Bloodshot Briefing

By Matt Harness

Let's take a look back at Bloodshot's nine releases in 2009. Ten in 2010?

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Artist: Ha Ha Tonka
Album: Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South
Review: "Ha Ha Tonka, meet Kings of Leon," Blurt Online wrote. "Kings of Leon, meet your competition. While the latter band's Southern-rock mix has helped them break big after years of meandering in obscurity, Ha Ha Tonka is banking on a similar musical sound and a healthy shot of charisma to mimic Kings of Leon's success. And with the follow-up to 2007's Buckle in the Belt, they may do it."

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Artist: Justin Townes Earle
Album: Midnight at the Movies
Review: "On his 2008 debut, Justin Townes Earle, son of rebel troubadour Steve Earle, seemed like he was getting up to speed with classic country and folk forms," Rolling Stone wrote. "But he sounds like a natural-born honky-tonker on his new album."

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Artist: Bottle Rockets
Album: Lean Forward
Review: "The Bottle Rockets feel oddly timeless and out of date: Lean Forward, their latest waving of the roots-rock flag, is just as gloriously tattered and lavishly ordinary as its predecessors," The A.V. Club wrote.

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Artist: Rosie Flores
Album: Girl of the Century
Review: "These are all good tracks, but they're brief pleasures, gone almost as soon as they've arrived," PopMatters wrote. "You long for the band to really let go and indulge in the kind of lengthy instrumental work that some of these pieces will probably receive in live performance. Fortunately, a couple of songs do leave the clock running for a bit longer."

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Artist: Exene Cervenka
Album: Somewhere Gone
Review: "Unlike the bulk of her punky/rootsy band-related work - X, the Knitters, Auntie Christ, the Original Sinners - Cervenka's solo work has been more folky and introspective, and Somewhere Else is certainly no exception, and couldn't have flowed from anyone but Cervenka's pen," PopMatters wrote.

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Artist: Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Album: "... and the horse you rode in on"
Review: "'Oh my God, my life / Is so fucked up,' Scotland Yard Gospel Choir frontman Elia Einhorn whines on 'Something's Happening,' backed by a lush, Belle and Sebastian-esque arrangement," PopMatters wrote. "And just like that, he ably sums up the preoccupations that drive his band's third full-length, . . . And the Horse You Rode in On."

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Artist: Wayne Hancock
Album: Viper of Melody
Review: "Describing Hancock's mastery is like trying to explain the force of a natural event such as a tornado to someone who has never experienced one," PopMatters wrote. "Even when he plays the music slow and drawls out the lyrics of love, his power is palpable. There's a self-evident intensity behind every note."

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Artist: Dex Romweber Duo
Album: Ruins of Berlin
Review: As half of the Flat Duo Jets, Dexter Romweber shaped the contemporary music scene by bearing a heavy influence on acts like the White Stripes, My Morning Jacket, and the Black Keys," Slant wrote. "On Ruins of Berlin, his first outing as the Dex Romweber Duo (he's joined here by his sister, Sara, on drums), Romweber attempts to stake his own claim to relevance."

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Artist: Scott H. Biram
Album: Something's Wrong
Review: "Yet it's the organ-lacquered strum of 'Sinkin' Down' that records Biram's secret specialty: down-on-your-luck rubberneck-ability," the Austin Chronicle wrote.

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Bloodshot Live
And now, on to 2010. Some recommended shows from the label's artists this month.

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Artist: Waco Brothers (Benefit for Bell School)
Date: January 15
Venue: Martyrs'

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Artist: Jane Baxter Miller (CD release show)
Date: January 23
Venue: Hideout

Artist: The Bottle Rockers
Date: January 30
Venue: Schubas

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Matt Harness brings you his Bloodshot Briefing every Friday. He welcomes your comments.

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