Pop - Alaskan singer/songwriter Kate Earl received acclaim for her 2005 debut album Fate Is the Hunter with an affinity for personal, sharply observant and finely crafted songs. Drawing comparisons to Fiona Apple and Rickie Lee Jones, Earl's dark and deeply dreamy compositions display an innate soulfulness that remains on display for her more R+B/pop-influenced self-titled sophomore effort. Working with producers Louis Biancanello and Sam Watters, Earl brings a sleek pop sheen to her newer songs, by and large leaving the acoustic sound behind for a brighter, bouncier and more radio-friendly feel. For our part, we're partial the retro-pop throwback of "Nobody" and the creepin' "Can't Treat Me That Way" though we think a lighter touch might have been more effective overall. Still, peel back the studio lacquer and glamourpuss photos (and cheesefactor 9 video) and you'll find some smart, effervescent pop tunes.

"The sound I have dreamed of for years and years is finally coming to life," Earl observes. "The first time around I came to my producer with the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill record. But it wasn't the time. So for the past two years I have gone back to the sound in my mind coaxing it out... Learning how to write it and communicate to everyone around me what I hear. All of myself. The folk jazz, blues, gospel, soul, rock and roll AND hip hop... and the rest." As she sums it up, "It's a brand new day."

Myspace  Artist Site

Kate Earl - "Nobody" (from the album Kate Earl)

Kate Earl - "Can't Treat Me That Way" (from the album Kate Earl)

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Pop/Adult - It's obvious from just a perfunctory listen to her ornately orchestrated, sumptuously produced and sophisticated songs that Nashville-based Brooke Waggoner is definitely coloring outside of the lines of what normally passes for piano-based singer/songwriter fare these days. Cinematic in scope, sweepingly theatrical in style, dramatic in presentation, Waggoner's precocious, witty songs recall Aaron Copeland and Stephen Sondheim as much as any contemporary ivory tickler. We're not that surprised to learn that she's had 17 years of formal classical piano training (and she's all of 24 years old) -- this is richly detailed, complex music. She is, perhaps, Nellie McKay's less jaded, more grounded and earnestly spiritual alter ego.

Second full-length album Go Easy Little Doves, is an astonishingly mature album, a collection of songs that she's written over the past 10 years and brought to life with dramatic flair and what she calls a "fresh approach". The handful of brand spanking new songs could be thought of as the real hook here but frankly everything we've heard from Doves -- old, new, borrowed or blue -- sounds inspired. It is, she adds, "laced with all sorts of Q & A, pensiveness, elasticity, and romance." However you describe it -- and you'll have fun just trying to do just that -- this is music that deserves not only to be heard, but listened to. Highly recommended.

Myspace  Artist Site

Brooke Waggoner - "Femmes" (from the album Go Easy Little Doves)

Brooke Waggoner - "Go Easy Little Doves, I'll Be Fine" (from the album Go Easy Little Doves)

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Pop/Adult - With his piano-man melodies, teen looks and a light, oft-falsetto voice to match, 20-year-old Bay State singer/songwriter and Berklee dropout Seth Glier could be dismissed as yet another would-be poster man-child for the sensitive, soul-bearing crowd of musical weepies. But the kicker is that Glier's new November 3 album The Trouble With People has some pretty substantial writing chops on display along with some serious nods to 70's Billy Joel/Elton John balladry and the more modern shuffling adult/pop that seeps through the soundtracks of TV shows like Gray's Anatomy.

“I felt as though I was collecting footage for a film rather than recording an album," Glier recalls of the DIY basement recording of the basic tracks that make up Trouble. Writing on both piano and guitar, he brings a classic pop feel to songs such as "Someone Else To Crown", the Joel-ish "Naia" and theatrical, cabaret-ready title track. Says Livingston Taylor, someone who knows a thing or two about songcraft, “Listening to Seth’s music gives me hope for what’s to come. The next generation is alive and well.”

Myspace   Artist Site

Seth Glier - "The Trouble With People" (from the album The Trouble With People)

Seth Glier - "Someone Else to Crown" (from the album The Trouble With People)

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Rock/Pop/Alt - Flying by the seat of their collective pants has pretty much defined the modus operendi of Rivers Cuomo and Weezer and new album Raditude (Interscope) already has the trendy blogosphere abuzz with speculation about exactly which part of the kitchen sink may not have made it into the new album. For Cuomo, it appears that his "treadmill music" may have had a pretty strong influence in the oft-discussed "teen pop" sound of the new project. We're guessing that when you're listening to Katy Perry, Hannah Montana, Beyonce, Tim McGraw (?), Arcade Fire and The Killers while working out (as he shared with Pitchfork), predictability is the last thing on Cuomo's mind. Time to mix things up.

Long time fans are already holding their breath in anticipation, befuddled by some live tracks that have leaked as well as the hook-heavy Cheap Trick-ish buzz/pop or first single "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To". Word that contributors to the album include rapper Lil Wayne, hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri, The All American Rejects and L.A. pop meister Butch Walker (Avril Lavigne) have only fueled the speculation that this is one of those "anything goes", splattered albums that could be a daring, cross-genre adventure or a crash-and-burn WTF disaster. Us? We kinda like the first single (and love the cover) but -- as with all Weezer releases -- we'll withhold final judgement til we sample the whole messy smorgasbord. Says Cuomo: "Songs that are complete fantasies and have nothing to do with the literal facts of an artist's life can be really fun, too. Personally, I love pop music, so it feels very genuine for me to be doing this." For now, that works.

Myspace  Artist Site

Weezer - "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" (from the album Raditude)

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Folk/Pop/Rock - The classic folk songs of Greenwich Village in the 60's are reimagined by a fine collective of artists on The Village: A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village arriving November 3 via 429 Records. Tackling 17 songs from acoustic pioneers the likes of Bob Dylan (represented with six tracks), Eric Andersen, John Sebastian, Tim Buckley, Fred Neil, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon is a who's who of adult/alt performers such as Lucinda Williams, Bruce Hornsby, Shelby Lynne and Rachael Yamagata along with Amos Lee, Los Lobos, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rocco de Luca, Cary Brothers, Jesse Malin, Sixpence None the Richer, Rickie Lee Jones and Cowboy Junkies.

As with most "tribute" albums such as this, some tracks work infinitely better than others but we think this collection -- a combination of fine artists and great songs, performed respectfully but with each individual's stamp intact -- is one of the better ones to come along in a while. We're particularly fond of Carpenter's richly textured take on Eric Andersen's "Violets of Dawn", Rachael Yamagata's deep, dark reading of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" and (believe it or not) the chiming, atmospheric version of the folk traditional "Wayfaring Stranger" by Sixpence None the Richer. Complete track listing after the jump.
Recommended.

Various - The Village Sampler (featuring Lucinda Williams, Sixpence None the Richer, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shelby Lynne and Rachael Yamagata) (from the album The Village: A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village)

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Pop/Rock - Canadian singer/songwriter Serena Ryder may be only 25, but her commanding voice and charismatic live performance power is summed up succinctly by one critic as "Pipes. Presence. Potential." Armed usually with just an acoustic guitar, Ryder live is simply a force of nature, her tough/tender, bluesy/jazzy vocals and rhythmic, hip-shaking playing laying claim to the stage with dynamic certainty. After an indie release and an acclaimed album of covers released in Canada and Australia, Ryder has teamed with indemand producer John Alagia (Dave Matthews, John Mayer) for a new album she sums up as a "pretty stripped down" affair. "I'm really into doing a very direct, really organic sound."  

Forceful and gutsy when it needs to be, achingly tender at it's most emotional, Is It OK reflects a difficult personal time for Ryder. Suddenly losing her friend and co-manager Bonnie O'Donnell to pneumonia last year, Ryder found the songwriting and recording a positive way to deal with her grief. Alternating between vulnerability and strength, tracks such as "All For Love" and "Blown Like the Wind at Night" deliver a powerful punch, lyrically and sonically. There's even a new stripped down version of her signature song "Weak In the Knees." Her husky rasp of a voice, able to reach three octaves with amazing control and command, rides these songs with an bold, exhilarating authority that simply must be heard to be understood and appreciated.

"This whole record is about realizing that the more we think we know the less we do know," Ryder observes. "It's about me coming to terms with the fact that I'm imperfect, about being comfortable with feeling what I'm feeling and embracing being human in any way I possibly can."

Myspace Website

Serena Ryder - "All For Love" (from the album Is It OK)

Serena Ryder - "Weak In the Knees" (from the album Is It OK)

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Amerie - In Love and War (R+B/Pop)

Amy Cervini - Love Fool (Jazz/Vocals)

Andrea Bocelli - My Christmas (Classical Crossover/Holiday)

Beyonce - Above and Beyonce (CD/DVD) (R+B/Pop)

Blackheart - Invisible (Pop/Rock/Adult/Celtic)

Carrie Underwood - Play On (Country/Pop)

Cold Cave - Love Comes Close (Pop/Electronica/Indie)

Curtis Harvey - Box of Stones (Folk/Pop/Alt)

Ed Laurie - Small Boat Big Sea (Import) (Folk/Pop)*

Enzo Enzo - Toutim (French/Pop)

Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits (Rock)

Frank Sinatra - Sinatra: New York (Pop/Vocal/Standards

Girls In Trouble - Girls In Trouble (Pop/Alt/Rock)

Guided By Voices - Suitcase 3: Up We Go (Pop/Experimental/Indie)

Julian Casablancas - Phrazes for the Young (Rock/Pop)*

Kate Earl - Kate Earl (Pop/Soul)*

Laarks - An Exhaltation of Laarks (Pop/Rock/Indie)

Melanie Fiona - The Bridge (R+B/Pop)

Michael Feinstein and Cheyenne Jackson - The Power of Two (Cabaret/Vocals/Standards)

Morrissey - Swords (Pop/Alt)*

Nirvana - Live at Reading (CD/DVD) (Rock)

No & The Maybes - No & The Maybes (Pop/Alt)*

Serena Ryder - Is It Ok? (Pop/Rock)*

Seth Glier - Trouble With People (Pop)*

Slayer - World Painted Blood (Metal/Rock)

Some Like It Odd - Pop Jazz (Pop/Jazz)

Stricken City - Songs About People (Pop/Indie)

Swimmers - People Are Soft (Pop/Rock)

The Almost - Monster Monster (Rock/Pop/Teen)

The Dixie Bee-Liners - Susanville (Bluegrass/Americana/Roots)

The Mary Onettes - Islands (Pop/Rock/Indie)

Various - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Live (Box Set) (Rock/Pop/R+B)*

Various - Johnny Mercer: The Dream's On Me (Pop/Jazz/Standards/Vocals)

Various - The Village: A Celebration of the Music of Greenwich Village (Pop/Folk/Rock)

Weezer - Raditude (Rock/Pop/Alt)*