Allred, Joseph - Folk Guitar It's Hard (40th Anniversary

Allred, Joseph - Folk Guitar It's Hard (40th Anniversary"A very nice return to unadorned acoustic guitar playing by one of the form's masters. Allred's last album for FTR, What Strange Flowers Grow in the Shade was more of an imaginary band outing, but Folk Guitar plays it straight. Joseph reports they'd been listening to a lot to pieces by 16th century composer, John Dowland, and the solo work of Pentangle's John Renbourn while this album was gestating. They also note Hammer Studio horror film soundtracks

8 Even Deeper

It reaches back into decades of plainspoken

B4 Ghetto Chick

The long goodbye is the complete

and is often seen as a departure from the band's previous work

raw energy that moved The New York Times to rave: "Over a bruising 5/4 beat and flailing guitars climbing through three chords

features 12 irresistible anti-anthems of adolescent alienation

packed with fiery pop sensibilities

Drawing inspiration from the spontaneous energy of the '90s alternative canon

Ben Cook - a

very long time

just two years after his massive debut Texas Flood