CDs

Richard Thompson, Mock Tudor

Another must-have collection of instant classics from Richard Thompson. Beautifully recorded and mixed, this CD captures the musical blend of Thompson and his band that fans have been enjoying live for years. Thompson's voice is as lovely and tweedy as ever, his electric guitar rings like a bell, his son Teddy's backup vocals provide that special brotherly blend, and the entire band—from hurdy-gurdy to trombone—hits the mark again and again. Thompson's songwriting only gets better with time, and the numerous highlights on this disc include acoustic-based numbers like "The Sights and Sounds of London Town," dark rockers such as "Bathsheba Smiles" and "Uninhabited Man," and poppier, more bubbly songs like "Walking the Long Miles Home." (Capitol)

—Simone Solondz

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Thom Bresh, Wires to the Wood

For years people have been after Thom Bresh to make an instrumental album, and aside from a few vocals, this 20-tune collection is it. Naturally, there's a ton of superb thumbpicking on originals such as "Mr. Guitar, My Friend," "Midnight," and "Heather's Hideaway," yet the crafty melodies and thoughtful moods of "Mira MacGuire" and "Janet's Planet" reveal that there's more to Bresh than boom-chuck. The memory of Marcel Dadi is evoked by a nice arrangement of "My Brother Thom" (written for Bresh by the late French guitarist), and Chet Atkins' "Happy Again" gets a sterling treatment, yet it's the spirit of Bresh's famous father, Merle Travis, that permeates this fine outing. (DCM Digital)

—Jim Ohlschmidt

John Lowell and Ben Winship, Growling Old Men

John Lowell and Ben Winship update the classic brother duet sound with a western twist on this delightfully relaxed album. Their smooth vocal blend and hot picking are as comfortable as a well-worn pair of jeans. Lowell's guitar style is easygoing and sweetly melodic, and there's plenty of tasteful lead swapping between his guitar and Winship's mandolin. They are also excellent singers and songwriters, as demonstrated by Winship's lovely "Lily Green" and Lowell's clever, bluesy "As Soon as You're Out of My Life." (Snake River)

—Sue Thompson

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Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill, No Dowry

While her sister Tríona and brother Micheál O Domhnaill have helped define Irish music in the last 20 years, Maighread is only now stepping up to the mic for her first solo CD. Maighread's voice is less reedy than Tríona's, with lovely phrasing and striking vocal control, especially in the stark unaccompanied love ballad "The Green Wood Laddie." Tríona adds harmonies and lush keyboard washes, and producer Donal Lunny builds his usual rich sound with his acoustic guitar and bouzouki and Liam O'Flynn's uilleann pipes. The sweet set ends with a heartbreaking setting of "Lily of the West." (Shanachie)

—Danny Carnahan

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Rose Polenzani, Anybody

Cerebral songwriter Rose Polenzani's gothic-style storytelling is showcased on Anybody, her second release. Her lyrical odysseys are thick with meaning, displaying more fortitude than the frothy folk-rock numbers Polenzani's peers often play. Her acoustic guitar combines with spare mandolin picking and a violin's cry to accent the songs' dramatic tension, and Indigo Girls Amy Ray and Emily Saliers add their voices to "Or." In a quietly subversive way, Polenzani metes out her uncommon tales of sexual politics, religious torment, and people caught in the crosshairs. (Daemon)

—Karen Iris Tucker

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Various artists, Dublin to Dakar: A Celtic Odyssey

African rhythms and influences have been creeping into Celtic music for some years now, and it's a pleasant surprise to learn that the cultural exchange is going the other way as well. This compilation is filled with sparkling, joyous examples of Celtic/African cross-pollination. Alan Stivell and Youssou N'Dour collaborate on an almost achingly hopeful opening track. Algerian rai legend Cheb Mami sizzles with a bagpipe-driven north African rave. Then there's Irish reggae, Italy's answer to the Pogues, Capercaillie going west African, and plenty more. The energy throughout is infectious. (Putumayo)

—Danny Carnahan

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Michael McNevin, Sketch

I don't know what's best about this CD—Michael McNevin's music or his Etch a Sketch drawings that accompany each song. McNevin is a singer-songwriter of the highest order, with excellent guitar skills and an intimate singing voice that have made him a favorite traveling troubadour for many years. His sense of humor and eye for meaningful moments in the lives of his fellow townsfolk and travelers make him the kind of artist that listeners appreciate for both the language and the passion he brings to his music. (Mudpuddle)

—Steve Givens

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Martin Solomon, Solo Guitar from Celtic to Klezmer

This has to be a first: D A D G A D fingerstyle guitar arrangements of klezmer tunes such as "Shalom Aleichem" and "Tantz, Tantz" next to the Celtic favorites "Si Beag Si Mohr" and "Planxty Irwin." Martin Solomon's marriage of styles works just fine. One set fits Andy Statman's melancholy "Flatbush Waltz" between "The Silkie" and an upbeat "Mill Brae." Later the stately "Mazel Tov" and "Nigun Alik" lead into a frolicky (or freilich-y?) "The Rabbi's Trousers." Other contemporary pieces include Mark Knopfler's "Going Home" and Simon Jeffe's "Music for a Found Harmonium." A tab book is also available. (Martin Solomon)

—Russell Letson

Peter Kern, Young and Restless

Producer Lawrence Cohn wisely backs off and lets the tape run as Peter Kern kicks ass in front of a live audience on this great CD. Kern's confident, flowing blues guitar playing is integrated and all his own, but heavily grounded in tradition, from rocking Piedmont fingerstyle through Blind Blake–like ragtime picking to Robert Johnson Delta licks to an especially satisfying slow shuffle rhythm à la Jimmy Reed. Kern's voice is unique, soulful, and powerful, measuring up to the early bluesmen he idolizes without sounding imitative. He also shows compositional skills, doing a nice job of updating blues classics like "Louis Collins" with hipper lyrics, while being careful to credit the source. (Document)

—Dale Miller

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Tanya Savory, Town to Town

With a photographic eye for detail and a Faulkner-like way with words and people, Tanya Savory writes songs that draw listeners in, inviting them to sit a spell. The songs on Town to Town are finely tuned and detailed slices of life comparable to the work of great short story writers and exceptional songwriters such as Bill Morrissey and John Prine. Savory also has an elegant voice reminiscent of Mary Chapin Carpenter and a strong guitar style that does it all justice. (Philo/Rounder)

—Steve Givens

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Daemon, PO Box 1207, Decatur, GA 30031; (404) 373-5733; hello@daemonrecords.com; www.daemonrecords.com.

DCM Digital, PO Box 158519, Nashville, TN 37215; www.bresh.com.

Document, Eipeldauerstr. 23/43/5, A-1220 Vienna, Austria.

Martin Solomon, 10 Narroways Rd., St. Werburghs, Bristol BS2 9XB, U.K.; (44) 17-955-5726; www.martinz.demon.uk.co.

Mudpuddle, PO Box 5062, Pleasanton, CA 94556; www.songs.com/mcnevin.

Philo/Rounder, email: info@rounder.com.

Putumayo, 324 Lafayette St., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10012; (212) 625-1400; www.putumayo.com.

Shanachie, 13 Laight St., Sixth Floor, New York, NY 10013; (212) 334-0284; shanach@idt.net; www.shanachie.com.

Snake River, PO Box 215, Victor, ID 83455; (208) 787-2824.