New Music Reviews - 12/6/2011 - The Roots, The Black Keys, T-Pain, and Mwahaha

The Roots Undun - The prolific and constantly working ?uestlove, Black Thought plus the rest of the Legendary Roots Crew find time to record their tenth studio album.  Unlike their album from last year with John Legend which featured new covers of soul and funk songs from the 60's and 70's, the band returns to its roots (no pun intended) with hard biting raps and modern R&B jams.  Unlike any of their previous albums, Undun is a concept album about the fictional life of a character named Redford Stephens, a kid from Philadelphia who becomes a part of the drug trade until his untimely death. 

The album opens with the short instrumental "Dun" (which, I don't think, is named in honor of me) before ceding way to "Sleep,"a well named track with a drowsy feel that makes for a slow but beguiling beginning to the album. The album starts to really take off at the third track, "One Time,"and continues with a constant stream of relevant and creative tracks until the end of the album where the band seems to lose its direction to a small degree on the last two tracks.  However, the album is crafted to such a precise degree that you are totally engrossed with every sound that proceeds that point that the weak ending is totally forgivable.  The biggest highlights  in that uninterrupted stream of goodness are the tracks "The Other Side" and "Lighthouse."

For a band that has already created some top notch albums over their career (Phrenology and Things Fall Apart coming to mind immediately), The Roots may have topped them all with Undun.  It is a beautifully imagined story being told by true masters of the hip-hop genre that prove, if their prolific releases hadn't already done so in the past, the band does more than just make music--they create works of art on a grand scale.

?uestlove again acts as the primary producer for the album and his vision is wonderfully portrayed in both the album layout and track choices in a disc that flows so smoothly from song to song.  Easily a late candidate for best album release of the year, Undun is an album that is not be missed.  Do yourself a favor and pick it up ASAP and pick one up for hip-hop loving relatives as well as it will be the only present from Santa this year that people will still be appreciating years later.

Score: 10/10
Song(s) to Sample: "One Time", "The Other Side" [sample it below] and "Lighthouse"

Mwahaha Mwhaha - Mwahaha is a four person electronic rock band from Oakland, CA and this self-titled release is their debut full-length album.  The band incorporates mellow, downtempo melodies buoyed by real drums and bass to create a sound that is on the more raw side of bands like LCD Soundsystem or TV On The Radio.  They are able to blend discordant sounds and instruments on tracks like "Rainbow Diamond" and somehow make coherent harmonies out of them.  It's a real testament to their experimental nature and how beauty can be created out of seemingly nothing.  Unfortunately, not every track showcases this ability as well as the first couple of songs as the album goes off the rails a bit in the second half.  While the release as a whole can definitely use some some additional polish, as a debut album, their ability to blend sounds to create credible songs is what I am most impressed with.

Score: 6/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Rainbow Diamond" and "Love"

T-Pain rEVOLVEr - Faheem Najm, better known by his stage name T-Pain, releases his fourth studio album.  Given the number of songs he's provided vocals for on other artist's records over the past couple of years, it's not surprising this album lists a great number of hip-hop artists lending a hand.  Most prominent are Lil' Wayne, Chris Brown, Lily Allen, Pitbull and Ne-Yo who each provide backup vocals or guest raps on individual tracks.  While I was definitely expecting the club-ready jams that can be found on this disc, the real eye openers were the slower songs like the melodic "Default Picture" and the simple but catchy "Mix'd Girl" which create added depth on the album as a whole.  As far as the club-ready songs, "It's Not You, It's Me (ft. Pitbull)" and "Turn All The Lights On (ft. Ne-Yo)" will not disappoint.  Not every track is a winner but the quality stays relatively consistent over the entire disc.  T-Pain won't win over any new fans with this release but his existing fans will find a lot to to fall in love with on rEVOLVEr.

Score: 7.5/10
Song(s) to Sample: "It's Not You, It's Me" [sample it below] and "Default Picture"

The Black Keys El Camino - The Grammy-winning, blues-rock duo from Akron, Ohio fresh off their performance on SNL this past weekend release their seventh studio album.  Once again the two main members (Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney) are able to create a lush album whose songs traverse from guitar licks reminiscent of the best from the classic era of Rock n' Roll to a more modern, blues-rock amalgamation with apparent ease.  Although the blues aspect of their music is slightly toned down in comparison to their 2010 release, Brothers, and their albums that preceded it; its influences are still present on many of the band's tracks and that sound is only enhanced by the fast tempo guitar riffs that are prevalent on this album. In terms of pure enjoyment and in terms of keeping their feet to the pedal, El Camino ranks up there with their all time best, 2004's Rubber Factory.  A great followup disc for a band that only last year won the Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. 

Score: 9/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Lonely Boy" [sample it below], "Little Black Submarines" and "Run Right Back"

New Music Reviews - 11/15/2011 - John Lennon Tribute album, Betty Wright & The Roots, and The Color Bars

Various Artists  The 30th Annual John Lennon Tribute - This tribute to one of the Beatles was recorded live at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.  The songs given to us mostly cover Lennon's solo career but there are a few ditties from his Beatles years as well.  Some of the wide array of artists lending their talents to this album include The Kennedys, Keb' Mo', Joan Osborne, Patti Smith, and Aimee Mann.  There are fifteen tracks in total with no song and no artist being represented more than once.

The album opens well with strong and mostly faithful versions of "Power to the People" and "And Your Bird Can Sing" by Rich Pagano and The Kennedys, respectively.  Unfortunately what follows is a forgettable version of "God" by Meshell Ngedeocello and a slow and stripped down version of "Help!" by Alejandro Escovedo that loses both the fun and desperation of the original.  The tracks that really stood apart in a positive way are the slightly blues-y "Watching The Wheels" by Taj Mahal & Vusi Mahlaseli, Keb' Mo's synthesizer heavy and deeply sentimental "In My Life", Bettye LaVette's gospel interpretation of "The Word", and Aimee Mann's faithful cover of "Jealous Guy". 

Overall, it's an above average tribute album especially given that all the tracks were recorded from live performances.  There are a couple of covers that don't work well because of the funky arrangements by the covering artists but there's more good than bad to be found on the disc as a whole.  In fact, after an inconsistent start to the album, it really finds its legs by the middle of the album offering one delectable cover after another by the middle of the disc beginning with Joan Osborne's Hey Bulldog through Jackson Browne's You've Got To Hide Your Love Away before losing its way again, although to a lesser degree, towards the end of the album.  Those seven tracks in the middle are worth the price of admission, are a real treat to fans of John Lennon, and make a fine tribute to the man himself. 

Score: 8/10
Song(s) to Sample: Aimee Mann's "Jealous Guy" [sample a short recording from the concert below] and Bettye LaVette's "The Word"

Betty Wright and The Roots Betty Wright: The Movie - Betty Wright is the Grammy winning Soul/R&B singer and songwriter best known for her hits from the 70's, "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is The Night", so don't confuse her with former Golden Girl Betty White like a friend of mine did!  ("Betty White is singing on an album with The Roots???  How cool!"  Uh, no.)  On this release the classic Soul diva teams up with modern hip-hop legends The Roots to give us a disc of new songs with funky throwback melodies behind Wright's soulful warbling.  The Roots once again does its job wringing out as much as they can from the simplified throwback melodies and Wright's vocals still sound good.  Wright also gets a handful of great guest vocalists to assist on individual tracks like Snoop Dogg, Lil' Wayne, and Joss Stone.  The thing that prevents this album from being a classic is the songwriting in general is nothing special with many credible jams on the album but no standout singles to attract casual listeners to the release.  Fans of Wright and of soul music in general won't regret picking up this album but it won't be a crossover hit for Wright, unfortunately.  Still, for an artist that hasn't released a solo album in about a decade, it's a decent album that will mainly appeal to her fans from times past.

Score: 7/10
Song(s) to Sample: "Real Woman (ft. Snoop Dogg)" and "Baby Come Back (ft. Lenny Williams)"

The Color Bars Prosopopoeia - The Color Bars is a quirky indie pop band from Brooklyn, NY.  How quirky are they?  Well, according to their bio on MySpace, the band began "as three mildly autistic doorknobs with nothing but a swimming pool full of pureed television sets and a petri dish full of bone cells from the spine of Joseph Stalin."  Okie-dokey then.  Their music features primarily guitar and synthesizer driven melodies with a male lead singer although some of the songs feature both male and female leads/vocal harmonies.  Prosopopoeia is a smart and sweet album in the vein of Matt & Kim and Apples in Stereo that I enjoyed a great deal from beginning to end.  The first single off the album, "Mustached Messiah", is a keyboard heavy song with a clever hook and cleverly worded lyrics that should find radio airplay hopefully in the near future.  While songs like "TripleSSS" show a funkier side with jive-heavy synthesizer work and disco era vocals.  It's a high quality album in a fun, jaunty indie pop style wherein the band smartly incorporates various indie genres to create an album that never seems tired or overly derivative of another band.  

Score: 9/10
Song(s) to Sample:  "Mustached Messiah", "TripleSSS", and "Mendax Cries Fowl"

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"