Capitol There’s always an underlying current of anxiety when a beloved indie band makes the leap to the majors, particularly one with as precious and precise an aesthetic as practiced by The Decemberists. Rambling, fey epics about forbidden love in the 18th century, Colin Meloy’s bracingly literate pop songs are an anomaly on the modern […]
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Beck-The Information
Interscope Beck’s ridden his muse like a teeter-totter for the last decade’ raunchy and raw, introspective and subdued’ yet the slacker musical fusionary rarely has allowed the two distinct sides of his outsized musical personality to meet until now. “The Information,” assembled piecemeal over the last three years with help from Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, […]
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The Baldwin Brother-Return of the Golden Rhodes
TVT Some will never give The Baldwin Brothers a chance on name alone. It’s their loss, for these Baldwins are not preening, fatuous members of the Hollywood acting dynasty, but a snappy, headstrong Chicago-based duo with a diabolical bent for heady brews of electronic-based jazz-funk. Like their 2002 debut, the long-in-development follow-up “Return of […]
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Scissor Sisters-Ta-Dah
Universal Smashing UK success notwithstanding, it was entirely possible that Scissor Sisters could’ve been nothing more than a pop musical footnote after the New York-based collective scored a pair of minor hits with its discofied cover of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” and “Take Your Mama.” Not that this cheeky lot reinvented the wheel: Jake Shears […]
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The Black Keys-Magic Potion
Nonesuch Rough. Thick. Haunting. Straight from the gut. Authentic, soulful, American blues rock. If these descriptions appeal to you, then you’re gonna love “Magic Potion,” the fourth full album from The Black Keys. It makes me feel good to say that this Ohio-based guitar-and-drums two-piece continues to stand tall as one of the last […]
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Bob Dylan-Modern Times
Columbia The resurrection of Bob Dylan, which began with 1997’s “Time Out of Mind,” continues with the equally masterful “Modern Times.” In true Dylanesque fashion, the album’s title is a bit ironic; its sonicscape of blues, rockabilly and country waltzes isn’t exactly contemporary, but it is timeless. Sounding raspier than ever, the 65″?year”?old Mr. Zimmerman […]
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Alan Jackson-Like Red on a Rose
Arista Nashville So melancholy and introspective as to be almost emotionally monochromatic, Alan Jackson’s brooding “Like Red on a Rose” is an impressive left turn for the neo-traditionalist Nashville veteran, dialing down the sunshine streaking hits like “Chattahoochee” and infusing his evocative baritone with an almost palpable sense of pain. Jackson’s secret weapon? Placing himself […]
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My Morning Jacket-Okonokos
RCA/ATO From the earliest days, shaggy, psychedelic-tinged indie rockers My Morning Jacket have been a band most comfortable in the live-wire environs of concert halls and theaters’ sprawling, dense and often stunningly powerful, front man Jim James and his Kentucky cohorts have staked a claim as one of the best live rock bands currently working […]
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OutKast-Idlewild
Jive “Hey Ya!” was probably the worst thing that could’ve happened to OutKast.The mega-enormo 2003 single catapulted the Atlanta duo’ Andre 3000 and Big Boi’ from avant hip-hopsters creating intense masterpieces to a mainstream pop act; in short, a pair of artists once comfortably under the radar were now undone by their own ambitious achievement. […]
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Thee Emergency-Can You Dig It?
Blue Disguise If high-octane garage rock mixed with R&B is your thing, Seattle’s Thee Emergency is a must-hear band. Unlike many post-punk bands, Thee Emergency’s latest, “Can You Dig It?,” is not filled with lyrically lacking tripe set to crunching guitars and infectious hooks. To be certain, the band knows how to rock out, […]