Miranda Lambert would be easy to dismiss. She placed not first, but third on “Nashville Star,” the off-brand Country version of American Idol. There are plenty of contest winners strutting across the national stage, singing songs picked to cash in on a very specific music taste.

Lambert’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” is different than almost all of the other used-to-be contestants’ offerings. First of all, the tiny Texan with the sweet-tea voice and prickly briar rose delivery wrote most of the songs on the album. Not everybody needs to write their own material. Everybody’s favorite, Carrie Underwood, did very well with her song about tearing up a cheating boyfriend’s vehicle in the parking lot of a bar. It was a fair trick given that the achingly wholesome Underwood doesn’t seem the type to date men who would even visit a bar — except maybe to ask for directions. (more…)

PERFORMERS: Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong, Tony Allen
The CD: “The Good, The Bad and The Queen.” Get it here
“The Good, The Bad, and The Queen” is a phenomenal work, even though it’s tough to describe. In some circles it’s billed as being by the group “The Good, The Bad, and The Queen,” but the group actually doesn’t have a name. This is the brainchild of Blur front-man Damon Albarn, whose other recent group, Gorillaz, doesn’t even exist in the real world.

This project was originally announced as an Albarn solo album to be produced by DJ Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley). Halfway through production the solo album mutated into a new group fronted by Albarn, and including The Clash’s bass player Paul Simonon, freshly un-retired after sixteen years out of the music business, along with Simon Tong, guitarist for The Verve and Gorillaz, and Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen on drums. Apparently, it was decided that the group would have no name, probably to annoy the British music press. (more…)

CD: “Texas Hoedown Revisited.” Get it here.

This CD is a reissue of recordings released in the 1960s and ’70s on County Records and Voyager. Texas fiddling means Benny Thomasson, and “Texas Hoedown Revisited” is doubly important because it contains the obscure recordings made by Texas fiddlers Lewis Thomasson (Benny Thomasson’s brother), Vernon Solomon and Bartow Riley.

Any talk of fiddling always wends its way back to West Virginia. In this case, the early recordings of Kanawha Valley legend Clark Kessinger were highly influential on Texas fiddling, and is the template on which that highly developed Texas contest style is built. This is richly ornamented music, featuring complicated, sometimes six- and seven-part tunes with cascades of notes pulled from with a long bow. That pretty much describes Kessinger’s style. Those Texas boys learned their lessons well. Highly recommended.

County Records, P.O. Box 7405 Charlottesville, Va. 22906

– By Paul Gartner

PERFORMER: Peggy Seeger
CD: “Peggy Seeger Three Score and Ten: 70th Birthday Celebration Live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London”

For a concert to mark her 70th birthday, Peggy Seeger was joined by some of England’s top folk and traditional musicians. If the name sounds familiar, it ought to be. She is the younger sister of folklorist and musician Mike Seeger, and older sister of folk legend Pete. Her father was the renowned 20th century musicologist Charles Seeger. Seeger moved to England in the late 50s and was married to the late English traditional singer Ewan MacColl.

But we digress. (more…)

PERFORMER: Wynton Marsalis
The CD: “From The Plantation To The Penitentiary”

The latest album by Wynton Marsalis, “From The Plantation To The Penitentiary,” is an impressive statement about the state of this country and the way race plays into it, told from Marsalis’ unique perspective. This is the declaration, by an American who just happens to be black, that our culture is in serious need of repair. He doesn’t just take the easy route and blame the Republicans for keeping down black people. There are parts of this CD that sound like Bill Cosby’s strong words set to music. Everyone comes in for their fair share of the blame, conservatives, liberals, blacks, and he doesn’t shy away from addressing the institutional forces at work.

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PERFORMER: Lily Allen
THE CD: “Alright Still”
Recommended if you like: Madness, Nellie Mckay, Gorillaz

Lily Allen is one of the first artists to successfully launch a career using MySpace. Under the guidance of her father, Keith Allen, a comedian, actor and musician in the UK (He appeared on “The Young Ones,” acted in “Trainspotting,” and co-wrote songs with New Order), Allen posted many of the songs that make up her first album on her MySpace Page, and her fans helped propel them up the UK singles chart.

Allen’s music is reminiscent of ’80s Ska band, Madness, with a beautiful pop mentality, light reggae touch, and a few modern samples and production techniques on display. She’s still finding her voice, which is light and breezy, with just a touch of accent. Her vocals are well-suited to the music, which is textbook catchy British pop, but als a sweet-and-sour treat for the musical palate.

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PERFORMER: Mika
THE CD: “Life in Cartoon Motion”

London-based Mica Penniman, who performs as Mika, has delivered a debut album that is pure rock/pop ear candy. Imagine Queen, Ben Folds, and Scissor Sisters tossed in a musical blender. There are tracks on this album that are some of brightest moments in pop music in recent memory.

The opening cut, “Grace Kelly,” shows off the classically-trained Mika’s vocal resemblance to the late Freddie Mercury. The tune is a satire on the culture of celebrity reinvention that dominates the music business these days. With a melody swiped from Mozart’s “The Marriage Of Figaro,” the first track on this CD is an opening salvo that lets you know there’s some brains behind the music.

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THE CD: “Burning in Hell”
THE PERFORMER: David Childers and the Modern Don Juans

On his latest recording, “Burning in Hell,” singer and songwriter David Childers sings songs of love gone bad, prison, mama and other country touchstones, but he does it with a go-for-broke, tattooed-heart-on-rolled-up-sleeve attitude that recalls both the Hanks and Billy Joe Shaver with the touch of a bawling poet.

He also has a fine band in the Modern Don Juans, with growling guitarists and a drummer who gets the job done.

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Performer: John Mellencamp
The CD: “Freedom’s Road”

I’m a little surprised. I did not expect to like this CD much. I’m not a huge fan of John Mellencamp. I remember back when he was “Johnny Cougar” and wrote catchy pop tunes. The problem was that they were so catchy that they were promptly overexposed to the point where they could induce nausea. Mellencamp always came across as a hybrid wannabe, who couldn’t decide if he wanted to be Bruce Springsteen or Lynyrd Skynard. It turned out that he was able to out-sell both of them by cranking out what seemed like an endless supply of bland hit singles.

We’re qute a few years removed from those days, and this new CD is a solid, well-crafted example of mature Americana. There are equal parts of country and blue-eyed soul on display here. The musicianship is top-notch. Lyrically, it’s a bit stuck in the crusading Midwestern social commentator mold, but it’s just predicitable not offensive.

Unless you’re already sick of that damned truck commercial song, that is.

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The CD: “Masters Of Horror II”
Performer: Various

Wow! Cookie Monster really sounds pissed off on the first track of this soundtrack to the second season of Showtime’s “Masters Of Horror” series. Actually, it’s the group Hatebreed with the soulful ballad, “New Hate Rising.” The vocalist on the second song sounds like Gollum. This is not an album for the connoisseur of fine crooning.

This soundtrack is largely the work of Nu-metal bands who identify with cheap horror movies, and if you like that sort of music, this might be right up your alley. If you’re not a fan of loud, badly-sung, aggressive music with explicit and obscene lyrics, then run away! Do not go into the basement! Get out of the house!

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