DC August 23 New Release Recap

Oh boy -- our weekly new release review is here for your perusal...it is Tuesday, isn't it? Check out new stuff from ex-Eurythmic Dave Stewart (with a solid guest list), Austin alt-pop songwriter Lex Land, New York songstress Alyssa Graham and old-fashioned piano pop progenerator Gabe Dixon. We've also got the always-interesting Matthew Ryan and the long-awaited sophomore album from the U.K.'s Mara Carlyle. Plus you can check out our list of other notable releases...You'll find links to the artist sites as well as to the selected DC features where you can read more and stream music and videos...

Dave Stewart - Blackbird Diaries (Razor & Tie) - The partnership with Annie Lennox in 80's pop juggernaut Eurythmics is just a memory, but Stewart's able fingers continue to be in a number of interesting musical ventures, whether producing albums for Joss Stone and Stevie Nicks, writing the West London musical version of Ghost with Glen Ballard, collaborating with the likes of Dylan, Petty, Bono, Jagger or putting his own music to the test, as he does on this exceptionally solid and diverse new project.. more DC

Lex Land - Were My Sweetheart to Go (Intelligent Noise) - Eclectic L.A.-to-Austin singer/songwriter follows up her promising 2008 debut Orange Days on Lemon Street with a new collection of personal, genre-blurring folk/pop // Sounds like: Land's seductive, slow-smoked and note-bending vocals lend a slightly jazzy touch to the torchy, soul-bearing songs...the lyrics, often delivered in a tumbling, stream of consciousness flow, reveal a young woman whose own philosophy and history of troubled relationships are the inspiration for her always-interesting songcraft...more DC

Alyssa Graham - The Lock Stock and Soul EP - Noted producer Craig Street (k.d. lang, Norah Jones) is one of the guiding forces behind this remarkable, gear-changing project. Graham's jazz training (and 2008 album Echo) are now in the rear view mirror as she explores musical paths originally defined in her teens: classic pop songcraft influenced by the likes of Neil Young, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake -- even her not-so-secret passion for, wait for it...The Grateful Dead. This new four-track EP, due August 23 on iTunes, is a glimpse at Graham's forthcoming longplayer, an all-too-brief but promising collection that includes two originals written with longtime musical partner Doug Graham...more DC

Gabe Dixon - One Spark (Concord Music) - Hailed as the 'the next great Pop Piano Man" by Paste, the Nashville singer/songwriter and former in-demand session player takes the stairs two at a time as he steps out on his first album as a bona fide solo artist...his first since his acclaimed and eponymous 2008 set, the new studio endeavor leaves his trusty traveling band behind for now...With his boyish sincerity still intact, Dixon ups the ante in producton scope with the help of knob twiddler Marshall Altman (Matt Nathanson, Marc Broussard) and some talented studio players...longtime admirer Alison Krauss guests on "Even The Rain"...more DC

Matthew Ryan - I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall (CD) - Prolific and praised under-the-radar singer/songwriter manages no mean feat in keeping not only his sound but his perspective fresh and vibrant on the thirteen tracks making up his thirteenth album...Unlike last year's more personal, relationship-focused gem Dear Lover, this affecting new project is an open-heart surgery on the everyday, sometimes cosmic struggles we all face every day...more DC

Mara Carlyle - Floreat - Her dazzling 2004 debut album is but a vivid aural memory, but, thankfully, British singer/songwriter/arranger Carlyle returns with her eagerly anticipated second full-length.  Nuzzle was originally with the working title, though Muzzle would have been more apt. Plagued by the usual major label downsizing issues -- "yes, we own it, no, we're not going to release it and, no, you can't either" -- Floreat (loosely translated as "let her bloom") was conceived in 2008 but infuriatingly stalled. Now, finally, it's ready for its belated close-up. Note: CD may be delayed til September due to loss of stock during London riots...details TBA...more DC

Ana Egge - Bad Blood
Barbra Streisand - What Matters Most
Dee Dee Bridgewater - Midnight Sun
Freddy Cole - Talk to Me
Moreland & Arbuckle - Just A Dream
Pistol Annies - Hell On Heels (DIG)
Rebekah Higgs - Odd Fellowship
Sonic Youth - Hits Are for Squares (Compilation)
Sunny Sweeney - Concrete
Stephin Merritt (Magnetic Fields) - Obscurities
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Mirror Traffic
Trevor Hall - Everything Everytime Everywhere
Various - Tribute to Bill Monroe
Zee Avi - Ghostbird