Amazing music from the greatest chapter of the legendary Louvin Brothers – the kind of work that's made them a legend for generations! Handpicked Songs features Louvin classics chosen by a reverent group of singers and songwriters that really run the gamut – Dolly Parton, Beck, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Hilman, Emmylou Harris, Will Oldham, Zooey Deschanel, The Black Angels, Mark Lanegan, M Ward, and Jim James – but all artists who have been undeniably influenced by Ira and Charlie Louvin, and their way of melding melancholy harmonies into something that goes way beyond everyday country music! The packaging is great – very much up to the Light In The Attic standard – and titles include "Almost Persuaded", "My Baby's Gone", "I See A Bridge", "Knoxville Girl", "Great Atomic Power", and "Alabama". LP, Vinyl record album

Cash's fourth volume of stark, sparely-arranged studio recordings for producer/set list provider Rick Rubin. As Johnny gets on in the years his always haunting voice, like Bob Dylan's, is weighted by age, but the heavily-breathed delivery only adds to the ghostly quality of the increasingly dark tunes. With this fourth set in the series we're far past being surprised by the choices of material – this time Cash conjures up spiritual takes on Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", Trent Reznor's "Hurt", Lennon/McCartney's "In My Life", and more traditional material like Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and the eternally underrated Marty Robbins' "Big Iron". You can't forget that Cash's pen is still pretty sharp, too, as the really spooky imagery in the title track and others testify. The accompaniment includes the great Randy Scruggs, Beck/Tom Waits guitarist Smokey Hormel, Marty Stuart, Glen Campell, and backing vocals by Nick Cave and Fiona Apple. Another great one from the greatest! LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet collection of early 70s female post folk revival material – independent and long lost recordings from unknowns that used folk and psychedelia as offerings to each singer's idiosyncratic muse – and another incredible collection of deeply sought rare tunes from the Numero Group! Numero really blows us away with their ability to seek out and lovingly reissue lost recordings – and package them in beautiful and insightful collections – and this one is as impressive as anything they've done to date. It features singer songwriters from sleepy midwestern Illinois and Minnesota, to the enlightened, heightened Bay, and points between and beyond – with songs from records originally pressed in runs of 500 to 5000. The music is warm, groovy and sincere as can be, much of it surprisingly timeless! Includes: "A Special Path" by Becky Severson, "Cricket" by Collie Ryan, "Sunlight Shadow" by Linda Rich, "Engram" by Caroline Peyton, "And I A Fairytale Lady" by Carla Sciaky, "Window" by Judy Kelly, "Dedication" by Mary Perrin, "Rain" by Marj Snyder, "Wildman" by Ginny Reilly. LP, Vinyl record album

A surprising side of the legendary Stax Records – especially if you only know the Memphis powerhouse as an outlet for funk and soul! There was always a bit of crossover between country and soul – even in the early days, a label like King Records could easily handle both – or a company like Atlantic could find a way to make its soul singers handle country tunes with ease. Yet the approach here is pure country – tracks recorded during the final few years of Stax – at a time when the company was both growing strongly, thanks to the fame of Isaac Hayes and others – and also trying out new ideas to round out the strength of their operation. Given their proximity to Nashville, and the fact that Memphis studios like Sun or Ardent had handled country-styled sounds – the move seemed to be a good one, and definitely comes across here in the quality of the tracks! The music has a nice left-of-Nashville vibe – almost like some of the growing wave from Austin soon to come, but also a bit like the cooler indie 45 country market of the 70s – which is finally getting its due these days. Either way, the sounds here are way past the hits, and way past the more standard modes of the time – and show that Stax Records could bring as much of a magic touch to country as they could to other sounds they recorded. Titles include "Hippie From The Hills" by Roland Eaton, "The River's Too Wide" by Karen Casey, "That Glass" by Eddie Bond, "Sweet Country Music" by Becki Bluefield, "My Girl" by Danny Bryan, "Satisfied Woman" by Paige O'Brian, "All The Love You'll Ever Need" by Cliff Cochran, "A Mom & A Dad For Christmas" by Lee Denson, and "Truck Driver's Heaven" by Roger Hallmark. LP, Vinyl record album