New Music Reviews - 8/23/2011 - Muppets: The Green Album, Zee Avi, CSS, and Ganglians

Various Artists Muppets: The Green Album - I admit I grew up at just the right time where the Muppets were ingrained in my psyche at an early age and they've never really left.  That wacky The Muppet Show was regular weekend viewing in my household and I loved their offbeat humor as they taught life lessons, the humor that can be found mocking pop culture, and (perhaps most importantly) an introduction to the wide range of musical guests that appeared on the show.  Similar to the recent Nightmare Revisited release in which modern rock and pop acts re-imagined songs from a Disney property (The Nightmare Before Christmas, of course), this release takes popular songs from the Muppets catalog and hands them over to bands like Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Sondre Lerche, and OK Go. 

In all, there are twelve songs covered by twelve different artists with songs that were originally from both the TV show and the Muppet movies.  Leading off is OK Go's trippy version of "The Muppet Show Theme Song" which is a good introduction as it presents the familiar tune but in a manner that's been transformed for more modern audiences without losing the feel of the original.  Next up is a touching, mostly faithful version of "Rainbow Connection" by Weezer with a singing assist from Paramore's Haylee Williams that instantly took me back to my youth with Cuomo's and Williams' subdued but poignant vocal tracks.

Alkaline Trio's version of "Moving Right Along" from The Muppet Movie  has a sped up, punk-lite tempo that really fits the song well without sacrificing the super catchy piano hook from the original.  Sondre Lerche's interpretation of "Mr. Bassman" from one of the episodes (originally sung by Scooter with Floyd from the Electric Mayhem Band) is an amusing and jangly version that manages to bring about the same amount of enjoyment in a song you'd have to be a diehard to remember.  The album closes with a sweet and mellow version of "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" by Rachael Yamagata, a little remembered song from The Muppet Movie that still packs quite an emotional punch. 

Muppets: The Green Album is a fantastic album that is much more enjoyable than the two most recent re-imagining of Disney properties, the aforementioned Nightmare Revisited and the more recent Almost Alice.  The album is appropriate for kids of all ages although some familiarity with the source material will help but that is not a requirement to enjoy this release.  Unfortunately, there are a few duds that prevents this album from achieving a higher score (Andrew Bird's disappointing "Bein' Green" and Brandan Sallar's uninspired "Night Life") but they don't take away from the overall enjoyment to be found on this release.

Score: 8.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: Weezer's "Rainbow Connection" featuring Haylee Williams, Alkaline Trio's "Movin' Right Along" and Sondre Lerche's "Mr. Bassman"

Zee Avi Ghostbird - Zee Avi is a Malaysian singer/songwriter known for her angelic voice and her frequent use of ukelele in her songs.  She was originally discovered off of YouTube when she posted a performance for a friend who couldn't make her live show and was eventually signed to Brushfire Records, a company partially owned by Jack Johnson.  This release, her second studio album, features more treacly sweet folk pop music usually backed by simple, acoustic guitar melodies that allows her airy vocals to shine.  It all has a very French lounge music feel to it.  The real standout track from the album is her already released first single, "The Book of Morris Johnson," which has the most lush harmonies of any song from the album and delectable vocals, similar in style to a slow tempo Emiliana Torrini song.  Unfortunately the rest of the album struggles to reach that same level of complexity but there is something subtly enduring, although not totally engaging, about the album as a whole.

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "The Book of Morris Johnson" [sample it below] and "Madness"

CSS La Liberacion - Fresh off their U.S. tour with Sleigh Bells, the female fronted band from Sao Paulo, Brazil put out their third studio album.  CSS stands for Cansei de Ser Sexy which, if your Portuguese is as poor as mine, translates to "got tired of being sexy." Well, who can't relate with that sentiment?  This album brings 11-tracks of their brand of New Rave music, which is basically a cop-out genre for many styles of indie and electronica music fused together.  The beats are generally very infectious although there doesn't seem to be much growth from their previous releases.  That being said, it's very easy to digest music with some really catchy hooks thrown in that will appeal to long time and new fans alike.  The album as a whole has a very upbeat vibe with clever lyrics (at least the ones not in Portuguese are) which translates to a fun summer release.

Score: 7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Partners in Crime" and "Hits Me Like a Rock"  [sample it below]

Ganglians Still Living - This four person alternative rock band from my hometown Sacramento, CA releases an album of lo-fi garage music.  This 12-track disc features a raw, almost live-sounding, vibe to their music that is made more poignant by the spooky and airy electric guitar work.  The vocals remind me of an Ezra Koenig (from Vampire Weekend) trying to sing like Win Butler (of Arcade Fire).  Unfortunately, the song construction on the album isn't as nuanced as either of the bands mentioned above.  There's a lot of potential on the album with the excellent and beguiling guitar work but the overall result, especially in terms of song construction, falls short of achieving greatness.  Let's just say they're not quite at the level of Sacramento's most famous bands like Cake, !!!, and the Deftones yet but the potential is there to reach those heights.

Score: 5.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Evil Weave" [sample it below - sorry, the video has been pulled]