Music Reviews: February 2008

This live offering cements Ojos de Brujo's reputation as one of the fieriest collectives that world music has to offer.

Benny doesn’t just sing on his third album, he also crafts a quite delightful little record of electro-pop grooves.

Classicist Brit-rockers Kula Shaker return from a lengthy absence with Strangefolk, an album riddled with political anger that is so 2006.

Recorded mostly at Levon Helm's studio, Lovers Prayers sounds looser and more immediate than any other Ida album.

Marco Benevento’s solo studio debut covers a broad sonic spectrum by any instrumental standards.

What does it say about the industry when model Carla Bruni's CD has more artist involvement – and merit – than that of "real" pop stars?

The Blind Boys spice up their winning gospel formula with some New Orleans flavor.

Beach House return with another album of woozy organ, Napoleon Dynamite beats, and enchanting vocals; this time sounding more like a spurned Leslie Gore than an ambivalent Nico.

Like Phosphorescent, Bon Iver mines fragile beauty from acoustic guitar, floating vocals, and low-fi recording.

Sophomore solo album for former Soul Coughing frontman goes heavy on the groove and the hook, but may go a little too soft on the edges.

Energetic and impassioned, yet confused and unfocused, Flowers Forever really does sound like the product of a nervous breakdown -- for better or for worse.

Heavy Petting’s success lies in its being a refreshingly crude batch of Americana that buzzes with enough overtly intellectual humor and raucous energy to make even the coldest of hipsters crack a smile.

Hip-hop's use of the music of the past has led to the remembrance and rediscovery of so many lost funk and soul masterpieces.

Just when you thought you had Goldfrapp figured out, they throw you for a loop one more time.

The prelude to Joe Budden’s second album proves he can still rap, but if its melodrama seems silly to you, it’s not your fault.

Is Fabric's first all-dubstep mix a "landmark" release, or the beginning of the end of the underground scene? Either way, it's a gas.

Lauderdale lets the words pop like a school kid snapping bubble gum one minute, and then gets down and growls at the end of a line to show he’s serious the next.

Galgberget is nothing revolutionary, but it's full of heart and commitment.

In whatever decade you first discover it, Mavericks is a great album.

Janet Jackson makes yet another forgettable album that leaves you treasuring all of her pre-Nipplegate creations.

These drone metal stalwarts turn in a wordless masterpiece with their sixth album, making music that is cryptic, evocative and gigantic all at the same time.

On Nicolay's second album concocted through an Internet medium, he shows that lightning doesn't strike twice.

The first solo album from Stefan Németh echoes Radian's uneasy blurring of the lines between organic and electronic sound.

The 12 songs on this project showcase The Afters' incredible musical tightness and cohesion.

This was a statement album, or double-album as the case may be. If ambition was a sin, these guys were on the highway to hell.

Another Country is nothing short of stunning in its candor, simplicity, and grace.

Trinity Revisited doesn't possess the rare magic of The Trinity Session, but it's a wonderful tribute to an album that continues to leave listeners in awe.

Fin Greenall's third album of downtempo folk is a guided iTunes missile. Lookout, charts.

Supreme Beings of Leisure sound trapped by their genre of choice.

Montreal's second most famous wolf-related electro-rock band returns with a sophomore offering.

Finally, a New Wave revival band who sound like they actually listened to a lot of New Wave music.

The Golden Age marks the true return of American Music Club, as it is more consistent and assured in its subtleties than their last comeback album.

In which the Champaign, Illinois trio steps away from indie rock and jumps headlong into…indie pop.

When Beck deals with heartbreak, he stands front and center, speaking simple truths from the heart. When Golden faces it, he hides in an echo chamber while clutching a thesaurus. Which would you rather hear?

One of the most influential extreme albums of the last decade has been deservedly given the reissue treatment.

This teaser for Robyn’s forthcoming album indicates that good things will be in store when she finally gets her second chance at American success.

From a marketing point of view, it would have been sensible to call this CD For the Love of Umm Kalthoum, or Umm Kalthoum's Composers or something else with Kalthoum's name in it. But no ...

The Raveonettes are getting better. They still sound devilishly good.

Dreamy French pop with a surreal, ambiguous dark side.

Mining his old tapes for hidden gems is an interesting idea, but Pollard's idea is only as good as its execution.

There's much more to dubstep than just Burial. This compilation is a great entry point into one of electronic music's most interesting subgenres.

With a mash-up of sounds reflecting current rock and '80s influences, the Bell has composed an album that will bring listeners back to the good old days of Robert Smith, skinny ties, and Aqua Net.

Ska-punk isn't dead, it just went back underground. Streetlight Manifesto prove there's still life in the genre.

Moorer sings her own eclectic mixtape of tunes from fellow songstresses, and mostly succeeds in making these her own.

Paul and Ross Godfrey's reign of misogyny and acoustic banality regretfully continues with their second post-Skye Edwards sacrilege. This is not a Morcheeba record.

Thoroughly mature, endlessly melodic, and superbly crafted, Here’s to Being Here a joyful noise.

Kate Nash should simply embrace her two-decades-old exuberance, because the joyous, crass, undeniable sense of fun that pours out of Made of Bricks -- her debut album -- is not likely to ever, ever repeat itself.

The original Daft Punk clone finally turns in a full-length that's too little, too late.

The rough, melancholic, soulful, rambunctious, and misbegotten qualities of the blues shine through on Forgery.

John Darnielle has always been excitable, but on Heretic Pride he busts at the seams, giving us a record as infectiously frantic as it is dark and brooding.

This debut album alternates wistful observations about 20-something life with fuzzily glorious rock-outs. Think of it as Casiotone for the not-quite-so-Painfully Alone.

Pop music with endearing Swedish charm, Sambassadeur create an album that delivers daytime heartfelt melodies.

Chris Cohen's new band distinguishes itself from his previous bands (Deerhoof, the Curtains) through sweetness and simplicity.

What Beanie Sigel lacks in sheer marketability he makes up for with a vicious flow and an ingenuity rarely seen from an artist of his caliber.

Southway dodges the "sophomore slump" on Somapop and evolves into a punk-n'-funk beast, dishing out danceable protest tunes among other good-time rags.

Legendary Kinks leader Ray Davies continues his new and vibrant solo career with another very strong album of nicely varied songs that focus on the trials of the middle class.

Bundled in both live and programmed textures, this is Deerhunter's Bradford Cox at his most accomplished, processing organ, guitar, and his own vocals for a dizzying 50 minutes.

A former street performer and tree climber gets some assistance from Will Oldham, Matt Sweeney and Andrew W.K. on her Drag City debut.

This is pop-rock pushed to a point of such lush and serious melodrama that it almost tips over into camp.

Young, fresh, and pleasant, this album could be described as Sade for beginners.

There some things to like about Live From the Union Chapel -- just not enough of them.

Lowe's classic 1978 solo debut, long out-of-print and overlooked, is reissued in a definitive expanded edition that includes ten bonus tracks.

A glowing example of how joyous and inclusive a theoretically repellent noise rock sound can be.

With its third release, ZOX makes the great CD its previous efforts only hinted at.

An opportunity for Kanye West the Self-Conscious Studio Artist to vent freely on Kanye West the Tabloid Creature.

Classic turntablism is always impressive, but it doesn't make up for lack of variety.

What these songs share in common is Hyatt’s smooth vocals. He never sings staccato. The lyrics flow like honey from his mouth.

Future of the Left inject a little adrenaline into our ears, a jarring wake up call from the sleepy sounds of today's indie rock landscape.

Fresh indie-pop grounded in electronics and not a little bit of blue-eyed soul.

Éthiopiques 23 sits partway between the countryside folk music atmosphere of Éthiopiques 12 and the modern professionalism of an Alèmayèhu Eshèté, between trained singing and artless strum.

Leaning too much on '80s heavy metal guitar sounds and jamband laziness, Vernon Reid's new project is less than riveting.

Ford is the kind of bloke who makes fun of misery and discovers humor and catharsis in the blackness.

The EPs are a return to a renewed emphasis on Foreman's remarkably and consistently perceptive lyrics, as well as the types of soundscapes which best frame his impassioned vocals.

The implication, of course, is that if you do like rock music, you'll like this particular collection of songs.

The album serves as a competent syllabus for a history in hip-hop sampling.

Taking the raw blueprints of their self-titled debut, Die! Die! Die! fuse this punk spirit with matured songwriting on its follow-up.

Experimentation is something to be admired in music, and Rafter has put out an album that successfully explores styles, sounds, and moments.

Simply-executed but emotionally complex folk from this New York singer.

Plain White T's re-released debut is a throwback not just to its original release in 2002, but to the pop-punk that briefly ruled the mainstream rock roost a few years prior.

The veteran singer and songwriter returns for her sixth studio album, armed with a rich series of stories to tell and her trademark rootsy professionalism.

The Radar Bros.' fifth album fills out their signature sound and provides us with a soundtrack for shuffling slowly, softly through the day.

Edie Brickell and Harper Simon's music has an avant-garde pop sound with an electronic edge born out of studio production techniques that squiggle and swirl behind the vocals.

Primordial's sixth album is yet another example of pagan metal at its finest.

Chingy’s newest album employs ten different producers spread across 14 tracks. So why does virtually every song use the exact same stale boom-clap beat?

The Brazilian-American pianist (and sometime singer) dials up a middling tribute to a much greater jazz pianist.

This, folks, is where the mere pop stars get separated from the legends.

An allegedly fun-spirited British singer-songwriter whose notion of eclecticism reduces every style his strumming-hand touches to value-neutral kitsch.

Music to get shot by Casey Affleck to.

Bullet for My Valentine's second record is an embarrassing slump that shoots at heavy and political targets and makes a disastrous mess of it.

A collection of purely played jazz standards/ballads plucked from the trumpeter's huge Columbia catalog.

Wow, tough album title, Too $hort. You talking to yourself?

Moment of Forever is stunning, for its spare demeanor and how well it shows off Nelson's talents.

Beck's 1996 breakthrough album gets the two-disc deluxe treatment, which augments the original record with remixes, unreleased songs, and b-sides.

One of the most anticipated jazz releases of the year, Horace Silver’s Live at Newport ’58 captures one of the genre’s most popular composers at the height of his artistic creativity.

Surprisingly, Subtle's second album of remixes and reimaginings is as fully realized as the full-length from which is takes its inspiration.

In all their new wave glory, Sweden's the Mary Onettes are pretty average.

If Hank Williams and Flannery O’Connor ever had a pair of lovechildren who grew up to be obsessed with the Book of Revelations, they might sound something like Those Poor Bastards.

These days, Cat Power's Chan Marshall seems happy and comfortable. And that's how she sounds on Jukebox. Comfortable.

The fulfillment of the promise shown in the three records collected in this lovely box set continues to this day.

Released a quarter century after Klaus Nomi's death, Za Bakdaz reveals an artistic talent that far exceeded the bounds of obscure cult status.

If Clipse are the lyricists, T.I. the pop star, and Jeezy the ad-libber, then Gucci falls somewhere in the middle of the three.

On Waiting, Miller recalls the stars of country’s golden era, but she widens her stylistic palette to include rhythm and blues, big band jazz, rockabilly, and even a few little touches of Tejano.

More songs about fast cars, booze, and women … done right this time.

Mould comes full circle, marrying his distant acoustic past to his current path and it seems as if he has found a happy medium.

The Scottish group formed by members of Arab Strap return with one goal on This Gift: to rock.

Melody, swing, and the guitarist's signature sound on ten originals with a top-flight trio.

Unfulfilled by Pelican's latest album? Maybe Tusk's The Resisting Dreamer can bring reprieve.

She drawls out the lyrics like a yawn, but the kind that settles in your soul like a sigh. Egge knows that lethargy itself is a symptom of sensual passion.

When critics and fellow artists recount the best of Rodney Crowell, here's hoping they don't forget about The Cicadas , a project marked by first-rate songcraft and musicianship.

k.d. lang's voice is the dominant hue in a kaleidoscope of sounds on Watershed, a welcome return by one of music's most beloved stylists.

12 Crass Songs avoids the easy trap, and instead delivers a group of heartfelt and demanding working class songs.

Field Music's David Brewis retreats to his laptop for, paradoxically, his most open-ended and adventurous music yet. Free your cursor and your mind will follow.

This is no half-assed India/Arabia/electronica fusion, because all three parts are done right, and they're put together in weird, interesting ways.

The Gin Palace Jesters are the best-kept secret of Chicago's country music scene. Beg, borrow, or steal, but find a way to listen to this record.

A refreshing burst of unrestrained creativity from a band whose talent exceeds their weirdness.

Hot Chip's third album offers moments of sparkling pop-dance perfection -- and some unexpectedly emotional material as well.

The estimable trumpet legend teams up with Rob Mazurek’s cosmic ensemble for a vivid and evocative journey into the outer limits of jazz.

Long-form musique concrete. I didn't know either before hearing it.

Want to become an instant armchair expert on one of the most exciting, melodic, diverse, and joyous periods in the history of pop music? Nigeria Special provides your crib notes.

Nonesuch reissues famous score by David Byrne, featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and written for a section of Robert Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning (not really) the CIVIL WarS.

Another powerful Christian band joins the metal ranks.

From the delicate opening cymbal tap of the title track onward, Lynne remembers what made Dusty Springfield so great in the first place: she poured her soul into each song.

Kill Rock Stars is a force in discovering new talent within the singer-songwriter field as well as noise. Meet Thao, Virginia’s newest beatboxing folk goddess.

This is the type of music for which God made butterflies.

Radiohead’s sonic wizard mines his favorite composers to get to the heart of P.T. Anderson’s brilliant oil epic.

Amponsah's tenth record since 1999, is the duo's most consistent, economical and exciting to date. To Western ears, it's motion music, the soundtrack to an open-air road trip, full of promise and novelty.

The word "boring" seems like such a harsh way to describe a band.