Only three years passed between the Stones’ debut and this follow-up record, but the siblings seem to have aged exponentially in the interim. While 2007’s A Book Like This found the two setting their own adolescence to a soundtrack of acoustic guitars and sparse percussion, Down the Way is a decidedly adult album, filled with textured arrangements and a wider array of influences. Angus and Julia handle their own production this time around, and the resulting songs jump from panoramic chamber pop -- often with a rootsy, Americana edge -- to bedroom folk songs, with both members trading off vocals and instrumental duties. Julia still sings in a soft, fairy tale voice, but her own songs are bolder than they once were, with tracks like “Hold On” taking much of their strength from the contrast between her gauzy, childlike croon and the nocturnal-sounding instruments that surround it. Even so, brother Angus gets the “most improved” award, having moved past the solo folk songs he favored on A Book Like This (although some of those show up here, too) in favor of lush, collaborative material. On “Draw Your Swords,” one of the album’s three tunes to stretch past six minutes, he rips into the final refrain with gusto, shouting the lyrics in a cracked baritone before adopting a Jeff Buckley-ish falsetto.© Andrew Leahey /TiVo

In the year of his 90th birthday (which he would have celebrated on the 23rd of September 2020 had he not died in 2004), Ray Charles is honoured with a new 90-track compilation box set. Just another compilation like all the rest? Yes and no. Ray Charles is undoubtedly one of the most-compiled artists in the history of music. Published by Tangerine, the label that the musician set up at the end of the 50s to keep the rights to his songs, this box set starts out like all the others: with the post-Atlantic hits, Georgia On My Mind, Hit The Road Jack, One Mint Julep, Busted... These are timeless treasures of proto-soul, but there doesn't seem to be much novelty here. The rest is much more interesting, and much rarer: tracks recorded between the second half of the 1960s and the 2000s, many of which were only released on vinyl, never reissued on CD and until now unavailable on digital. This is the first time that Ray Charles' lesser-known years have been given the compilation treatment in this way, and it is a revelation. In the 90s and 2000s, the production of his songs had a synthetic feel, and they did not age too well. These rarer songs are often hidden gems of southern soul, flavoured with country and wrapped in sumptuous symphonic orchestrations. Whether he is singing the Muppets (It's Ain't Easy Being Green) or Gershwin (Summertime, a duet with Cleo Laine), Ray Charles is always deeply moving. Now, the dream is to hear reissues of all these albums in their entirety. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz

Flogging Molly boasts a feisty Irish heart and pub rock influences aplenty on Drunken Lullabies, an boisterous collection of hyper-energetic songs rendered in a rush of patriotic frenzy. Lead singer Dave King leads an raucous army of guitars, violins, whistles, and accordions through torrid tales of freedom, political struggle, love found, and love unrequited bolstered by a rhythm section steeped in a pure punk rock aesthetic. Engineered by Steve Albini, this album explodes with the exuberance of a live performance, leaving in the sour notes and call-and-response verses that are equally infectious and endearing. The title track kicks off the set in a breakneck speed that never lets up, decrying the ills of modern society whilst drowning sorrows, hopes, and fears in alcohol and camaraderie. "Death Valley Queen" is a dirge of Dylanesque proportions where King bemoans the rejection he suffers from a not-so-fair maiden with courage and deep sorrow. But misery, no matter how temporary, loves good company. And there's plenty to be found on Drunken Lullabies. After one listen, you'll probably wish you were Irish. © Tom Semioli /TiVo

During the 1990s and 2000s, all the stars paraded in front of the cameras of MTV to perform live acoustic. From Oasis to Jay-Z, not forgetting Nirvana, Neil Young, Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill, Hole, Alice In Chains, Maxwell or even Kiss, everyone came to prove that by unplugging the amps they can still hold their own... Bruce Springsteen could hardly avoid this challenge. On September 22, 1992, at Warner Hollywood Studios in Los Angeles, while he was about to start his tour Human Touch/Lucky Town without the then separate E Street Band, he boxed up his own MTV Unplugged. Apart from the Boss cheated: his unplugged is in fact… plugged in! It begins with an acoustic of Red Headed Woman but the twelve tracks that follow are very much electric. Eight of them come from Human Touch and Lucky Town which he published on the same day, March 31, 1992 (two honest albums but not among his most impressive). The classics Atlantic City (from Nebraska), Darkness on the Edge of Town (from the eponymous album) and Thunder Road (from Born To Run) complete the track listing of this solid live album, though this record is probably reserved for hardcore Bruce Springsteen fans. © Max Dembo/Qobuz

The Colour of My Love follows the same pattern as Celine Dion's eponymous breakthrough, and while the songs aren't quite as consistent this time around, the record is nevertheless quite successful, thanks to the careful production, professional songwriting (highlighted by "When I Fall in Love," "The Power of Love," and "Think Twice") and Dion's powerhouse performances.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

In Lhasa's small but perfectly-formed discography, The Living Road deserves pride of place. Brought out in 2003 and finished in Canada, it started to take form in France, where she was living. The cellist Vincent Ségal and trumpet-player Ibrahim Maalouf join her on the trip. Of her three albums, this one is surely the most varied. Lhasa brings together three languages: Spanish, French and English, whose poetic potentials she has mastered perfectly. The ambiances and the melodies are rich and adventurous. We hear the accents of Mexican rancheras, or Balkan melodies, such as on La Llorona, while elsewhere we can see traces of the dreamy Americana of her last album, and, in the French passages, a certain European melancholy emerges from the orchestration.  These twelve pearls of songs are rendered captivating by their elegance and Lhasa's precise, unique and moving voice. © BM/Qobuz

Double-CD set of 47 tracks that Hardin recorded for Verve between 1964 and 1966. His expressive, blues-inflected vocals and confessional songwriting are heard on covers and famous compositions like "If I Were a Carpenter," "Lady Came From Baltimore," and "Reason to Believe." The compilation includes every studio recording that Hardin released on the Verve label, as well as two alternate takes and 15 previously unreleased tracks.© Richie Unterberger /TiVo

Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town is a transitional effort that bridges the curveballs of Emmylou Harris' earliest solo work with the more traditional country albums that comprise the bulk of the second phase of her career. For the first time, she covers no Gram Parsons tunes or pop music chestnuts, relying instead on newly exited Hot Band member Rodney Crowell for two songs ("Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight" and "I Ain't Living Long Like This") and Dolly Parton for another (the devastating "To Daddy"); the highlight is a gorgeous cover of Jesse Winchester's "Defying Gravity."© Jason Ankeny /TiVo

Eric Clapton is usually thought of as John Mayall's most important right-hand man, but the case could also be made for his successor, Peter Green. The future Fleetwood Mac founder leaves a strong stamp on his only album with the Bluesbreakers, singing a few tracks and writing a couple, including the devastating instrumental "Supernatural." Green's use of thick sustain on this track clearly pointed the way to his use of guitar riffs with elongated, slithery tones on Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" and "Black Magic Woman," as well as anticipating some aspects of Carlos Santana's style. Mayall acquits himself fairly well on this mostly original set (with occasional guest horns), though some of the material is fairly mundane. Highlights include the uncharacteristically rambunctious "Leaping Christine" and the cover of Freddie King's "Someday After a While (You'll Be Sorry)."© Richie Unterberger /TiVo

Here we have a good, healthy glass of unadulterated whisky. One with overtones of blues, soul and a touch of country... The North Mississippi Allstars are a cultured and playful bunch led by the Dickinson brothers (Luther and Cody), sons of the great Jim Dickinson - the producer behind Big Star, The Replacements and Green On Red, and session musician for the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan... Pure products of Memphis, the group have been orchestrating a mixture of refined Allman Brothers, offbeat Cream, torrid Black Crowes, re- worked Ry Cooder and Delta blues (that verges on punk) since 1996. A quick glance at the guest stars on Up and Rolling gives you a good idea of what the album will entail: the gospel and soul priestess Mavis Staples, the rebellious urban cowboy Jason Isbell and the bluesman Cedric Burnside. But the record’s brilliance is largely down to Luther and Cody’s interpretation of timeless blues, country and soul, which is extremely refined and free of overdone clichés. The Dickinsons are people of taste and they keep only the essence of their art here. Above all, their solos - whenever there are any - are 0% fat! An album that is as pleasant and easy as an evening with friends... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

On Steve Earle's first major American tour following the release of his debut album, Guitar Town, Earle found himself sharing a bill with Dwight Yoakam one night and the Replacements another, and one listen to the album explains why -- while the music was country through and through, Earle showed off enough swagger and attitude to intimidate anyone short of Keith Richards. While Earle's songs bore a certain resemblance to the Texas outlaw ethos (think Waylon Jennings in "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean" mode), they displayed a literate anger and street-smart snarl that set him apart from the typical Music Row hack, and no one in Nashville in 1986 was able (or willing) to write anything like the title song, a hilarious and harrowing tale of life on the road ("Well, I gotta keep rockin' while I still can/Got a two-pack habit and motel tan") or the bitterly unsentimental account of small-town life "Someday" ("You go to school, where you learn to read and write/So you can walk into the county bank and sign away your life"), the latter of which may be the best Bruce Springsteen song the Boss didn't write. And even when Earle gets a bit teary-eyed on "My Old Friend the Blues" and "Little Rock 'n' Roller," he showed off a battle-scarred heart that was tougher and harder-edged than most of his competition. Guitar Town is slightly flawed by an overly tidy production from Emory Gordy, Jr., and Tony Brown as well as a band that never hit quite as hard as Earle's voice, and he would make many stronger and more ambitious records in the future, but Guitar Town was his first shot at showing a major audience what he could do, and he hit a bull's-eye -- it's perhaps the strongest and most confident debut album any country act released in the 1980s.© Mark Deming /TiVo

After the '70s, Jethro Tull struggled with each album to update their sound, but kept falling short with out-of-place synthesizers and drum machines. Three attempts at harder-rocking albums were followed by the Little Light Music tour in 1992, one which took a step back into a relaxing semi-acoustic setting. This album, a document of that May's European shows, should be treasured by fans looking for something more than the 10,000th performance of "Aqualung" (although it does contain the 10,001st performance of "Locomotive Breath"). The playing highlights the gentlest musical abilities of Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, bassist/mandolinist Dave Pegg, and temporary drummer Dave Mattacks (Pegg's Fairport Convention buddy). Old favorites are rearranged alongside rarely performed tunes from the Tull catalog. The quieter numbers ("Life Is a Long Song") and instrumentals ("Look into the Sun") come off best in this club-like atmosphere, although the production is a little chilly.© Patrick Little /TiVo

The Road and the Radio arrives at the end of a busy 2005 for Kenny Chesney. As the year opened, he followed up his 2004 blockbuster When the Sun Goes Down with the mellow Be as You Are. A few months later, he married movie star Renee Zellweger, and four months after that, she filed for divorce. Two months after that, Chesney returned with The Road and the Radio, the big, splashy proper follow-up to When the Sun Goes Down. Given such a tight, hectic schedule, it shouldn't come as a great surprise that The Road and the Radio sounds rushed, as if Chesney didn't have the chance to properly decide the right course for this album. He certainly didn't have the chance to write much -- only two of the songs here bear his credit, compared to the all-original Be as You Are and When the Sun Goes Down, which had four original compositions. Since Chesney has always demonstrated a good ear for material, this isn't a great detriment; he picks good tunes here, highlighted by the wry, lazily rocking "Living in Fast Forward." But the haphazard nature of The Road and the Radio means not only does the record fail to gel, but that its rough edges are particularly noticeable. "Rough" isn't quite the right word, though, since one thing this album is not is rough: it's a smooth, polished, commercial effort, heavy on anthemic choruses and bright surfaces. In other words, this is the poppiest that Kenny Chesney has ever sounded, from how the atmospheric keyboards on the opening title cut recall U2 to how "Summertime" is driven by a gurgling talk box guitar. This in itself wouldn't be a big problem -- it's been a long time since Chesney has pretended to be straight country, and he's very good at country-pop -- but the problem with The Road and the Radio is that the songs just aren't very memorable. The record is surely pleasant, but apart from the aforementioned cuts, plus the easy-listening Springsteen/Mellencamp tribute "In a Small Town" and the party-hearty "Beer in Mexico," the songs themselves don't rise above background music. And while that's enough to make it an enjoyable enough listen, it's also enough to break the hot streak he began with 2002's No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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