Out Of The Box Cd Of The Week With Paul Shugrue

Arcade Fire's multi-instrumentalist comes out of his older brother Win's shadow on his solo debut Policy, a short but powerful set of songs.

The Firewatcher's Daughter combines elegant harMonies with foot stomping rockers and songs recorded quickly to assure spontaneity.

Complicated Game is his first album in six years and the character studies of struggling hunters, war vets and fisherman prove he can create a novels worth of storyline in one song.

Terraplane, his sixteenth album, uses his knack for writing songs about the comMon man and sets his stories within the context of the most comMon form of music, the blues.

Happy Prisoner The Bluegrass Sessions is the longtime Texas singer songwriter's tribute to the music he grew up with.

Afraid of Ghosts is a tribute to the singer songwriters father who passed away recently. Its produced by Ryan Adams and is the kind of album Adams used to make, acoustic, introspective and utterly moving.

Paul Kelly Presents the Merri Soul Sessions is a unique recording bringing out the soulful side of Kelly's songs using a variety of singers and musicians.

What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World has the band getting art rock down to a science. Its the culmination of all that they do right.

Evermotion is their attempt to experiment, to move beyond college-rock band status and create a more permanent place for their infectious, melodic tunes.

Avonmore reclaims the artists title, master of aloof sophistication with a stylish recreation of the music he made with Roxy Music.

After an eight year absence the Irish singer songwriter returns with an album of songs that play like a personal message to his long lost muse.

The ever experimental artist is at it again bringing in a 92 piece orchestra and a rollicking big band to give himself yet another new musical persona.

Tell Em Im Gone is by the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens and is his first album since being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year.

Indian Ocean is a career defining fusion of her own honey sweet vocals, tangy diction and Memphis Soul on this second solo album by the former leader of The Be Good Tanyas.

VA is the long awaited album from one of Hampton Roads best bands and is full of buoyant, rustic and earnest new songs.

Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone is her statement of independence and a double album set with no filler.

The Tattooed Lady and the Alligator Man is a party starter of an album with equal parts blues, roots and cajun music, rollicking rhythms and one of the best boogie woogie piano players of all.

Songs of Innocence is the anti-cd of the week since it is only available as a free download at I-tunes. The rock legends overcome the hype with their tradeMark anthemic sound.

Sukierae is the collaboration between Jeff Tweedy of Wilco and his son Spencer on drums. It is a generous and humble family project and its strength is its familiarity.

lullabye...and the Ceaseless Roar is the album he spurned a Led Zeppelin reunion to record and on it he combines Celtic grace with African rhythms for perhaps his finest solo album.