Produced by Dave Stewart, Southern Accents is an ambitious album, attempting to incorporate touches of psychedelia, soul, and country into a loose concept about the modern South. Occasionally, the songs work; "Rebels" and "Spike" are fine rockers, and "Don't Come Around Here No More" and "Make It Better (Forget About Me)" expand The Heartbreakers' sound nicely. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

CD $9.45

Guitarist/vocalist Johnny Walker presents a faux southern minister's drawl for much of the record, and while some of the tracks become repetitive ("Gospel According to John"), they are saved by Walker's Delta bluesman-derived style of fingerpicking between the bass and treble strings on his guitar. This helps to fill out the bass-less sound of the duo. Drummer Ben Swank keeps his playing straightforward for much of the record, adding fills only where they're needed ("Front St. Front," {&"Gim...   [ read more ]

CD $15.18

Blame our postmodern fascination with sampling, or the hubris of generations who have grown up more familiar with copies than with the originals, but at this point we've pretty near wrung all meaning out of the word fusion. And when it comes to describing the kinds of exciting developments in world music exemplified by nuevo flamenco artists Ojos de Brujo, perhaps a new metaphor is necessary. Something more organic, even geological. Yes, that's it: When listening to Barf, the Barcelona-based gr...   [ read more ]

CD $18.98