Audioholic Media

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 04.13.10
by Joshua Krage

This week is all about voice, from radiant solo artists to large vocal ensembles to six string vocals to the strange voices that can be found from whatever instruments happen to be inhabiting your garage. Wonderful innovations await on this week’s list, look closely:

Amber Pacific

Jeff Beck, Emotion & Commotion – by far the darkest horse of all classic rock guitar heroes, Jeff Beck’s solo album output has been a colourful array of stylistic divergences, not quite eluding mainstream popularity so much as ducking around it, and while his last LP (2003′s Jeff) paired his fretboard wizardry with a dance/electronica palette, this outing matches him up with a 64-piece orchestra and production from ’90s pop maestro Trevor Horn for a different kind of wizardry. Arguably the most inventive and nimble of his six string contemporaries, Beck shelves his jaw-dropping chops here and focuses instead on his amazing sense of phrasing, employing taste and restraint over blistering solos and bombastic beats. Vocal contributions from Imelda May, Joss Stone, and Olivia Safe are tasty, but when a guitarist of Beck’s caliber tackles songs like Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” and the perrennial classic “Over the Rainbow,” you know you’re in for something special.

Jason Castro
Coheed & Cambria
The Contrast
Edguy

Freelance Whales, Weathervanes – wow, the word “experimental” springs up brightly from every track of these independent innovators’ quirky debut album. Recorded with a smorgasbord of fringe instrumentation by a band who had sussed out the songs by playing them live on New York City streets, subways, and in clubs, this is DIY done right, and frontman/mastermind Judah Dadone’s musical vision is a freeing and refreshing breath of creativity into the indie pop scene. You just never know what you’re gonna hear next, but it’s always something unexpected and excellent.

Kaki King
Matt Pond PA
Natalie Merchant

MGMT, Congratulations – I love that “Time to Pretend” song as much as anyone, but I felt the rest of this modern psychedelic duo’s debut was a bit off. That feeling returns abundantly listening to this followup LP, as now I know what happens when a few unfettered creative experimentalists are handed a big budget and a mountain of hallucinogenic expectations. Repeated listens may reveal some true genius here, but all I hear at the moment is art for art’s sake, which makes for fascinating “scholarly study” but rather unrewarding entertainment.

Raul Midon, Synthesis – third LP from a fascinatingly versatile vocalist/guitarist who slides between styles with subtle, hard-earned skill. Got some rock, R&B, samba, jazz, a Beatles cover, and even a little reggae and he pulls them all off like he was born to them. Great singer/songwriter with an amazing voice, worthy of much more merit and attention.

Stanton Moore, Groove Alchemy – I don’t get to hear much jazz these days, but awhile ago somebody dropped me a free mp3 of this drummer and I was floored by his amount of groove and control. This record packs an explosive punch, picking up Moore’s trio with guitarist Will Bernard and organist Robert Butler (who contributes most of the original material) in amazing form. This is the best instrumental jazz record I’ve heard in years, and Stanton Moore possesses more funk and soul than most proper funk and soul bands.

Murs / 9th Wonder
Justin Nozuka, You I Wind Land and Sea – not confirmed, but a listing for new album from the cross-cultural Japanese/American/Canadian R&B crooner/guitarist. From what I’m hearing so far, this followup is leaps and bounds past his debut, with full string arrangements and amazing compositional diversity. And of course he’s singing about love on pretty much every track.

Straight No Chaser, With a Twist – the human voice is by far my favorite instrument, and between these ten guys there’s enough a capella muscle to emulate entire rock bands easily enough — convenient on this album, which takes on the oft-executed idea of modern songs “with a twist.” Songs “twist”ed here include hits by Queen, Beyonce, Coldplay, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and even Barry Manilow, and of course they’re all played out with amazing vocal arrangements which really do sound like full rock band orchestration in many places.

Tears For Fears – rarities
Trampled By Turtles
Steve Vai

That’s all I have time for this week. The sky is falling and I have to run out and catch a piece of it before it’s all gone. See you next week for more tasty tuneage.

—–

To view past reviews, visit our archives.