First Levon Helm survived throat cancer, then, improbably, he started singing again. And then, astonishingly, he returned to form. While his voice is thinner than during his days with The Band — he is 69, after all — Helm still brings the grit, that marvelous blend of Ozark country, blues and gospel.

His first album after recovering, 2007’s Dirt Farmer (Vanguard), was a treasure, an absolutely genuine slice of Americana that won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album.

Its followup, Electric Dirt, is another triumph, extending the reach of Farmer while retaining its rustic character. The new disc, released Tuesday, June 30, is not simply a plugged-in extension of its predecessor. Although electric guitars pop up now and again, it’s still largely an acoustic album. The addition of horns on four tracks — two arranged by Allen Toussaint and two by Stephen Bernstein — gives the new one an added dimension, some extra oomph.

The horns get into the act right way with a springy version of the Grateful Dead’s “Tennessee Jed,” which has a decidedly Band-ish feel and kicks off the disc with a great deal of exuberance.

“Growing Trade,” written by Helm and his producer (and multi-instrumentalist) Larry Campell, evokes Band classics such as “King Harvest and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” The song, which documents the plight of a small farmer who’s turned pot grower in order to survive, is capped off with the poignant lament “I used to farm for a living/ But now I’m in the growing trade.” Swelling female background vocals (including those of Helm’s daughter Amy) intensify the tune’s sense of overarching regret.

A couple of lively shuffle blues — two by Muddy Waters, “Stuff You Gotta Watch” and “You Can’t Lose What You Ain’t Never Had” — provide more effervescence, while the ballad “Heaven’s Pearls,” with its somber organ, adds the aroma of a back-country church.

With Richard Manuel and Rick Danko dead, and Helm and Robbie Robertson estranged, a Band reunion is out of the question. But Levon’s recent forays into authentic American music serve to open a new, improbable chapter in his career and help keep the spirit of his old group alive. (Vanguard)

Electric Dirt is currently streaming in its entirety on Entertainment Weekly’s website.

Welcome aboard new Tampa Calling Contributor, Vinyl Fever’s Lee Wolfson, who will taking over on each week’s new music releases and other such interesting music tidbits, from what it’s like running an indie music store, to offering info on the latest in new music, to giving the inside scoop on any special promos or giveaways his store may be offering. Here’s his inaugural post, a list of new releases you may or may not be aware of.

Terry Adams (of NRBQ), Holy Tweet

Maria Bamford, Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome

Buju Banton, Rasta Got Soul

Behemoth, The Art of Rebelling Live (CD/DVD)

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, How Big Can You Get?: The Music of Cab Calloway (ahahahahahaha! yeah, really!)

Brian Blade, Mama Rosa

Booker T., Potato Hole (with Drive By Truckers and Neil Young, too — it’s REAL SWEET!)

The Boxmasters and Billy Bob Thornton, The Boxmasters

Braid, Frankie Welfare Boy Age Five (a re-release of the 1995 debut album comprised 26 tracks, each one named using a different letter of the alphabet.)

King Britt & Ashley Beetle, Southport Weekender Vol. 8

Art Brut, Art Brut vs. Satan

Camera Obscura, My Maudlin Career

Chimaira, The Infection (also available as a special version with a bonus track and DVD)

Cloud Cult, No One Said It Would Be Easy DVD

Depeche Mode, Sounds of the Universe (Three versions are due out — CD, CD/DVD, and a four-disc boxed set that includes the original CD, bonus tracks, demo tracks, and a DVD as well as TWO books with lyrics and exclusive photos, two badges, poster, and artcards. All of it is sealed with a certificate of authenticity just in case someone tries to pass off the one they made at home as “real.”)

Empire of the Sun, Walking on a Dream

Alejandro Escovedo, An Introduction (a compilation of his music)

Great White, Rising (yes, it’s new)

Wayne Hancock, Viper of Melody (on Bloodshot)

Jane’s Addiction, A Cabinet of Curiosities (a limited-edition four-disc set spotlighting 43 tracks from three CDs — 30 previously unreleased — and a bonus DVD with videos, rarities and live footage.)

King Khan & The Shrines, What Is?!

Krayzie Bone, Leathaface Legends Underground Pt. 1

Sonny Landreth, Levee Town

Lenny Kravitz, Let Love Rule (deluxe edition)

Lacuna Coil, Shallow Life

Manchester Orchestra, Mean Everything to Nothing

Mission of Burma re-issues with bonus tracks

Mr. Lif, I Heard It Today

My Dying Bride, For Lies I Sire

Sinead O’Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got (Re-release with a bonus disc of unreleased tracks)

Pendragon, Concert Maximo DVD

Pet Shop Boys, Yes (single disc and two-disc editions)

Porcupine Tree (re-issues, with bonus material)

Rick Ross, Deeper Than Rap

Asher Roth, Asleep in the Bread Aisle (Special 4/20 release date — wooooooo!)

Sizzla, Ghetto Youth-ology

Pete Seeger, Rainbow Race / Now / Young Vs. Old (a five-CD box set)

Sun Ra, Live in Cleveland

Tinted Windows, Tinted Windows (Hanson Bros. lead singer Jordan with JAMES IHA of Smashing Pumpkins fame, Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne and Bun E. Carlos of CHEAP TRICK!)

Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi

Various Artists, Eccentric Soul: Smart’s Place compilation

Various Artists, Om Lounge 15th Anniversary Edition

17 Again Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

ON VINYL:

Death

Depeche Mode

Killers 12”

King Khan

Manchester Orchestra

Method Man & Redman 12”

Radiohead EPs reissued (tisk, tisk on Capitol for the cheap, generic packaging)

ON DVD:

Notorious

The Wrestler

Allen Toussaint: The Bright Mississippi (Nonesuch)

I’ve long been aware of Allen Toussaint as a New Orleans treasure, a prolific songwriter, magic-touch producer and arranger, and solo artist with a rather middling voice. I knew he played piano, but did not know he was such a bad, bad man at the keyboard.

I do now.

The Bright Mississippi, produced by Toussaint’s friend and frequent collaborator Joe Henry, is nothing short of a revelation, an album of instrumentals (save one vocal) that both honors and reinvents a number of songs associated with early New Orleans blues and jazz: Sidney Bechets’ “Egyptian Fantasy,” Jellyroll Morton’s “Winin’ Boy Blues,” Joe Oliver’s West End Blues,” and traditionals “St. James Infirmary” and “Take a Closer Walk With Thee,” to name a handful.

Toussaint and his dream band — trumpeter Nicholas Payton, clarinetist Don Byron, acoustic guitarist Marc Ribot, bassist David Piltch and drummer Jay Bellerose — play the songs with an expansive ease, rather than employing tightly wound improvisational free-for-alls often referred to as Dixieland. One of the album’s charms, though, is the clattering, march-style drums heard on a number of the full-ensemble pieces (”Singin’ the Blues,” Monk’s “Bright Mississippi”), imbuing them with an antique quality.

Toussaint has expert command of the Crescent City piano style handed down through the generations, and can deliver the rolling chords, blues-drenched licks, trills and cascades that are its defining elements, but he also has a songwriter’s sense of melody and a jazzbo’s feel for harmony that enables him to transcend the keyboard colloquialisms.

On a few songs, Henry and Touissant split the ensemble into smaller units, with terrific results, especially on a midnight version of Ellington’s “Daydream,” a piano/tenor sax duet with Joshua Redman. The horn players lay out on Django Reinhardt’s “Blue Drag,” allowing Ribot and Toussaint to play their instrumental elegance off of each other, and then the rhythm section steps aside for “Solitude,” making for an album-closing piano/guitar duet that concludes the disc in radiantly romantic fashion.

What the CL team is listening to right now.

Allen Toussaint
The Bright Mississippi (2009)
One of my favorite producers, Joe Henry, teams up with legendary New Orleans artist Toussaint to revive a set of Crescent City classics (and tunes associated with the city) — mostly instrumental jazz by the likes of Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton and Thelonious Monk. The sound is both old-timey and fresh. Known more as a writer, producer and arranger, Toussaint gets to show off his soulful piano skills. The disc comes out on Nonesuch April 21.
–Eric

Matthew Dear
Asa Breed (2007)
I’m in love with Matthew Dear’s cavalier, occasionally multi-tracked baritone, how he delivers his lyrics like it’s the first take and he’s not at all concerned. The Electro avant pop artist makes music that’s complex-free, with hints of minimalist house and acid-washed dance funk. This album is his third and a good introduction to his small but noteworthy catalog.
Recommended track: “Deserter.”

The Lonely Island
Incredibad (2009)
I don’t watch Saturday Night Live anymore, but I do check out the hilarious SNL Digital Shorts on YouTube. Cast member Andy Samberg along with Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone are “The Lonely Island,” but the trio brings in some heavy star power — Natalie Portman, Justin Timberlake, Norah Jones, E-40 and Jack Black, among others — to collaborate. Some of the schtick gets a bit tired by the end of the 19-track album, but cuts like “Dick in a Box” and “Jizz in my Pants” are still funny the 10th time around.
Recommended track: “Natalie’s Rap.” Such profanity from such a sweet piece. Mmm….
–B.Treotch

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
The Century of Self (2009)
Morrissey
Years of Refusal (2009)
I noticed an interesting parallel between these two new releases. One album I’ve been enjoying more as an artist’s return-to-form while the other I slogged through repeatedly in order to better acquaint myself with the new stuff prior to an area concert. The Century of Self reaches back into the Trail of Dead catalog to grab some Worlds Apart bombast for a more interesting, less hooky listen than their last album, So Divided. As usual, I’m fascinated by Conrad Keely’s album art – this time around it’s intricate ball-point pen work.

But it’s the Morrissey disc that I’ve selected as the so-called “comeback.” And like his last comeback album, he has late-producer Jerry Finn to thank. Finn resurrected Moz once already (You Are the Quarry back in ’04) and while this album doesn’t bring the same arsenal of high-quality songs, it sounds a shitload better than the bloated Ringleader of the Tormentors. There are plenty of classic Moz-isms to be found, such as “It’s not your birthday anymore/ there’s no need to be kind to you” and “Now this might surprise you/ but I’m okay by myself/ and I don’t need you / or your morality to save me.” If you were turned off by the early singles, rest assured they are the album’s low points. Days after completing the album, Jerry Finn suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and passed away two weeks later. Smiths/Moz fans should consider the album his parting gift.
–Joel

Blink-182
Enema of the State (1999)/Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001)
When the trio stood together on stage at the Grammy’s in February and announced they were getting back together, memories of my middle and high school days came flooding back. Of those days in the early 2000s when the punk band’s songs were played at school dances and everyone in middle school belted out the lyrics to “All the Small Things” on the school bus. I thought I’d listen to Take Off Your Pants and Jacket to try to rekindle some of the old hype – and I can’t stop laughing my ass off. The lyrics accurately depict the melodramatic angst of my teenage years (“First Date”) and, simultaneously, speak to me now as a lazy, soon-to-be college graduate (“What’s My Age Again?”).
–CL intern Michelle Stark