This will be Driftwood’s final review for 2010. We hope all our readers have a safe and happy New Year. (Driftwood does not endorse any particular New Year. If you celebrate the new year on a different day, we hope you have a safe and happy weekend.) Various Artists Jug Band Extravaganza [Folk Era (2010)] […]

Darrell Scott A Crooked Road [Full Lights 2 CD Set (2010)] Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott has certainly made the rounds, working in the bands of an amazing assortment of folks including Tim O’Brien, Sam Bush, John Cowan, Steve Earle and, most recently, Robert Plant’s Band of Joy. A Crooked Road is a sprawling autobiographical […]

  We’re About 9 Amalgam [Self-released (2010)] This 17-track album chronicles the four most recent releases of one this Baltimore-bred band now living in Boston. As with any other We’re About 9 release, a healthy dose of cute humor greets you from the first moment you pick up the album, as the cover image is […]

There are more rough guides out there—dozens of them. We also got our hands recently on their second volume of Scottish folk, a Rough Guide to Bollywood, and many more. Driftwood gets more music that we love than we ever have the space or personnel to review, but our overall opinion is that these are […]

Various Artists The Rough Guide To World Music For Children World Music Network Don’t let its title fool you. With a global-spanning assortment of irresistible rhythms and songs, The Rough Guide To World Music For Children is as much a treat for older listeners as it is for younger folk. Ranging from the neo- traditional […]

We’ve never done this before (and unless your humble editor messes up a second time, we won’t do it again): Here’s two reviews of the same album.  What’s most interesting is that two people on opposite sides of the country focused on many of the same aspects of this Rough Guide. — Various Artists Rough […]

We’ve decided to have a Rough Guide week here at Driftwood. My little island is covered in snow, and being stranded makes for a pretty rough Christmastime. The birds have all decided to pack up and leave, and they resisted all my efforts to tie myself to their legs to fly me to the mainland. […]

Various Artists Putumayo Presents A Family Christmas Putumayo World Music The Brian Setzer Orchestra Christmas Comes Alive Surfdog The Christmas Jug Band At The Holiday Highway Globe Various Artists Putumayo Presents World Christmas Party Putumayo World Music With new tunes sounding old and classic songs sounding new, this year’s Yuletide has produced an incredible harvest […]

Yr Hwntws Gwentian [Sain SCD2645 (2010)] The beginnings of the Welsh group Yr Hwntws dates back to 1981 when Gregg Lynn (vocals, guitar) and Jethro Newton (vocals) assembled a cast of musicians to interpret the traditional music of Wales in a new light. Their name means “South Walians,” and many of the songs are sung […]

Ellis Right on Time [Rubberneck Records (2010)] Ellis’s Right On Time is about being secure and happy while embracing the uncertainty and doubt that life is sure to bring. The Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter conveys this theme handily through stick-with-you lyrics, but more importantly with a voice that is pure and clear, yet ever so quirky. The […]

Nirmala Rajasekar Into the Raga [Innova Records (2010)] Gao HongQuiet Forest, Flowing Stream: New Chinese Pipa Music by Gao Hong [Innova Records (2010)] On Into the Raga, South Indian Veena (a plucked instrument that resembles a sitar crossed with a lute) player Nirmala Rajasekar offers a whirlwind trip through ten Carnatic ragas, thereby giving an […]