Nick Cave's past few albums

I've already heard Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' new album on myspace, and I already think it's one of the 25 best albums of this decade. It was released today; my copy is en route from amazon.com, since I don't trust any of the crappy CD stores around here to carry it. So while I impatiently wait for it, here are some of his past albums that are all more than worth hearing:

The Boatman's Call: A beautiful collection of ballads that many consider his masterpiece. It shows off his songwriting ability much more than the instrumental chops of his band, but as far as heartbreaking piano/songwriter work goes, you can't beat "There Is A Kingdom" and "Into My Arms".

No More Shall We Part: I've always been able to appreciate this album more than enjoy it. The lyrical territory is so death-obsessed fire and brimstone that it's difficult to get to the end while maintaining any faith in God or humanity. There sure are some brilliant moments though: "And No More Shall We Part" is a perfect piano ballad for a funeral, and "Oh My Lord" has an amazing climax that involves Nick yelling "oh I hate them all!".

Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus: In his mid-40s, he creates his masterpiece. Everything that Nick ever did great is magnified here. "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" rocks louder than he ever has with its pounding piano and screaming choir. "O Children" is like a summary of No More Shall We Part. "Breathless" is an honest-to-God love song! "Let The Bells Ring" is an unbelievable Johnny Cash eulogy. You have to hear the entire two discs to understand the depth, scope, and perfection of this album.

Grinderman: What does he do for an encore? Rename the band and do punk-blues songs about primal sexual urge. I think "No Pussy Blues" summarizes it pretty well. This isn't half the masterpiece that his last record was, but what a sweet divergence.

The Black Keys Attack & Release

I've always thought of the Black Keys as a much less creative version of the White Stripes. Granted, they do well with their two man drum-and-guitar only setup, and they did create one impressive near-masterpiece with Rubber Factory. But they don't have the range of instruments Jack White has (piano, bagpipes, marimbas, etc.) and they don't have his range of influence (bluegrass, folk, etc.) so what do they do after a few albums? They can call in a ringer or they can remake the same album until people get sick of them.

Well, guess what: they called in a ringer. Two, actually. Danger Mouse, of Gnarls Barkley and Grey Album fame, takes on the unlikely production role of the year. Marc Ribot (who has played with Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Joe Henry, Robert Plant, etc.) is about the last person I would expect to see here: how will his atmospherics and subtly work with a garage-blues outfit? He is my all-time favorite underrated studio guitarist, so I'm sure he can make this work.

The result is a Black Keys album that usually sounds like the producer added to it after it was already finished. That isn't necessarily a bad plan, since it still holds on to most of the charge and excitement Rubber Factory had and it still emphasizes their driving guitar hooks and excellent singing (think: a white Jimi Hendrix). The differences are the surprises that fill in the voids left by the small manpower, like the banjo in "All You Ever Wanted" and the flute in the intro of "Same old Thing".

Attack & Release isn't the liberating artistic triumph that the White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan was, but it is a big step for a band that is looking forward while keeping what they do best. This album was an outlet for some ideas that could have failed if handled wrong, but ultimately gave the band some new artistic focus, the way Van Dyke Parks did for Silverchair on Young Modern last year. It's always great to see a band trying so hard.

Best Tracks: "All You Ever Wanted", "Strange Times", "Lies", "So He Won't Break"

R.E.M. find the Fountain of Youth!!!

About a month and a half ago, I said that R.E.M. were due for a comeback: a return-to-roots album that would remind us all why we love them. Much to my surprise, it actually happened.

Accelerate is a glorious blur. They run through 11 songs in 35 minutes - some songs end when I was just starting to sing along. There isn't a second of filler and even the ballads drive hard. There are a few songs here that rank with the best they've ever recorded:

"Living Well is the Best Revenge": The most lively opening they've ever had. Michael Stipe sounds frantic, angry, and like he's 25 years old again. Fortunately, he sounds this way the entire album.

"Houston": Remember that low, paranoid, creepy voice he used in most of New Adventures in Hi-Fi? It's back. Combine that will organ fills, some great acoustic guitar work, and horrifying lyrics about escaping Hurricane Katrina, and you have a wonderful yet unnerving two minutes.

"Sing for the Submarine": This is the only track I could call epic. It takes a minute to build, but the chorus is supplemented by a guitar squeal and some creepy backing vocals.

"Horse to Water": This song is, in one work, urgent. They haven't used that tempo since Reckoning.

Overall, they didn't do anything new here, but they didn't need to. They go back to their garage roots, use their political leanings as an advantage (and not a hindrance like they did on their last few records), and rediscover using melody over multi layered instruments and production. The result: their best album since Automatic for the People. We knew you had it all along.

Counting Crows

Why is this band so hated? They are one of the only distinctive, interesting band in a popular rock arena polluted with bands like Nickelback and Hinder. They are the best of the mid-90s adult alternative bands and about the only one that still matter (what ever happened to Train and the Wallflowers?). They sure don't overdo the releases: this is their first record since 2002.

Music critics seem to think that they have no place in modern rock, although I think that's a good thing. To me, they just continue to make brilliant, uncompromising roots rock like they always have.

They gave us a masterpiece of a debut (August and Everything After), a wild sophomore album that shows off their range (Recovering the Satellites), and a brilliant, somber, intimately underrated third effort (This Desert Life). I'll admit Hard Candy was a little weak, and the bad Shrek 2 song and the abysmal Joni Mitchell cover ("Big Yellow Taxi") made me loose some faith in them.

Their new album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings, makes me glad they kept going and never changed their sound too much. The first six songs are a blessing: real rock with real singing and real guitar playing! Could this get onto rock radio next to the awful grunge rehashes that dominate it right now? The blues-jam of "Los Angeles" and the keyboard driven "Cowboys" probably have no place there, which is a shame.

The later half is a well-paced throwback to August and Everything After. The highlight is the transitional "Washington Square", which sets the tone for the rest. Nobody writes great somber pop ballads like "Anyone But You" anymore.

Ignore the critics on this one: the Counting Crows have given us one of the best records of 2008.

Best tracks: "Los Angeles", "Cowboys", "Washington Square", "On A Tuesday In Amsterdam Long Ago", "Come Around"

Next we, we get to see if an even more improbable comeback works: REM! I'm hopeful...

I Miss You, Lauryn Hill

I walk into one of my employee's office today and she was playing one of my favorite albums from high school. It was so refreshing to hear a true timeless classic. I felt bad for not playing it for so long. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is ten years old this year. Can you believe it?

This album will sound both fresh and classic in 30 years. 15 perfect songs (and one useless intro) that she would never even try to follow up. Here is a few of my favorite moments:

"Ex-Factor" - The best soul song of the past 20 years... it just makes you wish that Motown still made them like this. The track doesn't peak until about 3:30 in, which hurt its radio potential but made it even more replayable. Perfect.

"Final Hour" - I never imaged a soul singer would be capable of something this tense, dark, and apocalyptic, but she can rap with the best.

"Forgive Them Father" - Now she pulls out reggae and raps out of the Bible. This is the kind of song Wyclef Jean would put out if he had any talent.

"Everything is Everything" - I remember her performing this song at the MTV Video Awards with a 15-piece band; she made every musician in that room look like a joke that night.

"Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" - This is a song that holds it all together for me. After taking us through about 10 musical styles and mastering them all, she writes a piano ballad and belts it out like nobody has since Aretha Franklin. This one is high on my list of "rip your heart out" songs.

She put out one album that was at the same time one of the best rap albums ever, one of the best soul albums ever, and one of the overall best albums of the 1990s. Then she quit and called it a career. Not too bad. I only have one thing to say about that: you don't need the Fugees! Forget them!

Heart of the City Tour

I've been to a lot of concerts in the past few years, but none of the prepared me for what I saw last night: Jay-Z and Mary J. Blige at Amway Arena in Orlando, Florida. Part of the fun was that I have never been to a hip-hop show; I had no idea what to expect. Who will go on first? Will there be a band, or just a turntable setup? How long do they perform? How clear will the vocals be? I had no idea.

It didn't take long for me to get it. After a brief video intro, a curtain went up and there sat a band with at least 18 members: drums, guitars, trumpets, violins - just about everything. Mary J and Jay-Z took their time walking out there, until the beat dropped and they jumped into a stunning duet of "Can't Knock The Hustle". This was the kind of cathartic moment I thought was only possible at an Arcade Fire or U2 show.

Mary's set was loose and unrestrained. The bouncy-as-ever "Real Love" was a highlight, where Jay-Z added a frantic 15-second verse. "No More Drama" was even more dramatic than on record, which I didn't think could be possible. Some of her more recent material dragged a little, but the call-and-response chorus of "You Know" reminded me why she has been so loved for so long.

Jay-Z didn't waste any time. He crept out with a single slow verse before dropping his real opener: the jazz trumpet section blared and Jay-Z spit fire on a version of "Roc Boys" that felt like it could tear the roof off of Amway Arena. It was unbelievable. Watching him rhyme was like watching Michael Jordan in 1996: not only was he the greatest, he knows it.

He astounded me by the different ways he could use his band: the jazz touch of Reasonable Doubt's "Can I Live", the Latin horns of "Encore", the guitar thrash of "99 Problems", the screeching organ of "Public Service Announcement", and the full-out pop jam of "Izzo". The band didn't waver one second through the gorgeous closer "Heart of the City" with Mary J.

I have one complain about this concert, and it has nothing to do with the musicians: Orlando has no soul. Why was everybody sitting? If Jay-Z, Mary J Blige, and a 18+ piece band can't move you, you should probably check your pulse.

This concert was one of the greatest musical experiences I've ever had. If you go to this tour, don't be ashamed to dance. The entire house will probably be moving (unless you are in Orlando).

You've never felt hip-hop like this before.

Gnarls Barkley's The Odd Couple

This is the kind of album critics hate to review. Not that they hate it, they just hate to review it.

Gnarls Barkley's first album was a glorious mess; it was an accumulation of crazy ideas that most musicians would never try. It was wildly inconsistent; for every track that the album could have done without, there was an absolutely brilliant, memorable track that I'm still humming two years later. "Crazy" became a huge hit, the title track is still one of my favorite soul tracks in decades, and "Just A Thought" remains as powerful and unpredictable as it ever was.

So after hearing the first album, I though what probably everybody else thought: this band needs restraint and focus to do a great album. Now they have that, and their second album does not have a bad song on it, but there aren't any stunning, exceptional tracks like "Just A Though" or "St. Elsewhere" either.

Song for song, the Odd Couple is a better album start to finish; but in a few years, St. Elsewhere will still sound fresh. So which one will everybody be happier with? Good question. Both are worth buying to find out for one reason: nobody else is making music like this right now.

Best tracks: "Who's Going To Save My Soul", "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)", "Blind Mary"

Random albums I'm listening to non-stop

Vince Gill - These Days: I originally borrowed this album from a library and ripped it to my computer. A few weeks later, i shelled out $25 for it just to own it. It is that good. All 43 songs of it. The second disc is still my favorite, but there is something for every mood here, and brilliant songwriting to back it up. (Best tracks: "Love's Standin'", "No Easy Way", "Sweet Little Corrina", "A River Like You")

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero: I think I underestimated this one. Trent finally discovers lyrical focus; he also discovers some strange instrumentation, such as the bells in "The Good Soldier" and the horns in "Capital G". A year ago, I was ready to give up on NIN. Now, I'll be first in line for Year Zero: Part 2 later this year. (Best tracks: "Capital G", "Zero-Sum", "The Beginning of the End", "God Given")

Kanye West - Late Registration: I think this one will age better than just about any rap album this decade. Jon Brion contributes orchestrations to this 70 minute plus epic that doesn't peak until near the end: the most memorable parts for me are the trio of "Hey Mama", "Celebration", and "Gone". It's a celebration, bitches! (Best tracks: "Heard 'Em Say", "Crack Music", "Celebration", "Addiction")

Protest The Hero's Fortress

It has been a while since I've picked up a metal album. Since I've been on a big country music kick lately, I was definitely overwhelmed by the speed of this album. Just try to count the time signature of any track here: it will make your hurt.

Anyway, this is a great album with suprisingly wonderful melodies. The singing is more emo than metal, which isn't surprising since it's on the Vagrant label (home to Dashboard Confessional). In a split second, this singer can go from death metal growl to emo cry to hair metal scream; that's a pretty impressive trick that keeps me interested for 41 minutes. Plus, great surprises like the piano part in "Spoils" and the flash bass solo in "Palms Read" kept me guessing even after hearing them a few times.

If you like prog metal but you think the Mars Volta are too over the top, you'll like Fortress. I don't care how old you are, we all need a good thrash and scream once in a while.

Joe Henry's Civilians

Last year gave us a ton of great albums, but it gave me three masterpieces that I'll be playing for years: Radiohead's In Rainbows, National's Boxer, and Joe Henry's Civilians. The first two have something to show for their work. Radiohead sold lots of albums, got the critics to kiss their asses again, and changed the way music can be sold. The National got critical acclaim, got some notice from opening for the Arcade Fire, and got to play David Letterman. Not too bad.

So why didn't Joe Henry get anything? I didn't see him on any of the critic's top ten lists. Some reviews were great, some were indifferent. His album was so unnoticed that Borders was the only store I could find that even carried it. And good luck finding any of his other records.

You can't ignore this album. This is rare album that I use the word timeless to describe: it could have come from the 60s, 70s, 80s.... it doesn't matter. The themes are modern (mostly anti-war songs), but they are so subtle that it could be from any time period. The first song describes a confused, disoriented General in a park drawing a battle plan on a napkin:

"Pray for you, pray for me! Sing it like a song! Life is short, but by the grace of God, the night is long!"

Who, besides Dylan or Waits, could write an anti-war song like that? Or this:

"Progress rides with thieves and whores, the stowaways of a civil war"

Why is this guy not worshiped as one of America's great songwriters? Listen to this album, and then buy Tiny Voices if you want more - and you will.

Kathleen Edwards "Asking For Flowers"

I've played this album a few times now and I am definitely impressed. Although the later half of the album never replicates the intensity of the first three songs, it is a solid, consistent effort by an artist I'd like to hear more by. "The Cheapest Key" delivers enough anger without losing her sweetness, which is a tough trick for some female country singers to pull off. The title track is sort of a corner crier, but the melody is hummable and memorable, so the lyrics work well enough. And you have to love any artist who can write a folksy heart breaker called "Sure As Shit".

Here's a rundown on all of the albums I've hear this year:

Brilliant, maybe a masterpiece:
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: Dig! Lazurus Dig!
Drive-By Truckers: Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Great albums by promising artists:
Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
Kathleen Edwards: Asking For Flowers

Disappointing albums by once-great artists who should give us something better:
Magnetic Fields: Distortion
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks: Real Emotional Trash

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks

After reading rave reviews from Rolling Stone and Allmusic, I was excited to hear Real Emotional Trash by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks. Now that I've played it a few times, I have some mixed feelings.

The guitar work here is amazing. For this album, Malkmus decided to do more with guitar/keyboard interplay. He also added Janet Weiss, who is one of the most overpowering drummers alive. Instrumentally, this album is a cross between the Grateful Dead and Sonic Youth's more laid back work.

So why isn't this a great album? Two reasons: 1.) there are few memorable hooks or choruses to be found, and 2.) the lyrics are absolutely horrible.

I don't expect good lyrics out of Stephen Malkmus. That has never been his forte. Even on Pavement's best albums, the lyrics were the part I tried to ignore. Unfortunately, I think they get worse as he gets older. Just read the song titles: "Hopscotch Willie", "Elmo Delmo", and "Wicked Wanda". Could he have made an instrumental album?

There are some great moments here though. "We Can't Help You" is the rare beautiful moment that happens about once on each of his records (just like what "Here" was to Slanted and Enchanted). "Baltimore" has some of the best lo-fi buzz guitar soloing I've heard in years. "Gardenia" actually manages to be catchy: it's the only song you might still be humming after the album is over.

If you are looking for a great album to get drunk or stoned to, this one might work. If you are looking for a great rock album, get the new Drive By Truckers or wait a few weeks for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds new one.

Nick Cave delivers again!!!

Nick Cave has a new album called Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!. It isn't out in America until April 8, but you can hear it at:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=212434537

Now that I've heard this album, I think the Album of the Year 2008 competition might be over. This album is unbelievable. It's takes the best elements of Abattoir Blues and Grinderman and serves everything that makes Nick great: mock-gospel choruses, Biblical ranting, rock riffs, and hilarious lyrics about death.

"Dig yourself, Lazarus, dig yourself!!!"

I'm going to be writing about this one for months.

The Cure

The Cure are putting a new album out this year! OK, I don't know if I should be excited. It's been about 20 years since Disintegration now, and their last album was their worst.

However, I did think Wish and Wild Mood Swings were very good albums, even though by then the general opinion seemed to be "the Cure are done for". I remember seeing them on VH1's "Where Are They Now" in the late 90s, which was one of the saddest moments of my life. They aren't done yet! They are still a great band!

I'm not expecting a masterpiece like Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, Disintegration, or The Head On The Door, but I'll give anything Robert Smith puts out a chance. He did get me through high school and several crappy relationships; I owe it to him!

If this new album and the new REM album are both disasters, I will be very depressed this year. And not that good depressed you get from listening to Disintegration.

A great one I missed

I bought so many crappy albums in 2006 that I have to kick myself for missing this one: I'm listening to the album Yellow House by Grizzly Bear. I love it. It's kind of like a creepy, suicidal version of Sufjan Stevens Michigan. Some of the songs are kind of shapeless meanderings ("Lullabye", "Little Brother"), but these songs do a great job linking together brilliant building epics like "Knife" and "Plans". This album has that hypnotic mind-drifting feel to it that you'd find on Sea Change by Beck or Ys by Johanna Newsom; therefore, I don't recommend you play this one while driving. It's more of a half-drunk, half-asleep kind of disc.

I love the use of Beach Boys' harmonies and Tom Waits' instrumentation: lots of banjo, horns, harpsicord, and so on. My only complaint about this album is crappy production. It isn't as big of an issue for guitar-drums-vocals albums, but stuff like this needs clarity to hear all of the moving parts.

Anyway, it's a great listen. Give it a try if you like Sufjan Stevens but don't find him depressing enough.

Rap albums you need to hear

If you aren't a rap fan because of crap you've heard on pop radio, here's a few rap albums you need to hear from the past few years:

Madvillian - Madvilliany: Whether they are sampling jazz, accordions, or cartoon themes, these guys sound like a more dark paranoid version of De La Soul. Make this album the soundtrack of your next drug/alcohol binge.

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury: There's no real trick here: just combine simple beats and two pissed-off MCs. Rich, flashy pop rappers are the target of this brutal assault.

Kanye West - Late Registration: I know it's easy to hate this guy, but he and Jon Brion have an original masterpiece here. Just listen to the orchestral coda in "Crack Music" and tell me if you've ever heard anything like it.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint: Overexposed and irritating? He's still the best. And "Renegade" with Eminem might be the best rap duet ever recorded.

Outkast - Stankonia: If there has ever been one album that shows the potential and excitement of hip-hop, here it is. "B.O.B" puts all the cards on the table: chaotic beats, choirs, guitars, and rapping that makes me dizzy in a good way.

If you still don't like rap after listening to any one of these, I can't help you.

Vince Gill

I take back some of the bad things I've said about popular country music. I recently borrowed Vince Gill's These Days and spent about 5 days listening to it in all its 4 CD, 43 song glory. The depth of this album is amazing: pop, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, jazz, folk; it's a lot of ground to cover, and he divides it into four thematic discs to make it easier.

(I only have one major complaint about this album: why did he make one disc of power ballads and call it "The Groovy Record"? I missed something here.)

Are the lyrics corny and too safe? Of course - it's still country music. But after hearing this album, along with Brad Paisley's 5th Gear, Miranda Lambert's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose (why doesn't Jack White do a country album?), I've found a lot of good reasons to care about country radio in the past few years.

If you like versitile songwriters and you have 30 bucks to kill, I highly recommend These Days by Vince Gill. Before long, you might find yourself not hating country radio anymore. Plus, rock radio has been dead for ten years now, so try something new.

REM

I've been on a big REM binge for the past few days for two reasons: 1.) they have a new album out in April and 2.) Blender magazine did one of those "Back Catalog" deals where they reviewed all of REM's albums. I think my being excited about REM has a lot more to do with the Blender article than the new album. For longtime hardcore REM fans, there isn't much left to be excited about.

But why not? Isn't this band due for an artistic comeback? Bruce Springsteen and U2 had one. I refuse to believe that REM don't have another great album to offer. This band gave us three stunning masterpieces (Document, Murmur, Automatic for the People), several more great albums (Reckoning, Out Of Time, Monster, Life's Rich Pageant), and even a couple of underrated gems as they were winding down (New Adventure's in Hi-Fi, Up). Are they doomed to release crap like Reckoning and Around the Sun every few years as they fade into celebrity hell? This is one of the greatest bands of the 80s AND one of the greatest bands of the 90s!

I heard the new single, and I was not excited. Maybe their next album will be the comeback. I'll keep hoping.

Tom Waits best albums

Tom Waits is a tough artist to get into, but once you do, he has a better, more consistant catalog that any musician who isn't Bob Dylan. If you want to join the Tom cult, here's where to start:

1.) Rain Dogs: This album is a summary of everything great about his career, and it's also his best record. It has the closest he ever came to a pop song ("Downtown Train") and some of his best artpiece character sketches ("Clap Hands", "Singapore"). This is where to start.

2.) Swordfishtrombones: The album where Tom lost his mind is also his first masterpiece. While it doesn't have as great of individual songs as Rain Dogs, it flows better as an album that you have to listen to in its entirety. "In The Neighboorhood" is Broadway-mocking genius.

3.) Alice: This is a difficult one and a bad one to start with. I didn't really "get" this album until about 6 months after I heard it. Don't listen to it if you are already sad (or any of his albums, for that matter).

4.) Closing Time: The best of his earlier, more conventional barroom jazz.

5.) Real Gone: The beatboxing is a little distracting at first, but this has his loudest rock songs and best GW Bush-bashing lyrics. Also, "Trampled Rose" is one of his most terrifying ballads.

6.) Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards: Once you get into him, you'll spend the 30 dollars, and it will be worth it.

There are many more great albums by him, but these are the ones to start with. If you ask another Tom Waits enthusiest, they might tell you something completely different. That's why Tom is one of the greatest American songwriters ever to live.

The National: The New Wilco?

Last spring, I had the joy of seeing the National open for the Arcade Fire in Washington DC. I've been to enough concerts in my life to have low expectations for opening bands. I'd heard of the National, but I had no idea that they were one of the best bands in America until I saw this show and later bought Alligator and Boxer.

The first song they played that night was "Start A War", which immediately got me thinking this band was a great replacement for Wilco. I'm not saying that Wilco's Sky Blue Sky is a bad album, I'm just saying Boxer is the album they would have done if they continued down the experimental path that gave us Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. I see Sky Blue Sky as a pleasent listen for a Sunday afternoon once in a while; I see Boxer as a masterpiece I'll be playing for my kids in 30 years.

If you love albums about urban alienation that are equally beautiful and terrifying, its tough to beat this one. They've got a singer who sounds like a cross between Ian Curtis and Tom Waits, they have understated guitarists who can also write rock hooks, they have a drummer who even pounds on piano ballads, and they aren't afraid to use orchestral instruments. What else can you ask for?

Please, enjoy this band before they start playing Volkswagon commercials too...