To come clean from the off there wasn't anything else in the Vine programme that I'd be remotely interested in so I took a chance on this. My teenagers listen to a lot of Harry Potter audio books, we both like Sherlock Holmes in the same format and I thought just maybe we'd find some more common ground in this. Unfortunately we couldn't get beyond the first cd. Actually I initially thought I'd put the wrong one on first as you are immediately plunged into a bizarre synopsis of what our hero has been up to so far before the 'actors' read their scripts at a hundred miles an hour-of course given cd tech I could always recap on it but when I suggested having another go I was left standing in the kitchen holding the remote control.
Its fair enough to salvage this as a part of audio history, and if you were there listening to this at the time I guess you were only to grateful to distract you from the rations and its nostalgia value may be enough for some, but I can find no artistic merit in it at all.

Its a little difficult to place this product in the context of any competitor as apart from ipod I haven't used any for some years. The technology has certainly moved on. I plugged this in to my laptop and it was ready to go in about 8 seconds. Listening to music on I-tunes its a marked upgrade on the laptop speaker-very comfortable and light -the mic swivels out of the way, (I haven't used it yet) and I can see me packing it with the laptop on holiday to get some sounds in when the kids are asleep-that is if I can retrieve it from my son who has pinched it for his X-box-he likes it too.

I currently don't have any Merle Haggard albums in my collection and despite following a relatively recent interest in 'country' thanks to Steve Earle, Buddy Miller etc., I continue to be wary of the full dose as I have a long standing aversion to the redneck, religious and the corny. This complilation of Haggard songs treads a wary line between these at times. Its saved by the quality of the contributers.
Lucinda Williams, Joe Ely, Iris Dement,Steve Young and Dave Alvin, were all previously known to me and their entries are all very worthwhile. The pleasant surprises for me were; Peter Case, Rosie Flores, Billy Joe Shaver, Katy Moffat and John Doe , none of whom meant much to me before but are clearly worth further investigation. In the "jury still out" category are Tom Russell, Robert Earl Keen, Marshall Crenshaw and Barrrence Whitfield , although to be fair I suspect that is down to the songs they were asked to do which strayed too far into my already mentioned no go zones. Dwight Yoakam has the only entry which definitely indicates a dead end for me. As for Haggard himself, I understand he has a reputation as being more at the Willie Nelson end of things as opposed to the Nashville corn merchants. Certainly the cd (produced by Russell and Alvin) has a sparse, stripped down feel with no sickly strings in the vicinity. If you already like his stuff then this might prove an interesting introduction to new artists. If like me, you are coming at it from the other end, then its unlikely you will be exploring much beyond his 'greatest hits'

If you are thinking of catching A3 on their current unplugged tour and haven't encountered them other than on Woke up this morning-the fantastic theme tune to the Sopranos-then this is a very good place to start. I saw them for the second time in Cambridge the other night and although there is no substitute for catching them live this will give you a good idea of what you'll be in for musically if not visually. Its a very stripped down band, both on the cd and if the gig I saw is typical (guitar,harmonica, and electric violin) on the tour too. Consequently you get a rather different version of the Sopranos intro-no Howlin Wolf etc. but both the songs and musicians are of a good enough quality to make the transition.
In a way I wish I'd bought this before seeing them -it stands up alone as a fine, predominantly bluesy album,with country tinges, and while their stage act is not to be missed they are too easily dismissed as a novelty act. In fact they take their music and audiences very seriously-just not themselves. Hope you get the keys to the mansion guys but I wouldn't want to clean up afterwards.

From 1995, this is another very solid album from Buddy Miller (with very strong contributions from his wife Julie (plus Gurf Morlix on bass/guitar), the latter also contributes some vocals as do Dan Penn, Jim Lauderdale and of course Emmylou Harris on one track.
Most of the songs are credited to Buddy with various co-writers credited, usually (Julie) amongst the above. Nearly all are very strong with some stunners. In the latter category some will recognise, "That's how I got to Memphis", written by Tom Hall, which Solomon Burke included in Nashville album produced so well by Buddy. "Don't listen to the wind", (from Julie) is possibly even better and her ballad " Through the eyes of a broken heart" is not far behind."I don't mean maybe "is a bit of a hoedown but the way their voices gel is a delight. Emmylou shows up for one of the few tracks not at least co-written by one of the the Millers, "Hold on my love" and does her usual fine job on harmony, then its back to a great,rocky "Hole in my head"-(as in I need a girl like you like a.......), again great blending of vocals, which is a recurrent aspect throughout the album. "Watching Amy dance" is another Buddy collaberation and puts a shiver of recognition into anyone who's been separated from their kids. Again to put genuine simple emotions into songs without the all too familiar schmaltz that's crept into country over the years is a hallmark of the Millers."I can't slow down" is bluesy/swampy with Dan Penn quite prominent and has enough attitude that it could have been on a Steve Earle album."My love will follow you" is another very strong B & J effort, and the last two tracks, particularly the final " A girl you" maintain the quality. I have to admit I prefer the Millers when they keep their religion to themselves and they manage that here. Having said that Buddy's Universal House of Prayer(see separate review) album is as upfront with it as you could get and I was stunned by that too. Get this while you can.

According to Patterson's customary informative sleeve notes this was recorded in 2001 in his living room. He describes it as a therapeutic exercise, or maybe the exorcism of personal demons which had overtaken him at the time, i.e. divorce, band arguments, financial problems etc. Ordinarily I'd run a mile from such a description. Who needs a rock star's self pitying introspection? Well you get none of that here. Just as Hood's band the Drive by truckers make a habit of turning potential cliche into alternatively barnstorming and wonderfully soulful Americana, this cd turns his personal trauma into a witty, humorous, and engaging solo album. Apparently never intended for general release Patterson got DBT producer to 'clean it up'. Sounds to me that this involved some overdubs of Hood's own guitar and vocal but we are left with a very clean and intimate sound. The songs are all, at the very least good quality,and though there are few that would contend for a DBT top twenty that's now a very high benchmark. If you are at all into this band then don't hesitate to add this one to your DBT must buy list.

I've had this, my 3rd Patty Griffin album, for a couple of months now and have held off reviewing as am reluctant to give her anything less than 5 stars-see previous reviews. She still sings with a fantastic voice which lends itself well to the variety of styles on offer-country, blues and gospel all get a look in, unfortunately so does a rather bland folk pop sound which could be anyone of many lesser female singers.
It all starts so well. The first three tracks amply demonstrate her versatility without sacrificing her essential soulfulness. The opening couple of tracks are reminiscent of Rickie lee Jones and I swear I was thinking the third, Trapeze, reminded me of Emmylou Harris when up popped the lady herself to contribute a great harmony. Next track contrasted well with a return to rootsy rock which could have been on the brilliant Flaming Red.
I was a little underwhelmed by even the beginning of Burgundy shoes-too easy listening for me-but I sensed the worst when the strings came in. Too many albums have been effectively ruined by the overuse of an orchestra to hide songwriting deficiencies and while this one is relatively sparing in its arrangements, (only 9 cellos/violins etc.) its still about 7 too many, and manages to screw up an otherwise majestic Heavenly days. Thankfully we're returned to a rootsy No bad news, but there is there is worse to come.
You can see the scenario in the mixing -"We've got all these string arrangements, why don't we turn them up just a little bit Patty?" Well the reason is they only serve to devalue the best songs such as Up the mountain, and do nothing to help the weaker ones. I'd rather listen to her talk than compete with these guys.
Sorry to be such a critic but Patty is a class act and doesn't need anyone to sweeten her sound. Don't start here if you are new to her music.

I have around 30 gardening books I've picked up over the years. Maybe 5 or so regularly come off the shelf. Another 9 or 10 will make an occasional contribution and the rest are rarely consulted, except on occasion for inspiration. Gardening being a slow process it'll be a while before I can tell which category this one will fall into but probably the intermediate one is favourite.
The author attempts to combine the gardening fork with the culinary one and that's been done before by the likes of Monty Don and Bob Flowerdew . This contribution is decidedly aimed at the upmarket gardener with a strong interest in cooking, or perhaps the the upmarket cook with a mild interest in gardening.
The author makes a fair point in that many of us fall into the trap of growing the same vegetables every year and there must be more than me who have carefully nurtured a cauliflower to deliver it proudly to the kitchen only for it to have a brief visit to the fridge before being returned to the compost heap. He strongly argues for growing only produce that's expensive to buy. (I suspect it may also be expensive to grow too. We are given websites but little indication of the cost of Egyptian walking onions and the like.)
The recipes look like all recipes to me. Very nicely presented, (I'm getting hungry just writing this) and completely beyond my skill base, although to be fair that's pretty low. There is an attempt to convey the gardening basics in the form of a page on sowing, composting etc, but this is primarily a cooking book, e.g. there is no mention of crop rotation.
Overall it's a beautifully presented book which may well inspire me to have a go at new crops. A beginner gardener will need more than this and don't give it to anyone with kids, they'll never have the time. It could be a result for Mother's day though.

This a collection of reviews, articles, lecture notes etc. that Marcus has published, mainly regarding Dylan, but also stretching to other related topics, especially the 1950s collection of American traditional songs published by Harry Smith.
Marcus puts his credentials as a Dylan fan right out front in the prologue, "Where I came in". At a 1963 Joan Baez concert he is smitten with the Dylan bug early. Even more impressively he catches Dylan having a fag by a nearby tent. "You were terrific ", he says,( well you would). "I was shit, just shit" says Bob. Well again he would.
This is pretty much the layout for the rest of the book, except its Marcus telling us what's shit and what isn't, starting of course with the famous review of Self Portait in 1970. Actually his review of the album isn't the diatribe one would expect from its title, "What is this shit? He finds more positive things in it than I could but the importance is in the surface tabloid headline style of response that pretty much sets the tone for the rest of collection. Marcus either hates something so much he'll dismiss it entirely as drivel, e.g. the Hard Rain 76 album, or he likes it so much he'll write an impenetrable book about it ,(see Like a Rolling Stone, or worse still the Basement tapes/Invisible Republic).
All this reminds me of gloriously drunk Dylan arguments at University. I had a mate once (yes Ross it's you) who would drop a bomb of a statement in an argument just to liven things up. One of several explosion moments here is Marcus' assertion that `You're gonna make me lonesome when you go, (Blood on the tracks) is a certified stinker'. Whaaat?
There is also almost a total ignoring of the Rolling Thunder tours, where were you Griel? I could go on but unlike Marcus in his obsession with all things about the Harry Smith collection, I won't. To be fair and to return to the prologue Marcus states illuminatingly, ".....I stand by everything that's here, even when its wrong -in the midst of a conversation.....the heat can't always be separated from the light. "
There is much to enjoy of both here and overall the reviews are mainly positive, often surprising and nearly always entertaining. It only looses a star as there are several moments when the digression from the main subject becomes rather verbose. Well worth it for the committed fan.

I'm always wary to throw even a little cold water on a such warm reviews but I'm still slightly disappointed with this after several listens. This is surprising on several counts. Firstly its my fourth RWH album and I rate the guy very highly (see other reviews), he is certainly on my must see live list.
Secondly it takes off very well, nothing wrong with the title track and things get even better with Drunken poet's dream, although co-writer Hayes Caryll's version is even better. Down home country blues is one of the best I've heard from him and 3 tracks in I would have bet money I'd be saying the same thing about the album as a whole.
Unfortunately although the change of pace on the next track, wasps nest, is ok, for me at least it signals a dip into the ordinary from which the rest of the cd struggles to recover. Pots and pans is again ok but its a simple blues stomp that goes on a bit without much respite from the 'repeat 3 lines and add a slightly different one'-apart from some rather fake moaning.
Tornado rise starts with a slow slide where Ray falls into his habit of practically talking the lyrics, it gradually takes off into a churning slow blues guitar before sinking back into the slow paced narrative. Again this is ordinary by the man's high standards.
Whoop and holler picks up the pace with rough hewn but still happy clappy gospel.I know Ray's swapped the bottle for the bible but usually the quality of the music is enough for us atheists to tolerate the preaching -see later- Black wings and 'loose' approach usual form and with a strong finish it could still have come in with 5 stars. Unfortunately the last 3 tracks "Every day is the day of the dead", "Opium" and "The four horsemen of the apocalypse" quickly dive into dirge territory again. Its an anti- climax of an ending with Ray returning to the bible for his material in a similar fashion to Dylan in the early 80s.
Phew-sorry to go on-I really like this guy and wouldn't want newcomers to be put off. If that's the case with you go for "Growl" or "Dangerous spirits" before you take on this one.