Top Picks: Stevie Nicks, True Grit on DVD, Britain's brightest, and more
Stevie solo
Give Stevie Nicks her due: She's not buying into any musical fads. Before you even hear her new music, a glance at her CD In Your Dreams demonstrates the veteran pop-rocker's unabated love of ethereal stagecraft. From the cover shot of Nicks posing with a horse to a CD booklet with photos of her decked out in frills and laces– Rhiannon reigns. And she's delivered a solid solo set, helped by former Eurythmic Dave Stewart, who produced the album, as well as Fleetwood Mac bandmates Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham. Sure, Nicks's lyrics often lapse into angels, ghosts, and vampires, but she retains one of rock's most intriguing and unique voices. The album may not be a total landslide, but this is grown-up pop done well.
Men of action
The British TV series Genius of Britain: The Scientists Who Changed the World features top scientific minds – Stephen Hawking, James Dyson, Richard Dawkins, and David Attenborough – discussing their own role models and talking about the innovations and inventions that changed modern life. Now on DVD from Athena.
A HIGH low
If Henrik Ibsen had put down his playwriting pen and picked up an electric guitar, his music might have sounded like Low, the melancholy trio from Duluth, Minn. Combining delicate arrangements with chiming guitars reverberating in space, yearning vocals and spine-tingling harmonies, C'mon, their ninth album, is the most uplifting Low in years. Standout tracks include the dreamy "Try to Sleep" and the infectious, stirring "Especially Me."
Kinks Klassics
There are a lot of Kinks to be had beyond "You Really Got Me" and "Lola," and now's your chance to discover, or perhaps rediscover, why they're such a fan favorite. Sanctuary Records has just reissued the eccentric band's first three albums as two-disc deluxe editions, with outtakes, demos, interviews, and live performances. One listen to The Kinks (1964), Kinda Kinks (1965), and Kinks Kontroversy (1965) and you'll soon be joining the ranks of Kinks Konverts.
'True Grit' take 2
The Coen Brothers' version of True Grit puts Jeff Bridges in the lead role of lawman Rooster Cogburn, hired by the precocious 14-year-old Mattie Ross to track down her father's killer in Indian country in the 1870s. Accompanying them is a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) who is as straight-arrow as Rooster is screw-loose. It's a tall tale well told. On DVD June 7.
Flute-lover alert
The collected concertos of Irish flute-playing legend James Galway are available in a 12-disc box set from Sony Masterworks. James Galway Plays Flute Concertos includes works by Bach, Mozart, Georg Philipp Telemann, Antonio Vivaldi, and more.
