|
| You Go, Girls Tony Peyser Mirror contributing writer She’s from Tasmania and lives in Northern California but Audrey Auld puts over that alt-country sound like a Texas native. On Losing Faith, her second album, “Not Who I Am” is one of those calling card songs like Kasey Chambers’ inviting “Cry Like A Baby.” This makes sense since Australian Kasey sings on this track and her dad, Bill Chambers, produced Auld’s album. The soaring “Not Who I Am” also has a pop sheen to it. The wry “Next Big Nothing” has a country streak a mile wide and Auld’s duet with Fred Eaglesmith about a lackluster affair is a low-key keeper. Call her a Tasmanian angel. On Slide Show, a veteran steel guitar and dobro player makes an overdue solo debut. Cindy Cashdollar —- known to fans of Prairie Home Companion —- may be more than a day late but she’s not a dollar short. This mostly instrumental album features duets with bluesman Steve James, pedal steel legend Herb Remington and piano ace Marcia Ball. But Cashdollar’s tracks with Sonny Landreth and Jorma Kaukonen are perhaps the best, recalling the lyrical early work of Ry Cooder and David Lindley. Lone Star singer-songwriter Terri Hendrix combines country twang with heart and wised up smarts. The title of her new album, The Art Of Removing Wallpaper, is explained in “Breakdown” as Hendrix shows her willingness to gaze underneath what we all hide in different ways. “One Night Stand” is a grown-up look at the immature dating scene. The excoriating “Judgment Day” is Hendrix’s gospel-infused shout-out about politicians hiding behind religion. It should be sung at one of moveon.org’s anti-Bush concerts. One hears more about Mississippi blues men than Mississippi blues women. A keeper of that female flame is Jessie Mae Hemphill, who stopped performing ten years ago because of a stroke. Get Right Blues are newly released recordings from 1979-1985. You don’t need a whole bottle to get liquored up on her laid back sound —- a shot or two will do the trick. “Shake Your Booty (Shake It Baby)” is hypnotizing, equal parts John Lee Hooker and John Fogerty. And I’m not making a mountain out of a Hemphill. Atlanta-based Chelsea Logue’s Incarnadine has a mischievous spirit like early Rickie Lee Jones. Her acoustic, ethereal songs often seem to have given gravity the heave-ho. Logue will someday read a review where her age isn’t mentioned but when you’re just 16, it’s inevitable. Listening to her songs is like sitting at your local Starbucks and peering over the shoulder of a teenage girl who’s drawing in her notebook. Her album’s as innocent as a first crush on the first day at school. Miles Of Music has Losing Faith and Slide Show for $15.49 and The Art Of Removing Wallpaper for $11.99. Amazon has Get Right Blues for $15.99. CDBaby has Incarnadine for $10. On August 22, reunited Camper Van Beethoven play at Silverlake’s Sunset Junction Street Fair. The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is … Darth Vato. |