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The best part about his new album is Eric Idle admitting that it is entirely for the money. Which is undeniable. Of the 22 tracks on the album, only four are non-Python material. It's all the old favorites: "The Meaning of Life," "I Like Chinese," "The Penis Song," you know the standards (if you don't, you won't care what they are anyway). Idle does a fine job singing them, and intersperses them with little bits of dialogue or skits, which are marginally funny. The best part is to have all these Monty Python songs in one collection. The bad part is that this was all done many years ago on the album Monty Python Sings, and it had the original recordings at that. Anyone who is going to buy this CD almost assuredly has Monty Python Sings as well, and why they would need a version of these tunes sung by Idle alone, live, is beyond me. The in-between stuff doesn't especially merit it. The songs aren't quite as polished as they were before. There are a few gems though: Idle sings the theme to the BBC show One Foot in the Grave, which he wrote; as well as the Rutles hit (originally penned by some hacks named Lennon and McCartney) I Must Be In Love. But it's not a bad album, just kinda unnecessary. If you need a little funniness and fond memories of comedy troupes of yore, pick it up. In the end, Idle could really use the money anyway.-RB
 TEDDY THOMPSON Teddy Thompson Virgin A twentysomething with some angst and an acoustic guitar. His melodies nail down some hooks but don't lean too heavily on them, in fact treat them with ambivalence. His voice does an admirable job of capturing the heart of the songs as they ebb and flow between roots rock and jazz-pop. How many albums like this get released every year? Dozens. But how many feature a fistful of Richard Thompson electric guitar solos? This might be the only one ever. It's his son's debut, after all, and young Teddy displays a knack for writing tunes that leave a rich and irregular terrain for soloists. Richard leaps into the breach triumphantly, again and again, often adding more to his son's songs than he usually does to his own. The same could be said for Joe Henry, whose production makes all the right choices in separating the moody from the muddy. Guest vocalist Rufus Wainwright brightens the track "So Easy" in his easily affected way. And who wouldn't like the hidden extra track on their debut to be a duet with Emmylou Harris? How much of this album's solid success can Teddy Thompson claim as his own? The two best moments here are delicate triumphs of Richard's bent-note pathos, on "Love Her For That" and "Days In The Park." But close by in third place is the junior Thompson's songwriting on "Missing Children." Filling in the edgy nuances around legendary guest stars won't guarantee him a career, but here's one musical scion who might be able to grow into the ranks of the company he keeps.-T.E. Lyons
Jason has definitely left his Scorchers behind for this one. Instead of country songs with punk attitude and blistering guitar solos, Ringenberg has opted for a more traditional folk feel. The all acoustic A Pocketful of Soul sounds old and raw, evoking a time and place left behind long ago. The return to his roots with a concentration on songwriting brings some jewels like "Under Your Command," "The Last of the Neon Cowboys," and "Trail of Tears" (though he didn't write the song). These songs bring a little of the Scorcher attitude to the mix, and though true to the folk he was shooting for, they sound more natural than the majority of the record. The opener, "Oh Lonesome Prairie," is an ode to Ringenberg's farm upbringing, and the sound recalls wandering folksters like Woody Guthrie, but the music is too simple without legendary lyrics for which the format calls, even with the understanding that he's shooting for that old-time sound. Unfortunately, most of the album suffers from the same shortfalls. A Pocketful of Soul is a record with good moments, but Ringenberg's lyrics are not always ready to stand with such spare support from the stripped down music backing them. And though he should be applauded for stepping away from business as usual, he's putting an awful lot of faith in nostalgia.-Steven Tweddell
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ERIC IDLE 
JASON RINGENBERG