New releases: May 23, 2006

HickoryWind.org's Tokyo bureau is back in business, but I gotta warn you: It's jetlagged.

Next week, when I can keep my eyes open for more than two minutes at a time and when I'm not craving a burger and fries for breakfast, I'll gush about all the great music that was part of my trip home to the States. I'll weigh in on my highlights from Merlefest (even though that's sooooo last month now, I realize) and on some of the great CDs I listened to in my travels from state to state to state to state.

But for now, I'll keep it to the new releases list. Which is a long list this week -- apparently 2006 isn't going to give us a break anytime soon. Part of my visit to the States was a visit to Hickory Wind's own Mr. Sean Moores, and his lovely wife and new baby. And discussed during this visit was the fact that while 2005's comparatively slim offerings of new stuff made it hard to find 10 CDs worth including on a Top 10 list at the end of the year, the 2006 list will bring days of painful paring down just to select the tippy-top best 10. It's May and I'm saying this. Eeesh.

New releases for Tuesday, May 23, 2006:
Johnny Cash -- Personal File (Sony)
Surely you've heard the buzz on this one. Forty-nine never-released songs discovered among Cash's personal recordings after his death. Bare-bones recordings, some with spoken intros, exploring far beyond Cash's public body of work at the time -- 1973 to around 1980. I'm excited, but I'm also hoping Johnny's not going to become the next Tupac Shakur, who I'm guessing probably now has released more CDs posthumously than he did when he was alive. Cash's family, however, has proved careful of the Man in Black's legacy, so I'm pretty sure I can buy this special release and let not my heart be troubled.
Michael Cleveland -- Let 'Er Go, Boys (Rounder)
IBMA Fiddle Player of the Year winner more than once, Cleveland was formerly part of Rhonda Vincent's band and now tours solo and with Dale Ann Bradley's band.
Rhonda Vincent -- All American Bluegrass Girl (Rounder)
Umm. Yeah. Can we talk about the cover photo for a second? Here it is:

OK. Now then. What are we selling here, mmmm? Rhonda Vincent, while not one of my favorites, gets plenty of critical acclaim and awards, so I'm not sure why each CD gets progressively more, um, Maxim. That's swell for Faith Hill, who has nothing else going for her, but with Rhonda, I really don't get it. What I have to assume when this happens (talking to you, Shelby Lynne) is that going for the sex appeal on the cover is an attempt at distraction from a not-so-appealing album. Could be wrong, but no other explanation is coming to mind.
Dixie Chicks -- Taking the Long Way (Sony)
The much-anticipated, Rick Rubin-produced return of the Chicks. I heard the single "Not Ready to Make Nice" today for the first time. I wanted to like it, I really really did. I love a song with meat on its bones. But while the lyrics are good 'n' edgy, the rest of the song doesn't really say "anger" to me. It kind of says "please please please let this be radio friendly despite the lyrics" to me, and I liked the Chicks better when they didn't apologize, with their voices or in their music. That said, however, I'm still looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.
Jeffrey Foucault -- Ghost Repeater (Signature)
Slaid Cleaves -- Unsung (Rounder)
Covers from some of Cleaves' favorite songwriters, many of whom are ... unsung. I really dug Cleaves' Merlefest performances -- saw one on his own with stuff mostly from albums from the past five years or so, and another with the Woody Guthrie touring show, which I'll be gushing about more soon. In any capacity, Cleaves has a voice not quite like anyone else's and a knack for weaving a story into a song, so this is bound to be good.
Pete Seeger -- American Favorite Ballads, Vol. 4 (Smithsonian Folkways)
Various artists -- Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways)
Offerings from folkies you might expect -- Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Utah Phillips -- and others whose names aren't so familiar. This looks to be a good one to listen to on your way to your job working for The Man each morning ... unless you still want to have that job when you come home that evening.
Various artists -- Harlan County, USA: Songs of the Coal Miner's Struggle (Rounder)
An interesting subject but with a rather limited scope, I think. Tons of Hazel Dickens here, which is to be expected, but not much in the way of new stuff ... and it's not like Harlan County has turned into Easy Street last I checked. I'm a little iffy about any Harlan County compilation that doesn't include Darrell Scott's haunting "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive." Sure, it's recentish, but it already sounds classic and it can stand up to any Hazel Dickens song you want.
Various artists -- Putumayo Kids Presents: Folk Playground (Putumayo)
A great way to start off the little ones right, but it also looks like a fun CD for grownups. You've got Michelle Shocked doing "Got No Strings" and Leon Redbone on "Polly Wolly Doodle," for instance. And any CD that includes a treatment of "Froggie Went A Courtin'" (here by Laurie Berkner) is all right with me.

And for the highly prestigious Best Band Name Ever of the Week award, we have Seattle trio Snitches Get Stitches, which happens to be my own personal motto. One reviewer termed what these guys do "a sneaky kind of punk rock," and I guess the sneaking is why they're so opposed to snitches. Hmmm.