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USE THIS BLOG TO POST: Music Reviews |
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ARTIST: The Cars SONG/ALBUM: The Cars GENRE: Alternative RATING: 8
Part of what makes the The Cars 1978 self-titled debut such an amazing album is the fact that nearly every track became a hit single. As anyone who spent any time listening to the radio back then will attest, a full seven of the album’s nine tracks were in heavy rotation at some point during the late '70s and early '80s. In truth, with "My Best Friend’s Girl," "Just What I Needed," "Moving In Stereo" and "Bye Bye Love" alone, The Cars could almost pass for a greatest hits package on its own. The secret to The Cars’ early success is as simple as the 1-4-5 chord progression of "My Best Friend’s Girl": infectious, melodic choruses built on top of great, gleaming guitar hooks, and wrapped up in a stylish package that evokes just a hint of the playful troublemaking that used to make rock 'n roll fun.
What makes The Cars so distinctive is its blend of inseparable ingredients -- frontman Ric Ocasek’s idiosyncratic take on Lou Reed’s deadpan cool and his deep fondness for Andy Warhol-style pop-art simplicity, and the band’s hard-rocking approach to new wave, which paired the blues-derived virtuoso guitar leads of Elliot Easton with the space-age synth stylings of Greg Hawkes. The result was one of the era’s rare successful attempts to bridge the gap between the punk underground and the pop mainstream. It required a rather tenuous balancing act, one that The Cars would never again match as winningly as they did here. Ocasek, who's probably best known now for his work with Weezer, says he prefers producing first albums by new bands and, based on his own success with The Cars, it's hard to blame him. Posted October 6, 2006 4:49 PM | | |
USER: Jim2nd USER TYPE: Reviewer ARTIST: Josh Rouse SONG/ALBUM: Dressed Up Like Nebraska GENRE: Alternative RATING: 6
On this debut album, Nebraska-bred singer/songwriter Josh Rouse wanders casually into the commercial no-man’s land between creative individuality and mainstream radio. It also happens to be the fertile soil that’s helped nourish like-minded singer/songwriters like Freedy Johnston, Kevin Salem, Alejandro Escovedo, Daniel Lanois, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, and Richard Buckner. And it’s a kind of Americana that’s rootsy without being retro, confessional in a refreshingly low-key manner -- moody, but not quite maudlin.
Based in Nashville, Rouse deals in displaced emotions on Dressed Up Like Nebraska -- loose ends that are never neatly tied up, wounds that are never really healed. You can feel the wall of frustration that has arisen between lovers in the melancholy "Late Night Conversation," and the general sense of unease that permeates "Suburban Sweetheart," as Rouse reaches out in lines like “If you could only find a purpose/ If you could only stay the same/ I could help you open and unfurl.” His tools are simple rhymes, comfortable chord progressions and a low-key mix that centers around his steadily strummed acoustic guitar, with cello, trumpet and organ helping fill out the often subdued mix. All of which leaves plenty of room to engage us with his eye for detail, as he does in "White Trash Period Of My Life," where he intones “Be Careful with words/ They are so meaningless/ Yet they scatter like the booze from a breath/ Whose genius is dead.” There’s a certain beauty in Dressed Up Like Nebraska, and a kind of subtle catharsis that is imparted in Rouse’s sketches of people drifting apart. His freeze-frame portraits of romance of the verge of collapse stick with you.
Recommended listening: Freedy Johnston, The Trouble Tree (Bar/None, 1990); Freedy Johnston, Can You Fly (Bar/None, 1992); Freedy Johnston, This Perfect World (Elektra, 1994); Kevin Salem, Soma City (Roadrunner, 1994); Daniel Lanois, For The Beauty Of Wynona (Warner Bros., 1993); Alejandro Escovedo, Thirteen Years (Watermelon, 1993); Richard Buckner, Devotion + Doubt (MCA, 1997); Wilco, Being There (Reprise, 1997); Vic Chesnutt, West Of Rome (Texas Hotel, 1992). Posted October 6, 2006 4:13 PM | | |
ARTIST: T Bone Burnett SONG/ALBUM: The True False Identity GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
The greatest music of the rock era frequently has been inspired by “the old, weird America.” Cultural critic Greil Marcus first used that term in a book about Bob Dylan’s Basement Tapes to describe the genesis of the sound that Dylan and The Band made in the belly of that big pink house in upstate New York.
Four decades later, the connection between popular music and America’s past is fading to static. But if anyone can tune it back in, it’s T Bone Burnett, who has just released The True False Identity, his first studio album in 14 years. Burnett -- who spent his own time in Dylan’s shadow as a member of the Rolling Thunder Revue in the 1970s -- is an evangelizing disciple of America’s musical heritage. He has won many of his converts as a producer, most notably on the best-selling O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack -- an album that somehow managed to sell millions of copies and launched an old-time folk-music revival in the age of “American Idol.” But he is a remarkable artist in his own right, too, mashing together what seems like centuries worth of influences into music that sounds like it was torn from the hymnal of a lost American faith or the songbook of a dark minstrel show. Burnett envisioned The True False Identity as a theatrical experience, breaking the album into two acts: Art of the State and Poems of the Evening. It is most certainly an album about modern America, though it is told through musical styles and lyrical idioms rarely used in contemporary popular music.
In “Zombieland,” the lead track in Art of the State, the music slithers with percussive menace, like a funeral march to Hell. Meanwhile, Burnett plays the pied piper of the New Orleans-style parade, lamenting the control the “black mass media” and religion has over the mind and soul of America. In "Palestine Texas," Burnett builds an absurdist rhyme around the characters from Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, pounding away at the idea of delusion, confusion and America’s need for a “soul transfusion.” There’s plenty of exploration of individual concerns, from the nature of life itself (“Every Time I Feel the Shift”) to the connection love, death, betrayal and hate ("Baby Don't Say You Love Me") Some might call this post-modern protest music. But it's more like a very smart, very hummable, fight-the-power, folk poetry slam. Posted October 4, 2006 7:49 PM | | |
ARTIST: Audioslave SONG/ALBUM: Revelations GENRE: Alternative RATING: 9
There are plenty of new bands out there pretending to be rock stars, filling iPods and radio play lists everywhere with disposable, passionless music. Then there’s Audioslave – a band pieced together from the ruins of two of the greatest rock outfits of the 1990s.
The pairing of former Soundgarden lead vocalist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine’s guitarist Tom Morello, bassist Tim Commerford, and drummer Brad Wilk was among the most hyped superstar mash-ups in rock history. History tells us that supergroups rarely live up to the sum of their parts. But Audioslave has proven to be a glorious anomaly, producing three albums during the past five years – 2002’s Audioslave, 2005’s Out of Exile and the new Revelations – that arguably rank among the best rock albums of all time.
What makes Audioslave special? You could point to the taut, original songwriting, or to Cornell’s charismatic, ferocious classic-rock vocals, or Morello’s innovative, mind-bending lead guitar work, or a rhythm section that will kick your ass. Whatever it is, the magic and the chemistry is on full display in the new Revelations, an album that blends fist-pumping anthemic rock (“Somedays,” “Shape of Things to Come”) with funky, post-modern fist-pumping funk and soul (“Original Fire,” “Broken City”). Toss in pointed, fist-pumping political statements (“Wide Awake”) and the occasional fist-pumping power ballad (“Until We Fall”) and you’ve got the makings of an authentic rock classic. Posted September 26, 2006 7:57 PM | | |
ARTIST: Peter Mulvey SONG/ALBUM: The Trouble With Poets GENRE: Alternative RATING: 6
After graduating from college in Wisconsin two decades ago, Peter Mulvey decided to take his songs to Dublin. He built a significant following on the streets of the Irish capital, but he didn't really come into his own until he went underground: singing in the subway stations of Boston, a city undergoing a kind of folk music revival at the time. A year after making his subterranean debut, Mulvey won the Boston Acoustic Underground Competition. Since then, he's recorded four albums that have made him a solid club and concert draw, everywhere from the Newport Folk Festival to the Kennedy Center. Yet he still regularly takes his guitar back into Boston's subway stations just for the fun of it. "I play in the subway because it strips the performance situation of all expectations," Mulvey explains. "It's the best possible way to gauge your performance and to really learn from it. The people will only respond if they think what you're doing is good."
A lot of people think that Mulvey is very good, including some performers who are well established on the acoustic-music circuit. Both Chris Smither and Jennifer Kimball (of The Story) guest on Mulvey's thoughtful album, The Trouble With Poets. Despite the album's title, Mulvey has his own poetic moments. In such songs as "Tender Blindspot" and "Every Word Except Goodbye," the singer contemplates love and loss. “Sell my memories for dimes,'' he sings in his rich baritone, “Break my pocket watch and spill out my time.” Not all Mulvey's songs are so somber, however. The album's title tune jokes that “the trouble with poets is they talk too much,” and the album includes the jaunty Fats Waller tune, "You Meet The Nicest People In Your Dreams."
Mulvey's songs are designed to be played solo, but his style is unapologetically eclectic. He and guitarist David Goodrich, who produced The Trouble With Poets and co-wrote most of its songs, don't limit themselves. “I think this record sounds like a party where the guests are Ani DiFranco, the Latin Playboys, Radiohead, Dave Matthews and Pat Metheny, says Mulvey. "And even Nick Drake is having a pretty good time." Posted September 22, 2006 4:03 PM | | |
ARTIST: Robert Pollard SONG/ALBUM: Waved Out GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
Even though only a handful of talented artists with big dreams ever actually become rock stars, that never stopped forty-something Robert Pollard from inching toward his goal with each successive album. Pollard started as the frontman of Guided By Voices, a living bastion of indie rock. But after so many lineup changes (23 at last count), the band has since become an alias for Pollard himself. Since 1987, he’s released more than a dozen GBV albums, countless singles and EPs, and excellent solo efforts, including Waved Out, recorded with the help of former GBV members.
Like Beat poetry, his lyrics are symbolic nonsequiturs, vague as they are vivid. “The vines and the fiery baboons / Are they not free from the trees?” he sings on Waved Out’s "Just Say The Word." What does that mean? What did the indecipherable lyrics of Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit" have to do with it going down in history as a powerful rock anthem? The same theory applies to Pollard. Taking inspiration from progressive and psychedelic rock atmospheres combined with the titanic sounds of heavy metal and punk, Pollard is a virtual fountainhead of searing riffs and surging tempos. Judging by his previous albums, which are usually crammed with around twenty songs clocking in at roughly two minutes apiece, he seems compelled to put every wicked lick that pops into his head on record. Although this hasty practice might make for quantity over quality, such is not the case with Pollard’s records, which continue to get stronger with each passing year.
Waved Out’s refined song structures are evidence that Pollard has grown more comfortable in the studio. Although previous albums’ lo-fi production values and fragmented arrangements were celebrated for their raw ambition, often they were inaccessible to most. But fans of the slicker, more complete feel of mainstream rock should have no trouble accepting the more polished Pollard. However, never losing sight of his origins, he fills each distinct beginning and end with a crude sound that invigorates as it stuns with bombastic aplomb. With a stage presence that matches his music’s explosiveness, Pollard was meant to be a rock star. But even if he never gets his shot at a stadium tour, he’ll persevere, always believing in his mantra, “Long live rock!”
Recommended listening: The Beatles, Revolver (Capitol, 1966); Badfinger, Magic Christian Music (Capitol, 1970); Cheap Trick, Cheap Trick (Epic, 1977); T. Rex, The Slider (Relativity, 1972); Mott the Hoople, All The Young Dudes (Columbia, 1972). Posted September 21, 2006 3:43 PM | | |
ARTIST: Fountains Of Wayne SONG/ALBUM: Out of State Plates GENRE: Alternative RATING: 8
Fountains of Wayne have the kind of musical leftovers that most bands would be proud to call a main course. This double CD-set culls the best of their B-sides, covers, holiday songs and live tracks into a kind of White Album smorgasbord.
There’s much to love here, from dark character studies (“Comedienne”) to silly character studies (“California Sex Lawyer”) to songs about drugs (“Elevator Up”) and break-ups (“Small Favors”) and air force heroes (the poignant “Imperia”). And the band reveal their influences in an eclectic choice of covers - Bacharach & David (“Trains and Boats and Planes”), ELO (“Can’t Get It Out of My Head”), Aztec Camera (“Killermont Street”) and Britney Spears (a sweaty, slowed-down version of “Baby, One More Time”).
There are also two new songs, “Maureen” and “The Girl I Can’t Forget” - both of them punky and packed with hooks. The latter encapsulates everything that’s great about FOW - a suburban love story (NJ, undoubtedly), told by a self-effacing narrator, a lyric full of well-placed details and inner rhymes married to classic pop chord changes and harmonies. And like their best songs, the whole thing sounds tossed-off.
In the album liner notes, Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger write, “Please forgive the length of this compilation but this stuff was taking up a lot of space and we had to put it all somewhere. Enjoy in moderation.”
You may find it difficult to honor that last request. Posted September 21, 2006 3:39 PM | | |
ARTIST: Keb Mo SONG/ALBUM: Suitcase GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
Most modern bluesmen traffic in nostalgia, never straying too far from old-school influences. Kevin Moore, better known as Keb Mo, is a master of everything from acoustic Delta roots music to hard-rockin’, electrified Chicago blues. But when he plays, it’s never just about diggin’ up bones. In the eight albums he’s released since 1994, Mo has established himself as the quintessential post-modern blues innovator, putting the blues in a modern context that blends everything from pop, rock and folk to jazz, hip-hop and Latin stylings. His latest album, Suitcase, is a sophisticated, stylish addition to his catalog, mixing smart, singer-songwriter-style storytelling and intricate, engaging pop-blues arrangements.
Recorded at the appropriately named Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, Suitcase ranges from graceful love songs ("Still There for Me") to love-gone-wrong soul ("Rita") to cool, Latin-tinged laments ("The Itch"). Mo sings about redemption ("I’m a Hero"), lust ("Whole Nutha Thing") and friendship ("Eileen"). He prosecutes a wayward lover "Remain Silent") and pledges his passion and fidelity to another (I’ll Be Your Water").
Along the way, he reminds us that this is still life left in the blues. Posted September 15, 2006 3:14 PM | | |
ARTIST: Neko Case SONG/ALBUM: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood GENRE: Alternative RATING: 8
Is she an American or a Canadian? A country singer or a punk with pop-star pipes? A red-headed, indie-rock sex symbol or the reclusive Marlene Dietrich of the post-punk world café? It doesn’t matter, really. It’s better to let Neko Case just be Neko Case – a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enimga, to borrow a phrase from Winston Chuchill. Mysteriousness is a lost art in the modern popular culture, where the media hunts artists as celebrity prey, feeding them to us until we are gourged and fat and can stomach them no more.
Case has the voice and the looks to be a pop princess. Thankfully, this is a priestess is aiming for higher ground. Her latest album, "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood," is a modern fable, an epic, 12-song tone poem that looks for beauty and love in an inscrutable, venomous world. You won’t find that message on the surface of songs like "John Saw That Number," "Dirty Knife," "Lion’s Jaws" and "Maybe Sparrow." But it’s there all the same, lurking amid a dark, fairy-tale lanscape populated by murderous wolves, haunted widows and valium-toting brides. Just press play and lose yourself in the music and the moment. Somewhere in the folk-rock-country noir, you’ll get a feel for the world, back when it was old and strange, and everything will become clear. Or maybe it won’t. But who cares? Just hang on and enjoy the ride. Posted September 14, 2006 4:08 PM | | |
ARTIST: David Rice SONG/ALBUM: Greenelectric GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
Although a romance’s demise often resonates with feelings of emptiness, singer-songwriter David Rice emerged through his own heartache with something to show for it. His terrific album, Greenelectric, witnessed the dissolution of a four-year relationship between its creator and his love, and the songs reveal the internal struggle Rice should be proud to have endured. Between bouts of self-depreciating apology, Greenelectric is a collection of forlorn tear-jerkers, rejuvenating anthems, cynical encouragement and other complicated repercussions of true love.
Armed with a 12-string acoustic guitar, Rice wrestles with conflicting emotions within an equally contradictory arena of solemn ballads and explosive rockers. The old cliché, "better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all" arises in "Another Sign Of Life," in which Rice, after deciding not to "cut out her face," sings "I pasted up the pictures we had taken just to prove another sign of life." "Watching You Remembering" is the album’s most heart-wrenching flashback, as each word seeps with emotion: "I’m breaking everything I touch / I’m pitted out and shriveled up / I walk uncertainly / Lord, lend me your disease / Nothing stirs the shadow tree / Like watching you remembering." Rice's bittersweet, slightly obscure lyrics are poetic, allowing interpretations to run deep within each song’s imagery.
Love isn’t Rice’s only muse. His life has been one of adventure and hardship coupled with a do-it-yourself aesthetic. Born in Houston, Rice spent his high school years penning dozens of songs. After landing a steady local gig and dropping out of school, he lived on a philosophy commune in Switzerland and supported himself by busking on the streets. He then taught music to the mentally retarded at a Wisconsin summer camp before returning to his home town to host film nights at a local coffeehouse. Life experiences left Rice with a wealth of inspiration and influences, evidenced by music that rings of rural Americana enhanced by worldly sounds. His poignant strumming accentuates his lyrics while offering a voice of its own, and his throaty vocals are at times a breathless whisper in your ear or an anguished howl in your face. "Your green, electric words have poisoned me,” he sings to his love on "Thirsty Girl." That being the case, Greenelectric serves as the perfect antidote.
Posted September 12, 2006 7:37 PM | | |
ARTIST: Feist SONG/ALBUM: Let It Die GENRE: Alternative RATING: 8
Sometimes you can’t find any new records that excite you. Seems everyone’s trying to sound like Coldplay or the Ramones or some obscure ‘80s synth band. Then along comes the breeze of something truly fresh to restore your faith in pop music. That’s what Feist does for me.
She does it with a mix of classic values - melodies to die for, lyrics that ding the bullseye of the heart, and a lovely, understated voice that has echoes of Rickie Lee Jones. How she presents all this is a revelation. For example, on the beguiling “Mushaboom,” the arrangement is a quiet conversation between buzzy acoustic guitar, trombone, vibes and handclaps. Out of these minimal strands comes giddy beauty. She uses similar elements on “Lonely Lonely” and the time-stopping title track, which turns on the phrase “The saddest part of a broken heart / Isn’t the ending so much as the start.”
This demure Canadian can also be extroverted, as on “One Evening,” a song that percolates with a kind of melodic soul that recalls the Bee Gees at their best. Later in the disc, Feist actually covers a Bee Gees hit, “Inside And Out,” and makes it her own. Ditto on her takes of “Secret Heart” by Ron Sexsmith and the devastating closer, “Now At Last,” a forgotten standard written by Bob Haymes in the early ‘50s for Blossom Dearie.
Record collection feeling a little stuffy? Let Feist in. You’ll be glad you did. Posted September 8, 2006 1:01 PM | | |
ARTIST: Cracker SONG/ALBUM: Gentleman's Blues GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
As the leader of the ’80s college rock band Camper Van Beethoven, David Lowery was an alternative forefather who created innovative ways to incorporate worldly sounds into his band’s strain of quirky pop rock. Cranky violins whittled their way into carnivalesque melodies, while Middle Eastern flavors and odd sounds peppered each song’s nonsensical scenarios. After Camper disbanded in 1989, Lowery continued with Cracker, a slightly more accessible version of his former band, which received modest mainstream attention via "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)" from 1992’s self-titled debut, and "Low" from 1993’s Kerosene Hat. To the dismay of Camper fans, each successive album’s increased refinement and attention to pop structure corresponded with a notable loss of the playful experimentation which had defined Lowery’s earlier work.
On Cracker’s fourth album, Gentleman's Blues, with the exception of Lowery’s hoarse, beckoning screams and whispers, Camper-isms are completely nonexistent. And this was as it should be, for Gentleman’s Blues proved to be Cracker's finest hour. Perhaps sensing the remorse of diehard Camper fans, Lowery, on this oft-overlooked masterpiece, reflects upon his life and former band throughout the album’s sixteen songs. In the throbbing rocker "Wild One," he sings, “You’re a wild one / well, I was just like you.” "Seven Days" revisits the glory days of ruling the local bar scene, while in the solemn "James River," he yearns for a lost love. Blues and country have always been components of Cracker songs, and here they’re at their most fully realized. In its purest form, Lowery comes straight from the Delta on "Trials And Tribulations" and "Wedding Day," a vengeful love song if there ever was one, while the frantic "Waiting For You Girl" and funky "Been Around The World" serve as proud blues-rock hybrids. Despite songs about glory days past, Lowery shows no regrets. After having “sabotaged all he set out to do,” with his former band, as he sings on "Hold Of Myself," the time has come to move on.
Posted September 7, 2006 2:03 PM | | |
ARTIST: Liz Phair SONG/ALBUM: whitechocolatespaceegg GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
One of the most critically acclaimed female musicians of the ’90s, Liz Phair isn’t afraid to be blunt. She’s told off would-be womanizers looking for one-night-stands, revealed her innermost fantasies, and admitted she likes it rough, all within the confines of finely structured pop songs that reflect the moxie and charisma of their creator. Never one to find comfort in the status quo, Phair, even more than her '90s contemporaries Alanis Morissette and Meredith Brooks, shatters the image of the woman as a lovelorn songbird, by conveying bold opinions with meaty guitar riffs that only reinforce her gutsy proclamations.
Fans of this indie-rock chanteuse can easily relate to her conversational verse and real-life narratives as she brings to light events that shape (or warp, as the case may be) every young woman’s life. On her first album, 1993’s Exile In Guyville, Phair’s a kitten with claws as she looks for love in all the wrong places. 1994’s Whip-smart witnessed the end of her search through a real-life marriage and rejoiced in love's glories. And when she found love, as a wife and a new mother, on whitechocolatespaceegg, she showed that she was pretty unsure of herself on how to handle either responsibility. Between longing for old lovers and fantasizing about future prospects, Phair contemplates her place in the world and realizes it's a far more complicated place than she ever expected.
“And I thought, ‘Who am I?’/ ‘Who’s this guy?’,” she sings on "Love Is Nothing," right before coming to the song’s conclusive chorus: “Love is nothing, nothing, nothing / Like they say... / You gotta pick up the little pieces everyday.”
This was Phair’s first album in which her music actually equalled, even sometimes overshadowed, her lyrics; and each song's a pop masterpiece — concise, poignant, and deceptively catchy. The various genres at her disposal —primarily blues, rock, and country — are more than starting points for artistic diversity. Each one complements her emotions so effectively, she'd get her point across even without the words. Liz Phair can’t easily be summarized. Her music tends to forge an intimate bond between artist and listener. Often, Phair comes off as a friend in need of consolation. A friend with a supurb gift for pop craftsmanship.
Posted September 7, 2006 1:48 PM | | |
ARTIST: The Tragically Hip SONG/ALBUM: Yer Favourites GENRE: Alternative RATING: 8
With each passing album from Canada’s Tragically Hip, it becomes more puzzling why the band isn’t as immensely popular in the States as it is north of the border. Since 1989’s Up To Here, the Hip has gone virtually unnoticed in the U.S. while being spoken of in the same college-rock context as R.E.M. in their native Kingston, Ontario. Both groups played uptempo Americana when first starting out, but when the Athens, Georgia, band moved away from the farm to tinker in various genres, the Hip stuck to the original path, perfecting their craft with each successive album. Their 1996 album, Trouble At The Henhouse, made a dent in the U.S. alternative scene with moderate radio play, but wasn’t the “crossover” success it was supposed to be. And even if their subsesquent releases, Phantom Power, Music@Work, In Violet Light, and In Between Evolution didn't quite earn them the American accolades they rightfully deserve, the band’s coveted sect of U.S. fans can take comfort knowing that Canada’s best-kept secret has released yet another impeccable album with Yer Favourites, the band's first greatest hits compilation. Whether lost in a relentless groove ("Lake Fever," "Poets," "Cordelia," "Highway Girl") or among the stirring strings of a serene ballad ("Bobcaygeon"), the Tragically Hip renders country-based melodies and deep-pocked grooves with precision and emotion. If the Hip’s rambling swing and surging rock beat doesn’t make you a fan, singer/guitarist Gordon Downie’s vivid, situational storytelling just might . Each song is a reflective daydream ripe with pleasure and pain.
"Isn’t it amazing anything’s accomplished / when the little sensation gets in your way / not one ambition whispering over your shoulder / Isn’t it amazing you can do anything?" Downie sings on "Fireworks," a rousing flashback of naive love. Yer Favourites flaunts the allure of any strong rock record — tightly interwoven guitar lines, seductive vocal melodies and insightful lyrics. At first the Hip may seem like latter-day Rolling Stones crossed with Matthew Sweet (not necessarily a bad thing), but below the obvious similarities lie the definitive intricacies of a great pop band.
Posted September 5, 2006 12:27 PM | | |
USER: Jim2nd USER TYPE: Reviewer ARTIST: Chris Cornell SONG/ALBUM: Euphoria Morning GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
With good looks, an enigmatic persona, and some of the most powerful pipes of any rock vocalist of the past decade, it was only a matter of time before Soundgarden's Chris Cornell embarked on a solo career. The surprising breakup of the Seattle quartet in 1997 offered the opportunity for him to do so. It was actually Cornell's concern that Soundgarden had become musically stagnant and incapable of expanding its sound that fueled the band's decision to call it quits. "Suddenly, I could do anything I wanted, and that's kind of scary," Cornell said. "The world is wide open." And a little richer for music fans with Euphoria Morning, Cornell's first full-length solo project. Backed by a band that consists of multi-instrumentalists Alain Johannes and Natasha Schneider (formerly of the L.A. band Eleven) Euphoria Morning may confound some Soundgarden fans; but for anyone willing to "follow me down into a swan dive," Cornell offers ample reasons to take the trip. "Can't Change Me" kicks off this delicious spiral into the depths of Cornell's own private hell. With an intro that sounds like "Paint It Black" for the new millennium, the song evolves into a staccato slice of Middle Eastern-tinged alternative pop. The insistent chorus is resilient enough, with Cornell admitting that "suddenly I can see everything that's wrong with me." It's a common thread throughout this album's twelve tracks of diverse, psychedelic-influenced music. But this is no straight-ahead romp through the past, as evidenced by the oddly beautiful "Flutter Girl," which blends a metallic drum loop with kaleidoscopic guitar work, and by "Follow My Way," with its mandoln, theremin, and lush, sweeping keyboards. And of course, strafing through everything are Cornell's hair-raising vocals, which ooze with characteristic soul as he adopts a bluesy growl on "When I'm Down," and pays homage to Jeff Buckley on "Wave Goodbye." Posted September 2, 2006 5:06 PM | | |
ARTIST: John Gorka SONG/ALBUM: Writing in the Margins GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
A gift for melody, a warm, articulate voice and a poet’s heart have put John Gorka at the forefront of contemporary folk music. The Pennsylvania native’s latest album, Writing in the Margins, is another sumptuous collection of poems, prayers and personal reflections, ambling with assurance from meloncholy love songs (“Chance of Rain,” “Satellites”) to witty, folk ditties (“I Miss Everyone.) Gorka gets sophisticated musical support from a band that includes drummer J.T. Bates, guitarist Dirk Freymuth, bassist John Sayles and keyboardist Jeff Victor. Pals Nanci Griffith, Lucy Kaplansky, Alice Peacock and Kathleen Johnson contribute understated harmony and backing vocals. There’s a cool, desperate cover of Townes Van Zandt’s romantic classic “Snow Don’t Fall,” plus a hearts-are-breaking rendition of Stan Rogers’ gorgeous, seafaring love song, “The Lockkeeper.” There’s a timeless quality to Gorka’s music, even when he’s writing topical songs about current events. The title track, “Writing in the Margins,” looks at the cost of war from the perspective of a soldier penning a love letter from the battlefield. “Road of Good Intentions” is as close as Gorka comes to a straight-up, old-school protest song. But he pushes himself into the background, giving voice to the civilians and soldiers caught in battles bigger than themselves. Posted August 14, 2006 11:19 AM | | |
ARTIST: Duncan Sheik SONG/ALBUM: Duncan Sheik GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
On his self-titled debut, Sheik exhibits a sweeping appreciation for big picture compositions and an enlightened musical consciousness in his ability to translate these visions to tape. Anybody can hire the London Session Orchestra Strings and Quartet, and even have them record in an 18th century French chateau, right? But it’s Sheik’s use of these players -- his understanding and realization of their purpose and potential in these highly intelligent songs that raise his work to the level of a classical composer (additional kudos to arranger Simon Hale). Sheik’s performance on nearly a dozen instruments from E-bow guitar to accordion and drum programming is so impressive you’d swear he contracted a studio full of specialists. In truth, there are precious few guests on this album, including Howard Jones (piano), Fran Banish (electric and slide guitars), Pino Palladino (bass), and producer Rupert Hine (Tina Turner, Kate Bush, Howard Jones, The Waterboys) on percussion and keyboards. The subject and object of Sheik’s attention here are love and relationships, captured with a clarity of vision, and crafted with a poet’s gift for expressing a heart full of emotions in a handful of words. Without question Sheik's best effort to date, and a lot to live up to. Sadly, none of his subsequent releases have come close to the breadth and maturity of this stunning debut. Posted August 9, 2006 9:06 PM | | |
ARTIST: New Order SONG/ALBUM: Waiting for the Sirens' Call GENRE: Alternative RATING: 8
New Order is still doing it after all these years.. and doing it well. Sure they throw in the obligatory really poppy dance tune like Jetstream Lover, but heck, even those songs grow on you after enough listens. Guilty pleasures! But like the song says, Guilt is a Useless Emotion, so enjoy the strong tracks like Who's Joe along with the fluffier stuff. It's all good! Posted August 8, 2006 3:29 PM | | |
USER: Jim2nd USER TYPE: Reviewer ARTIST: Weezer SONG/ALBUM: Make Believe GENRE: Alternative RATING: 7
Weezer leader Rivers Cuomo is as angsty as ever on the group's first album in three years, but he seems infused with a different kind of sincerity than on the band’s four predecessors -- there's less hand-wringing here, and a more palpable originality in moments of contrition ("Pardon Me," "The Damage in Your Heart") and even un-conflicted happiness ("My Best Friend"). There's also plenty of crunch, with producer Rick Rubin helming a full-throttle guitar attack on the stomping first single "Beverly Hills," the new wave nod "This is Such a Pity" and the chugging rocker "We Are All on Drugs." Even the sound of quieter, melodic tracks like "The Other Way," "Hold Me" and "Freak Me Out" feels meaty, mitigating Cuomo's more cloying heartstring-tugging tendencies. Posted August 8, 2006 1:39 PM | | |
ARTIST: PJ Harvey SONG/ALBUM: Uh Huh Her GENRE: Alternative RATING: 8
I know it's not that new, but I have to say this album is another stellar effort from PJ. Since I first heard Rid of Me over a decade ago, I've been a big time fan of hers. Her albums never disappoint and are always adventurous. There's a darkness and longing to much of her work that is so real and powerful. Some may consider her just an "art rock" songstress, but she has a great depth and spirit of experimentation. If you don't know her music, check it out! Posted August 7, 2006 2:58 PM | | |
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