CD: “Coal” (Captain Potato”
PERFORMER: Kathy Mattea
ON THE WEB: www.kathymattea.com

Kathy Mattea’s musical career has covered a lot of ground. Born and raised in Cross Lanes, she became one of country music’s biggest stars in the ’80s. After winning numerous awards, she was drawn to Celtic music and began infusing her songs with both the feel and the instruments. Now, shaken by the 2006 Sago Mine disaster, she has come full circle and taken the same spiritual look at her West Virginia heritage.

Mattea, whose grandfathers both worked in the mines and parents were raised in coal camps, has recorded a cycle of songs that focus on the hardships of life in the coalfields. Tapping the spirit — and the songwriters — of the Mountain State, she has chosen some of the most poignant and moving songs about coal mining and taken a public stand against mountaintop removal. (more…)

CD: “Someday” (Jezebel)
ARTIST: Frank Carillo and the Bandoleros
ON THE WEB: www.frankcarillo.com

Following up 2005’s “Bad Out There,” guitarist Frank Carillo’s “Someday” is about as good as Americana gets. And if there’s such a thing as a classic American voice, Carillo’s got it. With just enough Springsteen (or maybe Don Dixon) grit, he reels off everyman stories (“Lucky if You Can Breathe,” “The Blue Room”) and plaintive boogie ballads (“Someday”) with ease and élan.

His songs are mature and tuneful, and he easily spins tales that conjure up vivid images. The opening “Roll the Bones” is a old-fashioned, minor-keyed tale of love and money while “The Way Out” offers timeless thoughts on life — and a fine guitar solo. On the punchy “Somebody Poisoned the Well,” Carillo’s voice brings to mind UK pub rocker Graham Parker while he adds an edge to the song with spot-on slide guitar. If the sound of ’70s rock permeates the tracks (the twin leads on “Don’t Get Sammy Started”), it has more to do with Carillo’s old-school honesty than any kind of contrived retro feel.

— By Michael Lipton

PERFORMER: Ringo Starr
USB WRISTBAND: “Liverpool 8″

Yes, you read that right. Everyone’s second-favorite Beatle has a new album out, and one of the ways it’s being sold is as a USB wristband. This nifty little wristband, emblazoned with the logo of the album, fits around your wrist–the USB plug acts as a latch and joins the band together, or you can take it off and plug it into your computer to listen to the music.

It’s a gimmick, but it’s also the wave of the future. As flash memory gets cheaper and cheaper, you can expect to see more music and movies sold this way. It adds a collectible element to the marketing–little USB plugs and memory can be tucked into anything from Hot Wheels cars to Lanyards to pens or lighters. In this case, Ringo’s latest CD is packed into a wristband, complete with bonus video content.

So we’ve established that it’s a really cool collectible, and a neat new way to sell music, but that leaves us with the music. Luckily, this is a pretty good album, so I don’t feel like an idiot for having shelled out the extra money for the gimmick (we’re only talking four or five dollars more, here). (more…)