Folk Songs (1996)

Crispian St. Peters was one mid-'60s act, like We Five (from whom he appropriated a song), who seemed to capture a moment with his best songs, but never moved past that moment. In his particular case, a mix of psychological problems, bad timing, and an inconsistent style seemed to make it impossible to get past his two big hits.

In 1973, shortly after the breakup of the legendary Pentangle, co-lead guitarist John Renbourn recorded a full album's worth of songs for a solo project. He abandoned the set, instead releasing an entirely different collection of songs as THE HERMIT later that year. The abandoned songs, previously available only via underground tape-trading networks, surfaced several years later as THE LOST SESSIONS.

Ani DiFranco doesn't really expand her sonic palette on Dilate, but she doesn't need to. DiFranco racked up a dedicated cult audience on the basis of her conviction. There's not much melody on any of her songs, but there are messages and, thankfully, a fair share of humor. Dilate suffers from a bit too much repetition, but when DiFranco lands on a good hook – such as "Superhero" or "Done Wrong" – the results suggest that she could reach a wider audience.

Perhaps a more suitable title for this comprehensive retrospective by New Jersey-bred, California native Neal Casal is What Has Taken Everybody So Long to Hear This Artist? It's been 10 years since Casal's exceptional debut Fade Away Diamond Time, yet it and his six other full-length albums have gone virtually unheard, at least on this side of the Atlantic…

I confidently recommend this DVD with 15 videos featuring Suzanne Vega to any of her many fans. It includes most of her very best known songs, with 'Marlene on the wall' being the striking exception…

Oh What a Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music is a 4-CD box set released in 1996 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Juno Awards. A second box set, Oh What a Feeling 2, was released in 2001 to mark the awards' 30th anniversary, and a third set, Oh What a Feeling 3, was released in 2006 for the 35th anniversary. All of the sets feature popular Canadian songs from the 1960s onward. The sets were titled for the song "Oh What a Feeling" by rock band Crowbar. The original 25th anniversary box set peaked at #3 on the Canadian Albums Chart and was certified Diamond in Canada.