New Music from 9/28/2010 - Mark Ronson & the Business International and Ben Folds & Nick Hornby

Mark Ronson & the Business International Record Collection - The mega-producer and sometimes solo artist releases his third studio album.  As usual, he teams up with an all-star crew of musical artists primarily to lend vocals to his songs.  On this album that crew, for some reason dubbed the Business International, includes Q-Tip, Boy George, Simon Le Bon, Nick Hodgson (Kaiser Chiefs), and D'angelo among the grocery list-length of performers.  I thought Ronson's last album, Version, was one of the sleeper albums of 2007 although the British didn't hide their love for it with three songs charting in their Top 10. 

While already giving a wide range of music in his previous albums, Record Collection even goes farther by incorporating and blending even more genres from Pop, Rap, Electronic, Rock and even a little Soul.  "The Bike Song" starts off like an electropop song with a very catchy hook and pleasing, if repetitive, vocals by Kyle Falconer (The View) but skews wildly wrong with a rap by Spank Rock.  Conversely, a song like "Lose It (In the End)" starts with western-style whistling that blends smoothly to an early ska sound straight out of a Madness album and then deftly melds in a rap by Ghostface Killah.  "Somebody to Love Me" has a super catchy melody that lends itself to soul/R&B music that is surprisingly well matched by the singing of Andrew Wyatt and Boy George.  There are a couple of purely electronic/instrumental songs as well ("The Color of Crumar," "Missing Words" and "Circuit Breaker"), with "Circuit Breaker" being the best with a drum-and-bass beat and house-y electronic sounds that is both engaging and danceable to.  There are also a number of  club ready songs that really play into Ronson's past producing successes like "Introducing the Business" and "Bang Bang Bang" (which has already been a Top 10 song on the British charts).  Ronson, with Alex Greenwald's (Phantom Planet) and Rose Elinor Dougall's help, even give us his version of a lullaby with "The Night Last Night" to end the album.

Ronson gives a wider reaching album than any of his previous releases by sampling from and emulating more musical genres than before while still managing to sound relatively upbeat.  However this album is not as good as Version because even though Ronson is sampling from a greater overall oeuvre of music, he doesn't bring the same magic to the songs.  The hooks aren't as catchy as they were on his last album and, overall, the album just isn't as strong from beginning to end.  There are still a number of outstanding songs on the album, it's just not as consistent in its excellence.  That's okay though.  Even Derek Jeter makes an out now and then.  Version was a homerun but this album still manages a double and that's nothing to sneeze at.  

Score: 7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Bang Bang Bang" and "Somebody to Love Me"

Ben Folds & Nick Hornby Lonely Avenue - Okay, you got me.  I saw this album and had to review it.  A new album with singer-songwriter Ben Folds composing the music wasn't surprising but novelist Nick Hornby (High Fidelity and About a Boy) providing all the lyrics was a real shocker.  Sure, the man showed his vast knowledge of music in High Fidelity--one chapter of the book will show you that--but does he have the skills to write compelling lyrics even with the help of the talented Ben Folds backing him???   That was the million dollar question and I won't even charge you a cent for the answer.

Hornby's lyrics are written in a very structured manner with too much detail making most of the songs sound like something you'd hear progressing the story in a modern musical rather than sounding like a modern rock song.  The first song, "A Working Day," is a fine example of the lengthy and lumbering lyrics.  "Some guy on the net/thinks I suck/and he should know/he's got his own blog" is somehow supposed to transition to the awkward chorus of "I'm a loser and a poser/it's over, it's over/I need it and I quit/Everything I write is shit."  If you thought that sounded clunky written out, let me assure it's just as forced in the actual song.  Regrettably, no matter what type of song Folds attempts to create with the music, the structure and wording of the lyrics makes the songs sound off.  "Your Dogs" is a notable exception with Folds jaunty piano playing and singing helping to infuse some life into the album.

Unfortunately a great knowledge of modern music plus the talent of a very skilled fiction writer does not equate to great song lyrics by Mr. Hornby.  This album is an interesting experiment but not one that leads to a great revelation.  Folds does what he can to turn the lengthy lyrics into credible songs but most of them still sound like something from one of The Who's rock operas.  Music lyrics by their very nature have a freedom to them that allow you to play with how they should be said or stated grammatically in order to better fit the melody of the song.  A typical pop or rock song also often repeats certain phrases in a chorus or a refrain to bridge and help create hooks to catch the attention of the listener.  Hornby and Folds' songs are more like little stories with backing music.  There is just a clunkiness to too many of the songs' lyrics that, even with the orchestral talents of Ben Folds, causes the music on the album to be more distracting than pleasing.

Score:  4/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Your Dogs"

New Music from 9/21/2010 - John Legend & The Roots, Matt Costa, and Mackintosh Braun

John Legend & The Roots Wake Up! - The R&B/Hip-Hop icons join forces on an album of funky songs from the 60's and 70's that still have social relevance today.  There is also one new song that John Legend wrote for the upcoming documentary Waiting For Superman.  C'mon now!  It's a new album by The Roots and John Legend!  Enough with the blather, let's get to the review!


"Hard Times" has an opening that harkens back to the soulful Baby Huey & The Babysitters original but infuses a modern rap in the middle that really manages to open the song up for younger audiences while still keeping true to the spirit and sound of the original.  "Ghetto Boy" doesn't transfuse modern and classic as well with its opening rap by Black Thought totally setting the wrong tone for the very thoughtful Donny Hathaway tune that Legend nimbly handles with his normally stunning vocals.  The well-known Harold Marvin classic "Wake Up Everybody" gets turned into a duet with Melanie Fiona that works surprisingly well although the rap by the generally awesome Common in the middle isn't as successful.  The new song, "Shine," is a very soulful, cozy tune that makes good use of Legend's voice with jazzy trumpeting offsetting the reluctantly hopeful lyrics. 

It's a good but not great covers album by two very talented groups of performers.  John Legend's voice is a good match to most of the songs given that the man could probably sing the phone book and it'd still be a hit.  The Roots do a good job backing the songs keeping it relatively mellow probably trying to stay true to the original artists.  When they do let go in songs like "Our Generation" and "Hang On" it's a treat to listen their take on classic funk.  The album alternates between songs that are extremely faithful to the original versions to songs that have been slightly altered (mainly by incorporating rap) that help update most of those songs for more modern audiences.  There aren't any songs that have been wildly transformed which I did find slightly surprising and the album skews more to the soulful than the funky side of things. 

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Hard Times" and "Wake Up Everybody"

M

Matt Costa Mobile Chateau - The So-Cal singer/songwriter releases his third full-length album.  His indie/folk-rock music would fall somewhere between Jack Johnson and Ryan Adams, although his style isn't a laid back as Johnson nor does it skew towards country like Adams sometimes does.  However, like those artists, Costa puts on a very energetic live show where he typically plays a number of instruments like the guitar, piano, harmonica, and anything else he's picked up over the years.  He also tours a lot and has opened for a number of big bands like Oasis, Modest Mouse, and Death Cab.  

Costa stays true to his style on his new album while bringing a new found depth to his musical sound as well.  The album opens with a song whose opening melody seems like it was borrowed from something found on a The Turtles or an early Beatles single and is just as quaint and catchy as one of those singles in "The Season."  "The Drive" is the most accessible track on the album with its catchy pop hooks and piano melody.  While songs like "Painted Face" don't have that different a melody as a standard Costa song but its eerie backing vocals and odd horn and organ work add a level of spookiness to a song about how people can have two faces.  The song at its core isn't that different from what Costa gave us previously but its brought to a greater level by the use of the tools at his disposal during production of the song. 

I think it's a good direction for Matt Costa.  He seems darker than he had been before and he also gives us a greater depth to his songs by using a wide range of instruments more diversely than previously ("Painted Face" and "Bleeding Hearts").  He also seems to be reaching to past with a couple of songs that have melodies that echo to the early days of rock ("Secret" and "The Season").  I didn't love every song on the album but I found it a very interesting album in that it kept me wondering what direction each song was going to take us next.  There's a greater diversity to the album than I was expecting going in yet, despite the different pulls in various directions, the total package is far from aimless. 

Score:  7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Drive" and "Painted Face"

Mackintosh Braun Where We Are - This two person electropop band from the Pacific Northwest release their debut second album.  Originally I was debating whether or not to spend the time reviewing a third album this week because it's a busy week at work but then I listened to this album and it was really good.  And then I tried to look the band up in Wikipedia and found they didn't even have a Wikipedia page so I thought someone should try to spread the word about them.  So while this may have started out as a pity review let me assure you this is an album worth a listen if you like electropop music. 

I would describe Mackintosh Braun as maybe two parts OMD, two parts Pet Shop Boys (a couple of references for you old folks like me), with a little bit of Miss Kitten sprinkled on top (and a reference for you kiddies out there).  I compare them to OMD because of the band's catchy synthetic pop hooks, to Pet Shop Boys for the danceable beats, and to Miss Kitten for their integration of more modern house and trance samples.  "Where We Are" has a definite OMD feel while a song like "Line in the Sand" has a definite Pet Shop Boys sound and beat.  Like most electropop bands, lots of synthesizers are used to achieve the band's sound, including on the vocals, but they aren't afraid to incorporate real instruments like guitars and bass into their songs either.

For a debut second album, this is a pretty impressive release.  It definitely sounds very polished and very well put together as an album.  Most of the songs are about love, either on the rise ("To Protect") or on the way out ("Made For Us").  The album opens with the extremely catchy "Could It Be" and it continues all the way through to the album title's eponymous song as the finale.  Definitely a group worth checking out as they have a sound that recalls some pretty good bands from the past while still managing to sound modern. 

Score: 8.5/10
Songs to Sample:  "Where We Are" and "Made For Us"

New Music from 9/14/2010 - Weeezer, Of Montreal, and Blonde Redhead

NOTE:  Lots of new albums coming out this week so my review of the new Underworld album that came out today appeared in last week's post.

Of Montreal False Priest - I found it hard to believe they had released this many albums (or I'm just in denial of how old I am), but this is Of Montreal's 10th disc since their 1997 debut album.  The good news about this release is that LA-based Grammy-nominated film composer Jon Brion (Magnolia and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) was brought on as a producer for this album.  While I've been familiar with and liked from a distance Of Montreal's music for a while, I am a much bigger Jon Brion fan.  His work on movies like Punch Drunk Love and I Heart Huckabees is some of the prettiest most heartbreaking film composer work today.

The indie-pop band brings some funk to their tenth album release.  Downplayed is the electronica influences they had prominently exhibited in their more recent albums.  Instead, there seems to be an almost Gnarls Barkley feel to some of the songs on the album.  The choruses from songs like "Our Riotous Defects" and "Godly Intersex" sound like something funk master Cee-Lo would give us.  While songs like "Hydra Fancies" just have a funk-tinged sound to them  from beginning to end, even though the vocals are sung normally.  "Coquet Coquette" is the more standard song you would expect from an On Montreal album with its quick-paced drumming and boisterous guitar playing that gets more distortion as the song moves along but with the same indie-pop sensibilities that we expect from the band.  "Like a Tourist" has more of the electronica sensibilities you would find on their more recent albums. 

Don't get me wrong--Of Montreal hasn't abandoned their indie-pop roots and turned into a George Clinton or Tower of Power funk band clone.  There is just a funkiness on this album that wasn't there before on any of their previous releases.  And it works really well with the band, especially with the vocals of Kevin Barnes whose, at times, high falsetto-like singing voice matches well with the funk sound just like Cee-Lo's falsetto-like voice matches well with his music.  While a band like Gnarls Barkley mixes funk with electronic and hip-hop influences, this album of Of Montreal adds some funk to their already electronica-tinged indie-pop sound.  Unfortunately, the second half of the album is inconsistent as if the band didn't trust its new funk-influenced sound on songs like "Casualty of You" and "Famine Affair" which brought down the overall score for the album a half point or so but it's still a very solid effort from the band. 

Score:  8/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Coquet Coquette" and "Like a Tourist"

W

Weezer Hurley - Rivers Cuomo and band mates release their eighth album since their debut self-titled release in 1994.  I assume the album is named after the character from Lost since actor Jorge Garcia's mug graces the cover of the disc although I could not figure out why the album was named after his character.  I was really hoping for a Rivers Cuomo-sung song about the smoke monster or a four-toed statue in the same vein as one their first hits, "Buddy Holly," but no such luck.  Oh well, I won't hold it against the band.

I guess the days of experimenting with their sound on releases like 2008's The Red Album have faded as Weezer gives us an disc of hard modern rock.  Drum machines and synthesizers have been replaced by their more traditional counterparts and the counterpoints they used to create harmonies on their most recent albums are replaced by modern rock principles.  Songs like "Memories" and "Ruling Me" exhibit this return to a more traditional rock sound.  "Trainwrecks" is one of the catchier tunes on the disc and, along with "Unspoken," is one of the few songs on the album that when heard can be instantly recognized as a Weezer song.  "Brave New World" has a very hard rock sound that sounds like a natural evolution of the band's brand of music than songs like "Where's My Sex" which sound like some other band wrote it.  "Time Flies" is a catchy acoustic song although the production choice to distort both the vocals and the instruments is an odd one. 

While this is a return to a heavier rock sound for Weezer, it is not a return to the sound of their early albums.  Instead, it sounds like they are trying to add some Green Day or Airborne Toxic to their style of music.  While this may not be a bad things for a lot of bands, especially to bands just starting, I would have preferred to see a more natural progression to Weezer's sound.  By now, Weezer is a well established band so there is no need for them to borrow styles from other bands.  Just stick to the sound your fans have liked over the years and let that sound evolve naturally. 

Score: 5.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Memories"

Blonde Redhead Penny Sparkle - Blonde Redhead is the three person band of singer Kazu Makino and Italy-born twin brothers Amadeo (guitar) and Simone (drums) Pace.  If you are unfamiliar with Blonde Redhead's sound, I would describe it as somewhere between downtempo electronica and dream pop/psychedelic rock with its prominent (but not heavy or overbearing) backing beats and ethereal sounding vocals and instruments.  Perhaps their most well-known song is "Spring in Summer Fall" from the album 23 because it was used in a couple of television commercials including a heavily aired Pontiac commercial from 2009. 

While it seems like Weezer on their new album is trying to borrow the sound of other bands to update their style of music, Blonde Redhead sticks to the formula that won them their fans in the first place.  Makino's voice sounds even more dreamy on this album and the album itself has a slightly slower tempo than some of their more recent releases.  The disc starts out very well with the catchy "Here Sometimes."  "Not Getting There" is a faster tempo song that counterpoints well with the somber, airy vocals.  "Black Guitar" (not surprisingly given the song's title) has a darker tone with a haunting guitar rhythm. 

Blonde Redhead gives us a very solid album in the musical style that we expect out of the band.   Its the type of music that you'd listen to on a lazy Sunday afternoon or, perhaps, bundled up by a fire on a rainy day.  While the album is good, there aren't any real standout songs on it like on some of their older albums.  This album might even be more mellow than any of their previous releases but the album's haunting rhythms and Makino's ethereal singing prevent this release from feeling boring.

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Here Sometimes" and "Everything Is Wrong"



Also out this week are new discs by The Walkmen, Cloud Cult, Robert Plant, and Superchunk.  Time permitting, I hope to review one or two of these albums this week as well. 

New Music from 9/7/2010 - Underworld, Interpol & Jukebox the Ghost

Interpol Interpol - The New York band returns with its fourth studio album since their 2002 debut, their last album being 2007's Our Love to Admire.  According to recent band interviews I've read, this self-titled disc was created with a greater album concept than their previous releases with songs that connect on a thematic basis.

Interpol's layered sound and moody vocals from their previous albums continue on this album as the band's distinctive brand of music is instantly recognizable, although it has a moodier and darker side to it than previously shown.  "Summer Well" was the song I found to be the most accessible, with its catchy guitar and piano hooks, partially because it was also one of the more uptempo songs.  Tracks like "Try It On" remind me a lot of the stuff from Interpol's previous albums, although there is a somberness that you wouldn't find on those older albums.  One really unique song was "Always Malaise (The Man I Am)," which was especially doleful with subdued instruments, a passive beat, and a choir-like singing.  It showed a level of depth we haven't gotten from an Interpol album before, both in terms of subject matter and song complexity.

Interpol gives us a solid album that doesn't taint their name any but probably won't be a huge commercial success for them either due to the album's heavy feel.  They give a us a much darker and more dour sound than they exhibited before while still managing to sound like the Interpol we've come to expect with it's complex layering of sounds and the distinctive voice of Paul Banks.  The latter half of the album seemed especially melancholy, with drum beats severely toned down and instrumentation kept to a minimum.  It's a darker feel for the band but their distinctive sound is still easily discerned when listening to the album.  It's better than their last album but still not in the same category as their first two releases. 

Score:  7/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Summer Well" and "Always Malaise (The Man I Am)"

Jukebox the Ghost Everything Under the Sun - Jukebox is one of those bands with a pretty rabid following due to its extensive touring and energetic live shows although that has not translated to commercial success as of yet.  While their first album, Let Live and Let Ghosts, wasn't a huge seller, I thought it was one of the better unknown albums from 2008.  If you are unfamiliar with Jukebox the Ghost, I would compare their sound to something in between New Pornographers and Panic! At the Disco, with the energy you might get from a Phoenix album. 

Everything Under the Sun opens with the frenetic and memorable "Schizophrenia" that grabs you by the ear and practically invites you to get caught up in the song's energy.  The hooks are catchy as hell and the frantic singing style matches well with the uptempo feel of the opener.  "Mistletoe" shows a great example of the complex lyrics they can write while still making it sound fetching ("She said, 'I wanted you to know/ I believe in the end out of love/ True love grows and if I’m to be alone/ Then I’ll be alone/ But don’t look at me like another lost soul.'")  They also show off their more melancholy side as well, making keyboards more prominent and reducing the role of the other instruments on songs like "So Let Us Create" and "Carrying."

Overall, this is a fantastic album and the one of the summer's best Pop/Rock releases along with Elsinore's Yes Yes Yes album from August.  Normally when I listen to an album, I feel lucky if I can find two or three good songs on the album that I find enjoyable.  It's rare when you find a whole album that makes you pay attention but that is what this album did.  The songs are very complex and very catchy.  There is also a good range of songs ranging from the heavily pop influenced "Schizophrenia" to the introspective "So Let Us Create" with its softer piano melody and tempered vocals.  Although the album is uneven at times, it never loses your attention and offers up quality tunes from beginning to end.


Score:  9/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Schizophrenia" and "The Stars" but, if you are a fan of pop and rock, just do yourself a favor and download or buy the entire album. 

Underworld Barking - (note: this album gets released next week) The Karl Hyde and Rick Smith duo re-team for their electronic band's eighth release.  On this album, they work with well-known producers/DJs Paul VanDyke and High Contrast, among others.  I should point out that I have been a huge Underworld fan since they first made it big somewhere between the release of their album Second Toughest In The Infants and the release of the Trainspotting soundtrack, which their song "Born Slippy" had a prominent role.  If you ever get the opportunity to see them live, don't hesitate.  They put on one of the best live shows of any electronica bands I've seen and any money you pay for tickets will be well worth it.  With that being said, let's checkout how their new album sounds.

Barking continues the Acid House sound that they helped make popular over 15 years ago.  Singing is kept to a minimum like usual, instead favoring sampled sound bites in lieu of traditional lyrics for about half of the songs ("Scribble" and "Grace" being two noticeable exceptions).  "Between Stars" is reminiscent of the edgier music they gave us on the Dubnobasswithmyheadman album but with a more modern trance beat.  "Diamond Jigsaw" is a real standout with its extremely catchy backing beats and infectious hooks pairing well with the downplayed vocal tracks.  

Overall, this album is very good and is the best thing Underworld has released since Darren Emmerson left the band in the early 2000's.  The beats have a more modern spin than their early releases but the sound is still uniquely Underworld, with its sophisticated layering of vocal and audio tracks to create a complex sound that touches you on multiple levels.  The entire album is good from beginning to end with a well balanced mix and track order, although I did prefer listening to the second half of the album more than the first as I reassessed  songs for this review.  Long time fans of Underworld will be glad to know this album gives a glimpse of some the magic they were able to achieve over a decade ago and new fans to electronic music can use this as an introduction to what good, well-produced Acid House/Psytrance music sounds like. 

Score: 8.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Diamond Jigsaw" and "Between Stars"