Trax
By Bliss 08/26/2010
RYAN BINGHAM & THE DEAD HORSES, Junky Star (Lost Highway): (4.5 stars out of 5)
Oscar/Golden Globe winner Bingham’s gritty style and romantic backstory — peripatetic childhood across the Southwest, rodeo riding, living on his own and slinging guitars in bars by his teens — sometimes threatens to overwhelm his music’s substance. But not for nothing is he lauded by elders Willie Nelson, Marc Ford, Joe Ely and producer T-Bone Burnett, whose most valuable contribution here is leaving the ravaged-sounding troubadour and his band free to do what they do best, their road-forged bond strengthening the vibrant lyrics’ tough authenticity. binghammusic.com
BOBBY BARE JR., A Storm—A Tree—My Mother’s Head (Thirty Tigers/Naked Albino): (4 stars out of 5)
The irreverent roots-rocker’s first album in four years is a smartly produced amalgam of rock, pop and country that should attracts fans of Jason Isbell and Drive-By Truckers. Co-produced with David Vandervelde, featuring members of My Morning Jacket, the 14 tracks deftly balance melancholy with Bare’s sardonic worldview; tumultuous personal trials obviously feed the pervading theme of soldiering onward, leeched of sentimentality by Bare’s dark humor. Highlights: steel-washed title track, “One of Us Has Got to Go,” “Rock and Roll Halloween.” At the Echo Tuesday. bobbybarejr.com
ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN, Hawk (Vanguard): (3.5 stars out of 5)
The indie-rock odd couple’s third album rides the hushed tension between Campbell’s breathy soprano and Lanegan’s craggy baritone through 12 tracks written, arranged and produced by ex-Belle & Sebastian crooner Campbell, from the delicate “We Die and See Beauty Reign” through the gospel-boosted “Lately.” (There’s also a cover of Townes Van Zandt’s “No Place to Fall,” with Willy Mason singing lead.) It’s all about Campbell and Lanegan’s unsettling chemistry, even when the squawling title track crashes their crystalline vibe. myspace.com/isobelcampbell
HEART, Red Velvet Car (Legacy): (3.5 stars out of 5)
The Wilson sisters’ trump cards have always been Ann’s rafter-blasting vocals and Nancy’s dexterous fretwork, and producer Ben Mink (who also helmed Ann’s 2007 solo disc “Hope & Glory”) wisely hones in on those remarkably undiminished attributes throughout 10 acoustic-textured tracks that hark back to Heart’s “Little Queen”/“Dog & Butterfly” heyday. Nancy’s light tone brightens “Hey You” and “Sunflower,” but it’s Ann’s firepower and interpretive insight that give the album bite. Highlights: title track, “Queen City,” “Sand” (reprised from Lovemonger days). heart-music.com
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