Inside Out

The debut album of Missy Raines and the New Hip, released in February, is an eclectic acoustic mix of bluegrass, country, pop and jazz. Bassist and sometimes singer Raines is an accomplished musician, performing both alone and with others before forming her own band.

The songs are all slightly different. Not one track sounds exactly like another. This is definitely a plus as instrumental songs can end up sounding a bit monotonous. Also, only about every other song is an instrumental, the rest have strong, melodic vocals from Raines.

The best track with words is the seventh, "Tattoo." This is a love song, but it has originality and is missing many of the clich?s that tend to plague others.The best instrumental is the oddly named fifth track, "Pootie Tang." It's probably a good thing that this song doesn't have words, because I have a feeling it would border on inappropriate. But the mix of country and jazz makes it a fun, upbeat listen that stands out rather than blending into the middle of a CD.

If you're looking for a genre-mixing blend of relaxing music and upbeat tunes, give "Inside Out" a listen or two.