Kronos Quartet: (Elektra Nonesuch)
Perhaps it's because string quartets are small enough to be nippy around corners, perhaps it's that the sort of people who are interested in chamber music are interested, also, in pushing boundaries and exploring possibilities. Whatever: here's one of those "where should I file it?" albums from the Kronos Quartet. As the title suggests, it traverses the shifting sonorities of the "east" (loosely defined as "anywhere outside Europe", since it apparently embraces both India and Mexico). Pannonia Boundless is a haunting recreation of Hungary's glorious past; Ecstasy winds a sinuous path between European and Lebanese soundscapes; Turceasca sets skin and hair flying in a wild, Romaniangypsy sort of way. A breath - literally - of musical fresh air.
- Arminta Wallace
Kasey Chambers: The Captain (Virgin)
Now here is a rare and exotic creature - an Australian country singer. However, while her origins are central to her music, Kasey Chambers promises to be considerably more than an interesting oddity, to judge by this exceptional debut. At times there are echoes of Lucinda Williams, while elsewhere she calls to mind a spikier Julie Miller; but this is not an album of borrowed styles. Chambers, raised on the road, the daughter of a country band leader, understands the beauty and pain of alternative country. Her songs, such as the title track and These Pines, are full of simple emotion and honest conviction while her singing, underscored by brother Nash's tasteful production, can raise goosebumps with its intensity. And, apparently, she is even better live!
- Joe Breen
Big Bill Broonzy: Trouble in Mind (Smithsonian Folkways Records)
He is not often mentioned in despatches these days, but Big Bill Broonzy was central to the growth of the blues, especially in the late 1940s and 1950s. When his style of guitar playing was considered old hat in postwar Chicago compared to the emerging electric rush of Muddy Waters et al, he reinvented himself as a "folk blues" performer for white student audiences. This superbly annotated package features material from these last years before he died in 1958. The 24 tracks include his classic, Key To the Highway, and other seminal country blues. His delivery is restrained and dignified, but there is no doubting the passion and, indeed, his wisdom. This was a man who understood the blues because he lived the life.
- Joe Breen