A musical round up - Part One

It's time for one of my more random posts. Basically with todd news short at the moment it is a good time to list some of the other things that i have been listening to over the past months, and those records that are trying to break into my yearly top 10.

The Killers - Sam's Town: Ah, the difficult second album. A bit less Duran Duran influenced that their debut 'Hot Fuss' this second album - playing as I write this - is a grower. It still has too much filler, but the title track, "This river is wild" and "When you were young" all hit the spot.

Bob Dylan - Modern Times: Well if you paid any attention to reviewers you'd have thought this album marked the second coming or something. This is not to say that this is not a fine record, but what itamounts to is an old fashioned blues album filed with needlesssly overlong songs. Theres vert few of th track here that would not benifit from being trimmed down. All that aside: "Nettie More", "Spirit on the Water"; "Someday Baby"; and "When the deal goes Down" are all still top notch.

Shawn Colvin - These Four Walls: I have been a fan of Colvin's for quite a few years now. There are very few artists that do the whole female folk/pop singer songwriter thing better. This album reinforces that view kicking off with two fantastic tracks as good as anything she's written - "Fill me Up"; the title track. Other highlights include "The Bird" and the cover of "Words".

Allison Moorer - Getting Somewhere: From the opening notes of "Work to do" it is clear that new hubby, Steve Earle has had a lot of influence on this album. This album does country in very much the way Earle does, with a big slice of rock - "Fairweather" also follows this mode very well. As that is someting that appeals to me this album hits the mark well. It's not all rocker though, there is plenty of time to listen to Moorer's wonderful voice too, on such tracks as " Hallelujah" and "Where you Are" (which is very like sis Shelby Lynne).