carries us to Wales with Moelyci. "It's amazing some of the musical talent hidden away in the remotest regions of Cymru/Wales. On this CD, singer-songwriter Steve Eaves of the group Rhai Pobl, from the former slate mining area near Bangor, North Wales, strikes out on his own with this bluesy, pensive evocation of the Welsh landcape and soul," David Cox says. "This is in many ways a brilliant record, perhaps the best to come out of Wales in some time. The tunes have integrity individually and work together as a whole disc, with musical variety, gravitas, solid musicianship and production values, and a rootedness in a sense of place." Kev Rowe takes his singer-songwriter stylings Into the Gold. "The music definitely has a Southern folk-rock feel, despite Rowe's New York state background. Rowe's vocals are predominantly pleasant, although he misses the mark on rare occasions," Wil Owen says. "Kev Rowe is a talented songwriter when it comes to melodies, without a doubt. In the lyrics department, on the other hand, he is nothing to write home about. And unfortunately, other than a few hooks, this CD has not had a lot of staying power with me. Into the Gold is good, not great." D "Don't Turn Your Back is a rarity: an album that should appeal to both committed fans and neophytes who would have sworn they didn't like bluegrass." J "Between a Rock & the Blues fuses gospel, r&b, soul and (yes) rock, but it is at its essence a blues record -- thundering and scorching, yes, but never bombastic. Afire with emotion, the songs, in common with all true blues, deliver convincingly lived-in storytelling." John Jorgenson has two new jazz CDs on offer: Istiqbal Gathering and One Stolen Night. "On these two albums, released the same day, Jorgenson shows the range and variety that gypsy jazz offers," says Michael Scott Cain. "One Stolen Night offers us his standard road band, the John Jorgenson Quintet, in a program of small-group jazz that sounds like the old Django Reinhardt-Stephan Grapelli records from the 1930s," Michael says. "Istiqbal Gathering gives us Jorgenson in a classical setting, playing a concerto he wrote in gypsy jazz style." 
Rachel Caine is Undone in the first book of her new Outcast Season series. "Although this is the first book in a new series, it might be more accurate to call it the first book in a spin-off of the Weather Wardens books. I would not recommend reading this book without having read all seven of the currently available books in the previous series," Belinda Christ remarks. "That said, I loved this book so much that when I finished it, I turned back to page one and started over again. Caine's crisp style and rapid pacing move the story to an exciting cliffhanger conclusion." C "You won't find anything profound or earth-shattering in this volume, but you will be satisfied long after the last page is turned." J "If anything, Artemis is too action-packed. It's a little hard to believe how much this little ship and its crew go through in a relatively short span. Stockwin might have worked a little more detail into his story and expanded the events of this book into two." A "I can highly recommend this read; on entertainment value alone I would give it the highest praise. However, the ending is unnecessarily dismal and leaves you with more questions than answers and no real closure. I hate that." M "The sequel to Escape from 'Special,' A Mess of Everything picks up where the previous volume left off. Many of the elements established in the first book permeate this follow-up. Lasko-Gross utilizes the same short-story techniques; i.e. telling stories in one or two page shorts, which is the style that worked best for her in her first collection," says Mary Harvey. "Lasko-Gross's spare, crisp writing has lost none of its flavor, while her ability to delineate mood is only improving, along with her talent for capturing human, lived perspective. The short stories carry the narrative along in sharp bursts. Basically, Miss is trying to grow up and is doing the best she can with what she has. Her support system consists of her confused parents and a handful of friends who aren't exactly the pick of the litter. Not that her parents don't love her; they are just a bit too new agey, not always able to understand how to help or discipline. As a result, she's kind of on her own." Stanton T. Friedman is out to tell us what we don't know about UFOs in Flying Saucers & Science. "Friedman, who has been researching the field for more than 40 years, knows his stuff and doesn't waste readers' time telling them what they already know. He assumes a foreknowledge of the UFO field and spend most of the book refuting the claims of skeptics. He is nothing if not convincing," says Michael Scott Cain. "Friedman's is a valuable book, a reasoned and calm discussion by a strong advocate, that is marred only by the fact that the author is not what you might think of as a graceful writer; his prose is stumbling and repetitive. The book needed a good editing job. Still, it constitutes essential reading." 
Becky Kyle has a mixed reaction to It's Complicated. "Jane (Meryl Streep) and Jake (Alec Baldwin) have been divorced for 10 years now. He cheated on her with a younger woman, whom he later married. Jane continued her role as mother to their three children as well as owning a very successful, and might I add visually tempting, restaurant," Becky says.
Daniel Jolley is less than impressed with Ultraviolet. "Heaven knows I love watching a young woman kick butt every which way from Sunday, and there's nothing sexier than the bare-midriff look Milla Jovovich has going throughout this film, but -- and maybe I'm old-fashioned -- I sort of expect a movie to explain at least a few of its most unusual facets," Dan says. "Obviously, the filmmakers just wanted to show 90 minutes of Jovovich doing what she does best, and the plot they threw together is really just a means to that end. The basic storyline is easy enough to follow, but far too many of its details go unexplained. As for the special effects and fight scenes, there's some really gnarly stuff on display here, but a lot of the CGI work is just overkill. Additionally, the cameramen are like kids with a new toy as they experiment with every angle known to man." You think we're done? Ha!! Come back for more next week. (Meanwhile, browse through our vast archives of past editions, below, and find some good stuff you might have missed over the years. We have more than 10 years' worth of our work online for your perusal, totaling more than 12,500 reviews!) 30 January 2010 How strange and wonderful is our home, our earth, with its swirling vaporous atmosphere, its flowing and frozen liquids, its trembling plants, its creeping, crawling, climbing creatures, the croaking things with wings that hang on rocks and soar through the fog, the furry grass, the scaly seas. Why does the furnace always fail on a seriously cold day?
Rachel Hair is the one with The Lucky Smile on this harp-centered CD. "One need only listen to the first track to be completely hooked. This is an artist who understands her instrument and is able to play it with such a degree of mastery that she is not locked into any genre; though her work is steeped in the traditional, it can by no means be classified as such. Hair is a powerful talent out of Scotland, and this album, her second, absolutely sparkles with her remarkable abilities and arrangements," David Connor reports.
Ramin Rahimi and Tapesh show us how its done on Iranian Percussion. "This is all percussion, as the title suggests, so it will only appeal to certain people. It is a great CD for those who like drums, however, with more variety than you might expect," Dave Howell says.
The Guggenheim Grotto makes its presence known with Happy the Man. "Several years after the release of their successful debut album Waltzing Alone in 2005, Dublin-based duo The Guggenheim Grotto continues to craft well-written, evocative folk-pop songs on their 2009 release," Elizabeth Delaquess says. "The Guggenheim Grotto has a slick, radio-friendly pop sound, but bandmates Mick Lynch and Kevin May avoid overwrought, cheesy lyrics and instead create music that has wonderful depth and sensitivity." C "Smither's preferred musical language, with variations, is a rolling, atmospheric, typically mid-tempo folk-blues melody, mostly acoustic but sometimes flavored with electric guitar, with largely original compositions. The writing is elegant, usually melancholy-sounding even if the words aren't necessarily, its themes ranging from the state of a relationship to the state of the nation, though in the latter instance Smither's touch is too smart to reduce to sloganeering and tub-thumping." Lesley Young gets Inside the Canadian folk scene. "Inside is the second CD from a lady who has been performing (including acting) for more than 25 years. Inside reaches a little beyond simple folk-rock to hit other genres such as jazz, country and even pop," Wil Owen says. "Lesley Young has a bit of a mousy voice that is almost cute. You can tell she poured heart and soul in to her Inside project. There are some good tracks on this relatively short CD, which clocks in at 37 minutes. I have to wonder if Young will ever have a wide audience, though, as she sounds almost like a little girl at times -- not the mature woman who wrote these songs. To my mind, there is a disconnect between the lyrics and the voice that brings them to life that throws me enough to only recommend this CD with a word of caution. I don't think the combination will work for everyone."
Michael Thomas Ford brings Jane Austen back to life -- as a vampire, no less -- in Jane Bites Back.
"This is the first book in a series. I'll look forward to the sequel to see what Jane does next." William H. White beings the War of 1812 with A Press of Canvas. "While White does not have the grace or depth of writing that Forester, O'Brien and Nelson have demonstrated so decisively in the past, he tells a good and lively story that certainly places him in the forefront of contemporary nautical writers," Tom says.
L "The closing leads me to believe this is the first book in a continuing series. The concept is interesting enough for me to consider picking up the second book, but I would probably have to read a chapter or two before I actually made the purchase." Ron Costello is Racing to the Bell with a fantasy-adventure-suspense novel "that includes terrorist plots, animals, telepathy and life in the poorer parts of Philadelphia," Chris McCallister says. "This is a very fast-paced, easy-to-read story, with short chapters, few typographical errors, well-developed and interesting characters (human and animal) and an ambitious, imaginative premise. It also talks about important contemporary issues: school violence, terrorism, the treatment of animals in captivity, the problems in inner-city schools. I do not know if the author is from Philadelphia, but he clearly knows the city well, and he cares about it and its people. There is a lot of heart in this book." Mark Allen gives his nod of approval to Essential Daredevil, Vol. 1. "As a general rule, I find it bad form to have a revolving door of artists on an ongoing title featuring a continuing storyline. There are two exceptions to this, the first being an obvious one: anthologies. The other exception is not as obvious. It is any book in which the artists are some of the best the business has ever seen," he says. "In this volume, fans will find Daredevil as he was originally envisioned: the carefree, devil-may-care swashbuckler, whose quips and one-liners could give even a certain wall-crawling hero a run for his money. Younger readers who have never seen anything other than the grim, morose, more Batman-like Daredevil ought to give these Stan Lee tales a shot."
Molly Ebert kicks off a trio of movie offerings with Public Enemies. "'Do you know what I truly appreciated about Michael Mann's Public Enemies? It was the fact that not once did I feel like I was watching an event-by-event biopic of legendary bank robber John Dillinger. True, it is meant to portray some of the most important events of his short-lived life during the Depression, but the story on a whole has a refreshing rhythm of ebb and flow that seems to hold and rock the audience instead of hurtling it through a set timeline," she says. "We get to see a side of the 1930s that is simply about circumstance and timing, and the men who exploited this to their advantage. Dillinger is not just the center of the narrative, he is the catalyst for everything that goes on, and that is why we seem to sway with the story between the creation of the FBI and Dillinger, a man with no known motives other than that he has found a 'business' he loves and that 'business' seems to love him back." W "While some information might be missing from this otherwise intriguing DVD boxed set, Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) is an excellent introduction or fond look back on John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and King Arthur himself, Graham Chapman. Unless you are an uber-fan and know all there is to know anyway, you will probably feel like you got the whole truth, not 'almost' the truth." Daniel Jolley gets a bit campy with Clawed: The Legend of Sasquatch. "That being said, I really didn't think Clawed was all that bad of a movie. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but it doesn't leave out any of the necessities, either: unknown 'monster,' several victims, blood, annoying jock, nerdy guy and two attractive young ladies. It even throws in the bonus of some beautiful scenery up in the forests of Washington State," he says. "Unfortunately, though, our Sasquatch isn't much to look at (it looks like what it is, a guy in a pretty ratty costume), and all we ever see him do is just stand or crouch out of sight and sometimes run through some fields. The fact that none of the actual attacks appear onscreen is another negative." You think we're done? Ha!! Come back for more next week. (Meanwhile, browse through our vast archives of past editions, below, and find some good stuff you might have missed over the years. We have more than 10 years' worth of our work online for your perusal, totaling more than 12,500 reviews!) 23 January 2010 Beneath the favorite tale of the moment a deeper story always lies waiting to be told. It boggles the mind, just how many books and CDs come flooding through our doors each week. We wish we had time and manpower to review them all! If anyone out there is interested in helping us stem the tide, drop the editor a line and discuss the possibility of joining our team! We can always use more good writers! Also, please consider using the various Amazon.com links around the site to make your purchases. When Amazon customers use our links, it helps defray our operating costs just a little. Every bit helps!
John Wort Hannam checks into the Queen's Hotel for his fourth CD. "Hannam, a former schoolteacher who appears to be in his early middle age, has been playing guitar barely more than a decade, having taken up the instrument after hearing a Loudon Wainwright III record," Jerome Clark says.
Terry Tufts is fighting The Better Fight for a purpose. "I first saw Terry Tufts play at the Quarter Moon Coffee House in Bloomfield, Ontario, two decades ago. He was a fine guitar picker then and, if anything, he's improved his guitar style. His lyrics are thoughtful and more mature. He sings pretty well, too, a strong folksy tenor with some range," David Cox remarks. "Here on The Better Fight, his seventh album over those last two decades, this skilled musician presents himself as a committed environmental warrior and makes a strong statement for a green future. The title track appears to be his personal statement about living simply, getting off the grid and back to basics. He delivers it in a gentle, sincere and believeably nouveau-rustic way, showing the influence of a long line of Ottawa-area musicians, specifically Ian Tamblyn." Transcend with Time provides A Haunting Presence on this new-age recording. "Transcend with Time is the one-man creation of Mark Mendieta from Brownsville, Texas," Wil Owen says. "As a general rule, A Haunting Presence is not a bad transcendental CD. I have a few misgivings on a couple of tracks that other listeners might overlook. There was only one track I truly disliked," he adds. "Otherwise, this CD makes a good background CD when you don't want the music to take your entire focus. For the most part, it sets the mood of tranquility quite simply." Sarah Ndagire and Pedson Kasume explore an African sound on Traditional Music of the Bantu Women & Folktales of the Baganda Women from Uganda, Vol. 1. "This CD is perhaps too esoteric for many listeners, since all the music and folktales are in African languages that are obscure to most Westerners. However, it has the relaxed and joyful atmosphere that is characteristic of African music," Dave Howell says. "This uncomplicated music is quite listenable." Tom Knapp had a chance to chat with Ursula Knudsen, the worldly fiddler of gypsy jazz band Fishtank Ensemble. "Gypsy music has a wild, untempered energy ... that coincides very well with the punk movement," Ursula says. "It's pretty intense party music. Who doesn't respond to that?" Read more about the band in Tom's interview about leaving the mule caravan behind.
Tatiana de Rosnay touches on events during and following the Holocaust in Sarah's Key. "Sarah's Key is an extremely moving and well-written novel that I could not put down. Apart from the exposition being a bit long-winded, this book is riveting, and I can now understand why de Rosnay had to be so pedantic about her characters and their backgrounds. This is essential in order for the story to reach its final crescendo," says Risa Duff. "The book has two stories juxtaposed with a mysterious twist, and it all culminates into a poignant but optimistic ending." C "C.S. Forester continues to advance Hornblower through the Napoleonic wars with a keen eye for historic detail and the flavor of the sea. I could read this series forever, I think." Gordon Zuckerman turns his eyes toward World War II in the first volume of The Sentinels, Fortunes of War. "I enjoyed the writing style as Gordon is adept at both action sequences as well as dialogue. My favorite bit of action is a hair-raising chase scene through the Alps. Gordon's love scenes might be a little lacking, but this is a book primarily about money and war, not romance," Wil Owen says. "I was left a little disappointed in the uneven character development. There are six main characters, yet I only cared about a few of them by the end of the story. As a war novel, this book was only OK. As a financial thriller, it did a little better." Mark Allen wants to tell you about a Unique reading experience. "Writer Dean Motter and artist Dennis Calero put together a sequential tale that is not unique in name only. Though tales of two worlds are fairly common, this one manages to pull off an air of originality as the main character visits a world where night is day, and vice-versa," Mark says. "As a whole, Unique is a worthwhile comics endeavor, and is recommended for older readers." Edward G. Kardos offers "a simple but profound prescription for improving our lives" in Zen Master Next Door, according to Michael Scott Cain. "Just live in the present moment and you'll pretty much be OK," he says. "Like all good teachers, Kardos aims to teach by parables, and that is both the strength and the weakness of his book. He never preaches or judges -- in fact, he counsels against judgment over and over -- but two things quickly become apparent: one, while the author does not lecture us, his teacher characters lecture the learners in the stories. People don't discover; they are told and then they get it. And two, the stories all have the same basic formula so that after a while a sameness seeps in."
Molly Ebert has a few words to share about the Antichrist. "My guess: Lars von Trier had a hell of a time defending Antichrist against feminists and women in general. I'm not inferring that it was deserved, and I'm not saying that I have any proof of such altercations, but the film has some mighty daring sentiments. Even I couldn't be sure if von Trier was against or advocating what turned out to be a blatantly negative view of female human nature," Molly says. "Personally, I don't have any quarrels with von Trier, because I can't know for sure if this film represents his viewpoint or if it is a commentary on the viewpoint of others. The film is a fascinating look at the extremes of self-blame and guilt, and there is so much to take in that I could probably write three more reviews focusing solely on the other aspects of the film. So, go see it, simply because something this lush and horrifyingly insightful doesn't come along all too often." Becky Kyle certainly isn't Up in the Air about this film starring George Clooney, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman and Vera Farmiga. "Despite being listed as a comedy, the story here is poignant and painful and truly one of Clooney's best roles," she says. You think we're done? Ha!! Come back for more next week. (Meanwhile, browse through our vast archives of past editions, below, and find some good stuff you might have missed over the years. We have more than 10 years' worth of our work online for your perusal, totaling more than 12,500 reviews!) 16 January 2010 Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives. I just spent six days reporting on the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Don't talk to me.
Norah Rendell and Brian Miller join forces for the Celtic CD Wait There Pretty One. "I was quite honestly caught off guard by Wait There Pretty One. I enjoy Irish/Celtic music and was surprised to find this collection of talent," Wil Owen says. "Wait There Pretty One is easily in my top five finds of 2009 (although it was released in 2007)." Sarah Lee Guthrie leads family and friends on a musical journey with Go Waggaloo. "Go Waggaloo is a collection of children's songs written by various members of the Guthrie family. Although Sarah Lee gets the main credit, it's very much a family affair. She, her husband Johnny Irion, father Arlo, various Guthrie children and family friends such as Pete Seeger and Tao Rodriguez Seeger all sing and play on the record and the songs. Sarah Lee, though, does get most of the leads," says Michael Scott Cain.
Jerome Clark takes a gander at two blues artists and their new CD releases: Al Basile's Soul Blue 7 and Darrell Nulisch's Just for You. "Nulisch's music, with its echoes of Bobby 'Blue' Bland, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, is framed in punctuating horns and sinewy guitar licks and propelled by sweet/tough vocals. It's focused -- in common with nearly all r&b -- on romantic relationships, mostly failed ones. Even the celebratory songs, which pop music more often than not drenches in syrup, feel gritty, true and lived-in sincere," Jerome says. "At moments, Basile brings Mose Allison and even Van Morrison to mind, not because he's an imitator but because he's the product of the same influences, with a comparable musical and literary intelligence," he adds. "The sum of its influences and much more, Soul Blue 7's sound is always bright, swinging and smart." Magic Brook plays solo acoustic guitar on The Source: Two Hands, One Guitar. "It has the mellow atmospherics that you would expect. It also has a good deal of variety, even with a length of more than an hour," Dave Howell says. "Brook never goes for speed. What makes him unique is the intricacy of his playing and his sense of melody and well-thought-out tune structures." Victor & Leo supply the Latin sounds on Nada es Normal. "If you like easy listening, you may enjoy this album. The voices are pleasant enough, although the lyrics aren't going to excite many listeners," John Lindermuth warns. "Despite a variety of instruments and voices that blend well together, the songs just sound too similar. The songs have a simple romantic quality and may do as background or dinner music. But I don't see them competing with some of the more popular Latin stars." Kaitlin Hahn continues her coverage of Celtic Colours with Tunes for the Mira at Marion Bridge, featuring Mairi Campbell, Sabra MacGillivray, Abby Newton, Kim Robertson, Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh, Manus Lunny, Troy MacGillivray and Shane Cook. "The talent at this concert was stellar, so I was anxious to get to it," Kaitlin recalls.
Julian Stockwin launches a nautical series with Kydd. "Like many in the grand tradition of Forester and O'Brian, Kydd is set aboard a British vessel during the Napoleonic wars with France. But, unlike great heroes such as Hornblower and Aubrey, young Thomas Kydd has no truck with the quarterdeck. No lofty captain, not even a lieutenant or midshipman, Kydd is a landbound wigmaker pressed to sea and set to work among the common sailors on Duke William, a ship of the line blockading French ports," Tom Knapp says.
P.N. Elrod pulls together a collection of urban-fantasy yarns surrounding "one of the most stressful, unnatural events ever devised by humankind: a wedding," aptly titled My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding and including stories by L.A. Banks, Jim Butcher, Rachel Caine, Esther Friesner, Lori Handeland, Charlaine Harris, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Susan Krinard. "Overall, the collection has some gems, although I found some paste alongside the jewels. Any review of this book would be remiss if it didn't include the word 'uneven,'" Belinda Christ says. "All in all, I would recommend My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding to fans of the genre, but not enthusiastically. The hits are great, but the misses sometimes miss the mark by a long shot." Susan Cooper's novel Greenwitch marks the midpoint of the author's landmark saga. "The third book book in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series, Greenwitch is one of the best as a standalone story," Sarah Meador says. "Still, Greenwitch suffers a little to be more firmly a part of the larger series. Cooper's writing already lends an air of eternal mystery to the otherwise simple adventure. The often overt references to the overarching plot are unnecessary and distracting. Coupled with characters making promises about the future that read an awful lot like theater previews, the otherwise involving Greenwitch is sometimes made to sound like a minor incident by its own main characters." The third book in The Sword series by the fabulous Luna Brothers is Earth. "Earth continues Dara Brighton's quest for vengeance against the ancient elemental powers that killed her family. It is not quite as exciting as the previous two books in the series -- Fire and Water -- in part because it's more of the same. Mostly, however, it pales because of the ease in which Dara and her two friends track down the villain," Tom Knapp says. "Earth is the weakest of the three books so far, but it sets up a big finish in the final volume, which I can only presume will be called Air." David Blackmore throws open the history books to explore Blunders & Disasters at Sea. "The history of the sea is filled with tales of disaster, from the unavoidable -- sudden storms, hidden rocks and the like -- to the stupid mistakes that remind us why some people should never be allowed to stand on the deck of a ship," Tom Knapp says. "The stories are brief, ranging from under a page to four or five for more involved incidents -- the longest, about a Nazi maneuver through the Channel that left the British Navy floundering, is 10 pages. But each entry is packed with detail that will keep both experienced seamen and armchair sailors absorbed."
Becky Kyle says Sherlock Holmes is "definitely not a film for the Holmes purist, but I somehow think Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would not object to this contemporary rendition of his classic detective. "The film is fast-paced and takes us through a grittier, more polluted London than you'll find in, say, Mary Poppins. Sherlock is not afraid to get his hands dirty and he's definitely depicted as a brilliant but dissolute individual. Everything happens so quickly that you are really going to need to pay attention to keep up with the clues in this action-packed epic." Congratulations to Becky for her 100th Rambles.NET review!! Tom Knapp suggests you stay far away from The Guardian. "A great many B-grade horror movies are predicated upon the assumption that people will make stupid decisions in scary situations," he says. "In The Guardian, the climactic assumption is that a young and fit couple, when menaced by a woman who wants to steal their baby, will flee a bustling Los Angeles hospital packed with potential witnesses and rescuers to take refuge in a dark and empty house. When a bad thing happens there -- in this case, their suburban home is beset by wolves -- the hapless dad will of course choose to run with his infant into the dark and stormy woods that just happen to connect to their backyard." You think we're done? Ha!! Come back for more next week. (Meanwhile, browse through our vast archives of past editions, below, and find some good stuff you might have missed over the years. We have more than 10 years' worth of our work online for your perusal, totaling more than 12,500 reviews!) 9 January 2010 If a man walks in the woods for love of them, half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer; but if he spends his whole day as a speculator shearing off those woods and making earth bald before her time, he is esteemed as an industrious and enterprising citizen.
Pete Seeger was captured Live in '65. "Let's be blunt about it: live recordings by Pete Seeger lean to the unlistenable. Live recordings by anybody are as often as not a hit-or-miss proposition, but in concert Seeger is wont to cast himself less as the star attraction than as the director of a giant campfire singalong. If you like that sort of thing, then, well, you like that sort of thing. Even if -- unlike me -- you count yourself in that number, though, you probably have no particular desire to hear the results preserved on (metaphorical) wax. My personal philosophy is that if I want to hear myself sing out of tune, I'll do it in the shower," Jerome Clark says.
Bon Iver (an intentional misspelling of the French term meaning "good winter") is the most recent musical incarnation of folk artist Justin Vernon, an effort that also consists of Michael Noyce, Sean Carey and Matthew McCaughan. "The name originated from the environment where Vernon created the first album, a remote cabin in northern Wisconsin during the winter of 2007," Kristen Druse remarks. "Bon Iver's sound on For Emma, Forever Ago is incredibly clear and pure. Vernon's falsetto is soothing and sounds almost tentative, but this simply increases the impact of the emotion so prevalent in his words. His music reflects exactly how and where it was made: a man reminiscing in isolation." The Roe Family Singers celebrates old-timey and mountain music with The Earth & All That is In It. "The Roe Family Singers offer up one of the purest and most direct samples of this idiom that I have ever experienced. Guitar, banjo, dobro, autoharp and a haunting singing saw occupy the instrumental landscape of this album, effectively backing the vocals without ever stepping on them," David Connor says. "Here, the idiom is primary. This is no star vehicle, no shining example of virtuosity. No, this is an example of the music and the style being out front, while the performers -- admirable, talented and capable all -- are standing humbly behind the idiom, holding it forth for public view. To dive into this album, is to take a cold and at times, harsh, view into a time of scraping a living from an unyielding earth, of helping neighbors raise their barn and suffering through the deaths of loved ones." C "Other artists have done the song, but none have found their way into its soul the way he does. His vocals are dead on, his guitar licks perfectly suited to his interpretation and the rhythm section moves the tune perfectly. It's a masterful performance." Topic Records shines on a spotlight on a specialized sound on Out of Cuba: Latin American Music takes Africa by Storm. "This CD was meant to capitalize in the renewed popularity of Cuban and other Latin American musics. Perhaps the success of the film Buena Vista Social Club and other CDs has brought this music back into prominence," David Cox says. "The 21 tracks, from a variety of artists -- mostly but not exclusively from Cuba -- are selected to show how Latin American musics influenced what was going on in then-colonial Africa. Originally, these were released on 78-rpm records, giving us an idea of the antiquity of these efforts (1933-58): the sound of the dawn of the recording era." Corinne Smith celebrated the holidays with a live performance by Kenny Rogers and special guest Rebecca Lynn Howard. "Nothing can put you in the mood for the holidays like a snowy day and an afternoon of seasonal music. This concert came at the perfect time to deliver on both counts," Corinne says. "Veteran songster Kenny Rogers and his eight-piece band rode into northeastern Massachusetts on the heels of a sizable snowstorm that had just come up the East Coast. With six inches of fresh stuff on top of what we had gotten earlier in the month, the atmosphere outside the auditorium was resigned but nevertheless merry. Drivers took their time with some impromptu plowing and sliding at intersections. Pedestrian concertgoers even laughed as they climbed over snow banks to the sidewalks, grabbing at the arms of friends for surer footing. Even so, a few ticket-holders chose not to gamble on the conditions to attend the event. That decision was indeed their loss."
Lauren Kate provides a new outlet for fans of the teen fantasy romance genre with Fallen. "This novel is very plainly just the set-up for the rest of the series. It starts out kind of slow; it seems to take forever to reach the climax of the novel and explain what's really going on, but if you have patience you will be rewarded ," Charissa Jelliff says.
William H. White sails In Pursuit of Glory with his young naval officer Oliver Baldwin. "I don't believe Oliver Baldwin will ever be a great naval hero like the Aubreys and Hornblowers of nautical fiction," Tom Knapp says. "That said, Baldwin's adventures as a young officer in the United States Navy, just a generation past the American Revolution, are both fascinating and fun to read.
Sheila A. Dane reveals the mysteries of the unknown in Fairy Hunters, Ink.. "Laura and her young friend Ashley have a knack for spotting fairies," Cherise Everhard says. "This book is a collection of their most recent discoveries and concludes with the promise of more to come.
Jill A. Davis delves into the life of Emily in Ask Again Later. "The pages of Ask Again Later are filled with Emily's issues, quirks and excessive introspection. Author Jill Davis paints her characters with a sympathetic and insightful brush that expertly combines both the serious and the amusing. This makes it easy and intriguing to follow the main character through her personal maze of personalities and questions," Whitney Mallenby says. "The fact that Davis manages to infuse this first-person narrative with a real sense of perspective without conflicting with any of Emily's own perceptions or conclusions brings a genuine and touching quality to this book that urges readers to engage and invest in Emily's story." The Twilight Experiment gets a good grade from Mark Allen. "This six-issue miniseries begins with a stimulating plot and a character with whom readers can sympathize. I mean, what if YOU were watching life, including dire events that involved the person you loved most, from afar, unable to intervene? The scenario sets up quite a recipe for emotional loose ends in need of tying," he says. "With artwork that is not steeped in realism, but contains a wonderful grasp of emotion, as well as ample fluidity that serves the action well, Juan Santacruz adds another well-deserved feather to his artistic cap. This book is as fun to look at as it is to read." Continued below in the Rambles.NET archives.... |
ale Ann Bradley makes her presence felt in this new bluegrass CD, 
oe Louis Walker finds himself 
harlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner have pulled together a team effort titled 
ulian Stockwin continues the adventures of Tom Kydd in 
llison Burnett uncovers the 
iss Lasko-Gross makes 
"Enter Adam (Steve Martin), the architect for the new addition to Jane's lovely home, and you've got a love triangle building. Add to that son-in-law-to-be Harley (John Krasinski), and you've got an ensemble cast that's taking Nancy Meyers' hilarious lines and turning them into a visual treat as well. Probably the funniest performance in the whole film is actually Harley, who discovers the affair and tries to keep it secret from his fiancee."
"Featuring a strong mix of traditional pieces and original compositions, this album is not your run-of-the-mill Celtic harp album. Far from it. This is exciting music, ably arranged and performed, with heavy jazz influences it is just downright excellent."
"Different rhythms and drum combinations are used on the tracks, which range from 46 seconds to nearly 10 minutes in length. They are done with a musical feel, with changes in volume and speed to add interest in the compositions. The drums are used as parts of an orchestra, so the sound is more akin to a marching band than to a sequence of solos, although there are some sections of call and response."
hris Smither casts his perspective on folk and blues music on 
"Jane Bites Back is not an action-packed novel, but it is light, airy and fun. Ford very nearly pokes fun at himself, Jane Austen fanaticism and the modern vampire genre with this yarn, but it's in a knowing way that shares the joke with the reader. And, while somewhat irreverent, the book is never disrespectful; indeed, you can tell Ford has boundless respect for Austen, the author, and he gives Austen, the character, plenty of charm, wit and proper English resolve. Plus, there's a dog in peril," Tom Knapp says. 
"Biggs is a capable seaman and a likeable protagonist, and he is surrounded by a variety of diverse and interesting characters. While few of the supporting cast receive much in-depth development, we can look for more growth among them in the next two books in the series."
yn Benedict, a.k.a. Lane Robins, makes her first fantasy splash with 
il Owen takes an amused look at 
"Neither country nor bluegrass, Hotel sits comfortably within Canada's latter-day folk-ballad tradition -- the Scots-Irish background unmistakable -- and represents it honorably. Besides, it's good to know that a song titled 'Tonight We Strike' does not mean at the barbarian hordes that need to be bombed until they learn to love freedom. Then again, he's Canadian. One looks forward to more."
.S. Forester's ninth novel in his famous nautical series focuses on 
"The main charm of the album is its living-room feel. It doesn't sound like a professionally produced album and, in this case, that's a compliment. It's as though everyone is sitting around the fireplace singing and clapping along, tossing in a rough, untested harmony here and there or singing unison on the chorus."
"It's a refreshing perspective that sets Kydd apart from most books in the genre, and it's certainly an enjoyable ride seeing things in the Royal Navy from a landsman's point of view. In fact, Stockwin's expert use of naval jargon -- often without explanation or definition for the reader -- might seem like a weakness, but in the case of Tom Kydd, it seems to hammer home his own feelings of confusion among the many masts, sails, ropes and pulleys he must master."
"On the other hand, Live in '65 -- culled from a heretofore unreleased tape of a concert at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Music Hall on Feb. 20 of that year -- is not only listenable but largely enjoyable."
oco Montoya is presented to the masses in 
"It's easy to compare this book to the Twilight saga, and I'm sure many reviewers will do just that, but I think this series will be better planned and thought-out than that series. While each book in Twilight could have been the last and each sequel needed to find a new direction to make it interesting, it is obvious by the end of Fallen that Kate has definite plans for this series and a definite direction in which to take it -- a direction I hope proves to be as interesting and exciting as this promising first novel indicates it will be."
"Baldwin, if somewhat lackluster and a little too credulous for his own good, is a steady and able officer who provides a clear perspective on these important events. It is refreshing to see the action through the eyes of someone who's not in command; most nautical authors tend to zero in on the captain as their protagonist. And, while White is occasionally a little repetitive and plodding in his narrative, he manages to maintain the reader's interest through the thrilling exploits of an often overlooked period of American history."
"Each fairy has its own illustration and they are detailed, colorful and whimsical. At just a little over 100 pages, it seems a lengthy kids' book, but the pages and the print are large and it could easily be read in a couple of nights to your child. While I think this book will appeal mostly to children and young teens, I think any adult who can still see a little magic in the world will enjoy it, too."
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