Audioholic Media

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 03.09.10
by Joshua Krage

Experimentation is the key word for this week’s cream of the crop, from producers known for flipping conventional ideas on their ear, to mainstream savants with a jones for genre-splicing, to established artists finding renewed rock-and-roll vigor, to newly unearthed material from one of music’s most incendiary innovators. If you don’t find something to rock your world from this week’s new releases, you’re not listening hard enough:

Gary Allan

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo – the Black Rebel Mary Chain are still running strong and loose after temperamental timekeeper Nick Jago’s departure, revving up their sprawling, shoegaze melodies into high gear with former Raveonettes drummer Leah Shapiro manning the kit and Peter Hayes’ shadowy guitar drones and vocals painting echoes all over the grimy, back alley feel that they do best. Thankfully less electronic than their previous LP, the fuzz is back in full force, packing serious muscle and dangerous vibes all around.

Miguel Bose
Sarah Brightman

Broken Bells, Broken Bells – guerrilla-ish collab between The Shins’ James Mercer and Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton, this project seemingly came out of nowhere and neither party holds back on the experimentation. Danger Mouse has kind of settled on a sound over his last few productions and I call it “Modern Throwback”: a stripped-down retro vibe (particularly favoring vintage keyboards and organs) with twitchy electronic flourishes filling in the corners. Of course James Mercer has a sound too, but he melds his psychedelically cryptic songsmithing seamlessly with Burton’s kitsch/classic sound to create some interesting tracks here, going a bit off the rails at times but overall ending up memorable enough. I get the feeling this is a record which will reveal itself through further listening…

Enrique Bunbury

The Chieftains/Ry Cooder, San Patricio – this vanguard of both popular and traditional Irish music always pushes boundaries and ropes in the best collaborators (such as Lila Downs, Linda Ronstadt, Los Tigres Del Norte and more on this go-round), and with Ry Cooder on board you know quality is guaranteed. The new LP is a rather fascinating musical recounting of a rogue band of Irish soldiers during 1846 in the Mexican/American War, with astonishing historical depth and deft story delivery, building a surprising bridge between Mexican and Irish history and doing so through some solid songs.

Jason Collett
Dark Tranquility
Demon Hunter
Frightened Rabbit

Gorillaz, Plastic Beach – Four to five years between albums is a long wait, but when the results are as consistently amazing as the material served up by this “virtual supergroup,” it’s well worth it. Damon Albarn once again outdoes all previous efforts by employing a clever mish-mash of hip-hop, symphonia, electronic dub layers, and genius guest-spots from the likes of Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, the Clash’s Mick Jones and Paul Simonon, and electro-soul group Little Dragon, among many others. Expert orchestration (of beats as well as a variety of world-savvy ensembles) accompanies a bevy of eclectic melodies and conceptual wandering. It’s a strange assemblage, but it’s executed so well it rises well above reproach. Easily the best thing out so far this year.

Ben Harper & Relentless7, Live from Montreal International – if you’re a Ben Harper fan, you’ve already heard at least a couple of his live albums, but this entry into that category is an entirely different beast, as Relentless7 is an entirely different backing band than his usual Innocent Criminal collaborators. This is basically a capsule from their tour behind last year’s stellar White Lies For Dark Times LP, and Harper is as reinvigorated on stage (and more, on most tracks) as he is on that record. Unassailable rock vibes permeate these performances, and the electricity is palpable. This is a must for fans of Ben Harper, and if you want to hear a near-perfect example of artist/band interaction, check their interplay for a mastercourse. Really, really good.

Jimi Hendrix, Valleys of Neptune – released in conjunction with Sony Legacy reissues of earlier albums all featuring DVD “mini-documentary” accompaniment, this is a newly unearthed set of recordings and alternate studio takes of some tracks which have only been commercially available on live and bootleg releases up to this point. Recorded with his Experience rhythm section of Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell soon after his benchmark Electric Ladyland double LP, Hendrix uses many of the same production and recording tricks on these tracks as he does on that album, and his guitar playing is equal here to some of his best work, particularly in the rhythm/lead of “Hear My Train A Comin’” and his blistering instrumental sprint through Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.” Some of the alternates offer interesting divergences from their original, well-known versions as well, such as the slower pace of “Red House” and the different back-up vocal on “Fire,” but it really comes down to the guitar playing (of course), and Jimi Hendrix has never been equaled, so this album is all treasure for your six-string pleasure.

jj, jj nº3 – a fascinating and soothing convergence of indie pop savvy, electronic rhythms, and floating, breathy vocals. Danceable in a Postal Service sort of way, but more likely to console heartbroken pre-teen pre-scenesters in their bedrooms than to get their honeys dancing at the school prom. Oddly mature, mellow and very well put-together.

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
Liars
Ludacris
Mr. Big – Back to Budokan (live)
Smokie Norful
Passion
Pavement – best of
Josh Rouse
Sanctus Real
Savath y Savalas
Stellar Kart
Serj Tankian

Titus Andronicus, The Monitor – this band made many critics’ best-of lists last year with their debut (which was actually from 2008), and this followup full-length certainly delivers on the ambitious punk rock promise of that album. Clocking in at over an hour and with many tracks passing the seven-minute mark, this is a scholarly and scathing statement of anti-authority and non-conformity, told through some solid instrumental showmanship and a heaping dose of acidic wit. Kind of long to be called punk, kind of rough-edged to be called indie, this entry ends up being a rare middle-ground between the two.

Violent Soho
White Hinterland
ZeroDB – rarities

Yeah baby, you’ve got Danger Mouse, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Ben Harper, Jimi Hendrix, Irish experimental folk rockers, modern shoegaze icons… all that’s missing from this week is a Muppet album and maybe somebody from Iceland or something. Enjoy the variety, not sure next week can top what’s on this list (or next month, or all year, for that matter). Until next time, listen well.

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