New music

I've gotten a couple of new pieces of vinyl in the last few days....

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Cardinology

If you're not already a fan of Ryan Adams I don't imagine that anything on this album would jump out and immeditaely grab you. It's a solid and steady album that has a classic Ryan Adams alt-country sound - a bit melancholy and moody, solid songwriting and playing. It's neither Adams best work - nor anything close to his worst. It's a good buy for anyone who is already familiar with and a fan of his past work. For the new folks maybe start them off with "Cold Roses" or, better yet, some Whiskeytown.

Beck - Modern Guilt

Beck and Danger Mouse? There's a lot of potential in that lineup - unfortunately this album falls well short of the mark. The album is heavy on the acoustic guitar mixed with ethereal electronic sounds. The songs are all drab, lifeless and colorless. It resembles Beck's "Sea Change" minus all of the soul and heartbreak that made that record so very good. It's a highly mediocre effort all the way around. With Danger Mouse signed on one would think that the production value would be much, much higher but this album comes nowhere near "Midnight Vultures" level of quality. The mix is very rough with some lo-fi static and very abrupt endings of a few tracks. Save your money.