Album Reviews
»Album Reviews For Release Date: 03.02.10
by Joshua Krage
Not an Olympic-sized week on the new music front, but at least we’ve got variety, from pianos to synths to white rabbits, mad hatters and monkeys. Read on and find out how far down the rabbit hole goes…
Athlete
A Weather
Citizen Cope
Jamie Cullum, The Pursuit – already out in the UK for a while now, the pint-sized piano crooner plays mostly originals on this LP, but keeps his edgy rock side in check in favor of more mellow, contemporary fare with smooth melodies trumping sharp rhythms and nary a guitar in sight. Still plenty of subtle electronic layering here, making his comfortable adult pop that much more modern, and adding just enough color to keep him out of Jason Mraz territory.
Jason Derulo
Raheem DeVaughn
DJ Khaled
Jamie Foxx
Danny Gokey
Groove Armada
John Hiatt
Jaguar Love
Shooter Jennings
Lifehouse, Smoke & Mirrors – nothing earth-shattering on this fifth LP from these radio-friendly alt.contemporary rockers. Jason Wade still has a decent stack of sticky hooks and big, bright choruses for his throaty post-grunge tenor to wrap around, and solid, by-the-numbers production and co-writing from Jude Cole adds some dependable thickness. Some bonuses here are a tune penned by AmIdol rocker Chris Daughtry, a collab with “Let It Rock” mini-star Kevin Rudolf, and [gasp] some tasteful guitar solos.
Little Boots, Hands – she’s been a fixture on indie blogs, had her lighter stuff featured on lingerie commercials, and has almost worn out her debut album across the pond, so perhaps it’s a strategy to keep the hype going that electro-pop siren Victoria Hesketh finally gets this LP out stateside, almost nine months after releasing it in the UK. If you’ve managed to miss it, her material is a bold, glossy amalgamation of dance floor groove and electronic synth action, in good company with La Roux or Lady GaGa, with whom she shares strong vocal hooks and melodies. While not incredibly distinctive or groundbreaking, her sound is highly, highly danceable and some of these tracks will likely stay lodged in your head for days, getting us all to shake our own little boots around the house a bit.
OST – Alice In Wonderland
OST – Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey – featuring a bunch of decent Carbon Leaf songs, plus title track by Sacramento folk jam-rocker Jackie Greene.
Rogue Wave
The Ruby Suns
Blake Shelton
These New Puritans
Various Artists, Almost Alice – a bevy of major-tier mainstream pop/rock artists singing songs “inspired by” Disney’s new Alice In Wonderland film, which is both as good and as bad as it sounds. Alongside the requisite boldfaced radio rock from kid favorites like Metro Station, Owl City and All Time Low, some highlights include a mesmerizing “Lobster Quadrille” from Franz Ferdinand, a surprise visit from Robert Smith, a not-bad Mark Hoppus/Pete Wentz collab, two appearances from well-suited Estonian electro-popper Kerli, and a killer take on Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. All-in-all a very suitable affair, once you get past the Top40 sheen of it all.
Josiah Wolf (of WHY?)
I’m as surprised as anyone at the quality of some of those “inspired by” Alice In Wonderland tunes, so if you check out anything this week, you’ll likely find at least one track on there that’s worth your fancy, especially of you’re an Alice fan. For the rest of you, next week will knock it out of the park on the indie front. See you then, see you there.
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