Audioholic Media

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 05.19.09
by Joshua Krage

Firstly, if you live in California, get out and vote for those budget initiatives this Tuesday. ‘Coz we need a budget, and those are our best shot, and I’m tired of living in a state that’s both 1) broke, and 2) home to many of the richest people in the country. Mostly I’m just tired of hearing about every company my friends work for having to cut back. One thing that isn’t being cut back is the amount of excellent music available this week, from 20-year veterans to brand, spankin’ new talents. Take a listen:

Tori Amos, Abnormally Attracted to Sin – a fairly meaty entry into the canon of this iconic ivory-tinkler, landing just under 80 minutes in length and spanning spooky downtempo, muscular ferocity, orchestral prog flourishes, and stripped-down piano confessionals. A lot to take in, but an enjoyable ride and very satisfying for longtime fans.

Apostle of Hustle, Eats Darkness – a hip Canadian band playing a select hybrid of music that you just don’t hear from anyone else, with a collaborative patchwork of Cuban, Jamaican, electronic, folk, indie rock, even some dance and jazz textures all intertwined into a rather creative musical quilt. These are frequent Broken Social Scene contributors, so you know you’ll get something interesting, if a bit hard to discern…

Zee Avi, Zee Avi – Malaysian YouTube sensation whose music caught on like a jazzy, afternoon-chillin’ epidemic once the duo of Ian Montone and Jack Johnson discovered her. A skilled performer in her home country, she’s possessed of a strong and nuanced vocal mastery belying her young age, with an admirable gift for inventive songwriting. Out on Brushfire Records, she gets ace help all over this record from the Brushfire family, including members of Johnson’s band and Ozomatli, for starters. This album is a must for fans of the mellow acoustic pop sound, especially Jack Johnson fans, and anyone looking for a laid-back, jazzy voice to soundtrack your summer, you’ve found it here.

Busta Rhymes
Carbon Leaf
Craig Chaquico
CIV
CKY
Eric Clapton / Steve Winwood - live CD/DVD from Madison Square Garden

Jarvis Cocker, Further Complications – the main Pulp man just gets better and better the further he gets from his old band. Album #2 finds him turning on the unabashed hip-grinding classic-rock riffage and bawdy come-ons every chance he gets, resulting in a killer set of songs that– with ace cool-hand production by Steve Albini– frame his shameless sexual pandering in waves of solid, vintage feel.

Dane Cook – I don’t care if you have over 2,000,000 Myspace friends, you should be working harder on being the next Harrison Ford (he’d be a dead ringer if he didn’t overuse those eyebrows so much. Serious!)
DJ Drama
Dusty Rhodes
Danny Elfman – OST – Terminator Salvation – he’s still killin’ it with every film scored, great work.
Richard Elliot
Eminem
Family Force 5
Fat Joe

IAMX, Kingdom of Welcome Addiction – founding Sneaker Pimp’s electro-fuelled solo project, with myriad keyboards and fuzzed-out beats to spare.

Iron and Wine, Around the Well – a double-disc of b-sides and rarities from Sam Beam’s warm, intimate acoustic side (i.e. his only side), with early outtakes galore and the hypnotic “Such Great Heights” cover that caught everyone in its miasma on the Garden State soundtrack.

Phil Keaggy / Randy Stonehill

Mat Kearney, City of Black & White – second album from the Nashville AC/pop singer-songwriter who I swear sounds slightly British and who, unlike Jason Mraz, doesn’t annoy with his frequent fits of bursting into rap midway through an acoustic number. None of that on this album, though– kind of going the Joshua Radin 2nd album route and removing much of what makes him unique, though his songwriting is still sharp and strong, so the album doesn’t suffer much over it. Pleasing in a soothing, mellow, almost contemporary way.

Killah Priest
Kronos Quartet
Jason Lytle

Steve Martin, The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo – did you know this celebrated actor/comedian is actually quite adept at the banjo? Of course you did. But you were most likely unaware of his songwriting skill on the instrument, or the fact that he has chops to rival most top-end bluegrass musicians. This is an LP of 15 originals and one blistering traditional tune, and he has done a seriously good job of it.

mewithoutYou
Method Man / Redman

Dawn Mitschele, In the Moonlight – a subtle, superbly affecting singer-songwriter with strong ties to the SoCal scene and sound, her airy acoustic compositions begin slyly, like a carefree mosey around the pool, and her soft, organic arrangements and tender wordplay have you swimming before you notice you’re even in the water. She’s got two CD release shows on tap– one this Tuesday at Room 5 (for you LA folk) and one this Sunday night at Mueller College in San Diego– so check her out if you’re in the area (and I know most of you are!), and buy the album while you’re at it.

O.S.I.
OST – Dance Flick

Parachute, Losing Sleep – these guys are popping up all over TV shows and commercials with their mainstream-friendly, heartfelt pop stylings which seem tailor-made for your local rock/pop radio station.

Passion Pit, Manners – this band is a sea of falsetto-festooned dance jams and swirling disco-level keyboard freakouts with a looming sky-ful of ambient arrangements and ecclectic electronics. If you can get past Michael Angelakos’ high-pitched heralding, there’s a lot to enjoy here.

Polly Scattergood, Polly Scattergood – deft piano-pop songstress out of London, catchy hooks and melodies galore and a decent helping of wry attitude and informed, breathy arrangements, all rolling into a pretty solid debut finally hitting U.S. shores.

John Rich
Lionel Richie
Savath / Savalas
Sia – DVD
Ruben Studdard
The Tractors
Jon Vanderslice

Kate Voegele, A Fine Mess – by now probably more famous for being “that chick with the record deal” on One Tree Hill. Coincidentally, this album drops alongside her fictional “Mia Catalano”s album on the show (cross-promotion heaven!), so expect to see a fistful of these tracks hitting your CW network screens very soon (if not already, I wouldn’t know). Lots of studio sheen makes this unabashedly mainstream star-grab rather sugary, but her songs are predominantly self-penned and are surprisingly solid, especially some of the more rocking numbers. For a TV-catapulted mid-level mainstream pop singer, she’s got quite a bit of merit and this album deserves some attention.

Warlocks
White Rabbits
The Who – The Who Sell Out deluxe edition

Decent list, eh? For you Jack Johnson fans, Zee Avi’s album is basically akin to his best songs sung by a gorgeous, jazzy girl voice, so don’t miss that. I’m off to see the Tonight Show with Jay Leno one last time before Conan takes over and to give SoCal the love it so dearly needs. See you next week… rock.

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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