Great new albums by long-established artists, excellent albums by emerging artists, and nondescript albums by mildly interesting artists with excellent hairstyles make this an album release week to remember!
As a special courtesy to readers purely interested in hair--and admittedly, that includes most of us--I've decided to spare those artists with less than compelling hairstyles any mention about that issue in the reviews that follow!
Still, it's important that each artist mentioned here considers the fact that this week we're judging not only the quality of their music, but the degree to which they're well-groomed!
Emmylou Harris: Hard Bargain (Nonesuch) Well, not to give the game away, but the extremely well-respected Ms. Harris clearly rules the roost when it comes to nice-looking hair! Significantly, the quality of her music--and especially this new album--renders such judgments inconsequential, since Hard Bargain is one of this year's very finest releases! Expertly sung, devoted to meaningful people from her past--Gram Parsons, Kate McGarrigle, even her parents--and loaded with surprisingly astute self-penned songs, all from a woman who's recorded a significant amount of cover songs during the course of her career, the album is musicianly, meaningful, and overly burdened by quality! Suffice to say: You should own this and be grateful it exists!
The Airborne Toxic Event: All At Once (Island) Few would deny that there's a growing buzz on the Airborne Toxic Event--but perhaps most surprisingly, that's because of their actual name! Indeed, earlier this week it was disclosed that despite past discussions about how that whole "Toxic Event" thing came about, the California alt-rock band took their name from the memorable story of Gladys O'Malley, a young Irish tourist who despite repeated warnings from Virgin America airline attendants, gave her young baby a diaper change while in flight without wearing her seat belt, causing visible discomfort among those seated nearby, severely bumming out others on the flight, and causing extended dialog in the weeks that followed among scientists discussing the probability of disease spread via airborne versus intravenous means! And playing on the jukebox of the airport bar near the terminal where they landed: some record!
Roy Orbison: The Monument Singles Collection (1960-1964) (Sony Legacy) The exquisitely-coiffed Mr. Orbison was blessed in life not only with outstanding hair but among the most memorable voices in rock ‘n' roll history--and this superb anthology, a 2-CD, 1-DVD set collecting his very best work, is an outstanding testimonial to that legacy! Featuring mono mixes--as this stuff was originally meant to be heard--all his great singles, and some of the most compellingly dramatic singing you've ever heard, this album is required listening for any and all self-proclaimed fans of pop music! Boasting such classics as "Oh, Pretty Woman," "Only The Lonely," "It's Over," and "Running Scared," it's the perfect soundtrack to a night in which you invite a friend over to dress up like Gene Pitney and pretend he's him and you're Roy and you start playing "Mecca" and then "Blue Bayou" and then....oh, never mind.
Augustana: Augustana (Epic) Word from a reliable product description has Augustana as "quality purveyors of well-crafted, melodic piano-driven rock"--which admittedly sounds great until you think about it! Like, when was the last time you were on the freeway and a car driven by a piano passed you? Still, to give them the benefit of the doubt--and not to claim a pathological tendency to confuse them with fellow Epic Records band the Fray for reasons of which you're unsure--when it comes to bands whose names also serve as an anagram for "a sauna tug," Augustana rank among the very best of them! Still, if they lengthened their name to something more respectable--say, Augustana Jones--they might command a tad more respect!
Bowling For Soup: Fishin' For Woos (Brando) Like many people, I consider myself best judged on the merits of the bands I like--so you can imagine how proud I am to stop passersby on the street and announce that there is a brand new Bowling For Soup album out, and its name is--get this--"Fishin' For Woos"! Ironically, most of the people I stop tend to be the sort that ask me to actually spell "fishin'," and then, perhaps pointedly, ask me why I would even bother listening to any band that would spell "fishing" without a ‘G"! It does get a bit wearing, admittedly, but frankly, I do it because there are very few other opportunities to talk to people and, I don't know, Bowling For Soup are kind of a fun band! Besides, the frickin' Playstation network has been down all week!
Orchestre National De Jazz: Shut Up And Dance (Bee Jazz) One of the year's finest albums hands-down comes via this French outfit who--after recently recording a similar top-notch tribute to legendary Brit icon Robert Wyatt--return here with a fascinating document devoted to the music of John Hollenbeck of the excellent Claudia Quintet. Superbly arranged and played, the music dwells in the same jazzy-classical-art-rock terrain of, say, prime Slapp Happy/Henry Cow, without sounding the slightest bit retro: It is energetic, nimble, and at times subtle beyond belief. Do yourself a favor and seek this out.
David Kilgour & Heavy Eights: Left By Soft (Merge) It is reassuring that as fashions come and go, there are some artists who remain distinctly cool--and have been so for years, regardless of their level of public acclaim. So it is with David Kilgour, who for years has been the guiding light of New Zealand's Clean, and whose consistent output has been fairly remarkable. It's enough to give a guy who at this very moment is ripping Gary Wright's The Light Of Smiles album with the computer at my left and listening to some Bizet album via the CD player at my right enough faith to sleep soundly, wake up with a clean conscience, and stop by the 7-11 tomorrow morning to see if they have any more of those creamy peanut-butter crisp flavored MET-Rx Protein Plus bars at that fabulous 2 for $5 price! I recommend buying all of Kilgour's albums and making a general nuisance of yourself among all your less-hip friends!
Dennis Coffey: Dennis Coffey (Strut) Having spent a considerable portion of my life in Michigan, I'm pleased to report that guitarist Dennis Coffey--a much-admired, comparatively unsung hero of the region--is still around, still making wonderful music, and still fully funk-filled and fashionable! A member of the Motown Funk Brothers band, Coffey was first heard by many playing the "psychedelic" parts of many Temptations hits, but he was similarly evident on a fairly staggering array of well-known tracks--and it is his sound, more than most other guitarists', that is being emulated on most of the best Blaxploitation soundtracks of the early ‘70s. In short, he's probably not a Maroon 5 kind of guy! Buy this album, save a city!
The Wombats: The Wombats Proudly Present...This Modern Glitch (Bright Antenna) Bedecked by an album cover that peculiarly reminds me of a Wombles album--it must be the drugs!--this latest set by England's Wombats is fantastically catchy in the same manner as, say, the best of Squeeze, utterly contemporary, surprisingly sophisticated, and precisely the album you need if you find yourself downtrodden by a continual parade of mildly interesting, somewhat OK albums that lack the sort of punch that used to compel you to dance in front of your mirror, sing into your hairbrush, and nervously wonder if anyone was peeking into your bedroom window! Plus, what the heck were you wearing?
An Horse: Walls (Mom + Pop) A great Australian duo who not only make compelling music and win accolades from Rolling Stone, Spin, People and Pitchfork, but use the article "an" instead of the more appropriate "a" purely because, well, who the heck knows what goes on in Australia?
No comments:
Post a Comment