Dirt Merchant (1999)

Teaming up with T-Bone Burnett was a good, healthy move for Natalie Merchant. She had begun to sink into vaguely tuneless singer/songwriterisms with her second solo album, Ophelia, and the sag in artistic quality was notable – which may have been why she bought time with a live album in 1999. Burnett helps restore some musical backbone to her music on Motherland, even if the record is hardly a gritty affair (apart from Merchant's voice, which seems to have deepened and grown tougher since the last time out). Still, there's some character within the sound – atmospheric, blues post-folk-rock, music that breathes – not nearly as precious as Tigerlily or any of the 10,000 Maniacs' records, for that matter, while retaining Merchant's signature sound. Upon first listen, none of the songs announce themselves, yet it all sticks together, and repeated plays reveal Motherland as a subtle grower that will satisfy her large cult.

34 of the hit '70s soul/ funk/ disco group's very best, plus updated mixes of three different smashes added as bonus tracks, 'September '99' (Phats & Small Remix), 'Boogie Wonderland' (Stretch & Vern Remix) and 'Let's Groove' (Merchant Of Menace Remix). Also includes the original versions of these three, plus classics like 'After The Love Has Gone', 'Got To Get You Into My Life', 'Fantasy', 'Getaway', 'Sing A Song', 'Shining Star' and 'That's The Way Of The World'. 37 tracks total. Earth, Wind & Fire is an American band that has spanned the musical genres of R&B, soul, funk, jazz, disco, pop, rock, dance, Latin, and Afro pop. They have been described as one of the most innovative and commercially successful acts of all time. Rolling Stone called them "innovative, precise yet sensual, calculated yet galvanizing" and declared that the band "changed the sound of black pop".

Fedora Records has been quietly, steadily documenting real deal blues from the Gulf Coast to the West Coast. Arthur Williams plays funky-nasty harmonica and sings earthy vocals on shuffles like Don Robey’s "Mother-In-Law Blues" and J.B. Lenoir's "Mama Talk to Your Daughter" and on dirges like Mercy Dee Walton's "One Room Country Shack."

Carl Jackson, an accomplished bluegrass instrumentalist and songwriter, was born September 18, 1953, in Louisville, MS. While playing in his father's bluegrass band at the age of 14, he was approached by Jim & Jesse to join their backing group, the Virginia Boys. He accepted and spent most of his teenage years playing banjo for Jim & Jesse and other groups at the Grand Ole Opry…

Transience started as a side project for Lands End keyboardist Fred Hunter, and was almost considered Lands End itself following the recording of Natural Selection. All members of Lands End contributed to Sliding; still, this is not a Lands End album – one would be tempted to say it's better than that. Each song relates to a particular U.S. landmark, from Captiva Island, FL, to Maui. The music belongs to the light neo-prog genre and is keyboard-driven, as could be expected. These atmospheric songs slowly surround the listener by evoking the corresponding landmark. Very laid-back, they remain tighter and more focused than typical Lands End material.

Supersonic and Demonic Relics is mostly the same sort of material the Crüe included as bonus tracks on their 1999 catalog reissues: live performances, rarities, outtakes, alternate versions, and previously unreleased songs; plus an extended Skinny Puppy remix of "Hooligan's Holiday," and the two songs recorded specifically for Decade of Decadence…

The collection comprises ten discs, including all eight of her solo studio albums from the past three decades; Butterfly, a new studio set featuring four new songs and six reinterpreted selections from her catalog, all arranged for string quartet; and Rarities, a collection of fifteen rare and previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1998 and 2017, which offers a unique view of Merchant's creative experimentation through home studio demos, album outtakes, live tracks, and collaborations with diverse artists like Billy Bragg, David Byrne, The Chieftains, Cowboy Junkies, and Amy Helm.