Ann Arbor Blues Festival Vol. 1+2 (Third Man Records). Review by James Mann.

Louisville’s Second Annual Bourbon & Beyond Festival promised to be the two-day event of the year, but Mother Nature had other plans. Check out Michelle Wilson’s full recap.

Step Back (Megaforce Records). Review by James Mann.

Apokalypsis (Pendu Sound). Review by Matthew Moyer.

Reflections (Uproar). Review by Scott Adams.

Take note, internet-broadcasting upstarts, the DVD reissues of Glenn O’Brien’s pioneering 1980s shambles of a talk show uncover a whole new level of transcendent slack. On this episode: Jeffrey Lee Pierce!

Bar Band Americanus: The Best of Charlie Pickett And… (Bloodshot Records). Review by James Mann.

1861 (Northern Blues). Review by Tim Wardyn.

Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh (Drag City). Review by Aaron Shaul.

Playing their first North American show in support of their latest release, The White Stripes draw a crowd in the tens of thousands for their closing performance on the first night of Atlanta’s annual Music Midtown Festival, and Jen Cray gets to scratch out the top name on her list.

Poison & Snakes (Asthmatic Kitty). Review by Aaron Shaul.

Last Fair Deal (Telarc). Review by James Mann.

Trouble No More (Columbia). Review by Matt Cibula.

America’s foremost ethnomusicologist and folklorist, Alan Lomax, passed away July 19. David Whited offers a small tribute to the man’s enormous legacy.

The Songs of Charley Patton (Telarc Blues). Review by James Mann.