CD Reviews - July 2006
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[Monday, 31.Jul.06]
With catchy songs and studied irreverence, these three English teenagers in polka-dot dresses make the idea of girl groups seem fresh again.
On its first full-length release, a British band reaches into the future while remaining rooted in the glory of rock's psychedelic past.
Do you go to bed at night and wake up in the morning? If so, Nya Jade recorded an album just for you.
High-class hard bop such as can happily be found nowadays, but Caine's an exceptional trumpeter, hot but also a ballad master.
A younger, brasher Spoon's early albums show a band gradually getting over its Pixies obsession and defining a jittery, soulful sound.
Sheikh Sayyed Darweesh (nationalist, opera-lover, maker of rhythmic drag) gets a well-deserved showcase.
Crashing the Ether is better than a lot of Keene's output over the last few decades, although it's not the masterpiece some of the singer / songwriter's best songs have hinted at.
[Friday, 28.Jul.06]
Slipping into genre stereotypes should sound a warning bell for the artist's career, and it's a shame, because Michael Franti's message, even if it is overly idealistic, should be welcomed when war is an unfortunate reality.
Go ahead and hate me for loving this, but it's too well-done and adorable not to be loved.
Unlike many bands today that are taking cues from older bands, Erase Errata really know how to be influenced without having the influence take over their sound.
You're Only Lonely has the makings of a great record, but the truth is, something is missing. While this is not a bad record, and a few cuts are very good, the results are more dream inducing than dreamy.
After languishing for over 10 years as a frequently cited, rarely performed influence on an entire generation of bands, shoegaze appears to be a viable genre again.
For rappers this bad to sell that much, somebody had to work their ass off.
In every sense, Mortenson's twisted girrl-pop is uncompromising. This is the soundtrack to Christina Aguilera's nightmares.
And yet, as the album went on, I began to realise that there was something of substance here...
[Thursday, 27.Jul.06]
As a place of medieval, dark mystery, Sweden now has now found a trusty, oddly appropriate soundtrack in Silent Shout, a psychopathic amalgam of all things Scandinavian, tossed into one big kettle boiled down liquid form, and then knocked back like a shot of ice cold Hallands Flader.
Ronstadt and Savoy team on bayou-based set of songs. Highly recommended with a box of tissues by your side.
Given that only one of Moloko's four studio albums was even released in the States, US listeners have plenty of tunes to on which to catch up, and the catching up is a fun task indeed.
Doe splits the difference between punk and roots on this 1998 EP re-issue.
"We gotta keep this music goin'!"
Psyche-leaning electronica and trippy cowboy tunes go together like peanut butter and chocolate, but how about some stronger beats?
Let's not forget slow jazz is for elevators, or trying-too-hard- to-be-romantic restaurants -- not for those who take their medication nasally, on some sunny Mediterranean island
[Wednesday, 26.Jul.06]
Pharrell has in the past few years endeavored to pitch himself as an average schmoe, a N*E*R*D, a guy just like you n' golly gosh me -- he goes far enough to include in the tray art a pint-size pixilated version of himself reporting: "Wealth is of the heart and mind, not of the pocket."
Adam Green wants to be your Elvis, your Paul Simon, your Jim Morrison, your Sammy Davis, Jr., and your Raffi, all at once.
Every little cog of this great piece of indie-rock machinery is, of course, some PR person's wet dream.
MMW's jammy Blue Note years, collected, with the addition of several unreleased tracks and a DVD of the band live-in-grooveloving-concert
A new Rough Guide opens a window on an unfamiliar culture and reveals rich musical traditions.
Dave Alvin is like a history teacher with a guitar. But instead of penning his own history textbook, he's given us lessons through other people's words with this CD. If history was this entertaining back when I attended high school, I probably wouldn't have fallen asleep so often in class.
Instrumental post-jazz-whatever rockers offer riffs and revolution.
[Tuesday, 25.Jul.06]
A band that is only one-third New York Dolls -- no matter how good their intentions -- still sounds like it.
Will Holland, a.k.a. Quantic, returns with a funky musical travelogue packed with the sounds of Africa and the Caribbean.
Three decades after exploding on the pop-rock scene with Boston and Don't Look Back, Tom Scholz brings us his band's first two albums in remastered form.
Live at the Ryman captures Keen on a good night performing before an enthusiastic crowd. However, Keen's songs aren't necessarily improved when played before a live audience.
Eight fragile songs for sitting alone and staring out the window.
In 1971, US astronauts drove a Moon Rover along the lunar surface, Phillips introduced a crazy little thing called the VCR, and -- oh yeah -- Alligator Records released a Hound Dog Taylor LP, thus entering the blues music business.
Originally recorded in 1968, this is the first-ever CD release of a jazz solo album by the guitarist for the short-lived British rock/jazz band If.
[Monday, 24.Jul.06]
"Ankle Deep" conjures up a pretty lively harmonic resemblance to Steve Goodman's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name", which, in the context of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' biting of "Dani Califonia", turns this sentence quickly into a fun game of Six Degrees of Tom Petty.
Garage-rock of the sometimes swampy, sometimes sappy variety.
With their third full-length release, Feedback, Jurassic 5 won't disappoint fans, but they all but guarantee that they'll never produce the 'Future Sound' they've been promising for the last decade.
There isn't a single track on the entire album that manages to rise above the level of tepid familiarity.
Ex-Panthers spazz rocker joins German experimentalist to make surreally beautiful meditations on music, noise and the natural world.
Janiva Magness brings an old-time Motown-meets-Delta sound to these bluesy beauties, making for one heck of a listen filled with oodles of soul.
Although this 20-track tribute album doesn't contain any big stars, the selections include material from every phase of Nelson's career and reveal the depth of his talents.
[Friday, 21.Jul.06]
On this U.S. collection of songs culled from his last three albums, Lenine steps in where the older generation of the Musica Popular Brasileira vanguard left off.
While Plaid has always excelled at percussive melodic sounds, the new album makes such natural, effective use of assorted xylophones, bells, and glockenspiels that it seemed an additional multi-instrumentalist had to be responsible.
A philosophical question: can one reach enlightenment through virtuosity and spectacle?
Musical collectives are often hit and miss, but Think of One hits far more often than it misses.
Looking back at the once and future king of jazz guitar, Bad Benson.
Aside from the occasional clunker, this album of b-sides, rarities, alternate takes, and unreleased tracks shows that Lambchop should be remembered primarily as a fine alt.country community, not some sock the late Shari Lewis wore on her hand.
Cheap Trick had their best moments early in their 30-year history...until now. Rockford takes us back to a time when the entire album was worth the listen.
Even the jokes of Tasmanian Devil cartoons are fresher than what you experience here.
[Thursday, 20.Jul.06]
Neil Hannon has largely toned down his extravagant look-at-me persona, and decided instead to rely on the quality of his song-writing.
Frank Black takes a journey into the heartland on Fast Man Raider Man, but he never gets off the highways.
The Sufferer and the Witness, Rise Against's second album for Geffen, picks up where Siren Song left off, with 13 tracks of hard-nosed punk with a focus on melody, crunchy hooks, and shout-along choruses.
A remix album/live album smash-up that seems like a true in-the-meantime.
Through the Years is a compilation of Tony Bennett's hits. Need I say more?
Folk singer issues album in 1970 to no acclaim, vanishes for over three decades until sudden recovery by dedicated loyalists -- no, it's not Vashti Bunyan, but it's still quite good.
Like a lot of techno these days, it rises to a level of competent charm but fails to create a more lasting impression.
[Wednesday, 19.Jul.06]
Muse impresses, and continues to impress on Black Holes, not only because they have the Romantic classical harmony-fueled huge stadium sound down pat, but in the details that show a band mature and talented.
This helping of Korn leftovers leaves the consumer stuck with a smattering of krappy kernels.
Once more, Peterson takes us to South America to expose the world to the past and present of Brazilian jazz and dance.
On their sophomre outing, Lola Ray show an admirable amount of growth -- but they've still got a ways to go.
Joyous stuff -- five brilliant musicians with an astonishing range of jazz expression instating old virtues, including simple statements, tuneful on foundations of unobtrusive complexity.
This album gives Sutton the justifiable opportunity to step to the forefront of an album, while presenting a tribute to -- and celebration of -- bluegrass guitars and guitarists.
Marvin Sease doesn't particularly care what anyone thinks about his music. Too bad, 'cause if he did, his work might be a bit more enjoyable.
[Tuesday, 18.Jul.06]
Otherwise delightful, a Mushaboom cloud hangs over this album of remixes and collaborations.
Lyrically, In the Maybe World is quite good. Musically, it could induce narcolepsy.
It might not be your cup of tea, but maybe you need to drink something besides tea for a change.
The world's fastest band gets the remix treatment.
Credit has to be due to a band that can continue to tweak its sound, mature, and still stay true to its roots all at the same time.
A stunning program of post-bop jazz standards from a mature singer out on the mainstream edge.
The album appears like a beam of sunshine on a warm spring day: pleasant and warm, but of extremely brief duration.
[Monday, 17.Jul.06]
The UK's most famous MySpace member puts out her much-ballyhooed debut. Big Time, meet Lily. Lily, meet the Big Time.
This record changes everything. Witness a free-wheeling Americana near masterpiece.
Cex's Rjyan Kidwell goes back to indie rockin'. Think Maryland Mansions, except less depressing.
DJ Logic returns to the instrumental turntablism game with an album that is stubbornly eclectic, tough to feel and even harder to comprehend.
The second album from Swedish producer Erik Möller dares you to laugh at its Eurodisco take on romance, then sucker-punches you with genuine emotion.
"This is only going to break my heart," Agent Sparks singer Stephanie Eitel sings on "Mr. Insecurity". And that's exactly what this mediocre album is going to do with expectant indie fans.
It's never a good sign when you half expect every song to suddenly be interrupted with a voice saying "Your call is very important to us, and a representative will be with you shortly."
[Friday, 14.Jul.06]
The sophomore release from Juliana Hatfield's all-female side project, a winner combining edge with sweetness.
The Adored's eagerly anticipated debut album is a vibrant mixture of wry social observation and catchy hooks that packs a hugely entertaining punch.
And, oddly enough, this spastic, drug-driven hardcore record is incredibly soulful.
Electronic music dates quickly, and IDM -- even precise, focused IDM -- dates even quicker.
Singer-songwriter David Wilcox travels in an Airstream for two years with his family. The result is this interesting folksy album.
You might think that the people in this audience are idiots for cheering at a raspy voice. You might prefer raw, bitey, old Vargas to young Vargas. You might not know what to think.
Whatever Dizzy Gillespie meant when he referred to Brad Goode as "Little Red Rodney", the brilliance of sound certainly is one possibility.
The latest from Moth is a fun and consistently strong album of gloriously dumb, but really quite smart, indie rock music.
[Thursday, 13.Jul.06]
The album's 16 tracks clock in at a mere 32-and-a-half minutes, but there's a fullness to the disc because of Elliott gives it all on every song, no matter the length. There really isn't a bad cut on the record.
This quiet, little release is all the more welcome amid the bombast accepted as atmospheric rock.
Wait a sec. Don't call "Extreme Makeover: Music Edition" just yet. There's a new voice in town that's sure to excite the lovers and dreamers of the world.
A new Rough Guide proves that although the world is small, it has no shortage of regional variations on the theme of rock and roll.
Mirman's style of comedy is remarkably casual, laid-back and almost improvised in its feel: where he differentiates himself is with his off-hand, absurdist delivery and the unexpected directions in which he takes his jokes.
Spirit Walk is ostensibly credited to the Steve Reid Ensemble, but the disc serves a far more important role as a companion piece to Reid and Hebden's recent collaborations.
The concept has been done before, and by better musicians, countless times over.
[Wednesday, 12.Jul.06]
After a 12-year hiatus, acid jazz pioneers reunite with funk feast.
Tipping towards the folk precision of The Wedding but blistering with noise, Happy New Year is another landmark album from one of rock's most underrated bands. Maybe this time people will pay attention?
Peter Pan and Billie Joe Armstrong can stay young forever. For everyone else, there's Tender Trap.
One of the best albums no one outside of Australia will ever know about.
Ingenious arrangements, beautiful and witty playing, but the drummer's brief gets in the way: excessively prominent, rigid, metronomic, unfortunate.
An artifact from the recent past, pulled from the ground... or maybe the sky?
Todd's 1997 debut, re-issued here, is a bit underwhelming, but not without good or fair reasons.
[Tuesday, 11.Jul.06]
Once-great Minnesota rockers settle for the middle of the road on plodding comeback attempt.
"The DJ of the future is going to be a respected member of the community," drones what I imagine is Ward Cleaver with a buzz-cut and members of the topmost levels of the post-WWII military-industrial complex staring down at him through a forest of unforgiving floodlights. "Motivate people to get out... and buy... or try... or use."
A confusing but no less exciting debut from a band of indie-rock chameleons. If only it didn't blend in so well.
How much you like Shapes and Sizes is more likely to be linked to your tolerance for its idiosyncracies.
Remastered collection of vintage Airplane feeds more than your head.
Where Night Holds Light eschews novelty for soft pop/rock leanings. Occasionally, it works, too.
A young phenom no more, D Trucks straddles genres with one authoritative guitar.
[Monday, 10.Jul.06]
Sufjan Stevens's warmed-up leftovers are more creative, engaging, sophisticated, beautiful, and simply better than what most other musical acts have to offer with their A-list material.
On his latest release, producer Dabrye delves further into underground hip-hop and gets by with a little help from his friends.
Dance your tears away while the steel guitar plays and the band finds its groove.
This rip-roaring debut by the Montreal band just might have mainstream rock fans asking for their nickels back.
The album of an honest man, who works without tricks or promises or loud bangs.
Give me your racist clichés, your sexual shibboleths, your unspeakable taboos and sacred cows yearning to break free...
Yeah, but how will it play outside of the Vans Warped Tour and the malls of America?
[Friday, 7.Jul.06]
The Radiohead solo album delivers what it didn't know it promised.
You know what they say, "Ain't no party like a Black Panther Party 'cause a Black Panther Party don't stop." Okay, nobody says that. But when you hear this poet/emcee's debut, you just might.
A Lively Mind stutters slip-shod through its unoriginal sounds, even more disappointing as these are unoriginal even by Paul Oakenfold's standards.
The band members incorporate a host of world influences from free jazz and hip hop to techno and pop to Rai and raga into their repertoire. And on one song, "Sodine Key", I swear I could even hear echoes of Jerry Garcia jammin' country-style circa American Beauty.
Slaid Cleaves comes up smelling like roses again with this album, even if he had nothing at all to do with writing any of the material here.
Herbert has created music that is thoroughly fresh and consistently challenging, and, in today's culture, that feat alone is enough to earn the album the heartiest of recommendations.
The Toad the Wet Sprocket singer's third solo set is his most confident yet. Still, he can't help covering Huey Lewis.
Talkdemonic's Beat Romantic fuses elements of classical composition with IDM, jazz beats, and thoughtfully placed organic filigree, making for a very lovely and engaging album of hypnotic melancholy and meditative bliss.
[Thursday, 6.Jul.06]
Kanye's fanbase may have their Lacoste logos and expensive cellphones, but Rhymefest's "blue collar niggas" have soul.
It's a cover album, sure, but you really should spin this right round baby right round like a record something something something.
The Evangelicals are making up their own sport, with the rules slowly coming along.
Norway's ultimate late bloomers shed the black metal tag for something altogether more enthralling.
The Kyoto artist and musician has amassed a body of work that has established its own language and imagery, and both are on display with this CD/DVD re-release.
Danu singer steps out for a solo record that has several Celtic nuggets and a Richard Thompson cover to boot.
Phish frontman drops the funk for classic PH-M rock sounds. 'Bout time.
[Wednesday, 5.Jul.06]
As far as pseudo-a cappella experimental pop albums go, Le Fil is undeniably excellent.
This two-disc set succeeds both as art and artifact. Broonzy not only sings and plays well, his between song patter also functions to reveal the poisonous effect of racism in the United States at this time in history.
The evolution of John Digweed continues.
BoyBand Alum/Celebrity/Ex-husband/Hunk makes an album about not getting It anymore. Ouch!
A lovely and pensive album, Innocence finds Irish-born singer, songwriter, and acoustic guitarist Luka Bloom in very fine form.
Lovers of "bisco" are in for a treat. However, if you are no "bisco" aficionado, then this will be a no no.
It's not perfect, but when you find yourself dancing without even realizing it, it doesn't need to be.
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