American V - J.C.'s newest but most likely not the last in the series of albums known as the American Recordings is a pretty low-key affair. Not a lot extra musicianship besides the strumming of guitars. One of the exceptions though is "God's Gonna Cut You Down" a track that finds Mr. Cash, R.I.P. doing something vocally on the chorus that could almost be called rapping. With the stomping beat pushing the track forward this song calls for a rollicking remix.
On a much different note is this Matthew Sweet track from his girlfriend LP which was just given the deluxe remastering job for some unknown reason. Still "Divine Intervention" is a "sweet song" of sorts and deserves some playlist attention. While writing about Mr. Sweet, I'm sure a few of you saw in the store or heard about his collaboration with Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) performing a number of covers of popular music from the 1960's. While the tracklist is cool, the new versions stick pretty closely to the original and though Ms. Hoffs sure can sing pretty, her and Mr. Sweet just don't pull it off.
For some reason they decided to only record well known singles and nothing obscure to surprise us with. On a optimistic note, the album is billed as Under The Covers Vol. 1 so maybe they will get things right the next time. If any of you like Ms. Hoffs voice as well as the other Bangles as much as I do there is a track on Tom Petty's Play list box set entitled "Waiting For Tonight" that features the Bangles singing backup. Pretty good stuff.
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