2000 - 2005
1. Kelly Willis - Easy (2002)
Kelly Willis is an alternative country singer from Oklahoma, USA. It´s her fifth album and contains ten fantastic songs, not one bad track. Mostly slow tempo with guitar and banjo. Good recording with a warm sound! Impossible to pick a favorite, but the single from the album, "If I Left You" is a hit!
2. Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (2002)
Norah Jones is a pop/jazz singer from New York, USA. She is the daughter of the sitar player Ravi Shankar. This is her debut album and she won five Grammy Awards and the album sold 26 million copies! And it´s a true masterpiece! Her voice is expressive and she sings with a true feeling. I rate this album the best of 2002 and maybe the best album of the decade! The appearence is soft, but it´s not background music, all compositions are excellent and deservs active listening. All songs are favorites!
3. Lovetones - Be What You Want (2003)
Lovetones is a psychedelic rock band fom Australia. This is their debut album. Good harmonies, perfect vocals and psychedelic sound reminds of something the Beatles could have done in the sixties. Favorites are: "The Sound and the Fury", "Give It All I Can", "What Am I To Do" and "Be What You Want".
4. Ry Cooder, Manuel Galban - Mambo Sinuendo (2003)
Ry Cooder is a rock/blues/country guitar player and singer from Los Angeles,USA. Manuel Galban is a guitarist from Cuba. Here they play electric guitars with beauty, and simplicity. Heavy bass and drums accompany them. It´s mostly instumental. Four tracks are fantastic! Great melodies, great playing and excellent recording! Turn up the volume if you have good speakers. But the other eight tracks are less interesting. Four favorites: "Bodas De Oro", "La Luna En Tu Mirada", "Bolero Sonambulo" and "Maria La O".
5. Aaron Neville - Nature boy (2003)
Aaron Neville is an R&B and soul singer from New Orleans, USA. He has recorded sixeen albums. Here we meet the jazzier side of him. He´s a crooner and he interprets the twelve jazz standards with a fantastic feeling. Jazz and soul combined. On some songs his vibrato is almost insane, but the pitch is spot on every time. The recording is excellent! My favorites are: "Summertime", "The very thought of you", "Cry me a river" and "Nature boy".
6. Katie Melua - Call Off The Search (2003)
Katie Melua is a jazz-pop singer/songwriter from Georgia in Caucasus, now living in London, UK. She plays piano, violin and guitar. But her voice is the memorable ingredient. It´s very soulful end expressive. This album is the first of six and was a major hit and made four times platinum in UK. Two favorites: "Call Off The Search" and "The Closest Thing To Crazy".
7. Diana Krall - The girl in the other room (2004)
Diana Krall is a jazz singer and pianist from British Columbia, Canada. She has recorded eleven albums and sold 15 million. She wrote half of the songs of the album together with her husband Elvis Costello. It´s a fantastic album: wonderful compositions, flawless singing and a perfect recording. And of course, it´s acoustic. If you have a decent stereo turn up the volume: The sound is clear and unusually good sounding! Favorites are "Stop this world", "The girl in the other room", "Temptation", "Almost blue" and "Narrow daylight". These five songs are insanely good!
8. Anna Ternheim - Somebody Outside (2004)
Anna Ternheim is a singer/songwriter from Stockholm, Sweden. She plays the guitar and the piano. On this, her debut album, we find mostly melodic, slow tempo songs. There are two versions of the album: one "original" and one "naked" with only voice and guitar/piano.. Especially beautful are "To be gone", "Somebody´s outside" and "Shoreline". These three are from the "original" version.
9. Cousins And Conrad - High Seas (2005)
Cousins And Conrad is a folk-rock duo consisting of Dave Cousins from England and Conny Conrad from Germany. Dave sings and plays guitars and Conny plays guitars and keyboards. Dave´s voice is rather unusual but it only taks a few listening sessions until it sounds just fine. Good songs and my favorites are "Call to Action", "Rose", "Deep in the Darkest Night" and "My Oh My My".
10. Tori Amos - The Beekeeper (2005)
Tori Amos is a singer/songwriter and pianist from North Carolina, USA, now living in Los Angeles, USA. This is her eighth album. It´s extremely long, including 19 songs! This is one of her best album, though some songs are less interesting. But listen to "Parasol" and "Sweet The Sting". They are superb!
11. Grascals - The Grascals (2005)
Grascals is a bluegrass band from Nashville, USA. This is their debut album. Main instruments are banjo, fiddle, guitars and mandolin. One of the best bluegrass debut albums that has ben produced. Listen especially to "Leavin's Heavy on My Mind" and "Me and John and Paul". Fantastic!
12. Katie Melua - Piece By Piece (2005)
Katie Melua is a fantastic singer and this album, her second is without hesitation her best. Sincere singing and strong melodies, everything falls into the right place. Probably the best album of 2005! All songs are favorites and are highly recommended!
