Madonna - MDNA

Never one to spend too much time with pop music, circumstances led me to listen to Madonna's latest. What I find most interesting in listening is how much I find myself accusing Madonna of leaning too closely on other hitmakers. Hitmakers that I would surely also accuse of ripping off Madonna. A cyclical problem which I'm sure is just timing. Madonna's at an age now where Lady Gagas are taking the Madonna platform to modern stages. And Madonna's divorce is putting her in a "girl gone wild" vibe which is selling a false youth.

She uses a couple of these hitsters as guests, M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj, and why/how she avoided the Lady Gaga guest spot is curious. Maybe it was too on the nose. As long as you didn't Britney-kiss her on MTV, it wouldn't have been at all ridiculous.

I've been impressed with Madonna music before. I'm thinking specifically with rock-tinged "Ray Of Light", which seemed more authentic somehow. None of that occurs here. Madonna wavers from modern house production to classic dance-pop. The latter includes the single "Give Me All Your Luvin'" and "Turn Up the Radio". It's catchy and fun, but already well-tred ground, even with the young guests.

I was more impressed with the more innovative production techniques. "I'm A Sinner" for example and this writer's favorite, "I'm Addicted". It's nothing that the young kids aren't already used to, but it was enough to keep me from being bored while still employing some quality pop melodies. Having said all that, you should also check out the deluxe-only track "I Fucked Up", which shows some of the rare Ciccone humility. (2.5 of 5 stars)

Lost In The Trees - A Church That Fits Our Needs

An album about the artist's mother's suicide. Perfect sunny afternoon music. It's chamber pop, which is fancy talk for "let's put more sounds in there". And more often than not, I was put off by all the noise. There's a pretty pop song underneath all of this. It doesn't have that dynamic skyrocketing that a Rufus Wainwright would have. It's all very lilty. Sufjan Stevens is an apt comparison.

Ari Picker's voice is soft, but still well-spoken and on target. One of my other annoyances is the background vocals. They often sing without words, as orchestration, when I think the album would benefit more from stripping itself down a notch. I would start with these angelic bitches. "The Dead Bird Is Beautiful" and its soft-to-loud buildup is a good example of the stripdown vs. vocal exhaustion.

In the end, I was simply too distracted by the music; which at its core is typical indie folk. But it overextends itself in extra noise. So his songwriting intent of what may have been a thoughtful memorial is lost on me. (2.5 of 5 stars)

The Ting Tings - Sounds From Nowheresville

I was certainly aware of the TTs hits since their debut dropped a few years ago, but I never did listen the full release. So I have a bit of a fresher perspective for this one. I don't, however, know why I keep painting myself into these chick-singing corners only to bitch about listening to chick singers. I'll try to at least downplay that here.

As it kicks off, I find myself a fan of the fist track, "Silence". Not so much the lyrical sentiment, which is little more than the chain-coffeehouse-philosophy of "Listen to your silence." But the new-wave-noise-wave builds into a clean-reverb dream by the songs end. The next track is far more hip-hop influenced. "Hit Me Down Sonny" even has a Beck roll in its verses.

The next couple of songs have nothing wrong with them, but become completely irrelevant once "Guggenheim" comes on. A simple-ish relationship story told with a strutting bass/rim-shot. But when the chorus kicks in, it sounds like the Beastie Boys producing Jack White. Or vice versa. Or both of them jamming with Lady Gaga. Maybe I've stopped making sense.

"One By One" is the most straight-ahead new wave throwback. It could easily be a Missing Persons cover. "Day By Day", with its acoustic-based riff, sounds like a deliberate attempt at a radio single that would not sound out of place on an album by Clarkson/Pink/Perry/Lavigne. "Help" follows the acoustic sound, and even though it power ballads it up before the end, it still.... completely sucks.

The album ends on a real down note. "In Your Life" is morbid and rhythm-less. It's fine, but an odd way for a party band to see the audience off. There's as many misses as hits on this short record, but with as strong a track as the one below, I'm ramping my review up a half-star. (3 of 5 stars)

The Magnetic Fields - Love At the Bottom of the Sea

I've been a Fields fan since I was turned onto them in a description by Paul Rudd. He got to 69 Love Songs via Courtney Love; and I hate to thank her for anything but there ya go. But I've followed them (him) since. And while I was disappointed with 2010's Realism, I still have faith that Stephin Merritt will crank out some great songwriting. Hopefully he continues to be miserable and surly. And I apologize for wishing misery on anyone, but let's face it. Leonard Cohen singing Mary Poppins tunes wouldn't work either.

One of the criticisms I've read about this collection is that too many of the songs seem like joke songs. I think I understand the concept. Now, Merritt's always had a biting wit. Which is different than the first track, a romantic rejection which declares "though it's not illegal in our state / I love you baby, but God wants us to wait." It's a bit more spot-on humor than just being acerbic. This is true too of the first single. "Andrew in Drag". Funny, and maybe a future gay anthem, but more playful than we're used to with Stephin.

And this comedy theme keeps going. I almost worry that if I hadn't read that before, if I wouldn't have noticed. Which would be difficult in the most flagrant example. A piece of shit dance tune called "Infatuation (With Your Gyration)". Merritt seems to be digressing in age. I mean, on the one hand, it's impressive to be able to rhyme "mariachi". But I have to believe that there's a better reason to make that rhyme than to say, "You want to light your flame in her hibachi".

I did get a favorite out of it though. Even if it is a re-working of a previous Fields song, "I Don't Believe You". This one, "I Don't Like Your Tone"- below. (2 of 5 stars)

Corrosion Of Conformity

Having been a big fan of COC's Deliverance and Wiseblood; I was saddened to learn that Pepper Keenan was not a part of this project. But I'm sure there's an even amount of fans on the other side of the coin who are more excited to have the group return to their punk-rock roots. This is the same line-up, of course that brought us the classic "Vote With A Bullet".

And the album is not completely the 180 that Pepper's arrival seemed to be in 1994. "River Of Stone", at six minutes, still has that swamp jam familiarity, for example. But something like that is always just as quickly followed up with something else like "Leeches"; which is full on Fear-fury.

And on the overall, I was unable to climb the mountain with the remaining three without Keenan leading the way. With him the riffs are crunchier. Without him, it strays too far to the punk side of things. True too with lyrics. Pepper's stories of individual struggles is often traded with bitching about "Rat City" or generalities of greed. This album is decent, but where COC is concerned, my heart lies in dixie. (2.5 of 5 stars)

Frankie Rose - Interstellar

Frankie was a member of the Dum Dum Girls, amoung other groups. As a drummer/vocalist she has played mostly with surf/noise-rock under the indie umbrella. This album shows that a producer can make all the difference. Not that I love it all, but it's clear that she's acheiving something more accessible and easier-listening. Reverb is cleaned-up. Vocals are echoed and double-tracked. And there are times when it seems that Frankie's trying to capture a St. Vincent vibe and others where it's cloer to Jane Weidlin.

If she wanted to hide the fact that she's a drumer, she's doing a good job of it. The songs are largely dream pop. An exception is the upbeat, "Night Swim". With it's stong vocal chorus and steady backbeat, it's a candidate for a summertime hit if there ever was one. The guitar tones have some of that surf vibe. That is, I'm sure someone is playing a Fender Stratocaster through an echoplex-type effect. But the playing is too subdued for my tastes.

I would still call Frankie green in the songwriting department. Chords are simple and repetitive. "Pair Of Wings" is an interesting example. With its lyric of "show me your scars, I'll show you mine" it shows promise, but then never builds to anything that's going to be memorable. At that is true of most of the album. (2 of 5 stars)

Band Of Skulls - Sweet Sour

I saw BofS a few years ago at a club in town and was quite taken with them. British, but wearing US garage rock on their collective sleeves. Without fail, when playing "Death By Diamonds And Pearls" on the bar jukebox, someone invariably asks me if it's a Jack White side project.

I don't think that the trio will be facing that close a comparison with their sophomore effort. It doesn't stray too far away from it's debut. But there is definitely a desire to branch. Respectable, but their branch is a low hanging, heavy with fruit, mellow branch. "Wanderluster", "Lay Your Head Down" and "Navigate" are simply not worth it. Maybe if they built to something like The Joy Formidable does, but these guys seem to be trying to keep it spooky. As "Close To Nowhere" closes, I was afraid that they were going to start singing "I'll Be Your Mirror".

The single below stays true to expectations, a plodding blues riff which is fun and white-boy-sexy enough to dance to. The drummer is Bonham-deliberate and delivers the goods on this track. And whoever produces the band gets that right throughout the 3 or 4 songs where drumming applies.

Another highlight grabs the best of old-school Black Keys (when Patrick got frenetic and weird) and mixes it with a wordsmithitude of an Alex Turner with a great title. "You're Not Pretty But You've Got It Goin' On". Good job. But that and "Lies" pretty much makes up the songs that rock on the album. And I feel that that's where the band's strengths lie. Rocking, not atmosphering. (2.5 of 5 stars)