ALTROK Ordinals 42

John Doe - Dim Stars, Bright Sky (iMusic)
Jeff says: Best known as co-founder/co-frontperson for the seminal Los Angeles punk rock band X, John Doe recently released his 4th solo record, "Dim Stars, Bright Sky". The sometime actor (he's been in over a dozen films since 1989) has made his best solo record since his "Meet John Doe" solo debut from 1990. As with his other solo records (and a tiny bit of X's history) Doe has gone for a rootsier, acoustic, country-rock, singer/songwriter sound rather than X's brand of LA punk rock. Only even more so. "Dim Stars, Bright Sky" was produced by Joe Henry, features a crack band of musicians and special guests Juliana Hatfield, Aimee Mann, Jakob Dylan, Rhett Miller, and Jane Wiedlin. This is a wonderful collection of songs, stripped down to almost the bare minimum, from one of America's most unsung and underrated songwiters.