The Streets' first two albums had so much hype and critical acclaim, there was really nowhere left to go. I remember reading British magazines a few years ago after A Grand Don't Come For Free (his outstanding second album): they said things like "the Streets relate to the youth of England in a way nobody has since Joe Strummer and Morrissey". Really, he's already in that class? The next few albums are going to be tough. Unfortunately, British rap is completely incapable of ever being mainstream in America, so your going to have to keep catering to the ever critical cult/hipster crowds here.
His fourth album, Everything Is Borrowed, is shocking from the first second of the opening title track. Is he using live instruments now? Didn't he create Original Pirate Material on his laptop? And them there's the lyrics: "I came to this world with nothing/I leave with nothing but love/everything else is borrowed". Gone are teenage themes of drugs and crushes, now he sings about war and death.
The lyrics are overbearing after a while, but the instrumentation remains pretty exiting through the whole album. He expands his sound to include R&B and jazz, particularly on the surprisingly uplifting "On The Edge Of A Cliff".
I think everybody would love this album if it weren't by the Streets, which is unfortunate. Give this guy a chance to grow up. He still has some good music left in him.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Lucinda Williams' Little Honey
Here is a musician that never ceases to amaze me. That's not to say that everything she tries on her new record actually works; it just amazes me how hard she keeps trying. Now 55 years old, she has already created three masterpieces in three different decades (1988's Lucinda Williams, 1998's Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, 2003's World Without Tears). Little Honey is an album filled with brilliant ideas and a few failures, so I'm going to have to separate the good from the bad.
Good:
- "Tears Of Joy" - Gospel blues built for a Baptist church with some outstanding guitar soloing.
- "Honey Bee" - This sexually explicit stomper could have been stolen from the White Stripes.
- "If Wishes Were Horses" - How can any man turn down an apology this sad and beautiful?
- "Knowing" - The Memphis horns actually work for her on another great lonesome ballad.
- "Plan To Marry" - Simple: Lucinda and guitar. Bliss. One of her best.
Bad:
-"Jailhouse Tears" - For the love of God, everybody stop letting Elvis Costello guest on your album.
-"Little Rock Star" - She's trying to do a spaced-out power ballad now? Why?
-"Rarity" - This goes almost nowhere for almost nine minutes.
-"It's A Long Way To The Top" - Doesn't she think she's above covering AC-DC? The song is as bad as the idea.
This album has enough good ideas to be worth buying if you are already a Lucinda fan, but it has enough bad ideas to scare away the uninitiated. If you want to know why everybody loves her, start with Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. It's still nice to hear her trying every idea she comes across, but maybe two albums in two years is a bit too fast.
Good:
- "Tears Of Joy" - Gospel blues built for a Baptist church with some outstanding guitar soloing.
- "Honey Bee" - This sexually explicit stomper could have been stolen from the White Stripes.
- "If Wishes Were Horses" - How can any man turn down an apology this sad and beautiful?
- "Knowing" - The Memphis horns actually work for her on another great lonesome ballad.
- "Plan To Marry" - Simple: Lucinda and guitar. Bliss. One of her best.
Bad:
-"Jailhouse Tears" - For the love of God, everybody stop letting Elvis Costello guest on your album.
-"Little Rock Star" - She's trying to do a spaced-out power ballad now? Why?
-"Rarity" - This goes almost nowhere for almost nine minutes.
-"It's A Long Way To The Top" - Doesn't she think she's above covering AC-DC? The song is as bad as the idea.
This album has enough good ideas to be worth buying if you are already a Lucinda fan, but it has enough bad ideas to scare away the uninitiated. If you want to know why everybody loves her, start with Car Wheels On A Gravel Road. It's still nice to hear her trying every idea she comes across, but maybe two albums in two years is a bit too fast.
Monday, October 13, 2008
The return of Antony
For anybody who had their hearts broken by Antony & The Johnson's 2005 release I Am A Bird Now (the most tearjerking album of that year or most), you'll be happy to hear that voice again. He's been having a productive year already with his Hercules & Love Affair project where his voice surprisingly worked over disco. Now Antony & The Johnsons have a new EP to act as a teaser for a record early next year.
The Another World EP starts off, thankfully, with Antony doing what he does best. The first two songs are slow, undynamic ballads with his voice and piano at the forefront. Then, things go wrong: "Shake That Devil" is an attempt at freeform bluesy vocal-jazz, which ends up sounding like open mic night for amateur poets. I see what he was going for here, I just hope it never happens again. After that, he goes back to the vocal/piano/violin combo that made him famous in the first place. "Hope Mountain" has some beautiful orchestral flourishes, but things don't get to wild on the last two tracks.
As long as he sticks to what he's good at, his new LP in 2009 should be a great album. All he needs is that voice; experimenting and trying to be someone else isn't always a good move.
Lucinda Williams has a new album out tomorrow. It's getting surprisingly weak reviews, but I'm almost positive she is incapable of creating a bad album. I'll tell you in a few days.
The Another World EP starts off, thankfully, with Antony doing what he does best. The first two songs are slow, undynamic ballads with his voice and piano at the forefront. Then, things go wrong: "Shake That Devil" is an attempt at freeform bluesy vocal-jazz, which ends up sounding like open mic night for amateur poets. I see what he was going for here, I just hope it never happens again. After that, he goes back to the vocal/piano/violin combo that made him famous in the first place. "Hope Mountain" has some beautiful orchestral flourishes, but things don't get to wild on the last two tracks.
As long as he sticks to what he's good at, his new LP in 2009 should be a great album. All he needs is that voice; experimenting and trying to be someone else isn't always a good move.
Lucinda Williams has a new album out tomorrow. It's getting surprisingly weak reviews, but I'm almost positive she is incapable of creating a bad album. I'll tell you in a few days.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Yes, more Bob Dylan worship is in order
I just picked up a copy of Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series Volume 8. Not only is this a solid reminder that he's the greatest musician of all time, it's a good reminder of one of his most underrated contributions to music: the bootleg.
Over forty years after its release, mythical extended versions of the Basement Tapes are still being passed around somewhere. Now 8 double-disc releases have been released to commercially (and legally) document his greatest live moments as well as outtakes from his studio albums. Listening to "Series of Dreams" or "Dignity" makes me wonder how any musician can leave material this good in the editing room.
What's important about this volume is that it documents outtakes from a brilliant artistic revival he's had in the past eleven years that has given us three classic albums: Time Out Of Mind, Love & Theft, and Modern Times. This bootleg series fills the gaps we wait five years between albums and give some insight to his songwriting explosion during these years. Both discs start with alternate takes of "Mississippi", which might be his best song this decade. These takes are softer, less urgent, and more bluesy: either one could work and it would still be a classic.
What we need now is a late-era live album from Bob. I want to hear Bob put an new "Mississippi" take next to the 60s classics he's still reinventing at the age of 67. Give us more, Bob! Anything he puts out, I'm in.
Over forty years after its release, mythical extended versions of the Basement Tapes are still being passed around somewhere. Now 8 double-disc releases have been released to commercially (and legally) document his greatest live moments as well as outtakes from his studio albums. Listening to "Series of Dreams" or "Dignity" makes me wonder how any musician can leave material this good in the editing room.
What's important about this volume is that it documents outtakes from a brilliant artistic revival he's had in the past eleven years that has given us three classic albums: Time Out Of Mind, Love & Theft, and Modern Times. This bootleg series fills the gaps we wait five years between albums and give some insight to his songwriting explosion during these years. Both discs start with alternate takes of "Mississippi", which might be his best song this decade. These takes are softer, less urgent, and more bluesy: either one could work and it would still be a classic.
What we need now is a late-era live album from Bob. I want to hear Bob put an new "Mississippi" take next to the 60s classics he's still reinventing at the age of 67. Give us more, Bob! Anything he puts out, I'm in.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
2004
Since October is kind of a lull month for new releases, I've been going back through some of my favorite albums of the decade for the past few days. 2007 was an exceptional year and 2008 is shaping up to be almost as good, but no year this decade comes close to 2004. If you don't believe me, here's what came out that year:
- Arcade Fire - Funeral: Still unequivocally my favorite album of the decade.
- Brian Wilson - Smile: It took 37 years to finish; it really was his "teenage symphony to God", even though he was well into his 60s at this point.
- Wilco - A Ghost Is Born: Wilco scores their fifth (an maybe final) masterpiece with this dark, uncompromising folk-rock.
- Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose: Jack White produced this stunning crossover that made us all wish for more country/indie team-ups.
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus: This sprawling double disc summarized their whole career and is still their best album.
- Green Day - American Idiot: By far the best mainstream rock-radio album of the decade. In fact, maybe the only memorable one.
- Modest Mouse, The Killers, The Walkmen, Franz Ferdinand: Say what you want about the OC, but that show took some great music to the masses.
- Morrisey - You Are The Quarry and Prince - Musicology: Two 1980s titans finally had their artistic revivals in 2004.
- Madvillian - Madvilliany and The Street - A Grand Don't Come For Free: A banner year for oddball, uncommercial rap albums.
- Kanye West - College Dropout: The best rapper and biggest pop star of the decade showed up in 2004.
- Tom Waits - Real Gone: George W. Bush hating peaked this year (and he won the election regardless). Every year Tom puts out an album is a good year.
- Elliott Smith - From A Basement On A Hill: What a beautiful was to go out - RIP.
- Blanche - If We Can't Trust The Doctors: The most underrated and unrecognized debut of the past few years.
- Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans: A landmark for both modern folk music and Christian music.
- DJ Danger Mouse - Grey Album: The only thing that could stop this from being a classic is lawyers (who actually did stop it, so good luck finding a copy).
You have to go back to 1977 to find a year with a lineup like this; 2004 was the best music year of my life. We would all look at 2004 this fondly if it weren't for that damn election...
- Arcade Fire - Funeral: Still unequivocally my favorite album of the decade.
- Brian Wilson - Smile: It took 37 years to finish; it really was his "teenage symphony to God", even though he was well into his 60s at this point.
- Wilco - A Ghost Is Born: Wilco scores their fifth (an maybe final) masterpiece with this dark, uncompromising folk-rock.
- Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose: Jack White produced this stunning crossover that made us all wish for more country/indie team-ups.
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/Lyre Of Orpheus: This sprawling double disc summarized their whole career and is still their best album.
- Green Day - American Idiot: By far the best mainstream rock-radio album of the decade. In fact, maybe the only memorable one.
- Modest Mouse, The Killers, The Walkmen, Franz Ferdinand: Say what you want about the OC, but that show took some great music to the masses.
- Morrisey - You Are The Quarry and Prince - Musicology: Two 1980s titans finally had their artistic revivals in 2004.
- Madvillian - Madvilliany and The Street - A Grand Don't Come For Free: A banner year for oddball, uncommercial rap albums.
- Kanye West - College Dropout: The best rapper and biggest pop star of the decade showed up in 2004.
- Tom Waits - Real Gone: George W. Bush hating peaked this year (and he won the election regardless). Every year Tom puts out an album is a good year.
- Elliott Smith - From A Basement On A Hill: What a beautiful was to go out - RIP.
- Blanche - If We Can't Trust The Doctors: The most underrated and unrecognized debut of the past few years.
- Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans: A landmark for both modern folk music and Christian music.
- DJ Danger Mouse - Grey Album: The only thing that could stop this from being a classic is lawyers (who actually did stop it, so good luck finding a copy).
You have to go back to 1977 to find a year with a lineup like this; 2004 was the best music year of my life. We would all look at 2004 this fondly if it weren't for that damn election...
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
Another year, another Jenny Lewis album. That wasn't an insult; every recording she's done has been good if not great, and between her solo work and Rilo Kiley it adds up to 6 albums in 7 years. She's always reaching for something new by stealing something old: last year's Under The Blacklight was a polished pop-rock record that tried to establish Rilo Kiley as the new Fleetwood Mac. It didn't work and critics were divided on it, probably because the first half of the album was a masterpiece and the second half was horrible. Hard working she is, consistent she isn't.
On Acid Tongue, Jenny mines early 70s Elton John, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell instead, and the results are the most consistent she's ever done. This album sounds loose, fun, and personal whereas other albums by here have felt overstuffed and overproduced. "Black Sand" and "Pretty Bird" start the album with two beautiful and occasionally haunting ballads, but then she really loosens up with a ten minute rock jam called "The Next Messiah". Apparently she remembered that she is a rock singer and not a pop-soul singer when recording this one.
Although both her range and songwriting have improved, she still isn't a great singer. She doesn't have Fiona Apple's bitterness or Patti Griffin's soulfulness, and her voice really starts to fall apart on the otherwise beautiful "Trying My Best To Love You". Regardless, every song on the record flows into the next, and the dynamics make it a fun listen. The only complete dud on the album is "Carpetbaggers" with Elvis Costello who, despite being one of my all-time favorite singers, is becoming an irritating guest singer. I'm surprised he hasn't been on rap records yet.
There are two highlights: the soulful title track with it's spare instrumentation and cautionary tales of LA life, and the hilarious blues-stomp "Jack Killed Mom". The good things about this album far outweigh the bad, and this album varies far enough from her other records to make you glad that she's still trying to find her voice. I think she might have found it, but her masterpiece is still someday coming.
On Acid Tongue, Jenny mines early 70s Elton John, Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell instead, and the results are the most consistent she's ever done. This album sounds loose, fun, and personal whereas other albums by here have felt overstuffed and overproduced. "Black Sand" and "Pretty Bird" start the album with two beautiful and occasionally haunting ballads, but then she really loosens up with a ten minute rock jam called "The Next Messiah". Apparently she remembered that she is a rock singer and not a pop-soul singer when recording this one.
Although both her range and songwriting have improved, she still isn't a great singer. She doesn't have Fiona Apple's bitterness or Patti Griffin's soulfulness, and her voice really starts to fall apart on the otherwise beautiful "Trying My Best To Love You". Regardless, every song on the record flows into the next, and the dynamics make it a fun listen. The only complete dud on the album is "Carpetbaggers" with Elvis Costello who, despite being one of my all-time favorite singers, is becoming an irritating guest singer. I'm surprised he hasn't been on rap records yet.
There are two highlights: the soulful title track with it's spare instrumentation and cautionary tales of LA life, and the hilarious blues-stomp "Jack Killed Mom". The good things about this album far outweigh the bad, and this album varies far enough from her other records to make you glad that she's still trying to find her voice. I think she might have found it, but her masterpiece is still someday coming.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
New Music Binge!!!
I just got back from a Baltimore business trip where I purchased a ridiculous amount of new music:
- Metallica - Death Magnetic: Admit it, you've missed them. I think just about everybody is in denial about how much they like Metallica. Even though this album is not a classic or might even be forgotten in two years, it's just a fun metal record and it's the best thing they've done in 15 years. It will probably be the first album ever remembered more for how it sounded on Guitar Hero or Rock Band than how it sounded on a radio or CD player. Whether that was a compliment or not is up to you.
- Opeth - Watershed: I love this band on paper, I'm just not sure if I enjoy listening to them. That undoubtedly qualifies them to be the new torch-bearers for prog rock (sorry, Dream Theater, your days are numbered). This is a beautiful album with amazing twists and mind-blowing instrumentation, but I'm not sure if I can remember a single song from it. Catchy melodies aren't really their thing, but then again, they are a metal band. If you like metal or prog, you aren't going to do better than this.
- Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound: This might be the mindless feel-good album of the year. Nothing special really, just a catchy, uncomplicated pop album (the complete opposite of that Opeth record). The singer is a combination of Bruce Springsteen and Paul Westerberg, so every song he sings sounds like a dying battle cry. The title track is so catchy it should be on every radio station, while "Miles Davis & The Cool" is the best jazz legend tribute I've ever heard from a punk band (OK, it's the only one). Play this one at a summer party if you want to feel young again.
- Beach House - Devotion: Is "folk drone music" actually a genre now? There are some weird things coming out of Baltimore right now. This album is so airy and light, its 45 minutes might go by without you noticing. The flourishes of church organ and atmospheric guitar sweeping in and out make it a beautifully layered and romantic sounding album. The slightly atonal singing can be grating at moments, but it usually blends as just another instrument. This is great dinner conversation music or great music to do drugs to, depending on who you are.
- Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue: I'm still not sure if I love or hate this. I'll get back to you....
- Metallica - Death Magnetic: Admit it, you've missed them. I think just about everybody is in denial about how much they like Metallica. Even though this album is not a classic or might even be forgotten in two years, it's just a fun metal record and it's the best thing they've done in 15 years. It will probably be the first album ever remembered more for how it sounded on Guitar Hero or Rock Band than how it sounded on a radio or CD player. Whether that was a compliment or not is up to you.
- Opeth - Watershed: I love this band on paper, I'm just not sure if I enjoy listening to them. That undoubtedly qualifies them to be the new torch-bearers for prog rock (sorry, Dream Theater, your days are numbered). This is a beautiful album with amazing twists and mind-blowing instrumentation, but I'm not sure if I can remember a single song from it. Catchy melodies aren't really their thing, but then again, they are a metal band. If you like metal or prog, you aren't going to do better than this.
- Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound: This might be the mindless feel-good album of the year. Nothing special really, just a catchy, uncomplicated pop album (the complete opposite of that Opeth record). The singer is a combination of Bruce Springsteen and Paul Westerberg, so every song he sings sounds like a dying battle cry. The title track is so catchy it should be on every radio station, while "Miles Davis & The Cool" is the best jazz legend tribute I've ever heard from a punk band (OK, it's the only one). Play this one at a summer party if you want to feel young again.
- Beach House - Devotion: Is "folk drone music" actually a genre now? There are some weird things coming out of Baltimore right now. This album is so airy and light, its 45 minutes might go by without you noticing. The flourishes of church organ and atmospheric guitar sweeping in and out make it a beautifully layered and romantic sounding album. The slightly atonal singing can be grating at moments, but it usually blends as just another instrument. This is great dinner conversation music or great music to do drugs to, depending on who you are.
- Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue: I'm still not sure if I love or hate this. I'll get back to you....
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