And Her Soul Out of Nothing

At age 26, Cassie Taylor is already a veteran musician. She's spent a decade playing bass and singing on stage and in the studio with her father, modern-day blues innovator Otis Taylor. Now she stakes her own claim as an artist of intelligence, power and soul, drawing on a wide swath of influences – spanning centuries, continents and cultures – to create her own indelible and utterly modern sound. With influences ranging from a New Orleans second line to West African psychedelic rock, the album's 12 original songs – all written and arranged by Taylor – are the work of a truly 21st century musical omnivore. From the record's lead track, "Ol' Mama Dean (Part 1)," which opens with drums and theremin, to the wistful piano closer "Again," Taylor proves to be a gifted, independent-minded songwriter with a flair for the unexpected and a voice that will haunt your dreams.

It’s a strange idea for a compilation. The Soul Queen of New Orleans: 50th Anniversary Celebration ostensibly marks a half century since Irma Thomas had her first recording session, and that’s certainly a noteworthy accomplishment. Oddly, though, the collection only includes material from her Rounder era, a span of about 25 years. There are three new cuts and three non-Rounder appearances, but it’s still a bit like celebrating Mark McGwire’s rookie season and forgetting that the Oakland A’s ever existed. Fortunately, Thomas’s Rounder output has been good enought that even missing some of Thomas’s biggest hits, the record still stands up.

Soul stirring collection of hymns, spirituals, ballads, lullabies and timeless slave songs, from the greatest gospel female singer ever to live, Mahalia Jackson. Phenomenal and historical recordings like "God Put a Rainbow in the Sky", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", "Walk in Jerusalem", "God is So Good (To Me)", "Just a Little While to Stay Here" and more, bring the Christmas message to our hearts, in a time when it is needed most than ever. This album is history. Enjoy.

In his own time on Immediate Records, British soul shouter Chris Farlowe's output was sliced and diced and re-compiled so many times that no one even remembers the names of his original albums for the label (not that those were any better or more coherent – Immediate founder Andrew Oldham was always so busy trying to exploit Farlowe any way he could, as one of the two or three best-selling talents on his label). Out of Time, subtitled "The Immediate Anthology," is the solution, its 49 songs drawn equally from Farlowe's singles, B-sides, EPs, and LP tracks, with the quality of the performances the only real deciding factor.

In his own time on Immediate Records, British soul shouter Chris Farlowe's output was sliced and diced and re-compiled so many times that no one even remembers the names of his original albums for the label (not that those were any better or more coherent – Immediate founder Andrew Oldham was always so busy trying to exploit Farlowe any way he could, as one of the two or three best-selling talents on his label). Out of Time, subtitled "The Immediate Anthology," is the solution, its 49 songs drawn equally from Farlowe's singles, B-sides, EPs, and LP tracks, with the quality of the performances the only real deciding factor.