Album Reviews

Looking at the sepia toned cover photo, listening to the Civil War era Americana-themed lyrics and unraveling the thick, dark, tuba-tinged instrumental atmospherics, you might easily imagine the recording venue to have been a log cabin in the woods.

A throwback to the �60�s British folk scene that produced The Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Pentangle, Shirley and Dolly Collins and dozens of others, Scottish folksinger Alasdair Roberts brings a spare purity to his original folk balladry.

If you�re not yet familiar with him, Matisyahu is a 28-year-old white, Chassidic Jewish reggae-rapper/rocker from West Chester, Pennsylvania. Now read that over a few more times, do you have a mental picture yet? He dons the traditional dress of The Hasidic Jews, wears a long beard and sounds a bit like �Jr. Gong� Marley. In addition he�s a self proclaimed former-Deadhead, loves Phish and is an adept beat boxer. Now that I�ve got you scratching your head wondering if I�m making this all up, it would be a good time to add that he�s also a talented songwriter, and his album, Youth is quite the unique musical experience.

A generation has grown up without Reference Recordings, which due to a series of business mishaps, had gone silent and not due to a lack of demand for its consistently spectacular recordings and often adventurous titles.

The timbre may have deepened, though almost imperceptibly, but caressing the soft, melodic waves of this set of tidily drawn, dreamy reveries, k.d. lang�s voice remains a magnificent, mellifluous instrument.

In his first commercial release since 2005�s folk-laden Hotel ; Moby brings the eclectic Last Night . The album could be considered Moby�s return to the high-tempo dance music, which brought about his late 1990s fame. Whereas Hotel explored the synergy (and sometimes lack of) between guitar-strumming light rock and bass heavy electronica, Last Night is pure dance. Moby does not lend his voice to the double album�s 14 songs, but his cast of vocalists highlights his arranging skills.