Each week I will listen to and review/preview a handful of the more interesting music albums released that week. The genres I will mainly focus on are Rock, Pop, Indie, Hip-Hop, Rap, and Electronic.
Peter Bjorn and John Gimme Some - The Swedish indie rock & pop band that had everyone whistling along to their 2006 hit "Young Folks" release their sixth full-length album. PB&J consists of Peter Morén on guitar and harmonica, Björn Yttling on bass and keyboards, and John Eriksson on drums and percussion--with all three providing vocals on various tracks. This is the first album produced by someone from outside the band (at least two of them, if not all three, are also accomplished producers) so let's find out if bringing in another point of view expands their sound any.
After a somewhat repetitive opening track, the album starts to really get going on the second song, "Dig a Little Deeper," which has a very light tempo and carefree backing vocals to create a fun indie summer pop song. Next is the first single off the album, "Second Chance," which is a more uptempo song featuring prominent electronic guitar riffs and banging cowbell beats in a song telling you to make the most with what you have because you cannot count on a second chance. "Breaker Breaker" is a different kind of song from the band with a punk beat and sped up surfer rock guitar licks that will be one of the more polarizing tracks on the album. "May Seem Macabre" is song with its roots firmly in pop music with a very catchy hook and a generally fun feel despite the potentially ominous title.
Gimme Some has some very good individual tracks although the album as a whole could use more consistency. The songs that have a heavier hard rock feel are less catchy than the ones with a greater pop feel leaving us with a couple of very blasé tracks. Bringing in an outsider to produce the album does open them up to a more broad sound but, at the same time, it also makes them sound more generic with less individuality in the music. It was a good idea to expand their sound to appeal to a more broad audience by bringing in someone else, I just don't think they chose the right person to fully bring their music to another level.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "May Seem Macabre" and "Second Chance" [sample it below]
Broken Bells Meyrin Fields (EP) - The alternative rock band side project of Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) and James Mercer (The Shins) release a four track EP disc. Their self-titled debut album from last year was one of the best releases of the year sparkling with musical gems from beginning to end. Now let's see if they are able to find that spark again on this abbreviated release.
The disc opens with eponymous "Meyrin Fields" which has a fast, trance inspired beat before adding electric guitar and the vocal tracks to create an enchanting and eclectic starter. Mercer's voice seems to emote a greater urgency than anything you would find on a The Shins album and it fits the tempo and style of the songs well. "Windows" starts with a heavy bass refrain then richly layers on angelic sounding backing vocals and catchy guitar work although the song does end abruptly. "An Easy Life" is a slower song with a more lush sound even with though it features relatively heavy distortion both to the instruments and to Mercer's vocals. "Heartless Empire" is the least impressive song on the album sounding like a heavily remixed The Shins song which would still qualify it as an above average track although it pales in comparison to the songs that preceded it.
With this EP, I can't decide if I should be happy that the band gave us another three magical songs or if I should be mad at them for teasing us with such an abbreviated release. In any case, it's definitely worth your money as a download or as a CD purchase with it's mesmerizing alternative electronica/space rock sound that is unique to this duo. The two artists do great work with their original bands (or, in Danger Mouse's case, numerous works as both a musician and a producer) but somehow they manage to create something even more special when they work together. I know this is an EP so I shouldn't complain about its brevity but that's the only thing keeping this release from scoring higher.
Score: 8.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Windows" and "An Easy Life" [sample it below]
Britney Spears Femme Fatale - For better or worse, she's baaaack. Twelve years after she debuted with her Baby One More Time album, the former Mickey Mouse Clubber who turns 30 later this year releases her seventh full-length album. Not normally an artist I would spend time reviewing, for some reason my cousin Richey asked me twice if I would be featuring her album this week. So, for him, let's find out if her new release can live up to what she calls her "best album to date."
The twelve-track disc (plus four more songs not included in this review if you get the Deluxe Version) leads off with "Till the World Ends" which has a fast Euro house beat and Spear's voice altered during production. "Hold It Against Me," the first single off the album, is a quick tempo dance song that has a catchy hook but doesn't have any aspects that one would instantly identify it as a Britney Spears song. "Big Fat Bass" features will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas fame (he's also listed as one of the many producers on the album) which is another song with a Eurotrash dance feel, overproduced vocal track, and inane lyrics like, "I can be the treble/You can be my bass."
In Femme Fatale, Ms. Spears continues to move beyond the pop music that defined her earlier career instead firmly venturing into club ready, European-style dance music that's more akin to a Lady Gaga release. Her vocal tracks go through heavy post-production work on practically every song of the album which becomes a bit over the top and tiring by the halfway mark of the album. Remember when people would argue whose voice was better, hers or Christina Aguilera's? Well, those arguments can long be laid to rest since there isn't a single track that let's Spear's voice be showcased cleanly on this release. There are a couple of tracks that will be club favorites in the near future but the overall album features too much post-production work making the songs sound cookie cutter after a while. The list of producers listed for this album is just ginormous--I've seen movie credits with less names! It just goes to show you that too many chefs do spoil the broth, especially if the broth was questionable to begin with.
Score: 4.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Till the World Ends" [sample it below]
Chris Brown F.A.M.E. - The 21 year old R&B singer is probably better known as the dude that beat up then girlfriend Rihanna the night before the Grammy's in 2009 than for the silky smooth voice he's exhibited since his self-titled debut album at the age of 16. Brown has the same F.A.M.E. acronym tattooed on his arm and he has previously stated it that it stands for "Forgiving All My Enemies" although in some recent interviews he's attributed additional meanings to the four letters. Despite his recent infamy, a number of stars help provide guest vocals on this release like Justin Bieber, Ludacris, Lil Wayne, and Busta Rhymes.
"Deuces" opens the album with a slow tempo melody that allows Brown's vocals take the spotlight although the song does meander once you reach the halfway point. "Look at Me Now," featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, is an odd track with an off-putting ambient electronica backing that makes it impossible to get into the song despite the talent of the guest vocalists. "She Ain't You" is a much better track that has a gentle melody with a catchy hook (albeit, one stolen from a Michael Jackson song) that will definitely be a staple on Top-40 radio stations by the end of spring. "Yeah 3x" is the first single off the album and it will become an instant club favorite with its quick tempo, infectious beat, and an arrangement that seems custom made to be jammed to on the dance floor.
F.A.M.E. is a mostly entertaining release whose bright spots are at times extremely shiny, if not entirely blinding, and whose dark moments weigh down the album without completely overshadowing the good. The albums' best tracks are the ones where Brown can let himself go vocally and where he in unencumbered by sharing the spotlight with other singers. The production work is very competent although a small handful of the tracks, like the closer "Beautiful People," seem over produced obscuring the unique vocal talent Brown has exhibited since he was teenager. The deluxe edition of the album comes with an additional five tracks, including one featuring Timbaland, that I was not able to listen to for this review. F.A.M.E. isn't a perfect album by any means but it is worthwhile addition to any hip-hop collection.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "She Ain't You" [sample it below] and "Yeah 3x"
The Strokes Angles - The Julian Casablancas led five man band from New York City release their fourth album and first since 2006's First Impressions of Earth. The songs for this album were written and recorded over a two year period after they finished the promotional tour for their last album. Casablancas took a more hands-off approach on this album recording his vocals remotely wanting the rest of the band to take greater control of the creative process. Let's see if the change in the creative process affects the music given to us on Angles.
The 10-track album leads off with "Machu Picchu" which begins with funk influenced keyboard and guitar work before adding the more customary feedback laden guitar sound we are accustomed to in a The Strokes song to create a very enjoyable track that employs Casablancas' vocals extremely well. "Under Cover of Darkness" and "Taken for a Fool" are two guitar driven songs with jaunty melodies that are slight nods to the type of songs that were given to us on their first two albums. "Two Kinds of Happiness" is a song that wanders without ever reaching anywhere despite a decent hook and guitar work. "Games" has a slightly different feel for a The Strokes song with a more somber melody and Casablanca's vocals electronically subdued but still prominent for a more complex sounding indie song.
Overall, it's a very good album from The Strokes although it never reaches the genius of their first album Is This It. Like their first two albums, Angles is on the short-side lasting less than 35 minutes in length. Normally this would be something I might complain about but it seems like the band's best work come on abbreviated albums like this one where they can showcase their best ten tracks without bogging down the album with a slew of unnecessary additions. Some of the earlier tracks have a greater Pop feel than anything the band has exhibited before, especially in comparison to their heavier but uniquely distinctive debut album, but the music still sounds undeniably like The Strokes especially on the waning tracks of the disc. This release isn't hurt by Casablancas' reduced role but, by the same token, it also isn't as strong or as impressive as the album could have been with a more sure hand guiding the music.
Score: 8/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Under Cover of Darkness" and "Machu Picchu" [sample it below]
Richard Ashcroft United Nations of Sound - The British singer, songwriter and former frontman of The Verve releases his fourth solo album. This album actually came out in the U.K. last July under the band name RPA & The United Nations of Sound but for its U.S. release it gets listed under the more familiar Richard Ashcroft name. This album peaked at #20 on the UK charts which was considered somewhat of a disappointment considering that his other three solo albums all ranked in the top three at one time or another.
The first single off the album, "Are You Ready?," is the lead track off the album. The song's string intro and it's stripped down melody with a heavy Britrock feel is reminiscent of The Verve and Oasis songs from the 90's, although it's nowhere near as catchy as those two bands at their best, but it at least makes for a credible opener of the album. This song, co-written with Barry Gibb, has already been heavily featured in other media like a current Volkswagen commercial, the closing credits of the Matt Damon film The Investment Bureau, and during the intro to Fox's World Series coverage last Fall. After the fun first song you get three songs that don't come even close to matching it with extremely uninspired melodies, boring vocals, and poor composition. "Beatitudes" then tries to pick up the tempo with an industrial-lite backing beat and more rock-heavy guitar and keyboard work that has a nice buildup but ultimately doesn't go anywhere. Then comes the best track of the album "Good Lovin'" which finally displays the lush, layered and synthesizer driven sound that we came to expect and appreciate from The Verve and Ashcroft's solo releases.
Unfortunately, United Nations of Sound is ultimately a deeply inconsistent and disappointing album. Ashcroft's voice, although never what I would call smooth, seems to be getting gruffer and gruffer with many of the tracks sounding like it's Bob Dylan singing lead. However, the bigger problem with album is very weird decision to forgo the Britpop/electropop sound that has served him so well over the years. Instead we get a mishmash of musical genres like blues, adult contemporary, and even a touch of rockabilly; none of which end up becoming a good piece of music in Ashcroft's usually capable hands. Not every song is horrible but only two are above average which is probably why this album tanked in the U.K. compared to Ashcroft's other solo releases.
Score: 4/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Good Lovin'" [sample it below]
Various ArtistsSucker Punch soundtrack - Sucker Punch is a fantasy-action film from writer and director Zach Snyder (300 and Watchmen) being released this Friday in the U.S. Snyder has described the film starring Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jon Hamm as, "Alice in Wonderland with guns." This nine-track disc has no original songs, instead giving us seven cover songs, one remixed song and one mash-up.
Emily Browning does double duty for the movie by also singing two of the cover songs on the soundtrack. The first is the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," which is also the first song on the album, that is extremely stripped down version compared to the original with a slower tempo and ambient industrial instrumentation (as if Portishead were covering the song). The sole remixed song is Bjork's "Army of Me" which has a heavier industrial rock sound that doesn't really improve the song any. Emiliana Torrini's cover of Jefferson Airplane's classic "White Rabbit" is a high point of the album with a more modern reworking of the melody and Torrini's moody vocals holding up well in comparison to the original. "Search and Destroy" is a modern, distortion heavy punk cover of the Iggy Pop & The Stooges classic by English band Skunk Anansie that isn't able to bring the same level of energy as the original. The last song on the album is a cover of Roxy Music's "Love Is the Drug" by actors Carla Gugino and Oscar Isaac which is a soaring more melodic version that manages to surpass the original on many levels.
Only a few of the songs match the quality and fun found in the originals. However, even for the songs that are inferior versions of the original, that doesn't necessarily make it a bad version of the song especially once you consider that the originals are classics of rock and pop. Most of the cover songs have a skewing towards a more industrial/hard rock sound or are extremely stripped down versions (like Browning's second song, a cover of The Smiths' "Asleep"). The only two songs that completely fail to capture any of the magic of the originals is Alison Mosshart's and Carla Azar's cover of The Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Yoav's cover of the Pixies' classic "Where is my Mind?" which completely gets rid of the feedback heavy guitar riff that completely defines the original. Not a great album of cover songs but the versions are good enough where my interest is piqued to see the movie.
Score: 6.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: Carla Gugino's and Oscar Isaac's "Love Is the Drug" [sample it below] and Emiliana Torrini's "White Rabbit"
4.13.2011 UPDATE: I finally saw Sucker Punch a couple of weeks ago and wanted to provide a quick update on how the music worked in the film. Two songs that I originally panned above definitely worked a lot better on celluloid than just listening to them over headphones. The first is Skunk Anansie's version of "Search and Destroy" which is extremely effectively overlaid during a big battle scene and really heightens the action of the scene. (For those of you that went to Film School with me, the music cleverly starts off as diegetic sound from the beginning of a dance sequence and the song helps segue the movie to an action/fantasy sequence timed to coincide just as the song starts to get cranking.) The other song, and the one I was most surprised by, is Yoav's cover of "Where is my Mind" which really expands on the emotional drama in a really tense scene. I hated the song when I reviewed the album (and still don't love it as a song taken on its own) but I give Zach Snyder credit, he really knows how to incorporate music both in the diegetic and non-diegetic forms to wring out the maximum amount of emotion in each scene. The album's version of "Tomorrow Never Knows" still blows chunks though. After seeing the film, I'd bump the album score up another point to a 7.5/10.
Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes - Sweden's own indie/electropop singer releases her 10-track sophomore album. Like her debut album, this one is produced by Bjorn Yttling of Peter Bjorn and John. Li spent six months in L.A. writing and recording this album creating songs she called in a recent interview "hypnotic, psychotic and more primal." Lykke Li turns 25 this week, so happy birthday Ms. Li. Now let's see how timeless her new album is.
"Youth Knows No Pain" leads off the album with rousing drum and synthesizer work but relatively restrained vocals. It's an interesting and inviting opening track that's part progrock and part electropop. Next up is the jaunty "I Follow Rivers" which was the song most reminiscent of the tracks found on her debut album with its quirky melody and transcendent-sounding vocals. "Unrequited Love" is a slower song with a simple acoustic guitar backing and a country twang melody. "Get Some" is a rollicking track with clever lyrics, an immediately catchy beat and hook, and some subtle but extremely effective vocal work from Li that's reminiscent of Miss Kitten at her best that is a real standout track on first and repeated listens.
In addition to the "hypnotic, psychotic, and... primal" sounding music Li was aiming for, this album is darker and more somber than her quirky and more bouncy first album. The tracks given to us on this release definitely have more depth but that depth comes at the cost of some of the fun that the whimsicality of the first album was able to provide. In many ways, this is a better album than her first with superior production work, more elaborate songwriting, and definite growth over the passing years but I definitely missed the capriciousness she exhibited on her debut album. It's a more competent and complex album but one I ultimately found to be less fun to listen to.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Get Some" [sample it below] and "I Follow Rivers"
Noah & The WhaleLast Night On Earth - The four-person indie folk/chamber pop band from Twickenham, England release their third album. This album was actually released in the U.K. last week but it doesn't drop in the States until today. In the U.K., Last Night On Earth debuted in the #8 spot for BBC Radio's Top 40 Albums chart last week. Let's see if the album is destined to make a big splash in the U.S. as well.
This 10-song album begins with "Life is Life" which I found to be a relatively bland pop song with a generic-sounding melody, boring lead and backing vocals, and stale percussion work. Fortunately the album slowly picks up steam after that. "Tonight's the Kind of Night" is a more lively turn with a more optimistic message and energetic tempo. It's not what I would consider a great song but it is more enjoyable than the opener. Next up is their first single from the album "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." which has a fun, bubblegum pop feel and optimistic lyrics to create an enjoyable summertime song. "Waiting for My Chance to Come" is another song with clever lyrics but a more interesting chamber pop melody that credibly layers both string and keyboard playing.
There are some decent songs on Last Night on Earth with lyrics that are very thoughtful and well written. Unfortunately, most of the melodies that accompany the lyrics don't have the same imagination and seem monotonous or uninspired at times, especially on the tracks that don't feature any keyboard work to help add an extra layer to their music. In many regards it is a better overall album than their 2009 release The First Days of Spring with greater consistency over the entire album its just that there weren't any spectacular songs that make you want to come back and listen to the album more than once. However, the music is very similar in style and feel to the music on their last album so, if you were a fan of that album, you will probably like this album just as much (if not more).
Score: 6/10 Song(s) to Sample: "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." [sample it below]
Oh LandOh Land - The daughter of an opera singer and an organist, Danish musician Nanna Oland Fabricius (aka Oh Land) releases her debut LP in the States. A former dancer of the Royal Swedish Ballet, she turned her attention towards creating music after an unfortunate accident where she ruptured a disk in her spine. She could be most recently be heard as the opening act for OMD on their latest tour and appeared on Letterman two weeks ago.
Oh Land's music is best described as electropop on this 11-track release. It opens with "Perfection" which has a downtempo beat, delicately layered synthesizers and horns, and angelic vocals to create a track that immediately draws you in. "Sun of a Gun" is more fun pop influenced song that starts slowly and builds to a crescendo over the bridge that will have you tapping your toe by the chorus. "Voodoo" has a faster, more uptempo sound with a lot of electronic sounds and loops like a Scissor Sister song but with a more restrained singing style. "White Nights" is another song with its footing firm in pop music that has an extremely catchy hook that instantly attracts your attention even if you are just listening to the album quietly as background music.
Overall, Oh Land is one impressive debut album that never seems to get lost nor feel the need to include any throwaway songs on the extremely concise album. There is a very rich and layered sound prominent over the entire disc both due to the songwriting and the post-production work. A lot of that probably has to do with her production team of Dan Carey (Franz Ferdinand & Hot Chip) and Dave McCracken (Depeche Mode & Beyoncé) who both continue to show they know how to create lush and lavish tracks no matter who they are working with. Oh Land's vocal work is also quite impressive sounding like a mixture of Siouxsie Sioux and Esthero, with a touch of Bjork on a handful of tracks. Truthfully, this release makes me sad that I skipped out on the OMD show when they were in town a few weeks ago because I now know I would have loved to hear Oh Land open for them in-person to see if she can recreate in a live performance the ample amounts of magic evident on this album.
Score: 9.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "White Nights" and "Sun of a Gun" [sample it below]
StarfuckerReptilians - The four-person Indie/Electro-Pop band from Portland, Oregon known to sometimes cross dress for their live performances releases its sophomore album. If you think you are unfamiliar with the band, you might remember this song from their debut album that was featured in a 2009 commercial for Target. Frontman Josh Hodges wrote Reptilians shortly after the passing of his grandmother and, according to a recent interview, the theme for a lot of the songs is about death and the end of the world. Sounds like cheery stuff!
"Born" opens the album with a quick acoustic guitar riff with drums and synthesizers accompaniment shortly thereafter. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a newborn and the song is sung with airy vocals to enhance this perspective with esoteric synthesizer sounds layered to mimic the confusing sounds a newborn would experience in this well crafted track. "Julius" follows with a more standard electropop sound with heavy keyboard work, a catchy hook that is reminiscent of an OMD song, and more conventional vocals. "Reptilians" is slower indie ballad initially with jangly instrumentation and ethereal vocals until the synthesizer gets cranked up and the bass gets going to drive home the message. "The White of Noon" and "Mona Vegas" have a stronger electronic feel with House influenced samples which, when overlain with the slow tempo beats, help create two very haunting and memorable tracks.
Reptilians is a fantastic indie/electro pop album. While their self-titled debut album from 2007 was a very good album, the band shows tremendous growth since that release with more complex song writing, a complete theme for an entire album, and better overall production work. And despite the heavy sounding tone I foreshadowed in the first paragraph, the music is very vibrant and upbeat without much of the dreariness you would expect on an album about death and the end of the world. It's really a testament to Hodges and the other songwriters to be able to turn the bleak subject matter into something dynamic that you will want to listen to repeatedly on good days or bad ones.
Score: 9.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Julius" [sample it below] and "Mona Vegas"
R.E.M. Collapse Into Now - Indie music icons Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, and Mike Mills reunite to release R.E.M.'s fifteenth studio album. This twelve track disc comes exactly 30-years after their first single "Radio Free Europe" was first released and started to get heavy play on lots of college radio stations. Can the band that was so influential to the indie music scene in the 80's and 90's release an album that is still relevant and sounds fresh by today's standards? Let's find out...
"Discoverer" sounds like an old R.E.M. song from the early 90's with heavily distorted guitars, a fast tempo and a catchy hook during the chorus--all buoyed by Stipe's distinctive warbling sounding none the older despite the years. "All The Best" continues the fast pace of the opening with another hard rocking, guitar driven song. "Uberlin" is a real standout song that had me wondering why they weren't recording more songs like this over the past decade with most of the fancy electronic wizardry gone in favor of an acoustic guitar, simple keyboards and a laid back beat to create one of their better songs in ages. "Oh My Heart" is an Irish sounding ballad with lots of various string instruments and a heavier tone as if R.E.M. were covering a Pogues song. The album then becomes very uneven after that with, unfortunately, some extremely forgettable songs mixed in with some pleasing but unspectacular tracks.
By far, this is the best R.E.M. album in over a decade. The first handful of songs are very diverse but all of them have that spark that the band used to magically bring to their albums with such ease. There is also more variety to their track choices with a good mixture of slow-, medium-, and fast-tempo songs and a better blend of electronic/distortion heavy songs and acoustic guitar driven tracks. They will probably never be able to recapture the greatness they once exhibited but it's good to know they can put out a credible album still.
Score: 7.5/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Uberlin" [sample it below] and "All The Best"
Brooklyn Rundfunk OrkestrataThe Hills Are Alive - BRO is an instrumental quartet led by Peter Kiesewalter, founder and arranger of Grammy nominated Opera "revisionists" East Village Opera Company. This is their debut album and it is a high-concept album that re-imagines and rearranges the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music. A plethora of guests singers pitch in to provide the vocals necessary when covering one of the most well-known musicals of all time.
All of the twelve tracks can fall somewhere into one of three categories: 1) a rearrangement of the original usually in a more modern style; 2) a mash-up of the original and a well-known pop or rock song; or 3) shoehorning the original song into many well-known songs. The songs are not in the same order as they are presented in the musical. The opener of this album, "The Sound of Music," incorporates extremely well known guitar riffs from over a dozen popular modern music singles by groups like Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Steve Miller Band probably in an attempt to show how music can leave an indelible impression on its listeners but it ends up being more distracting than clever. That's followed by "Do-Re-Mi/ABC" which unsuccessfully tries to mash-up the original song from the musical with the Jackson 5 hit. However, there are some bright spots in some of the tracks that follow. "Something Good" is rearranged in a Soul/R&B style with sexy vocals and sultry horn work. "My Favorite Things" is arranged in the style of a 90's Broadway rock musical (think part Chess and part Miss Saigon) that oddly works. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is cleverly re-imagined as a hip-hop/R&B song in which the updated version creates a new meaning to the chorus.
The Hills Are Alive is a valiant and ambitious effort that comes off as part oddball and part beautiful. None of the three styles they use to rearrange the songs are genuine successes or complete failures. There are a couple of tracks that are very clever updates and create a different meaning to the lyrics ("Something Good" and "Maria") but a lot also that sound off-putting especially when they're combined with another popular song ("Do-Re-Mi/ABC"). When you mash-up two songs, they must have something in common (or at least a good transitioning point) so when you switch between them it doesn't sound awkward. Otherwise, one song (usually the more popular one) ends up dominating the other with unspectacular results. However, if you liked the recent David Byrne and Fatboy Slim collaboration album about Imelda Marcos (an album I definitely enjoy when I'm in my more eclectic moods), the style of music and the theme of this album will be right up your alley.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Something Good" [sample it below] and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain"
Eisley The Valley - The indie-pop band from Texas currently consisting entirely of members from the DuPree clan (three sisters, one brother and a cousin) release their first album in four years and third album overall. Their last album, Combinations, debuted in the Billboard Top 100 and reached as high as #70 in the U.S. The new disc is their first album release since they left the Warner Bros. record label and signed with Equal Vision Records.
The first song is the eponymous "The Valley" which starts with subtle violin work and Stacy DuPree's silky, alt-sounding vocals before layering on the drums, guitars and backup vocals to create an enchanting, orchestral opening track. (This version of "The Valley" is better and more intricately mixed than the version first heard on the band's EP release, Fire Kite) "Smarter" is a more serious breakup song assigning blame on narcissism and lack of intelligence. "Kind" is a really stripped down song with just piano and violin backing, forgoing the normal instruments like drums and bass you would expect to find in a typical pop song, to create a song with a soothing lullaby-esque quality.
The Valley is an entertaining album that I enjoyed a good deal. It's a better album than Combinations is with more complex songs and better production work. The tracks where Stacey DuPree works the keyboard instead of the guitar have more depth and are some of the better songs on the album ("Oxygen Mask" and "Kind"). Not every track is worth dwelling on but the good definitely outweighs the bad. The decision to leave the Warner music group for a more indie friendly label seems to be the right one--let's just hope it doesn't take them another four years to release their next full album.
Score: 8/10 Song(s) to Sample: "The Valley" and "Kind" [sample it below]
Marsha Ambrosius Late Nights & Early Mornings - Former member of the British R&B duo Floetry, Marsha "The Songstress" Ambrosius releases her debut solo album. Floetry had two pretty well known singles, their 2003 hit "Say Yes" and their 2005 hit "Supastar (ft. Common)," both of which ranked high in the U.S. and U.K. R&B charts. This album is getting released by Sony Music's subdivision J Records who also handles some other currently hot R&B artists like Leona Lewis, D'Angelo, and Jamie Foxx.
A short 90-second intro opens the album where Ambrosius showcases her singing skills with some jazzy piano and classical bass backing. "With You" follows with a Soul heavy track with lots of vocal runs that add a more dramatic feel to the song. The song that it would be a crime for me not to mention it is the awesomely titled, "Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player)." Fortunately, it's actually a pretty decent track with a more upbeat tempo and lyrics about loss and revenge that adeptly straddles the line between cool/funny and ridiculous once you get past the early Kardashian reference. "Sour Times" is an amazing Soul-influenced cover of the 1994 Portishead hit of the same name that is an immediate attention grabber that I instantly fell in love with.
Late Nights & Early Mornings is an impressive solo debut album. Although Ambrosius obviously incorporates some of the things she learned while in Floetry, there is magic that shines through on a handful of tracks over the 13-song album ("Far Away" is another impressive ditty). And the tracks that aren't as magical still generally exhibit enough solid R&B/Soul influence to not seem boring. You can see why J Records signed Ambrosius as her style compliments well with the style of music of the artists mentioned above and she can definitely hold her own in the vocals department. A couple of the songs did seem to blend together though on repeated listens so this album's score did get docked a tiny amount for that.
Score: 7/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Hope She Cheats on You (With a Basketball Player)" [sample it below] and "Sour Times"
INXSOriginal Sin - (Note: This album was released last week but I couldn't get a copy in time to review for last week's post.)Iconic 80's/90's band INXS has "re-imagined" some of their past hits with the help of a ton of guest artists, most of which provide vocals in place of the late former frontman Michael Hutchence (1977-1997). Some of the more famous contributors on this album are Ben Harper, Rob Thomas, Tricky, and Nikka Costa. Although a good number of their early hits are covered on this 12-track disc (plus a bonus song depending on where you order it from), there are a couple of well-known songs that are notably missing like "Suicide Blonde" and "Devil Inside."
Strangely enough the album opens with the only new song, "Drum Opera," which is an acoustic track consisting mostly of a heavy drum beat and synthesizers. From there, a couple of the tracks sound nearly identical to the original versions with usually only the guests' vocals providing any real differentiation ("Meditate (ft. Tricky)" and "Beautiful Girl (ft. Pat Monahan)"). One song, "Original Sin (ft. Rob Thomas & DJ Yaleidas)," has been sped up with a euro-dance beat but it's an enjoyable reworking. Most of the other songs have a slowed down tempo that either skew towards a Blues-y feel ("Just Keep Waling (ft. Dan Sultan)" and "New Sensation (ft. Deborah de Corral)") or towards a more Adult Contemporary feel ("Kick (ft. Nikka Costa)" and "Don't Change (ft. Andrew Farris & Kirk Pengilly)") with mixed results.
Overall, there are a few tracks that are credible and interesting re-imaginings of the originals but most of the versions will have you pining for the original albums. In addition, there are a number of questionable song choices ("The Stairs" from 1991's album X and "To Look at You" from 1983's Shabooh Shoobah--two singles that never even charted in the U.S. or U.K.) especially since the band has a number of hits that aren't re-imagined like the two songs mentioned in the opening paragraph. The album has a certain kitsch value to it but will leave you hungry for the versions you probably owned on cassette or vinyl.
Score: 4/10 Song(s) to Sample: "Original Sin" [sample it below] and "Don't Change"
