This month’s Acoustic Sunrise CD of the Month is Little Broken Hearts by Norah Jones.

From Rolling Stone:

Norah Jones sometimes gets derided for being too downtempo – which, really, is like hating on peaches for being juicy. But her fifth album is a brand-rejigging songwriting collab with Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton that both picks up her pace and pumps up her palette. See “Happy Pills,” the bouncy single that triangulates the sexy bounce of the Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” with a lite-soul kiss-off ballad and an AM-radio bubblegum tune. Call it Norah in Neon. Jones’ sweet-smoky purr has always sounded great with meaty grooves: Talib Kweli’s “Soon the New Day,” Wax Poetic’s “Angels.” Here, she frolics through reverb and gets frisky over Burton’s midtempo beats on “Say Goodbye,” savoring the word “misbehave” like a toddler with her hand in the cookie jar. It was fun to hear Jones, the archetypal girl-you’d-take-home-to-Mom, play the fallen woman on Burton’s RomeLP from last year. That project echoes through “All a Dream,” a ghostly mix of dub-reggae groove and spaghetti-Western guitar. On the best songs, the Danger Mouse thumbprint is fainter: “She’s 22″ sets Jones against wisps of guitar and piano, while “Travelin’ On” mates her with a moaning cello. It’s a balancing act, which the lyrics occasionally upend – Jones as a murderous lover on “Miriam” is a near-comic stretch. But even good girls need revenge sometimes.

This month Melissa Goode is featuring Jack White’s first solo album, Blunderbuss, as the Modern Rock CD of the Month.

From BBC Music (http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/5q6m):

Having recently divorced his wife of six years, it’s tempting to interpret Jack White’s debut solo album as his very own version of Dylan’s breakup classic, Blood on the Tracks. After all, with its bruised, scabrous lyrics – full of nosebleeds, burst lips, missing limbs and pummelled digits – and preoccupation with love gone not so much bad as cataclysmic, it sounds as though the erstwhile White Stripe has been eviscerated by his loss.

But it’s important to remember that, not only was the split apparently amicable (his ex sings back-up on three songs here), but that White has never been a confessional songwriter in the conventional sense. Despite his deep devotion to the blues – that most ‘authentic’ of musical genres – he’s a conceptual art-rocker at heart, inhabiting his own unique crossroads between theatrical artifice and bloody-minded sincerity.

There’s a sense throughout Blunderbuss – trust him to choose such an archaic weapon – that White is positively revelling in the role of the wronged lover. So you never get the sense that he’s being entirely serious; he’s too eccentric and machismo-camp to suggest otherwise. It’s what defines him as an artist and it’s why he may be the only great rock superstar of recent years.

While this isn’t a major musical reinvention, it certainly develops his trademark synthesis of stripped-back garage-rock and Americana. Despite his guitar God reputation, White – ever the contrarian – relegates his axe to a supporting role, favouring instead a sort of aquatic country-blues dominated by Rhodes electric piano and the punk-Liberace glissandos of pianist Brooke Waggoner. She’s part of a small group of musicians who never detract from White’s minimalist aesthetic – Meg may be gone, but the primal rhythms remain – and who hit upon a particularly delightful sound on the breezily Kinks-esque Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy and the compact mini-opera Take Me With You When You Go.

During those moments when White’s guitar does come to the fore, it fits and squalls as though it’s having a breakdown, although he still swaggers with the best of them on the likes of Sixteen Saltines and on a raucous cover of Little Willie John’s jittery hoodoo, I’m Shakin’.

After all these years, there’s still nobody quite like him.

Locked Down by Dr. John is Anne Williams’ pick for April’s CD of the Month.

From Greg Kot at the Chicago Tribune:

Mac Rebennack has been making records since the ‘60s and has been a revered figure in New Orleans music for just as long. In reinventing himself as Dr. John, he took the city’s funk tradition deeper into the swamp of his imagination, mingling soul, blues and Afro-Cuban mysticism for some of the trippiest music ever to come out of the deep South.

One of his fans, the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, guides John back to that shadowy “Night Tripper” era with a batch of fresh songs. The legendary pianist sounds reinvigorated on “Locked Down” (Nonesuch), in part because he’s not plugging into a formula, but animating it with some feisty new sidemen. Auerbach’s terse, reverb-encrusted guitar and the studio band he assembled for this project play vital roles, particularly drummer Max Weissenfeldt and bassist Nick Movshon. They keep things syncopated and slippery, and Auerbach tosses off an ornery solo on “Getaway.”

The Doctor plays less piano and more electric keyboards, which means he’s less inclined to draw on his tourist-friendly Professor Longhair mannerisms. Instead, he soaks “Revolution” in Farfisa-organ eeriness and conjures voodoo imagery from an Optigan (a vintage sampling keyboard) on “Big Shot.”

“My Children, My Angels” and “God’s Sure Good” allow the 71-year-old artist to close the album on a reflective note, but the cracks, imperfections and mystic weirdness of this music are where his personality truly lies. “Let’s all pray on it, right now,” he mutters before digging into his keyboard solo on “Revolution.” He brings the trickster god “Eleggua” out of the murk, and presides over the “Kingdom of Izzness.” It’s Dr. John’s world, in all its voodoo inscrutability, rediscovered.

Melissa Goode’s pick for CD of the Month is The Lumineers by The Lumineers. They were named one of the best new bands by Paste Magazine at the end of 2011 and their self-titled album drops April 3. Their music has been described as “floor-stomping, instrument-clanging, yell-out-loud goodness.” Check out the first single “Ho Hey” below!

Our Acoustic Sunrise CD of the Month for March is Break It Yourself, the latest from Andrew Bird.

You can get your copy of Break It Yourself by joining the CD of the month club or by picking it as your premium in our upcoming fund drive!

Our CD of the Month for March is Delta Spirit’s self-titled album.

You can join the CD of the month club right now or pick up Delta Spirit in our upcoming fund drive!

Punch Brothers’, Who’s Feeling Young Now?

Completed over three weeks at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Who’s Feeling Young Now? was produced by Grammy Award winner Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, Modest Mouse). Ten songs from the album were written by Punch Brothers, with the band’s friend Josh Ritter co-writing lyrics on two tunes (“Hundred Dollars” and “New York City”). Additionally, the album contains the band’s interpretations of Radiohead’s “Kid A” and the Swedish group Väsen’s “Flippen.” The new album is Punch Brothers’ follow-up to 2010’s Grammy-nominated Antifogmatic.

Legendary producer T Bone Burnett recently said of Punch Brothers, in an interview with American Songwriter magazine: “That’s one of the most incredible bands this country has ever produced. Chris Thile, their mandolin player, is probably a once in a century musician, like Louis Armstrong was a once in a century musician. Chris is one of those kind of cats.”
-review from nonesuch

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Craig Finn’s, Clear Heart Full Eyes

When I first heard that Craig Finn was working on a solo record, I was worried. Was there trouble in The Hold Steady? Would he go in a “new direction”? My fears were assuaged when Finn shared a few early songs on Minnesota Public Radio’s Wits in April 2011. They were great, and I made a point to keep tabs on the project. Over the following months, Finn provided context via his blog and Twitter about how he was interested in trying something new and wanted to grow as a songwriter and musician by working outside his comfort zone. The Hold Steady, thankfully, lives on.

So, nine months after that first taste, we have Clear Heart Full Eyes — out Jan. 24 — and it’s clear that this is first and foremost a “lyrics” record. Finn’s vocals reside at the forefront of the mix, while the musical arrangements are subtle and mellow, which allows listeners to concentrate on the words. His chosen themes haven’t changed much; there’s still that same Craig Finn take on religion, solitude and change. It basically comes down to this: Finn is a great storyteller, and Clear Heart Full Eyes provides another great opportunity to let his voice shine.
-review from npr music

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January’s Modern Rock CD of the month is Nada Surf’s “Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy”.

From Amazon.com:
Nada Surf singer-guitarist Matthew Caws, bassist Daniel Lorca, and drummer Ira Elliot are in love with the way rock music can transport you to a new and wonderful place in a beguiling rush of beats, chords, hooks and words. And they do it 10 times over on their brilliant sixth album, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy. Before, Nada Surf albums simply took on the character of the songs that the band came up with at the time. This one was different–there was a plan. ”We’ve always played faster and a little harder live,” Caws says, ”but we’d play so carefully in the studio. So with this album, we made a conscious decision to preserve what it felt like in the practice room, when you play with that new-song energy. Just embrace it and not worry whether we’re overdoing it, kind of get all the thinking out of the way.” Chris Shaw came in to record and produce. Shaw, who’s made records with the likes of Bob Dylan, Super Furry Animals and Wilco had mixed Nada Surf’s indie hit ”Always Love,” impressing the band with his quick and expert work, not to mention his sense of humor. The Stars has a somewhat more optimistic, more outward-looking tone than previous Nada Surf albums.The album springs from the notion of music as an alternative reality, and songs as things you can keep by your side for inspiration and support. Which is what makes Nada Surf a truly beloved band.

January’s Acoustic Sunrise CD of the Month is “Voyageur” by Kathleen Edwards.

From Amazon.com:

Kathleen Edwards’ ‘Voyageur’ is the acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter’s fourth album, and her first since ‘Asking for Flowers’ (2008). Produced by Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) and Edwards, ‘Voyageur’ is less of a departure than it is a journey, and like any transforming trip, it demands that we let go of any preconceptions about the destination. ‘Voyageur’ evokes a spectrum of overwhelming feelings within the atmosphere of a lucid dream. Edwards’ characters speak to the grief, loneliness, shock, and confusion that come with endings as well as the hope and irrepressible joy that accompany new beginnings, but the stories are told with a seductively quiet strength. Aided by the musical support of fellow travelers Justin Vernon and Norah Jones, ‘Voyageur’ features standout tracks such as “Change the Sheets,” “Mint,” and “A Soft Place to Land.”