Danny Barnes — Pizza Box

3/11/10 1:27 AM

Danny Barnes is recommended for fans of: Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Robert Earl Keen, Old Crow Medicine Show and Marshall Tucker Band. Check Danny Barnes’ Web site to stream his entire album, Pizza Box. http://www.dannybarnes.com/  Key Tracks: Caveman, Pizza Box, Overdue, Sparta, TN Released late in 2009, Danny Barnes’ seventh solo album, Pizza Box, is quickly becoming my pick to keep on repeat this spring break and BBQ season. Barnes, a Texas-born-and-raised banjo player and vocalist, is a familiar name to many Dave Matthews Band fans — Barnes not only opened for DMB at stops on multiple tours and landed a spot picking banjo on DMB’s newest studio album, but Pizza Box was also recorded in Matthew’s Haunted Hollow Studios in...

Obscure Sound

3/8/10 11:25 PM

After Obscure Sound released its list of the Best Albums of 2009 (from #50 to #1), I just had to know what was number one. They voted for Animal Collective’s eighth album, Merriweather Post Pavillion. I didn’t have it on my iPod, so I downloaded it a few days ago, and I’ve been listening to it nonstop ever since. I’m not actually that familiar with Animal Collective’s previous stuff, but this is one of the best albums I’ve heard in a long time. It has a really mature sound - I’m a sucker for musicality, especially complex rhythms and instrumentation. These people know how to do synth, and their lyrics are great too (especially on “Lion in a Coma”). One warning – “My Girls” will immediately become lodged in your head...

(Re)Discover Buena Vista Social Club

3/8/10 11:25 PM

A classic to be rediscovered, Buena Vista Social Club's 1997 self-titled release celebrates the sounds of Cuba during the 1940s and 1950s, an era marked by musical performances at the Havana nightclub with which the album shares its name.

The album received a Grammy in 1997 for Best Traditional Tropical Latin Album and appeared on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

To get a sense of the album's beauty, check out "Dos Gardenias," a bolero sung by Ibrahim Ferrer, 70 at the time of recording.

For an in-depth look at the band's unique members and specials concerts, watch Wim Wenders' documentary, also called Buena Vista Social Club. The film streams here for free.

Ginger Clements

Keep Listening to Georgia ... Bush

3/8/10 11:24 PM

Lil Wayne's song "Georgia Bush" is legendary in its own right. Wayne's vitriolic record off his mixtape "The Dedication 2" lashing out at former President George W. Bush has been lauded and criticized equally for its assertions. In the record, he suggests the devastation after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was more than just a natural disaster, but a government cover to up to clear out the African-American population of New Orleans. The political accusations ends at about 3:40 of the song. The song lasts 7:27. Keep listening. Hardcore rap fans will appreciate the second half of this historic track. Lil Wayne makes no outlandish statements while rapping over a simple, crisp piano beat with mesmerizing flow, much like the rest of the second (and most critically...

BlacRoc worth a listen

3/8/10 11:22 PM

It isn't often that a rock/hip hop collaboration can match the quality of the artists involved, but BlacRoc is definitely worth a listen. A collaboration between the Ohio-based blues rock band the Black Keys and rappers like Raekwon, Ludacris and even some tapes from the late Ol' Dirty Bastard (Wu-Tang Clan), this one-off record should please fans of both the band and all the rappers involved. The project came to be after an impromptu studio session between the Keys and rapper Jim Jones got interrupted by Mos Def, who ended up contributing to the track. A few more rappers were called, and the project was completely finished in only 11 days. And the spontaneity of this collaboration is what gives it its appeal. The band and the rappers not only work seamlessly together, they seem to...