New Music Reviews - 6/28/2011 - Beyoncé, Thievery Corporation, Rave On Buddy Holly tribute album, Oslo, and Handsome Furs

Beyoncé 4 - Mega-superstar Ms. Knowles comes out with an incredibly unimaginatively named fourth studio album.  I'm not really sure what she's supposed to be wearing on the cover of the album but if I had to guess I'd say that's what Jay-Z likes her to wear on the nights when they role play (and, yeah, I'm not talking about them breaking out the 20-sided dice and rolling Dungeons & Dragons' characters).  Seriously, she looks like a character out of Dune or Conan the Barbarian!!  (A supremely hot character from those works of fiction, but still!)  Let's hope the music leaves a better impression than the album cover.

The 12-track disc opens with the slow tempo but sweet "1 (Plus) 1" about wanting to be loved.  Next is the unrequited love song "I Care" which opens slowly with hand claps but features lush backup vocal harmonies as the song builds that ends up being very enchanting.  "Best Thing I Never Had" is a warm, heartfelt piano-driven ballad that is the first truly immersive track on the disc.  That is followed by the smooth, R&B heavy "Party" which features a cleverly worded guest rap by Andre 3000 from Outkast although the chorus does get overly repetitive.

As the album nears to a close, "I Was Here" is a sweeping ballad with lush orchestration which showcases Beyoncé's ability to warble credible vocal runs well.  Unfortunately the first single (and the last song) from the album, "Run the World (Girls)," fails to tantalize like her past hits.  It has the club ready beat and the requisite techno-lite electronic samples that help provide energy to a lot of good hip-hop releases today but the bland hook and the double dutch-style chorus fail to leave a lasting impression. 

4 does a good job of differentiating itself from recent pop & electronica heavy releases from big name acts like Lady Gaga and Britney by incorporating more personal subject matter to write about although the recent Jill Scott disc is a more fulfilling album overall.  While this ballad-heavy album does shine at times the overall appeal could have been increased by having more upbeat arrangements to add better balance to the disc. 

This release is a lot slower album than I was expecting and it is not Beyoncé's best solo work by any means.  However it is a very sweet and personal album that does touch you on an emotional level.  The less heavy handed ballads are especially charming with the songs about lost love being especially poignant.

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Best Thing I Never Had" [sample it below] and "I Care"

Thievery Corporation Culture of Fear - The DJ duo of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton are back with a brand new studio album!  Their style of electronica would fall into the categories of downtempo, trip hop and dub depending on their mood.  I won't lie, this is one of my all-time favorite electronic acts although it is one of the few acts that I enjoy more on disc than in person.  They're by no means horrible live but their best albums have the magic ability to transport you to another world while their live sets (I've seen them twice, once with both artists and once with just Garza) tend to feature more dance-heavy tunes. 

After the melodic, trip hop-heavy "Web of Deception" opens the album, it really takes off with the second track "Culture of Fear" that features dub backing music over a cleverly worded and performed rap that shows the duo's ability to bridge genres effortlessly so well.  "Light Flares" and "Stargazer" are downtempo jams with the former having angelic vocal harmonies that blend seamlessly with the subdued tune while the latter has dub style vocals and beat that serve as a grounded foundation for the song.  "Tower Seven" is a longer song that manages to carry you to a far away place with its toned-down but still transcendental music. 

Culture of Fear is another outstanding album from Thievery Corporation.  It falls slighlyt short of ranking among their all-time best (for me, that's still Richest Man in Babylon) but they are able to bring us thirteen outstanding new tracks while also managing to recapture their patented, groovy sound that is not afraid to incorporate non-standard instruments for electronica music like a horn section or classical string instruments.  As you would expect, about a third of the songs feature some kind of vocals or rap but the duo manages to blend all the individual tracks together cohesively on the album irregardless if vocals are dominant or not.  This disc is a fantastic, well layered and expertly produced release that you will still be listening to years from now. 

Score:  9/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Culture of Fear" [sample it below], "Tower Seven" and "Is It Over"

Various Artists Rave On Buddy Holly - A huge number of big named, mostly modern music acts get together to pay tribute to the late Rock icon killed in one of the most infamous plane crashes of all-time.  Hopefully you can see the cover to the left so I won't rehash the impressive list of artists on this album but there are 19-tracks in total covered with no artist doing more than one song and no song being covered more than once.  Most of the songs are very solid with arrangements faithful to the original versions.  The tracks that I found to be most impressive are Cee Lo Green's "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care," Fiona Apple & Jon Brion's "Every Day," Kid Rock's "Well... All Right,"and Graham Nash's "Raining in My Heart."  None of the covers are outright horrible either but some definitely lack some of the originality of both the original version and the versions of other Holly songs covered on the album.  My score for the album is below but if you're an under-40 fan of Buddy Holly (of which there's probably not a whole lot of you), you can add an extra point and a half to my score. 

Score: 6.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: Cee Lo's "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" [sample it below] and Graham Nash's "Raining in My Heart"

Oslo High Mountain Sessions Vol. 1 - This EP from California alternative rock band Oslo brings us five previously unreleased songs plus remixed versions of the first two songs from the disc.  This EP is available in digital format beginning today from Amazon and a few other online vendors although I did not see it listed on iTunes yet.  No idea if and/or when a disc or vinyl versions will be released.  After the long and drawn out opener, "Superstar," the release really starts to get going with "Fever" which has a dark melody buoyed by low-key guitar and keyboard work that slowly wins you over.  "Am I Lucky" is a guitar-driven song that again features a heavy atmosphere but the weight of the song never brings it down instead giving it a palpable gravitas.  I know some people have compared the band to The Strokes but I see them as a moodier and darker version of The Bravery with more weight but less catchy hooks and melodies to their songs.

Score: 6/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Fever" and "Am I Lucky"

Handsome Furs Sound Kapital - Handsome Furs is the Canadian indie rock husband and wife duo featuring Wolf Parade frontman Dan Boeckner and his wife Alexei Perry.  The album primarily features quick tempo and high energy indie/alternative rock and pop heavy on drum kit beats, synthesizer/keyboard work and electric guitars. In fact, nearly every song on their third studio album is synthesizer/keyboard driven which gives the release a very unique sound with a stronger but, because of the heavy keyboard work, a more natural new wave slant than I was expecting.  "Memories of the Future" is a fine example of the exemplary keyboard whose style is reminiscent of an early Cars song but at no time does the song sound dated or seem out of place today.  Boeckner's vocal work, one of the many highlights from the now-on-hiatus Wolf Parade's albums, sounds as solid here as with his indie tenor being used very effectively on the pop-style songs.

Score: 7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "When I Get Back" [sample it below] and "Memories of the Future"