Acoustic lives on

It was only a couple of years ago when everyone was talking about the acoustic wave. But as with most musical trends, it’s a wave that has now dissipated. Just as well, because rather than seeing artists and CDs being lumped as part of a movement, they can now stand on their own musical merit – and the genre still has much to recommend it.

Here are two new releases that show why acoustic should, and can never, really "die."

Testimony: Volume 1, Life and Relationships – India.Arie

(Motown, UMVD)

First bursting onto the scene five years ago with her debut album, Acoustic Soul, India.Arie’s new CD is called Testimony: Volume 1, Life and Relationships. It’s a great celebration of subdued instrumentation and heartfelt lyrics, punctuated by some faster-tempoed numbers, but always maintaining this feel of how her music can tackle major social and personal issues, and still remain upbeat. There are influences of hip-hop and gospel swirling in the mix, and the lyrics have me thinking, the musical Oprah for our times. On this CD, India goes beyond acoustic, with great results.

My favorite cuts include I Am Not My Hair, which is about a chemotherapy survivor, Private Party, where India celebrates being alone and how we don’t always have to depend on others, and a truly stupendous remake of the Don Henley ballad, The Heart of the Matter. Soulful to the nth degree, I am just wondering what’s the story with her new moniker of India dot Arie. Definitely worth a listen.

Pure Acoustic – Various Artists

(MCA Music/EMI)

The problem with compilations of this sort is that so many of the cuts are there as "enticers" – familiar tunes and artists that you probably already have in their own CDs. What makes these compilations rise above the genre is when they include little known artists whose cuts become the way for us to discover these artists – the "nuggets" in the melange. The inclusion of cuts from Jack Johnson, James Blunt, Paul Weller, KT Turnstall, Paul Weller and Ben Harper will come as no surprise. And it’s to the credit of both MCA Music and EMI that they got together to expand the roster of artists who are present and accounted for.

What moves me to raise my thumbs up to this CD is how it may be your "point of entry" to such acoustic stalwarts as Donavon Frankenreiter, Nerina Pallot, Ryan Adams, Rufus Wainwright (yes, son of Loudon to those who have followed the genre for decades), G. Love and Corinne Bailey Rae.

The CD also proves how Keane is Coldplay Lite; and that the acoustic tracks from such bands as Dirty Vegas, Royskopp, Nickelback and Stephen Frentwell of Powderfinger prove that these artists are truly multi-faceted. A wonderful double CD for those lazy, cloudy Sunday afternoons.