Steamboat Pilot & Today

Nickel Creek

"Why Should the Fire Die?"

On Sale at All That Jazz for $15.98

Are you allowed to say anything bad about Nickel Creek? They are the darlings of bluegrass or, if you have to use the horrible word, "newgrass."

It's exactly when everyone else adores a band that you want to find its faults and tear it apart.

Unfortunately for my cynical pen, this album will not allow me that opportunity.

Inside the cover of "Why Should the Fire Die?", there is a picture of a band member sitting by himself in a cafe. The lights are up and candles are lit on each vinyl tablecloth covered table. The man stares into one of the candles as his hand wraps around a short glass of whiskey. Something about the pre-show melancholy of that photo sets the tone for this entire album.

This is a good post-breakup, wallowing album. Each track is its own brand of sad and poignant.

Behind the lyrics, the songs are so bare they echo in the empty spaces between the measures.

You need extra reserves of happiness to make it through the song "Jealous of the Moon" without crying. Chris Thile sings, "You're trying on a brand new dress, but you haven't worn the other one yet. / You've come too far to turn around now. / I see you're back where you started from. / Staring down the stars. / Jealous of the moon. / You wish you could fly ... You're too scared to try."

Rated: I need a tissue.

Rufus Wainwright

"Want Two"

Available at All That Jazz for $21.98

This album opens with the sound of a violin being played with a dry bow. It sounds like a rocking chair on a creaky porch and seems to say, "Are you sure you are ready for this?"

Soon another violin joins in. It's the well-tuned distant voice of a passing gypsy. The rocking chair stops to listen, and so do I.

The first track "Agnus Dei" builds with a human voice and I'm reminded of the Sufis with one hand pointed to the sky and another pointed to the earth, spinning themselves into a trance.

"Want Two" is a storm that gathers over your head. Wainwright is standing in the center of a field pulling the wind and the clouds from all corners of the musical world.

To say this album is a journey is a cliche, but one that best describes what happens to the careful listener.

This record must have been hell to produce. You can hear the engineer sweating as he works to hold up all the layers while peeling them away one delicate paper petal at a time.

Rated: It's like juggling bricks and Kleenex.

Stephen Stills

"Man Alive"

On Sale at All That Jazz for $15.98

With the record stores filling up with sensitive boy bands playing slow pop songs, Stephen Stills must have felt a responsibility to the fans of rock 'n' roll to go back into the studio.

It's been 14 years since his last solo record, and with his return, Stills brings back a batch of music ideas that haven't been heard for a while. Unembarrassed electric guitar led the way and, wait, is that an analog keyboard?

Stills is best known for his time as a guitarist for Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills and Nash/Young.

After all these years, Stills is still one of the classic songwriters as he fills his latest record with political anthems and weary hearted, blues-based love songs.

Rated: Can it be classic rock if it came out a week ago?

-- Autumn Phillips