STEVE EARLE
Sidetracks
(E-Squared/Artemis)
Though it functions as sort of a defacto new album from the usually prolific Steve Earle, Sidetracks is actually a compilation of songs Earle recorded for soundtracks and compilations, plus a couple of stray bits and alternate versions. Earle maintains that he's proud of everything on this collection, with few cuts being actual outtakes. Yet it's hard to imagine Earle believing too many of these songs deserve space on his regular albums. The opening tracks "Some Dreams," from the soundtrack to The Rookie and "Open Your Window," from the film Pay It Forward, are decent, jangly folk rock songs of the type Earle has been successfully churning out for years, but they're hardly exceptional. Covers of the Slickers' "Johnny Too Bad" and the Chambers Brothers' "Time Has Come Today" (a duet with Sheryl Crow) sound like they were more fun to make than to listen to. Earle's takes on Dylan's "My Back Pages" and Little Feat's "Willin'" are nice but not revelatory. That said, his stomping roadhouse version of Nirvana's "Breed" bleeds with energy and spirit, even if Earle is off-key, and his acoustic cover of the Supersuckers' "Creepy Jackalope Eye" (done with the 'suckers themselves) is laid-back and fun. Also, his contributions to The Horse Whisperer ("Me and the Eagle") and Dead Man Walking ("Ellis Unit One," in a version with backup from the Fairfield Four) retain every bit of their power. The bluegrass cuts, two with the Bluegrass Dukes and one with Irish folkster Sharon Shannon's band, sound most promising; this is a direction Earle should continue to explore. The handful of quality tracks, however, means that any listener not an Earle fanatic is better off finding someone who owns the record and copying the better tracks. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Joe Ely, Lucinda Williams, Mary Chapin Carpenter

TOWNES VAN ZANDT
A Gentle Evening With Townes Van Zandt
(Dualtone)
Legendary singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt always claimed that he'd once played Carnegie Hall, but few believed him. This album is proof. Recorded in 1969 as part of a showcase for Poppy Records, Van Zandt's label at the time, A Gentle Evening With Townes Van Zandt finds the storyteller in good voice (i.e. sober), drawing mostly from his first two albums For the Sake of the Song and Our Mother the Mountain. Van Zandt faves like "She Came and She Touched Me," "Second Lover's Song" and, of course, "Tecumseh Valley" get almost stately readings. He also previews a pair of new tunes, "Lungs" and "Rake," and performs his own perennial favorite, Johnny Cash's "The Ballad of Ira Hayes." Van Zandt's quiet, sedate performance is in tune with the title, though there's nothing gentle about a song like "Lungs." Completists will be especially interested, as the album contains one previously unreleased song, the well-intentioned if indifferently executed "Talking KKK Blues," plus one vaguely off-color nun joke. Due to the period in Van Zandt's career in which it was recorded, there's little here of the breadth and depth of the songwriter's usual career-spanning concerts, but Van Zandt's fans (who are by definition fanatics) will adore it. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Lyle Lovett, Bob Dylan, Guy Clark