Dualtone sampler

It's been a pretty quiet holiday season for CD purchases in the Moores household. Every year, from around Nov. 1 through Christmas, I go on a CD moratorium so that the folks who might like to buy me a Christmas gift have a fighting chance to find something I don't have. My mother-in-law will tell you that I have every CD ever released, but to her credit she'll almost always buy me one anyway. So the least I can do is slow down and enjoy all the music I've bought during the first 10 months of the year.

I've gotten better about sticking to the moratorium, but it's difficult sometimes. Sharon almost always helps by granting me a special dispensation for a purchase that simply cannot wait until Christmas. This year, I have a get-out-of-jail-free card for the next Ryan Adams release, slated for Dec. 20, if for no other reason than I have to post my Top 10 discs of 2005 on this site. My audience is depending on me, I say. I get an eye roll, but more importantly I get the go-ahead. Also to my wife's credit, she understands when a deal is too good to pass up. I went over to Tower Records to do a bit of Christmas shopping the other day (you'd be surprised at how buying music for others takes the edge off), and decided to peek in the clearance bin. I found a copy of Irish singer-songwriter Mark Geary's "Ghosts" � for 99 cents. I probably won't paw through any more clearance bins until the new year, just so I don't have to come home sounding all pathetic while trying to justify another great deal.

My CD-free months also are made more bearable by the incidental discs that are free with magazine purchases. There are several mags that come packaged with CDs, such as Paste, Uncut and Mojo. There are others that don't routinely come with CDs, but occasionally contain samplers. This was how I happened across a nice disc from Dualtone, packaged with the latest issue of Harp. (I purchased my copy at Borders. I've seen Harp elsewhere and it wasn't packaged with the CD. Without taking the time to call the magazine, my guess is that individual results will vary.)

If you're unfamiliar with Harp, it's a pretty excellent magazine that covers music ranging from Americana to indie rock and beyond. Like much great music, it's pretty hard to label. If you haven't checked it out, you might want to. For those who visit us here at HickoryWind, the December issue contains a cover story about Neil Young, and a feature in which Wilco's Jeff Tweedy picks his 10 favorite live albums. If you can, you'll want to seek out an issue packaged with the Dualtone sampler. It indicates that we'll see some nice offerings from the independent Nashville label in early 2006.

The disc kicks off with three tracks from singer/songwriter Carey Ott: "Am I Just One," "Daylight" and "I Wouldn't Do That To You." I'll sacrifice a little bit of my critic's street cred and tell you that I'm not familiar with Ott's work, but to me he occupies a patch of stylistic ground between Ryan Adams and Josh Rouse, with a strong pop sensibility. To clarify, when I say "pop sensibility," I mean it in the sense of strong songcraft and a sense of melody (see the Beatles, Big Star and Marshall Crenshaw for examples). I don't mean it in the sense of an "artist" who wears a headset and has backup dancers on stage. With a baby on the way any day now, the budget's going to be tighter next year. But I'll still be tempted to check out the album these tracks came from, "Lucid Dream," which is scheduled to be released in the spring.

Also of interest are two tracks from the forthcoming Robinella Contreras disc "Solace for the Lonely": "Break It Down Baby" and "Press On." I really enjoyed her major-label debut in 2003, "Robinella and the CC Stringband." I'm guessing not enough people bought that offering, which would explain why she's on Dualtone. The change might well do her good. She's just billed as "Robinella" now, but from what info I've found on the Internets, she's still got the CC Stringband in tow. She's got a voice that's pleasing, and she reminds me of Norah Jones at times. Even if you don't like Norah Jones (I happen to think she's great), you should give Robinella a try. She's hard to categorize, but there are definitely elements of Americana and jazz in her songs. She's added a few more amplified instruments on the two tracks here, which doesn't make it any easier to label. Let's just call it good. If we could just get the people who pick the music to play in bookstores and coffee shops to give Robinella a few spins, she could be on her way to selling in more Norah-like numbers.

For me, the highlight of this disc is the inclusion of two tracks from the upcoming (Jan. 10) BR549 release, "Dog Days." It's hard to tell what kind of disc this will be. The lineup has changed again (Chris Scruggs left amicably to pursue his solo career), and it sounds like the band is carrying on as a four-piece. It might mean less up-tempo honky-tonkin', if these two tracks are any indication. "Poison" is a banjo-flavored tune that bemoans the downside of too much imbibing. It features some nice vocal harmonies, too, and it's really been growing on me. The other track features a jazzy, laid-back shuffle, and it's called "Lower Broad St. Blues." Having spent their formative years cutting their teeth on Nashville's Lower Broadway for tips, there are few bands as qualified to write a tune about the turf. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing more of "Dog Days," and hoping that Santa wraps my coal in a twenty so I can go pick it up.

There are many other great artists represented on this disc, including The Greencards, Warren Zanes, Jeff Black, Darden Smith and June Carter Cash. There even are two tracks from this year's excellent Bobby Bare disc, "The Moon Was Blue." The cover price of Harp is $4.95, which makes it a pretty sweet deal even if you don't read a word of what's between the covers. It's one of the best bargains of this Christmas season, and I didn't need to get within spitting distance of a Wal-Mart.