Audioholic Media

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 02.16.10
by Joshua Krage

A healthy amount of world beat colors spring forth from the speakers this week as America, Africa and the U.K. further their global cultural exchange program, bartering over indigenous sounds and music buzz in abundance for some varying and surprisingly robust combinations of genres. Luckily, most of these releases retain a sizable amount of muscle, even in the slow, quiet places; suffice it to say nothing on this week’s list will give Alice cooper any cause to worry over the state of rock and roll’s balls. On we go:

Jaime Cullum
Jason Falkner
Field Music
Freeway Jake One

Peter Gabriel, Scratch My Back – [listen] – as a highly concept-driven music superstar, this eclectic genius doesn’t need to follow anybody’s schedule but his own, so any new music he releases is cause for celebration. The cause celebre for this album is two-fold, as it is part one of a two-part release of a collective covers concept. Mr. Sledgehammer tackles twelve tracks by his favorite artists (ranging from classics like David Bowie and Randy Newman to new blood such as Bon Iver and Arcade Fire), with the idea being that they’ll “scratch his back” in return with a disc full of their versions of his songs. Accompanied simply-but-lushly by piano and small orchestra, this first installment is a subtle but heady jaunt through some great picks, my favorite so far being a warm, thoughtful run of Elbow’s “Mirrorball” and a spectacular rendering of Arcade Fire’s “My Body Is a Cage” which ebbs and flows in grandiose fashion. I can’t wait to hear part 2… 

Giant Drag – Swan Song EP
Adam Green
Juliana Hatfield

Lightspeed Champion, Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You – it still amazes me that the same man responsible for the spastic, erratic post-punk of Test Icicles is now dishing out vulnerable indie folk rock, but that’s what’s in store for you on album number two under Devonte Hynes’ Lightspeed Champion moniker. Luckily he got a lot of the acoustic jones out of his system on the debut, so the intellectual alt.pop on this album is backed by a bevy of keyboards and some tight, sharp corners, not to mention some arrangements that are downright classical. Hynes shows his fascination with classic ’50s and ’60s pop music in many of these tracks, but filtered through his modern hipster heartbreak ethic it sounds fresh and very appealing.

Local Natives, Gorilla Manor- [listen] – even with all the gig-generated U.K. buzz and hipster-blog accolades these lads have stirred up, you don’t find too many top-shelf indie rock bands with African world-beat flavors in their sound, so the Vampire Weekend comparisons are unavoidable. Luckily, this Los Angeles quintet pack much bigger guns: acoustic afro-pop is mightily augmented with big, dynamic drums and meaty guitar crunch, the shared vocals and deft harmonies are passionate and room-filling, the tone raw and dangerous. V-neck sweaters and docksiders are coolly tossed aside for dirty sneakers and work shirts, and these guys mean business with their instruments, choosing stripped-down, multi-layered, percussion-driven arrangements for many of the tracks here. Acoustic maneuverability has served them well in their guerrilla gigging techniques, landing them closer to David Byrne or Paul Simon comparisons than to any contemporaries on the market (check their clever rendering of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” if you need proof), but it’s their overall versatility that impresses most throughout this excellent debut album, of which these shores have been deprived for far too long.

Scott Lucas

Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More – I’ve been a fan of these guys for far too long for their stuff to have been unavailable domestically until now. This is the long-awaited U.S. release of their debut full-length, a satisfying collection of bluegrass-tinged organic folk-rock and gospel styles, made all the more surprising by the fact that they’re from London, nowhere near the Appalachian home of their sound. Hearing Marcus Mumford’s soft, English tenor lead the multi-layer harmonies over beds of banjo and lightly overhanging organ tones makes me feel like I’m strolling down a Kentucky hillside on a sunny afternoon. Good stuff.

Robert Pollard
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Dan Reeder
Solas
Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin
Souljazz Orchestra

Story of the Year, The Constant – wisely maturing some years back from their adolescent screamo sound into something much more metal, this modern alt.rock band still has plenty of angst and heavy riffage to fill your catharsis-seeking speakers.

Tindersticks
Wu Tang Clan

So to recap, world beat is back (again), stripped-down versions are in, Ivy league is so last season, and it’s OK to have an exotic sound, even if that sound originates thousands of miles and oceans apart from where your band was born. Get your globe out and enjoy. Until next week…

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