Pop
Stephen Carradini
Some reissues are chock-full of new bits that entice hardcore fans to go out and buy beloved albums again. Columbia’s reissues of Paul Simon’s first three albums do not fall in that category.
Friday 24 May
OKG Newsletter
Topic: CD review
Paul Simon — Paul Simon / There Goes Rhymin’ Simon / Still Crazy After All These Years / In Concert: Live Rhymin’
Only one of the four is a true reissue; but c'mon...it's Paul Simon
Pop
Stephen Carradini
Some reissues are chock-full of new bits that entice hardcore fans to go out and buy beloved albums again. Columbia’s reissues of Paul Simon’s first three albums do not fall in that category.
Sundress — Sundress EP
Nearby rockers dream big.
Rock
Matt Carney
Do you ever listen to Beach House and think, “I’d really like this a lot more if the guitars weren’t so passive.” If so, Denton, Texas, rockers Sundress might just be your new band du jour.
Superchunk – Foolish
A well-deserving ’90s indie classic gets a timely re-release.
Indie
Matt Carney
A few weeks ago I negatively reviewed the packaging of a pair of reissues from Experience Hendrix LLC. Note that I enjoyed the albums’ actual sonic contents, which definitely proved themselves to be two of the best Hendrix documents on the (flooded) market.
The Weeknd — Thursday
Damaged and menacing, The Weeknd continue to push R&B to its scariest limits.
Hip Hop/Rap
Matt Carney
I was finishing up college when the then-more-mysterious R&B project The Weeknd dropped their first mixtape, “House of Balloons,” for free online. Unfortunately for 21-year-old Canadian Abel Tesfaye (who’s credited as singer and songwriter) not enough has changed in that time to warrant increased praise for “Thursday,” although that’s not to say he’s produced (with the help of veteran Doc McKinney and the also-mysterious Illangelo) a bad album.
Red Hot Chili Peppers — I'm with You
Rock
Kelley Chambers
For some of us, “I'm With You
,” the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 10th studio
album, is a long-awaited and welcome project that very likely could
never have happened. To others, it didn’t need to happen, and is simply
more of the same from a group that should have hung things up 10 years
ago and spent their time preening courtside at L.A. Lakers games and
basking in their own fame.
St. Vincent — Strange Mercy
Born Tulsan, Annie Clark’s third record is alluring and fearless.
Indie
Matt Carney
Right away, “Chloe in the Afternoon,” the first track on St. Vincent’s new album, distinguishes itself as superior to both the band’s previous LPs, 2007’s “Marry Me” and 2009’s “Actor.”
Various Artists — The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams
Thank goodness these songs ‘Saw the Light’ of day.
Country
Matt Carney
As if the man born Hiram King Williams’ influence on country music (and all subsequently affected genres, particularly rock ’n’ roll) wasn’t already completely obvious and seminal, the long-dead crooner had to go and scribble a bunch more terrific songs about heartbreak and loneliness into his diary, just to remind us of his ownership of the subject matter even generations after he died.
Los Campesinos! — Hello Sadness
Don’t be sad, indie kids: Los Campesinos! will cheer you up with their most dramatic, mature album yet.
Indie
Matt Carney
While their fourth LP in as many years doesn’t peak quite as high as their 2008 debut, “Hold On Now, Youngster ...” (which was hallmarked by an absolute crusher of an indie-pop single in “You! Me! Dancing!”), Los Campesinos! have crafted another terrific record in “Hello Sadness,” a compelling, aggressive, twee listen.
Big Fresh — Moneychasers
This unconventional genre-swapper will delight fans of complexity, confuse proponents of a sonic status quo.
Eclectic
Jonathan Davis
If a capella; catchy, ska-infused choruses; or an intro bit that wouldn't be out of place in “Shaft” interest you, give Big Fresh a chance.
