Bloggerhythms

Here are Bloggerhythms' Top 5 album releases of the year with links to their original reviews. 5. Boz Scaggs - Memphis Scaggs is still one of the best blue-eyed soul men in music. That hasn't changed in decades. 4. California Transit Authority - Sacred Ground The sophomore release from Danny Seraphine and his current band makes full use of a horn section and blows the socks off of anything his old band, Chicago, has done in thirty years. 3. Michael Bublé - To Be Loved This album is very Bublé. His excellent big band style vocals and his bright personality always shine through. 2. The Boston Boys - Keep You Satisfied The second EP from a young, folk-rock quartet. They are already as good as anyone in the business and we await their first full length album. 1. The Lone Bellow - The Lone Bellow This is the album of the year. This trio's debut leaves a similar outfit, The Lumineers, choking on their fumes. Some of the best new finds of the year do ...

You'll not find anything new under the sun on Leon Redbone's Christmas Island but you will find a laid back good time. As usual, the mysterious singer-musician doesn't stray very far from the old-timey, pre-World War Two style jazz-folk music he loves. Banjo, upright bass, clarinet, and accordion all contribute to Redbone's low key vibe but he and his friends still manage to fashion a lively groove. Soft, acoustic music never felt so good as it does in the hands of Redbone and his band. It's obvious that they are having fun and his odd baritone is as enjoyable as ever. The result is a typical record from an off-beat and anachronistic artist who has somehow always appealed to the rock 'n roll generation. There are plenty of old standards including "White Christmas," I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Let It Snow," "Winter Wonderland" and a few tunes that are less commonly heard during the holidays. "Toyland" (...

Below is an edited and updated blast from the past that was published on Bloggerhythms in its original form on December 1, 2006. Since then I've listened to a lot of new Christmas music so, seven years later, it's time for the 2013 edition of The Top 10 Christmas Albums Of All Time . You can see the older version here . _________________________________________________________ Every year, new holiday fare is released to the public to satiate their never-ending desire to hear Christmas music. It amazes me how the music industry continues to recycle the same Christmas songs year after year in various packages, by every conceivable artist known to man, and we keep buying. From James Galway, to Willie Nelson, to Lynyrd Skynrd, and everybody in between, Christmas music sells and sells and sells. One of the nice things about this time of year is we all enjoy music by artists that we would never otherwise think of listening to the rest of the year. A case in point is my adult daug...

Christmas Santa Fe is the second holiday album by acoustic, new age, guitarist Ottmar Liebert . It's better than his first, Poets and Angels, Music 4 the Holidays (1991) because the song selection is superior. On every track Liebert plays his laid back guitar while blending his own original compositions, all with titles related to the season, into the midsections of traditional holiday tunes. They include "Michelle's Song/The Holly and the Ivy," "Santa Dancing/Deck the Halls," Peace/I Saw Three Ships, "Snow White/Silent Night," and nine others. Liebert adds bongos and other tastefully played percussion instruments to the arrangements in lieu of a full set of drums. That gives the disc a slightly Southwestern or Latin feel (perhaps that's where the CD's title comes from) and deftly placed muted horns are used as embellishment. Liebert may not be John Fahey but his Yuletide fare is pleasurable as background dinner music or for roast...