Waterboys, The A Rock In The Weary Land / Too 2 CD NEW (UK Import)

Razor & Tie Music ( August 21, 2001 ), Genre: Rock & Pop

MSI Music (import)

Seven years and two Mike Scott solo albums since the Waterboys' previous album, Scott's decision to resuscitate the name of the band that made him famous feels like the decision of a man who is determined to stop running from something at which he excels. The second of his solo albums, 1998's Still Burning, was infused with the epic scope that had characterized the Waterboys at their best; A Rock in the Weary Land feels like a logical progression. There is little trace of the Irish-folk influence that occupied Scott for much of the early 1990s; his is what Scott calls "the big music"--surging rock ballads infused with Zeppelinesque drums, backing choirs, strings, and what sounds like dozens of guitars. At its peaks, as on the title track and "We Are Jonah, " it is vintage Waterboys, which is to say it's altogether exhilarating. --Andrew Mueller

Donna The Buffalo: Tara Nevins (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric violin, accordion, rubboard, tambourine); Jim Miller (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar); Jeb Puryear (vocals, electric guitar); Joe Thrift (vocals, Wurlitzer piano, Lowrey & Hammond B-3 organ, rubboard); Jed Greenberg (bass, background vocals); Tom Gilbert (drums).Recorded at A-Pawling Studio, Pawling, New York.Personnel: Jim Miller (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Tara Nevins (vocals, acoustic guitar, fiddle, accordion, tambourine); Jeb Puryear (vocals, electric guitar); Joe Thrift (vocals, organ, Wurlitzer organ, synthesizer).Audio Mixers: Peter Moshay; Steven Miller .Recording information: A-Pawling Studio, Pawling, NY.Photographer: Tim Andersen.On their fifth and most accomplished album, Rockin' in the Weary Land, Donna the Buffalo present another batch of eclectic folk-rock with an upbeat groove and meaningful lyrics. The songs' topics range from preserving Florida's wetlands on "Seminole Wind" to "Mr. King, " a tribute to Mart

This "two-fer" from the Mike Scott-fronted, Scottish alt-rock legends the Waterboys includes two of the band's more popular recordings. Released in 1985, This Is the Sea found the group in full command of its signature "Big Music" sound, filling stadiums with anthems like "Don't Bang the Drum, " "The Whole of the Moon, " and the epic title cut, while 1988's Fisherman's Blues saw Scott and company drawing from traditional Irish, English, and Scottish music to craft a truly superb collection of folk-rock tunes. ~ James Christopher Monger

Seven years and two Mike Scott solo albums since the Waterboys' previous album, Scott's decision to resuscitate the name of the band that made him famous feels like the decision of a man who is determined to stop running from something at which he excels. The second of his solo albums, 1998's Still Burning, was infused with the epic scope that had characterized the Waterboys at their best; A Rock in the Weary Land feels like a logical progression. There is little trace of the Irish-folk influence that occupied Scott for much of the early 1990s; his is what Scott calls "the big music"--surging rock ballads infused with Zeppelinesque drums, backing choirs, strings, and what sounds like dozens of guitars. At its peaks, as on the title track and "We Are Jonah, " it is vintage Waterboys, which is to say it's altogether exhilarating. --Andrew Mueller

Strange Fruit Records (UK)

Audio Mixer: Kein Augunas.The Lumineers, a folk-rock trio out of Denver, Colorado, have a pretty interesting sound, an Americana mesh of folk, rock, and gospel that is similar in tone to the Waterboys, say, or an alt-folk version of Bob Dylan circa Desire, thanks in no small part to Neyla Pekarek's inventive cello. And there are some very good tracks on this debut album, including the chamber honky tonk of "Dead Sea, " the delightfully goofy but then ultimately sad and elegant "Submarines, " and "Stubborn Love, " which manages to be bright and chiming while also being haunting and mournful. Not everything here clicks together at that level, but each track is inventive, and when the songwriting and arrangements cross paths perfectly, as they do in the above songs, this is a delightful band. ~ Steve Leggett

Adapter: Mike Scott .Recording information: Kore (03/2011-06/2011); Music Room (03/2011-06/2011); Sofa and Studio 3 (03/2011-06/2011).Photographers: Helge Skodvin; Paul Macmanus; Steve Wickham; Ralph Salmins.Arranger: Mike Scott .Having already adapted "The Stolen Child" on 1988's Fisherman's Blues and "Love and Death" on 1993's Dream Harder, Mike Scott's Waterboys went the whole nine yards in 2011 by dedicating their tenth studio album, An Appointment with Mr. Yeats, entirely to the poetry of arguably Ireland's most famous literary figure. Co-produced with Marc Arciero, the follow-up to 2007's Book of Lightning features many of the songs Scott had performed on his 2010 five-night sold-out show of the same name, including interpretations of both Yeats' mythical pieces ("The Hosting of the Shee, " "Song of Wandering Aengus") and his political works ("September 1913, " "Politics"). ~ Jon O'Brien

Personnel: Oh Land (vocals).Recording information: Mr. Dan's Streathem, UK; Premier Recording Studios, New York, NY; Secret Frequency Studio, Los Angeles, CA.Photographer: Robbie Fimmano.Nanna Oland Fabricius spent her childhood studying ballet, eventually hanging up her pointe shoes for good when a back injury forced her to stop dancing. Looking for another way to let off creative steam, she rechristened herself Oh Land (an Anglicized spelling of her middle name) and turned to music. On her international debut, Oh Land shrugs off the strict rules of ballet and embraces the open-ended world of pop, creating an "anything goes" mix of club, dance, and nocturnal electro-pop. Like Lykke Li, she sometimes comes across like a flower child in a DJ booth, blissfully grafting together genres that may not be entirely compatible. But Land's combinations always work, whether she's layering spoken word verses over disco beats on "Voodoo" or splitting the difference between Motown, tropicalia, and synth pop on "White Night