On one hand, Chet Atkins was largely responsible for the slicker-than-shit “Nashville sound” that to this day makes fans of traditional and outlaw country cringe. On the other, he's part of the reason country music ever made it out of the juke joints and rural communities of the '50s. And as a fingerpicking guitarist, Atkins was and remains without peer. By the '80s and '90s, Atkins had turned his attention largely toward jazz, resulting in some of the most wondrous instrumental guitar music ever put to tape. Much of it is included here. The Essential just that. A must-have.
Jeff Buckley Grace: Legacy Edition (Columbia)
Posthumously-released single-album reissues don't get any more exhaustive as Columbia's so-called Legacy Edition of Grace, Jeff Buckley's often perplexing, undeniably magical full-length debut. No one—well, no man anyway—sang or sings quite like Buckley, who always appeared on the verge of either exploding or imploding as a result of the sheer emotional abandon he approched his music with. Upon its original release in 1994, Grace dazzled most who heard it. With an additional disc of previously unreleased and outtake material and an expanded DVD version of the “The Making of Grace” documentary, some of the record's original magic is somehow compromised
The Hollis Wake Lo*Fi Highs/Hi*Fi Lows (self-released)
Guess what. There's a band in Santa Fe who've keyed into a perfect confluence of artistic chemistry and individualism. That band is The Hollis Wake, and their latest CD is one hell of a cohesive rock record when one considers that they employ the formidable skills of three signers and songwriters. Somehow, everything comes together—vocally, melodically, rhythmically and thematically—which is no small feat. Sleater-Kinney-meet-Buffalo Tom crossed with Jenny Toomey and harder-edged Versus. Killer through and through. Get your copy at their CD release party Friday, Oct. 22 at Burt's or the following night at Santa Fe's Warehouse 21, then at Atomic Cantina.
