Maureen Andary of The Sweater Set
@ Fort Reno
Q:What's your song for summer?
A:"Our song about summer love. The lyrics are 'Oh, you're just for fun, don't you know. I only want you for summer months.'"
THERE'S REALLY ONLY one way to determine if an artist has made it to the big time: Whether or not he has an entire Wikipedia page devoted to his discography.
Electronic-melody master Moby doesn't disappoint with his own venerable list, with a good portion consisting of remix and collaborative projects. It's also striking how many of his projects feature voices other than his — he sings occasionally, but even when he doesn't, his songs still retain that definitive Moby sound. It's a sound that transcends just "rich" or "textured"; rather, each track is packed full of details like an entire movie, or a description of someone's life from birth to death. Finding out that the musician does most of his recording in his own apartment studio makes sense, because of the personal, hand-crafted feel of each sustained note.
"Wait for Me" (Little Idiot/Mute) Moby's ninth studio album, is a welcome addition to his canon. It lacks the spirited party tunes like "Southside" or "Ooh Yeah," opting instead for an introverted, stirring set of tracks more like "Porcelain," best heard with headphones instead of on the dance floor.
Continue Reading "Armchair Electronica 2.0: Moby, 'Wait for Me'" »
I'M NOT SURE you could count "Cradlesong", Rob Thomas' sophomore album, or his debut, 2005's "Something to Be," as true solo albums.
Instead, the Matchbox 20 frontman has traded one band for another, and the backing on his solo efforts feels even bigger and more intricate than the M20 releases. The album's first single, "Her Diamonds", layers chimes, keyboards, and other electronic doodads over an uptempo drumbeat, while Thomas' vocals are joined by inane female harmonies and a gospel-style backing choir. Hardly "solo."
"Cradlesong" is another album about shaky relationships, closer stylistically to the dance-pop of his first solo release than the adult-alternapop of Matchbox 20. That statement — in addition to holding no surprises — contains enough information for most people to decide if this is an album to acquire or avoid.
Continue Reading "Solo But Not Alone: Rob Thomas, 'Cradlesong'" »
WILCO CAN'T RELEASE a new album without sending the music world into a nostalgic frenzy, reminiscing about the band's bygone heyday and its (maybe) unfulfilled potential.
The group also can't avoid the new tracks' comparisons to older (and supposedly better) songs, or speculation on whether Jeff Tweedy (now in his 40s) may have lost his edge.
But here's the bottom line: Wilco will likely never release an album that is not pure Wilco, and that's good enough.
Sure, "Wilco (The Album)" (Nonesuch Records) doesn't rank among the band's best, but comparatively speaking, it's still probably among 2009's best.
Continue Reading "An Album By Any Other Name: Wilco, 'Wilco (The Album)'" »
ALEXISONFIRE CO-SINGER GEORGE Pettit wants to kill screamo. Too bad his band's latest album, "Old Crows/Young Cardinals," merely reaffirms the genre instead of striking it dead.
The Canadian band has crafted a strong following with a post-hardcore, punk-tinged sound first heard on its self-titled 2002 debut. The group's 2004 CD, "Watch Out!," is Alexisonfire's most balanced, complete work — and it went platinum in the Great White North — while 2006's "Crisis" also hit the one-million-sold mark.
But what was once an explosive mix of hypnotically melodic vocals from co-singer Dallas Green and frenzied, fist-pumping screams from the spastic Pettit has now become a formulaic, repetitive juxtaposition that relies on ugly churning guitars and uninspired lyrics to get its point across.
Continue Reading "Screamo On & On: Alexisonfire, 'Old Crows/Young Cardinals'" »
IT'S THE BEST singers who make it all look too easy.
Christina Courtin's debut album on Nonesuch is deceptively simple, but it's certainly not a case of a novice messing around in order to find her true calling. Having been a musician since the age of 3, Courtin takes her craft very seriously, but it's because she already knows what she does best. What makes her songs so lovely is that her seriousness unexpectedly translates into music that, while drawing mostly from folk influences, also exhibits something like the spontaneity of jazz.
REGINA SPEKTOR'S LATEST release, "Far," is a well-produced, highly distinctive piano pop album with a few genuinely winning songs.
Nonetheless, this is not a record for everyone.
To assist in determining whether "Far" will charm or irritate you, here are three potentially disqualifying musical biases that may preclude your enjoyment. There's no need to condemn yourself for your preferences; we all have our quirks, Spektor more so than most.
» You have a low tolerance for oddball female vocalists.
Spektor has an impressive range, and she is not about to let anyone forget it. On "Machine," for example, she repeats the phrase "Hooked into machine" first in a falsetto coo, moments later switching to a deep, theatrical growl.
By no means are the drastic highs and lows Spektor's only distinguishing vocal qualities. She uses her voice as an instrument on a number of occasions, forgoing traditional singing entirely.
On "Dance Anthem of the '80s" she accompanies the opening staccato piano by stuttering the first few lines, later breaking into beatboxing, not for the last time. On "Folding Chair" she actually does a dolphin impression. Despite these affectations, these two songs are among the best on the album. "Folding Chair" is an appropriately lighthearted ode to summer spontaneity, with a jaunty ska hook and winning lyrics such as, "Let's get a silver bullet trailer / And have a baby boy / I'll safety pin his clothes all cool / and you'll graffiti up his toys." Meanwhile, "Dance Anthem" builds satisfyingly from the jittery initial moments to a propulsive, if not especially '80s influenced, conclusion, with a few minimal voice and piano breaks along the way.
Continue Reading "Going the Distance: Regina Spektor, 'Far'" »
WHAT'S A BAND to do when it's desperate to stay relevant?
Release a covers album, of course!
Covers are easy to play it off as tongue-in-cheek if they suck, and they don't, it's just gravy.
In the case of "Varshons" (The End Records), Evan Dando is likely trying to drum up interest for the recent reboot of his sour-on-the-outside, sweet-on-the-inside alt-rock band The Lemonheads, but unlike the attempts of other, less qualified bands, it turns out a covers album might not be a bad move. And it also may not be a coincidence that some of the group's best-known songs, strangely, are covers.
Continue Reading "Here's to You, Evan Dando: The Lemonheads, 'Varshons'" »
PATTERSON HOOD'S SECOND solo album has been nearly twenty years in the making. Following long on the heels of 2004's largely acoustic "Killers and Stars," this collection features new recordings of older material, including a few songs he wrote in the early 1990s, long before Hood co-founded the Drive-By Truckers and became synonymous with hard-boiled tales of the New South and its conflicted denizens.
The title track, "Pollyanna," and "Screwtopia," all from the previous decade, sit well with newer tracks like "I Understand Now" and "She's a Little Randy," revealing a unique songwriting voice that was surprisingly well developed eighteen years ago and has only grown more confident since then.
Less a departure from Hood's familiar sound than "Killers and Stars," "Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)" sounds pretty much like another Truckers album, with most of the band members contributing. Electric guitars rule every song, and styles range from old-school country to swampy Southern rock to soulful rave-ups to classic-rock anthems, but Hood takes all the vocal and songwriting duties instead of sharing them with Mike Cooley and Shonna Tucker.
Continue Reading "Tough Love Songs: Patterson Hood, 'Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs)'" »
LANKY AUSSIE Michael Johns sauntered onto "American Idol" two years ago with the world on a string: He was good-looking, affable and blessed with pipes so powerful that he blew the show's judging panel away with a scorching version of The Doors' "Light My Fire" and an enthralling take on Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
That's right, he sang a Freddie Mercury song and rocked it. No easy feat.
That, unfortunately, was Johns' high point. From there, his "Idol" run devolved into a ho-hum karaoke fest so bland that when he was axed after climbing to a mere eighth place, fans were shocked, but not surprised. There was star potential in that voice, but like a tick on the world's hairiest border collie, it was well masked by needless fluff.
But once out of the "American Idol" machine — away from the ratings and the group sings and the little boxes that each contestant is forced to wedge himself into (Johns, in case you were wondering, was Soulful Smurf) — Johns was quick to locate his voice. His arrangements, however, are more something borrowed than something new.
After hearing "Heart on My Sleeve" — the first single from his post-"Idol" record, "Hold Back My Heart" — you'd think that Johns was about to blaze a trail as a purveyor of hooky, swelling, Sarah Bareilles-style pop with a little David Gray grit thrown in for flavor.
But after recording "Heart on My Sleeve," Johns must've changed his shirt. Most of the rest of the album is a rust-colored, shag-rugged, rhinestone-encrusted, sequin-bedecked valentine to the '70s.
Continue Reading "Still the Runner-Up: Michael Johns, 'Hold Back My Heart'" »
IRATE TWEENS TAKE NOTE: before you post hostile comments, I have no innate bias against The Jonas Brothers. I thought their last album, 2008's "A Little Bit Longer," had genuinely catchy moments, and I acknowledged the band's power-pop sound was refreshing, particularly compared with the highly processed sounds produced by other Disney Channel favorites.
I can't say the same for the Brothers' latest, the eclectic but not in a good way "Lines, Vines and Trying Times." While both albums share an overarching thematic emphasis on girls and relationships, "Lines" veers away from rock arrangements in favor of experiments with funk, R&B, country and syrupy ballads. Unfortunately all of those genres, as performed by the Jonases, should probably be prefaced by the prefix "lite."
Continue Reading "Lite Syrup: The Jonas Brothers, 'Lines, Vines and Trying Times'" »
Addison Road