Doug Taylor

Deborah HarryNecessary10H StreetAt 62, Harry can still coo, yowl and soar like she did 30 years ago with Blondie. Necessary Evil could be improved by cutting about five of the 17 songs. A surprise power ballad, “If I Had You”, makes the best use of her emotional range and the sound smorgasbord of Super Buddha, […]

The Clumsy LoversSmart Kid(Nettwerk)Mainstays of the Vancouver folk scene for a decade, the Clumsy Lovers plop onto the national radar with their seventh album. Fiddle and banjo are granted power to rock in the proper hands, driving uplifting songs (where clumsy love rates extra value for being honest). If the aim is to sound live […]

Joss StoneMind Body & Soul (S-Curve/EMI)The UK teen tops 2003’s The Soul Sessions by writing 10 of 14 songs and inspiring a reunion of veteran Miami players. When Timmy Thomas plays organ with Little Beaver on guitar, you’d like Stone to take a breath so you can hear the band. On this point, the producers […]

GusterGanging Up on the Sun(Reprise)Casual listening might lump Guster with the nondescript rockish backing heard in some sunny screen trifle. Then the band’s imagery kicks in, revisiting high school in “One Man Wrecking Machine.” Add one hypnotic slide hook worthy of a classic. Like Cracker and NRBQ, Guster flex earthy American chops to make big […]

The Holmes BrothersState of Grace(Alligator)Aging gracefully proves a clever path for these soulful veterans, who haven’t always been well served by the sound of their records. On State of Grace, organ replaces sax and blues shout gives way to scraggly warmth. Many a pop song has gospel in it, given the right tempo and feel. […]

Jessica Holmes25 Laughs to the Gallon(Independent)Holmes could yet be known as the woman who saved Air Farce (or at least made it watchable again). To make comedy, you have to break a few legs. Holmes lays into hillbillies, humanists and, mercilessly, celebrities who do a good job of being ridiculous already. Liza Minnelli is rendered […]

The ContrastFade Back In(Rainbow Quartz)The Rainbow Quartz label is becoming reliable as a refuge for no-nonsense guitar pop that could be of another era. The UK’s Contrast lace each sardonic observation with a Squeeze-y, Byrds-y chime and the singer sounds like Bob Geldof. Most songs are written in the second person, so whoever “you” is, […]

The Derek Trucks BandSonglines(Columbia)Trucks continues to grow as a guitarist and bandleader, and so do the contributions of his bandmates. As the son of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, Derek has dutifully shown his blues pedigree. On Songlines, it’s the local fare on an exotic menu. A 10-minute treatment of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan melodies […]

K-OSAtlantis: Hymns to Disco(Virgin)Few hip-hop artists display less anger and more curiosity than K-OS, aka Kevin Brereton. This bird is turning over rocks on much of Atlantis and finding a meal every time. More than a pastiche, “The Rain” zings with real strings like it’s 1966. The song and performance bring to mind Jerry Butler […]

VariousStax 50th Anniversary Celebration(Concord)Any soul fan worth his grits will have a dozen of these 50 tracks from the heyday of Memphis’ Stax label. That still leaves room for some thrilling discoveries and happy memory-stoking. The span of 1961 to 1974 closely parallels the rise of Motown, but Stax is just a bit more Southern. […]

The Free DesignThe Now Sound RevisitedLight in the atticFalling somewhere between tribute and blender, this album features an astounding array of artists exulting in the legacy of a band you likely never heard of. The Free Design (basically the Dedrick family band) played sophisticated breezy pop 35 years ago a la Beach Boys or Spanky […]