Audioholic Media

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 08.25.09
by Joshua Krage

Before I even get into the albums releasing this week (and there are a LOT of them), let’s discuss this Tuesday’s most important news item by far: the first single from the soundtrack to Spike Jonze’s new take on Where the Wild Things Are!!!1! It’s called “All is Love,” from the score by Karen O and “the Kids,” and it glows with the same giddy magic which made the book so special to so many of us. If the movie does half as good a job capturing the story’s imaginative essence as this song does, it’s gonna be unforgettable. OK, onto the rest of the musicalmagic:

All Leather

Arctic Monkeys, Humbug – these Sheffield blokes always came off like carbon copies of Franz Ferdinand filtered through a bit of the Madchester scene, so I can’t say I’m a fan, but on LP #3 they team with Josh Homme and sludge it up a bit, ending up less radio friendly but much darker, edgier and heavier. Not so danceable this time around, but definitely more mature as a band. Overall, a solid progression but maybe not so solid a product, this album…

Awaken Demons
Beastie Boys – Hello Nasty reissue
George Benson
Blitzen Trapper
Bloody Beetroots
Brian Bromberg

The Bronx, Mariachi El Bronx – ethically sound Los Angeles punks take their hardcore roots and make… a mariachi record. These guys have cojones the size of coconuts, but they make it work surprisingly well.

Tim Buckley – Live at the Folklore Center, NYC: March 6th, 1967
Colbie Caillat
The Casualties
Cheap Trick – Sgt. Pepper live
Collective Soul

Felix Da Housecat, He Was King – indie underground dance maestro gets Euro through his Prince filter, filling up his new LP with fuzzy rave synths and pre-party processed beats and getting all sorts of grindage out on the dancefloor.

Bela Fleck – triple concerto w/ Zakir Hussein and Edgar Meyer

fun., Aim & Ignite – former Format frontman Nate Ruess’ new project is aptly named, as this is an album full of colorful, light-hearted pop with limitless ambition and monumental grandeur. Shades of vintage Queen (and maybe even Styx?)-level orchestration pepper these ten tracks, with Ruess’ amazingly versatile tenor leading the menagerie like a seasoned drum major. This is your circus tent-sized uplift for the decade.

Robert Glasper
David Guetta
Hurricane Chris

Imogen Heap, Ellipse – this immensely-talented and electronic-savvy singer-songwriter has no end of tricks up her considerably quirky and fashionable sleeves. For you who jumped on her fanwagon with 2005′s Speak For Yourself, satisfaction will come easily, as the subtly soaring orchestrations and majestic vocal flourishes abound and her lyrics hold up to literary scrutiny, full of elegant longing and deceptively droll confessionals. For my money, however, the pure gold on this album is in the inventive arrangements — of which Imogen Heap has plenty — calling upon her classical piano training and programming virtuosity. Many of these tracks will no doubt be amazing in concert with her live looping skills and keyboard wizardry. The layers just keep on coming, making this third LP an absolute triumph and absolutely worth the wait and the investment.

Matt Hires
Jack Ingram
Jet
Kittie, Daisy & Lewis

Leeland, Love Is On the Move – one of the most accessible crossover CCM alt.rock bands to ever hit the radio waves keeps the quality on high with their third full length, cementing their soaring sound and surpassing any Keane or Switchfoot comparisons easily.

LeToya
Lil’ Ru
Love and Theft

Matisyahu, Light – infectious reggae/rock/hip-hop hybrids have never been this kosher. Proper album number three finds the roots rabbi versatile as ever, flowing between his rapid rhyme, beatbox, and shouted-verse skills with ease, and gelling with his able band to pull out hook after hook of uplifting chorus and breakbeat breakdowns. Divine invention through and through, this man was placed on the earth for a purpose, and that purpose is to make barrier-breaking music, which is achieved with remarkable quality yet again here.

David Mead
Mew

Ingrid Michaelson, Everybody – this quirky underdog singer-songwriter has slowly, quietly risen to just within mainstream awareness, and her new album has its sights set squarely on making a big impression (fitting with her album title — she’s trying to reach “everybody”). Her writing is ultimately still her strongest foundation and while that standard continues, the intimate cafe sound has been substantially upgraded to auditorium status, with big, radio-friendly production that doesn’t lessen the song’s impact, but rather amplifies it. This is her moment, and she’s not pulling any punches.

Needtobreathe, The Outsiders – man, this band just sucker punched me in the best way. Incorporating all my favorite elements of bands like Kings of Leon and U2, these South Carolina boys build their sound from the earth up, using organic melody making and roots-strong production to make their overall product sound absolutely huge, but still fully natural, no artificial flavors or colors. The song “Lay’Em Down” is a simply decimating piece of soul-cleansing perfection, there’s no way around it. Take a listen and you’ll be hooked.

Willie Nelson
Dolores O’Riordan
OST – Fame 2009
OST – Halloween 2
OST – Jennifer’s Body
OST – Taking Woodstock
Patton Oswalt
The Postmarks
Queen Latifah
Radiohead – reissues
Smokey Robinson
Skillet
The Smiths – reissues
Still Life Still
The Subdudes
Irma Thomas
Katt Williams

There’s some great stuff out next week as well, but I’ll be on vacation. Not sure how much of a list I’ll actually be posting (for anyone who will miss it, sorry!). I hope this list gives you something tasty, and see you when I read you.

P.S. enjoy a sampling from this week’s new songs on my MySpace page. It’s updated pretty much weekly now…

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