Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

There’s a quiet riot going on—and it’s not heavy metal. It’s the resurgence of American folk music, seen in the popularity of Devendra Banhart and Joanna Newsom and in Bruce Springsteen tackling ditties like “Froggie Went a-Courting” on The Seeger Sessions. Cooder, ever the musicologist, goes one better, producing an entire album of animal-themed folk songs about a feline named Buddy Red Cat and recruiting banjo legends Mike and Pete Seeger and other guests to join him. It’s a hootenanny and it’s heating up. Mar. 13

Elkas earned his performance stripes fronting Montreal indie rockers Local Rabbits, before winning serious songwriter cred with his solo debut, Party of One, a collection of sensitive pop that drew comparisons to Ron Sexsmith. Elkas’ excellent sophomore effort, produced by Charlie Sexton, also hints at Sexsmith’s influence. But songs like the soulful title track, with its slow burn and sweet falsetto, is reminiscent of Bill Withers, while the tender, slinky “Something Beaming” suggests Jesse Winchester. Folky, funky, r&b bliss. Mar. 13

They used to be known as Rainbow Butt Monkeys, but then the dudes from Burlington, Ont. came to their senses. Or maybe not. Anyway, Finger Eleven could care less ever since its ballad “One Thing” became such a monster hit. The alt-rock band’s fourth album offers more of the same, predictably shifting, hard-soft dynamics on songs like “Lost My Way” and “Easy Life.” And the monotonous thump of “Paralyzer” threatens to make that track as ubiquitous (and irritating) on the airwaves as “One Thing.” Pity. Mar. 13    

Roxy Music’s elegant clotheshorse has always had his nostalgic side, tripping down Tin Pan Alley to tackle Gershwin and others on 1999’s As Time Goes By. Ferry’s also done Dylan before, but goes hog wild here with an entire album of Bobsongs. Some are bad choices, including the overdone “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Ferry’s rocking rendition of “The Times They Are A-Changin.’” But “Positively 4th Street” gets some cool string embellishments and Brian Eno works his sonic magic on “If Not for You.”    

Favorites of filmmaker Sophia Coppola, the French electronica duo of Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel scored The Virgin Suicides and contributed to Lost in Translation. Clearly influenced by the latter’s Tokyo setting, Air sounds like it’s turning Japanese on the group’s latest album. Apart from “Mer du Japon,” an ocean-swept homage to the land of the midnight sun, oriental instruments like the koto and the shamisen appear on such tracks as “One Hell of a Party,” overshadowing even Jarvis Cocker’s hung-over vocals. Mar. 6    

On the year’s most anticipated album, Montreal’s Arcade Fire lives up to its spellbinding reputation. Weaving horn, string and woodwind arrangements around the vocals of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, the band continues its daring chamber-pop excursions on songs like the dread-filled “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” and the dreamlike “No Cars Go.” Then there’s the dizzying power of “Intervention,” an ominous hymn complete with pipe organ and choir that’s nothing short of breathtaking.  

Think of Po’ Girl as four young women exploring their inner minstrels, summoning weary blues, mountain music and what they call “creaky old jazz songs.” Like the Be Good Tanyas, Po’ Girl’s members are folk-festival sensations, thrilling audiences with their homespun musicianship and backporch harmonies. Here, banjo tunes like “Angels of Grace” could liven up any parlor room, while the fiddle-fuelled “To the Angry Evangelist” has the power to raise church rafters. Undeniable old-world charm.

She excavates emotion with the skill of a seasoned coal miner. Like actress Helen Mirren, Williams digs into subjects like love, loss and redemption with wisdom and a mature sexiness. As usual, her latest has lots of yearning, especially on songs such as “Fancy Funeral” and “Mama You Sweet,” about her mother’s death. There’s plenty of heartache, too, on bluesy country numbers like “Learning How to Live.” But Williams is at her best on “Come On,” an acerbic kiss-off to a former lover that she delivers with rapier-like wit.

It’s been a longtime since Scotland’s Simple Minds rivaled Ireland’s U2 as the kings ofCeltic rock. You’d have to go all the way back to 1985, when theinclusion of “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” in the movie The Breakfast Clubpushed Simple Minds into the stratosphere. But don’t feel sorry forsinger Jim Kerr, who owns homes in Nice and London and a luxury hotelin Sicily. His band’s latest is a return to form, featuringradio-friendly rockers like “Rockets” and “Kiss and Fly” that shouldkeep the coffers filled. July 2009

Well excuuuse me! Who’d expect the original “wild and crazy guy” to be a sterling musician? But Martin, whose first album in 30 years is subtitled “New Songs for the Five-String Banjo,” dazzles with his instrumental bluegrass work. Although he features stellar guests like Dolly Parton, Earl Scruggs and Canadian actor Eugene Levy and voices one humorous number, “Late for School,” it’s Martin’s dexterous picking on original gems like “Tin Roof” and “Daddy Played the Banjo” that truly impresses. Not a novelty. July 2009