The new Works Progress Administration album is the sort of musical collaboration that should be encouraged. The core of WPA consists of Glen Phillips (Toad the Wet Sprocket), Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek), and Luke Bulla (Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Douglas Band, Lyle Lovett). They are joined on the album by Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), Sara Watkins (Sean’s sister, and also a member of Nickel Creek), Greg Leisz (Joni Mitchell, Bill Frisell), and Pete Thomas and Davey Faragher (Elvis Costello and the Imposters). The musicians are part of a music scene that is centered around the Los Angeles club Largo. They put this project together totally on their own, sans managers or record labels.
WPA offers up classic Southern California country rock, and as is always the case with this genre, the album rises and falls with the quality of the songwriting. The good news is that Glen Phillips has contributed several terrific songs, including the wondrous opener “Always Have My Love.” He also takes a page out of Don Henley’s playbook with the heartbreak ballad “End This Now.” Less successful are Luke Bulla’s songwriting contributions. It’s not that songs like “Remember Well” are bad, and in fact “Cry for You” (written with Phillips) is pretty damn good. It’s just that they don’t seem to have much of a point, other then to make you cry in your beer. Sean Watkins’ songs fall somewhere in the middle. They are well-intentioned, mostly upbeat, but fairly standard efforts, save for “Not Sure,” a strong modern country song. Benmont Tench contributes the beautiful closing song “The Price,” which he wrote over 20 years ago, and Sara Watkins does a lovely job singing it. On the other hand, the cover of Ray Davies “I Go to Sleep” on which she sings is completely pointless given the great cover of the song that Chrissie Hynde did with the Pretenders way back when. (more…)
Last September, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) 
Ever since George Clooney lip-synched his way through Dan Tyminski’s version of “I am a Man of Constant Sorrow” in the Coen Brothers’ 
Various Artists – New Arrivals Vol. 3: Artists for Eating Disorders Awareness (2008, MPress)![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=826e28fb-86a2-4bc4-95e1-ab973fc5c73e)
Gliding on stage with some of the dance moves inspired by her previous ballet training, Brooke opened with a number of songs from her past, including “Full-Fledged Strangers” from her first solo record and “Better After All” (one of my favorites from Back in the Circus), which marked the first time I’ve seen an artist use the three-string capo, altering the third, fourth and fifth strings so that it’s actually possible to play below the capo as well. “Keep the River on Your Right” (from Careful What You Wish For) presented itself much differently in a solo setting; although still a song about focus and determination, the mood behind it became much more quiet and reflective. Moments like these could too easily be lost on a less nuanced performer. 
Earlier this month New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo reported that he had sent his staff to 1,000 pharmacies across the state in March, April, and May and found more than 250 that were selling expired milk, eggs, baby formula, and over-the-counter medication. The two biggest culprits were the CVS and Rite Aid chains. So what else have these drugstores not been telling consumers?
Glen Phillips – Secrets of the New Explorers (2008)