Trax
By Bliss 08/05/2010
ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO, Street Songs of Love (Fantasy/Concord): (4 stars out of 5)
In tandem with his tested-and-true road band, co-writer Chuck Prophet, onetime David Bowie producer Tony Visconti and marquee guests like Bruce Springsteen, Escovedo delivers his most accessible album, a musically muscular, viscerally affecting effort. Lyrical poetry sometimes gives way to plain-spoken urgency, elevated by the conviction of roiling guitars and slamming drums as Escovedo pursues an elusive love that might last. At the El Rey Wednesday. alejandroescovedo.com
KHAIRA ARBY, Timbuktu Tarab (Clermont Music): (4 stars out of 5)
Yet another winning salvo from West Africa’s fertile musical scene. Cousin to late desert-blues progenitor Ali Farka Toure, Arby’s multilingual songs share droning hypnotic rhythms with musical brethren Tinariwen, but instead of electric guitars position her dynamic voice at the forefront as she praises Mohammed, salt mine workers and community over insistent percussion, handclaps, call-and-response harmonies, ngoni and one-string njarka fiddle. She decries female circumcision in “Feryene” and elsewhere asks, “Why in a country of beautiful women do men go to war?” Good question. myspace.com/khairaarby
WAIT. THINK. FAST., Luces del Sur (self-released): (3.5 stars out of 5)
Craig Schumacher, who’s helmed Iron & Wine and Neko Case’s atmospheric “Blacklisted,” brings similar production finesse to Argentine-born frontwoman Jacqueline Santillan and guitar/charango-playing hubby Matthew Beighley’s material. Ably supported by drummer Thomas King, their bilingual tunes range from the summery hopes of “Si Es Por Amor” to the piano-centered elegy “Hidden,” cleanly wrapped in pop hooks and harmonies. Highlights: “Look Alive” (“There’s a longing in our gray hearts/ Some with wings and some with scars”), “Trouble.” At Spaceland Monday. waitthinkfast.com
JERRY CASTLE, Don’t Even Ask (Dualtone): (3 stars out of 5)
When a friend sang Castle’s then-unrecorded “Life Gets Better” at a local club gig in December, it was the show’s most emotionally potent moment and served as a stirring introduction to this Nashville artist’s oeuvre. It’s likewise a hopeful highlight of this 11-track country disc. Some tracks sound like made-for-radio rejects, but others (“Rainbows for Ava,” “Write My Own Ending”) resonate with their knowing midlife vantage point of roads wisely and foolishly taken and journeys survived. Suggested for fans of Billy Vera, Gary Nicholson and Clint Black. reverbnation.com/jerrycastle
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