Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams Vinyl LP Record

Simple Dreams CD music Husband-and-wife team Brett and Rennie Sparks have been working as the Handsome Family since the mid-1990s, coming on like the Gomez and Morticia Adams of alt-country. On HONEY MOON, though, things lighten up a little bit in that the deliciously doomy lyrical themes of yore are often abandoned for something more fanciful, but the overall effect is nevertheless as appealingly quirky as ever. Rennie's songs are still full of odd, sometimes otherworldly occurrences, but there's a lilt to them that steers things clear of the pair's old haunts. And where Brett's deep, husky voice was once employed strictly for how-low-can-you-go Johnny Cash-isms, the graceful melodies of HONEY ...

Simple Dreams album for sale Charlie Poole was the Hank Williams of 1920s string band music, and while he wasn't a particularly brilliant banjo player (although his later three-finger-style picking would set the table for the advent of bluegrass banjo a couple of decades after his death), and he wasn't the world's greatest vocalist either, he had a certain devil-may-care charisma that made him a star in the early days of the recording industry. Poole's greatest talent -- aside from an ability to go on long drinking sprees and to manage to be at the center of things even in his absence -- was in his song adaptations, which drew from sources outside the standard Appalachian fiddle tunes and reels, including pop, ragtime, and blues. Poole, with his band the North Carolina Ramblers, recorded mostly for Columbia Records, but disguising his band as the Highlanders, he also recorded under the table for Paramount and Brunswick in 1929, working piano into the standard string band lineup of fiddle, banjo, and guitar. This set collects those recordings, and features all of the sides Poole made with Roy Harvey, Lucy Terry, and twin fiddlers Lonnie Austin and Odell Smith, including the epic four-part "A Trip to New York." ~ Steve Leggett

Simple Dreams buy CD music Tributee: Eddy Arnold. Track Listing of songs: DISC 1: It's a Sin; Anytime; Make the World Go Away; You Don't Know Me; Something Old, Something New (Something Borrowed & Blue); Texarkana Baby; How's the World Treating You; Lovebug Itch; What is Life Without Love; Johnny Reb, That's Me; DISC 2: Just a Little Lovin' (Will Go a Long Way); Bouquet of Roses; That's How Much I Love You; Cattle Call; I'll Hold You In My Heart; Jim, I Wore a Tie Today; That Do Make It Nice; Wreck of the Old 97; Don't Rob Another Man's Castle;

Simple Dreams songs Sara Watkins throws a bone to her old Nickel Creek fans by opening up Sun Midnight Sun with "The Foothills," one of the album's two instrumental numbers. It's a zippy bluegrass tune, driven forward by Watkins' furious fiddle playing, and it's the closest she ever comes to the rustic sound of her former band. Watkins doesn't completely forsake the farm for the city on this solo release, but she does stretch her arms quite a bit, pulling in everything from quirky indie pop to West Coast folk-rock to harmony-drenched Americana. She nets a few big-name collaborators, too, with people like Jackson Browne, Benmont Tench, and Fiona Apple (who lays down some deep harmonies on a galloping, spaghetti western version of the Everly Brothers' "You're the One I Love") stopping by for a song or two. This is clearly the Sara Watkins show, though, even when she relies on producer Blake Mills to help her co-write the album's best tunes, and she's never sounded better as a singer. She croons like a country star on "Be There," a sad-eyed, twangy duet whose guitar riff pays tribute to Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," and chastises a reluctant lover with a sharp, flirty coo on "When It Pleases You." The rest of Sun Midnight Sun bounces between pastoral folk and big-city pop/rock, often blurring the lines between the two, and the album comes full circle with its closer, "Take Up Your Spade," a campfire singalong that roughly approximates Watkins' more acoustic beginnings. It's not as polished as the other tracks, but it's a helpful reminder that even when you strip back the eccentric arrangements and lush production, Watkins can still deliver. ~ Andrew Leahey

Simple Dreams album for sale Track Listing of songs: DISC 1: Giga Dance [Live]; Pappas Tant; Alike [Opiate Remix]; Big Man; Brass Palms; Video Killed the Radio Star; Vicious Bears; Sorry; Moving; Guest List; Pequod; Living Forever; DISC 2: Ordinary Days; Hyunhye's Theme [Acoustic]; American Flags; Want; Too Many Shoes, Not Enough Feet; Wisdom of Insecurity, The; Sex Karma [St. Vincent Remix]; London Zoo; Same Socks; Steady [Demo]; A Moment In Energy Transfers;