Pearl represented the summit of her self-creation to that point, and it was the only studio album she truly enjoyed making.

There aren’t too many things more American than a set of songs delivered in a country-western twang, with hard-edged guitars, a dose of Jesus, and lyrics about cars and growing up. That’s Bobby Pinson‘s recipe, and projected through his gutsy songwriting and soaring, slightly unpolished baritone, it’s a winning combination. …

For the first time in its four-year run, the Americana Music Honors & Awards will be broadcast to 37 million homes via the GAC (Great American Country) cable TV network this Fall. Hosted by two-time award winner Jim Lauderdale at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium, the awards show will be taped …

I’m, like, busy or something. So, no witty comments or literary segues this week – let’s just get straight to the… INDIE ROUND-UP for June 16 2005 === Sonya Heller, Fourth Floor Fluid melodies, sultry, jazz-inflected vocals and introspective, literate lyrics define Sonya Heller’s most recent CD, Fourth Floor. The …

Angel superfans and Buffyverse compleatists, rejoice: a full hour of the gloomy, portentious orchestral music that played such a big part in making the Buffy spin-off so simultaneously grim and over-the-top can now be yours. For this CD, Australian composer Robert Kral compiled and combined his best cues from the …

Ron Howard’s Cinderella Man is about as good a movie as you will ever see in the feel-good, underdog-triumphant genre. It’s also a very good fight picture. And it’s more than that as well. Along with a richly layered performance by Russell Crowe – all the more impressive because he …

Although rap and electronica are not my usual beat, I think I manage to explain why I like the selections below. In between, you’ll find a self-described “bunch of average middle-aged people” who call themselves Key Lime Pie. Next to strawberry-rhubarb, that’s my favorite kind of pie, so they have …

For a superb collection of science fiction and fantasy suitable especially, but by no means exclusively, for teens, you need look no further than this wonderful new anthology. The first in what I hope will be an annual series, the book was compiled by veteran anthologist Patrick Nielsen Hayden and …

Well, rock me over with a feather - Styx's new CD is damn good.

=== Damon Aaron: Ballast Throwing hip-hop lovebeats into acoustic, folky music is a hip (pun intended) thing to do these days. Damon Aaron is good at it. Fans of Elliot Smith or Nick Drake might well like Aaron’s new CD, which also has a hint of Elvis Costello’s torchy mode …