Kate Rusby

Kate Rusby sings a lot of trad British folk, arranged very tastefully (no slamming your jars of ale on the table!) but they're sensitively performed. There's something in Kate's voice that hints at melancholy, even thought she has a bright, high tone. "Under the Stars" (2004), and "Little Lights" (2001) were the 2 CDs that introduced me to Kate; if you like older LPs like the two Silly Sisters albums featuring Maddy Prior and June Tabor, I think you'd enjoy Kate.

Sundays, Bloody Sundays

This side of the pond, the Smiths made a minor ripple, but in Old Blighty, they influenced a lot of bands, including the Sundays. Like the Smiths, the lyrics hint at cynicism veiled in humor, and the chiming guitar style of Johnny Marr gets a wink and a nod in the Sundays. Harriet Wheeler's voice is school-girl clever, and when I listen to the Sundays, I feel like it's fall and I'm headed off to campus -- even though they came along long after I'd graduated. But there's such of sense of fresh possibilities, it's like the sound of opportunity. "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic" is probably their best, but the others grow on you, and the version of "Wild Horses" on "Blind" beats the Stones for me.