2007-07-23
Eilen (rhymes with feelin') Jewell checks in with her second release. She's based in Boston, but her hometown is Boise, Idaho, where dad and mom weaned her on Bob Dylan and Howlin' Wolf records. She does a Dylan number on this set (#11), but critics have most commonly compared her to Gillian Welch. I don't know that I'd go that far in comparison, but Eilen does a bit of "atmosphere" about her songs that give them a depth of feelin' (hey, that rhymes). I liked the Charlie Rich nugget "Thanks a Lot" (#4) and "Heartache Boulevard" (#5) was impressed by her putting music to the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. for the song "How Long" (#8). - MJVDRACHEL ZYLSTRA
Before You Could Decide
Various Artists
Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo
TRUCKSTOP HONEYMOON
Steamboat in a Cornfield
TUNE-YARDS
Bird-Brains
Jolie Holland
Escondida
JEB LOY NICHOLS
Parish Bar
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