With a pure snowfall of distortion, bending, swirling chords, and a cool, clear voice that rises into the stratosphere like a singular, heavenly choir, Edith Frost’s second album, Telescopic, walks the line between tradition and innovation. Teethed on old country standards, this 34-year-old Texas native, who now lives in Chicago, marries her soft vocals with [...]

Incorporating lush strings and vibrant horns into his sonic dreamscapes, Elliott Smith uses his fourth solo album to bridge past works to the future. XO finds Smith slipping easily from his hallmark quiet moodiness into brighter, bigger sounds, suggesting that the melancholy singer-songwriter may ultimately fulfill his musical destiny as the one-man Simon & Garfunkel. [...]

Moving further away from the hillbilly and bluegrass sounds that defined her work with Alison Krauss, banjo player Alison Brown’s fifth studio effort is a cocktail-hour fusion of jazz, Latin and Caribbean rhythms. Recorded with her full band (pianist John R. Burr, bassist Garry West and percussionist Rick Reed), Out Of The Blue is a [...]