Bloggerhythms

Most of the CDs featured in Bloggerhythms Mid-year Review remain at the top of the list as 2007 winds down. Because I don't want to bore everyone by restating for a third time all of the great things I wrote about these discs (most were praised in their individual reviews and at the year's half way point) I'll just list the winners in order with a link to each CD's original review and add any additional comments I feel are worthy. You know it was an eclectic year because new music by some old reliable classic rockers share the list with a few who released their first CDs after Y2K, and so not wanting to snub any of my favorite CDs, I expanded this year's list from five to ten. There is essentially a three way tie for the top spot. Deciding who recorded the best CD of 2007 is almost an impossible task. America's album, released early in the year, wins in a photo finish because it held the number one position for most of it. The Cat Empire also deserves to ...

Someday everyone who ever sang or played a note will have recorded a Christmas album and, despite how much I enjoy Christmas music, this isn't necessarily a good thing. Every year there is far more Christmas music released than the world will ever need so when a good seasonal disc arrives in my house it is really appreciated. Diana Krall's Christmas Songs is one of the good ones and while it won't make you forget Ella Fitzgerald's 1960 gem, Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas , Krall's album is one of the most instinctively swinging Christmas albums ever released by a female jazz vocalist. This CD has Ella's ghost all over it. Krall's voice is not quite as smooth as Fitzgerald's but her singing and piano playing prove she has talent in abundance. My only beef with Christmas Songs is the same one that I have with most new Christmas albums. Hardly anyone records Christmas carols anymore so every new Christmas CD seems to rehash the same old ...

Right away I'll say this CD is a must own for Beach Boys aficionados and completists. Ultimate Christmas is a twenty-six track disc that opens with the full version of their classic 1964 Christmas album. After that it gets way more interesting despite the fact that, in typical Beach Boys fashion, there is the usual mixture of terrific music mixed in with some horribly juvenile dribble that grown men shouldn't be allowed to sing unless they are recording a kids album, and maybe not even then. In 1977 the band, minus Bruce Johnston and functioning again with their classic original lineup, decided they wanted to make a new Christmas album. Tracks were laid down but Warner Brothers rejected the album so the songs remained in the vault until the release of this CD in 1998. Everything the band completed for the album appears here. Instead, they issued The M. I. U. Album the following year as their final Warner's release. Some of the more interesting tracks were created by ...

Doug Sahm was always a good time musician. It's what he always wanted to be and it's what he did best. This concert CD, recorded for the PBS TV series, Austin City Limits is no exception. Live From Austin, TX has been released simultaneously on both CD and DVD as part of a series on the New West label and culled from the archives of the acclaimed music performance show. This is a complete concert from November 14, 1975. Augie Meyer who was Sahm's main sideman beginning with The Sir Douglas Quintet in the 60s is on board as usual, playing his Hammond B-3 organ. Meyer contributes most of the best moments on songs that Sahm made famous with the quintet including "Nuevo Laredo," "Rains Came," "Mendocino," and "She's About A Mover." This is a typical Sahm performance because everyone, especially the leader, is having a great time playing the hits, traditional fiddle tunes such as a romping version of "Cotton-Eyed Joe,"...