Album Review: Sigh No More

Mumford & Sons, a folk-rock group from West London, has recently taken the alternative music scene by storm. The quartet was formed in 2007 and has finally released an album--"Sigh No More"--in 2010 here in the US.

"Sigh No More" has twelve tracks, each one unique but still somehow very fitting to the other songs on the album. The take the power and energy behind your average rock song by, say, Kings of Leon or Green Day, and fuse it with instruments like banjo, piano, guitar, fiddle, and even trumpet on a few tracks. They have a distinct folk/country sound that sets them apart from many other bands.

Their sound is not the only thing that's unique about Mumford and Sons; their lyrics, too, are mind blowing and more than a little unusual. The band makes references to Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" in the titular track and uses phrases such as "the flesh that lived and loved will be eaten by plague" in "Winter Winds". In "The Cave" there are references to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and Homer's "The Odyssey". Christian and biblical hints are prevalent throughout the entire album, as well.

Tracks:
1) Sigh No More
2) The Cave
3) Winter Winds
4) Roll Away Your Stone
5) White Blank Page
6) I Gave You All
7) Little Lion Man
8) Timshel
9) Thistle and Weeds
10) Awake My Soul
11) Dust Bowl Dance
12) After the Storm

Overall, the album is inspiring and full of hope, heartbreak, and everything in between.

PROS:
-Fantastic musicality
-Folk/rock
-Trumpets. Oh, yes.
-Lyrics with meaning
-Songs not just about love

CONS:
-Occasional adult themes
-Language (especially in track 7)
-The tracks, after a while, start to blur into one
-Not much different musically

RATED T+ FOR LISTENERS AGE 14 AND UP!

Album Review: Sleepless by Kate Rusby

     Kate Rusby has a magical talent: she breaths new air into traditional tunes, but endows her own compositions with a timelessness so perfect as to blur the line between old and new.
     Sleepless, the second album from South Yorkshire native Rusby, is a melancholy-sweet collection of folk from the British isles.  Songs range from the sassy, original jig 'The Cobbler's Daughter" to the slightly creepy traditional aire, "The Unquiet Grave."  Rusby's voice is one-of-a-kind, soft, quiet and almost husky.  Her piano and guitar accompaniments complement her arrangements without being simplistic.
     Is there anything bad I can say about this album?  Is it overproduced or overly simplistic?  No.  Too long?  Too short?  No.  Obnoxious guest artists?  Again, no.  This flawless album is a gem in the world of folk.

Pros:
*Beautiful voice
*Beautiful music
*Nice variety of songs

Cons:
*A murder by an over protective mother
*A ghost
*A cow stalker
*A duke with a twisted sense of humor
*A drunk tinker (the butt of the aforementioned duke's prank)
*A maid who learns, too late, that her lover is already married
[Basically, it's English folk: just what you'd expect.]