The latest releases reviewed.

KATE RUSBY Awkward Annie Pure ****

It's difficult to be objective about someone who could sing the telephone book and make it essential listening. Kate Rusby's south Yorkshire rustic charm and her voice of exceptional grace and emotional nuance is always a pleasure, whether she's bringing the past to life with her readings of traditional music or baring her heart in her own songs. The backdrop of Awkward Annie is emotional turmoil, and it shows. It is also her first production. There is a discernible melancholic mood, whether in the wonderful selfpenned High on a Hill (great harmony by Chris Thile) or the traditional Andrew Lammie, but nothing quite strikes as tender a note as her own The Bitter Boy. As with Richard Thompson, Rusby's own material has that same timelessness as the traditional songs she inhabits so evocatively. Sad at times, but a beautiful sadness nonetheless. www.katerusby.com JOE BREEN

Download tracks: The Bitter Boy, High on a Hill, Andrew Lammie

MIKE SEEGER Early Southern Guitar Sounds Smithsonian ***

Anybody with even a passing interest in the history of the acoustic guitar in the USA, specifically the South, should pick up on this piece of novel research by 74-year-old musician and folklorist Mike Seeger, a halfbrother of Pete Seeger. Over the course of 28 tracks Seeger plays more than 24 separate guitars, many pictured, as he explains the different style changes that guitar music went through in the first 30 years of the last century. There are cowboy tunes, country waltzes, rags and a whole heap more besides. It might sound very dry tinder. but these are lively, entertaining examples of living history. And with Seeger's detailed essay on the emergence of the guitar and an extensive note on each track, this is an impressive and well-played package that has value beyond the immediate. http://mikeseeger.info JOE BREEN

Downoad tracks: Old Chisholm Trail, Carroll Country Blues, Black Jack David