Dierks Bentley, Home

2012 | Label: CAPITOL NASHVILLE

By Nick Murray eMusic Contributor

02.08.12 Heard over the radio, “Am I the Only One” was a song to relate to, a pick-me-up to bridge the early evening transition from work to play. Now, as the first track off Home, Dierks Bentley’s sixth major album, it’s a challenge: Dierks wants to have a little fun tonight — do you? The party continues with “Gonna Die Young,” an uptempo ode to lust at first sight, and even the unexpectedly melancholy “Tip It on Back,” before slowing on “Home,” a theoretically apolitical America tribute that easily surpasses Modern Day Drifter‘s “Domestic, Light and Cold” as the most outwardly patriotic number in the Bentley catalog.

On the record’s backside, the man who made a Country No. 1 out of “Come… more »

Django Django, Django Django

2012 | Label: Because Music / Because

By Ben Beaumont-Thomas eMusic Contributor

02.08.12 How inspired they are by their jazz guitarist namesake is up for debate, but Django Django’s name suits them — a screwball, percussive brace of words that matches their madcap-yet-taut music. First emerging a couple of years ago with the loping stomp of the first single “Storm,” the group slipped into a fine tradition of psychedelic English eccentrics from Syd Barrett to The Beta Band — the brother of drummer and producer Dave Maclean used to play with the latter.

And it’s to those oddballs that Django Django can perhaps be most closely compared: Like the Beta Band, they are as comfortable with acoustic guitar strumming as with electronic explorations and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. You can also hear the rambunctiousness of the… more »

Wymond Miles, Earth Has Doors EP

2012 | Label: Sacred Bones Records / S.C. Distribution

By David Raposa eMusic Contributor

02.07.12 The kind of psychedelic sounds that Wymond Miles explores on his debut EP aren’t all that far removed from the joyful noise he makes when playing lead guitar for the Fresh & Onlys. That said, no one can accuse Miles of punching the same clock as his day job for Earth Has Doors.   For one, this one-man effort (some drums, strings and backing vocals aside) is decidedly more overcast and purposeful.  Even if you didn’t know that these tracks dealt with “the existential crisis of our current epoch,” even a cursory listen to tracks like the neo-folk flavored “Temples of Magick” or the viola-and-feedback driven instrumental “As The Orchard Is With Rain” intimate that Miles has something weighty on his… more »

Amy Cervini, Digging Me Digging You

2012 | Label: Anzic / Entertainment One Distribution

By Britt Robson eMusic Contributor

02.07.12 Vocalist Blossom Dearie was an American original who amassed a distinctive repertoire by choosing — and also eventually writing — material that balanced Tin Pin Alley, Broadway and intimate cabaret piano jazz. As a singer, Dearie (who died in 2009 at the age of 83) possessed refined intonation, a sly sense of swing and playful phrasing — gifts she frequently combined with a Cupie-doll affectation (partially borne of her limited range) that helped nudge her more fancifully humorous tunes into novelty territory.

Although Dearie die-hards will likely disagree, Amy Cervini has distilled the strengths and siphoned off the weaknesses of the Dearie method in her marvelous tribute, Digging Me Digging You. She’s the right person for the job, possessing her own… more »