Album recommendations.. The Little Willies.. Corinne Bailey Rae

I have discovered two new albums over the last two days. And both of them happen to be among those rare albums that you fall in love with instantly, at first listen.

The Little Willies' self-titled album is a tip o' the hat to old-time American music - honky tonk, bar band, country, call it what you may. So you have honey-dripped vocals, bouncing basslines, slinky guitarwork, brush drums, swinging beats and all that jazz. I guarantee you that you will not regret buying this. Seriously, you would have to have some weird notion of music to hate this.

And oh, I forgot to mention the band.. The lead vocalist just happens to be Norah Jones.. And the other Willies are her regular backing band :)

You can listen to some samples here..
http://www.emimusic.ca/thelittlewillies


Corinne Bailey Rae’s brand of old-time R&B has evoked comparisons with singers like Billie Holiday. And the first few notes of the first song reminded me of another singer I like, Nelly Furtado.

But to be fair enough to this 27-year-old British songstress, I think we should keep all comparisons aside. Not only is she a brilliant singer, she is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist too. Most of the tracks are slow or mid-tempo. So it's the perfect music when you want to chill. Yet, it will have you tapping your foot gently. One complaint though - the programmed drums in some of the tracks could have been avoided.

You can read more about her and listen to some samples here..
http://www.corinnebaileyrae.net