Music Reviews: Augustana, Old 97s, Ben Kweller, Travis, Dolly Parton

One last batch of what was in the queue here, before I review the CDs from my KC trip.  :)

Augustana - "Can't Love, Can't Hurt":  Reviewed one of their earlier CDs a while back (borrowed from J2), and liked it, so got on the list for the library to lend me their latest one.  The list for it was long, but it was worth the wait.  :) Sweet and Low is on the radio right now, getting lots of airplay. It's a great little tune, and it's representative of how this whole CD sounds.

These guys are people of faith, but this is not Contemporary Christian music. It's just good pop music, with a little crossover country feel. Other favorites: all of them. :) Especially Hey Now, I Still Ain't Over You, Dust, Twenty Years, Where Love Went Wrong. Really good.


Old 97s - "Drag It Up", "Blame It On Gravity": I had wanted to listen to these guys mostly because of Rhett Miller (reviewed previously), who is their front man. Generally speaking, I think I prefer Rhett as a solo act. But, it's still decent music. I'd call it alt-country.

Favorites: From "Drag" - Moonlight, Valium Waltz, Blinding Sheets of Rain, In The Satellite Rides a Star, Adelaide. From "Blame" - Dance With Me, No Baby I, Here's To The Halcyon, Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue, The One.


Ben Kweller - "Ben Kweller", "On My Way", "Sha Sha": When it comes to this artist, my buddy SQ is a fan(atic), and since we are going to go see him at The Varsity in October... I need to get up to speed. So he lent me his Kweller Kollection to review.  Naturally, since he likes Kweller, I want to like him, too. But (as I am with anyone's music that's recommended to me) I'll be objective, regardless. Mostly. :)

First off, what the heck is he?  Alternative?  anti-folk?  Pop?  Rock?  New Country?  Seems to vary song by song.  I like his voice well enough.  He's got the kind of light, clear, mellow voice like you'd hear from Travis, Aqualung, Maritime, etc.  He's just all over the board style-wise.  

Second, some of the lyrics grip you, others offend you, still others bore you.  I think he does mature through the three CDs reviewed here, each two years apart.  I like him progressively better as he gets more recent.  And is mellow stuff is more appealing than the harder stuff, I think.

Favorites:  From "Sha Sha" - Family Tree, Walk On Me, No Reason, Falling.  From "On My Way" - My Apartment, Living Life, Believer, Hear Me Out, Different But The Same.  From 'self-titled' - Until I Die, Run, Sundress, I Gotta Move, Penny On A Train Track, Magic, Red Eye.

Travis - "The Man Who", "The Boy With No Name":  The first one, from 1999, that I stumbled across in the library is less polished than the second, their most recent, but still good.  If you like Keane, you'll probably like Travis.  Plus, the lead singer sounds quite a bit like Rufus Wainwright, I think, with maybe a bit less expressiveness.  

Worth exploring if you're unfamiliar.  But I'd start with the earlier release - it had a few more successful singles.   Favorites:  from "The Man", Writing To Reach You, Driftwood, The Last Laugh of the Laughter, Turn, Why Does It Always Rain On Me?, Luv.  From "The Boy", Under The Moonlight, Selfish Jean, Big Chair, Out In Space, Colder, Sailing Away, Perfect Heaven Space.

Dolly Parton - "Little Sparrow": Oh, goodness. It's beautiful! :) This CD from 2001 (just deeply discounted on Amazonmp3) is soooo good. She sounds better than ever, and has made one of those rare CDs that is of one piece from start to finish, a cohesive whole. And she sounds modern, updated, but still classic. 

If you like Iron & Wine, Gillian Welch, Leigh Nash, but have never listened to Dolly - this is the CD to try. You'll want to hear more. Not one bad track, but I particularly liked the title track (and reprise) plus Shine, I Get A Kick Out Of You (yes, the Sinatra tune), and In the Sweet By and By (slowed way down and sung partly in Gaelic.)  Great!