A thrilling and often beautiful concert sitting unseen in a vault for a number of years, Lucinda Williams: Live from Austin, TX is the Louisiana-born singer-songwriter's complete, pre-edited performance from a 1998 appearance on Austin City Limits. With its 16 well-chosen songs, largely culled from Williams's most rewarding material since the 1980s, Live is indispensable for longtime fans and a great introduction to her unique artistry for the uninitiated. Williams's deceptively plain-spoken, sometimes conversational lyrics about losses and passages and elusive touchstones of happiness are marvels of instant resonance, transcending minimalist imagery and fragmentary refrains. Surrounded by a small, guitar army and sometimes hypnotic rhythm section, Williams fills out "Metal Firecracker" with a vintage folk-rock sound, raises the extraordinary "Drunken Angel" and "Greenville" to new heights, and delivers--with a voice as lovely as a bell--a stirring performance on "Sweet Old World." Lest we forget her appreciation of the Doors, "Joy" brings the show to a head with its gritty, shamanic blues and evocative promises ("I'm gonna go to West Memphis and find my joy") that make one want to jump with excitement. --Tom Keogh
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