Posts tagged with "SEPT/OCT 2010"

ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN

ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN Hawk [Vanguard] The third album from ex-Belle & Sebastian chamber folk-popper Isobel Campbell and former Screaming Trees grunge growler Mark Lanegan offers something old and something new. “We Die and See Beauty Reign” and “Time of the Season” definitely maintain the duo’s prior modus operandi–dark, languid duets that balance Lanegan’s whiskey-and-gravel vocals with Campbell’s more gossamer tones.... 

JIMMY EAT WORLD

JIMMY EAT WORLD Invented [Interscope] Since settling on its sound—the widescreen arena-emo of 2001’s Bleed American, one of the decade’s defining albums—Jimmy Eat World has been in a holding pattern. It can’t make music that’s bigger or more earnest without becoming U2, but pulling back would be a retreat. With its seventh full-length album, the Arizona quartet finds a subtle way to push things forward. Instead of churning out another... 

HERB WISE

BOOK REVIEW HERB WISE People You’d Like to Know [Omnibus Press] Photographer Herb Wise has a knack for capturing his subjects in the middle of a moment. In People You’d Like to Know, a compilation of his work from the 1960s through the 1980s, we see many faces of famous and not-so-famous musicians seemingly in the process of breaking into a smile—as if suddenly seeing a familiar friend. Wise was a mainstay on the festival circuit in the ’70s,... 

NEIL YOUNG

NEIL YOUNG Le Noise [Reprise Records] If nothing else, Le Noise is proof that Neil Young doesn’t need a band to raise a ruckus. The elements are simple: Young’s voice and guitar, treated with the aggressive sonic manipulation of producer Daniel Lanois. The title is a pun on Lanois’ name, but it’s perfectly apt nonetheless—Young’s electric guitar rumbles and roars, and his producer’s eerie soundscapes are dissonant and dark. The sonic... 

GIN BLOSSOMS

GIN BLOSSOMS No Chocolate Cake (429 Records) It’s been 17 years since the Gin Blossoms broke through with their post-grunge power-pop hits “Hey Jealousy” and “Found Out About You.” The band forged on following the tragic suicide of main songwriter Doug Hopkins in late 1993, and even managed to retain its trademark summery style. The latest disc from the on-again, off-again group holds true to that same vibe. Strewn with jangly guitars, hook-laden... 

RAY LAMONTAGNE AND THE PARIAH DOGS

RAY LAMONTAGNE AND THE PARIAH DOGS God Willin’ & the Creek Don’t Rise [RCA] With three albums to his credit, Ray LaMontagne’s soulful, rough-edged voice doesn’t startle the way it did when it seemed to come fully formed out of nowhere on his 2004 debut, Trouble. That’s not to say he sounds any less compelling on his fourth album, the first to also credit his band. It’s a stirring collection of folky songs built around LaMontagne’s... 

KT TUNSTALL

KT TUNSTALL Tiger Suit [Virgin] When KT Tunstall burst into the limelight with 2006’s beatbox-driven hit “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree,” it was clear the Scottish singer-songwriter had a firm grounding in songcraft. On her third album, Tunstall leans toward a more adventurous set of electronic textures. Happily, instead of burying her songwriting under sheets of production, the broadened soundscape enhances and enriches her compositions.... 

ELVIS COSTELLO

ELVIS COSTELLO National Ransom [Hear Music] Elvis Costello has touched on a wide variety of genres during his career, but he usually sticks with one style at a time. On National Ransom, he finally blends two of his distinct artistic modes into one. Last year’s Secret, Profane & Sugarcane featured a band of Nashville acoustic-music ringers, who here are joined by Costello’s longtime rock outfit, the Imposters. The combination is a versatile... 

INTERPOL

INTERPOL Interpol [Matador] Interpol’s songs aren’t set in the real world—where people smile and go grocery shopping and wear colors other than black—but rather a swank, anxious underworld, where singer Paul Banks dresses to the nines and sips drinks with spooky lovers and personal demons. The New York City foursome recorded its fourth album just before parting ways with Capitol Records and bassist Carlos D. Those changes will register later,... 

ELTON JOHN/LEON RUSSELL

ELTON JOHN/LEON RUSSELL The Union [Decca Records] This much-anticipated collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell had all the ingredients for greatness—two brilliant singers and pianists, an extraordinary producer in T Bone Burnett, and a profound mutual admiration between the artists involved. It turns out that “greatness” is too strong a word, but the album does have its rewards. As you might expect, The Union mixes Russell’s bluesy,... 

ERIC CLAPTON

ERIC CLAPTON Clapton [Reprise Records] Eric Clapton has always been willing to shrug off his audience’s expectations and even its desires. Fans might prefer that he crank out one guitar-heroic solo after another, but his tendency toward taste and understatement just won’t let him do it. He abandoned the Yardbirds when they went too pop, Cream when the trio got too self-indulgent and Blind Faith when the supergroup got too popular too quickly.... 
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