Greg Brown sounds like he has dirt beneath his fingernails, gravel in his throat, and stars in his eyes. Milk of the Moon, the 19th album of Brown"s career, reasserts his dual status as both the bard of the heartland and the Barry White of folk-blues. It"s the first Brown disc in a good while not to feature the smoky slide guitar of Bo Ramsey (who was busy recording and touring with Lucinda Williams), and the result is the simpler, spare sound of the tender, nostalgic ballad "Telling Stories" and the spine-tingling opener "Lull It Bye." There are some new touches, too: an organ on "Steady Love," a vocal distortion effect on "Let Me Be Your Gigolo" and "The Moon Is Nearly Full," and here and there the harmonies of Karen Savoca (who succeeds the likes of Prudence Johnson and Kate MacKenzie as Brown"s female vocal foil). It may not match classics like Further In, The Poet Game, and In the Dark with You, but Milk of the Moon is a worthy addition to Brown"s rich catalog. --Anders Smith Lindall