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Trying to recreate classic songs is going to be hard for anyone. You usually end up using modern technology and professional musicians. The end result too often come out sounding sterile and practised when the reason we loved these songs in the first place was because of their guttural instinct sloppiness.
Having said that, I'm pleased to report that the Willies mostly get it right. It's not overproduced nor too polished. Having a vocalist as awesome as Norah Jones in your band could actually be a detriment in this kind of group. But when she gets mellow, she's downright sultry. See the opening track, Ralph Stanley's "I Worship You" and Kris Kristofferson's title track. When she's upbeat, "Fist City", she may lack the sass of a Loretta Lynn, but has more of a Dolly Parton playfulness.
"Lovesick Blues" is a version I could have done without. Maybe I'm just too close to the previous versions. Hank's original and Ryan Adams' excellent cover, but the tandem lead vocals don't work some heart is lost. Also, "Jolene". After hearing Jack White turn it into a bi-curious garage jam, it's hard to hear Norah bring it back down again. On the other hand, the cover of Willie's "Permanently Lonely" is on the money. Sweet, short and sentimental.
Mostly though, the criticisms I have are my own prejudice. I simply don't listen to a lot of country music of any era. I can praise the Little Willies for being true to the form and the sentiment, even if it won't be burning up my playlist in general. (3.5 of 5 stars)
Altogether though, I honestly don't have much negativity to say about this record. It's real simple. Whereas others in the genre might try to employ some vast instrumentation and dark forboding tones, Vesen keep together some simple old-school thrash riffs and little more. I'm going to bet that they're not masters of the English language, because when they grab a phrase they like, like "Mindfield Paranoia", they simply repeat it a lot.
Sometimes its even fun. "Spotlight Junkie" for example is just a repetition of the phrase "Whores on parade!" However, I still wouldn't call it a great record- even if you do like gravelly barkers and thrashy guitar rock. There are plenty of better metal records out there. (1.5 of 5 stars)
As we finish the calendar year out, very few new releases come out. Record companies focus on their catalog artists/greatest hits shit at retail. But both Common and Jeezy got a new one out and I jumped on this one as I know nothing about the other.
Common is clearly taking himself more seriously here, focusing on a lyrical theme of dreaming and reaching past your limits. For example, after the opening track runs through its mellow, decidedly non-hip-hoppy shuffle beat, it ends with a coda of Maya Angelou reading a poem. The album ends with an inspirational speech by Chicago b-baller Lonnie Lynn.
He sometimes throws out some shitty similes. "Get my drink on like coasters." and "friends' pass out like pamphlets" and on the other hand he blows out genius lines like "blows a breath of fresh air for you asthmatic rap addicts". But his themes are always sincere; whether about being the voice of optimism or by tracking the obligatory pro-strong-will-ghetto-woman song. The positivity is a plus without being ridiculously boastful like the Beastie Boys last piece of shit. And the rhymes are cool without being awe-inspiring.
I was also a little disappointed altogether with the production. One of things I like about the more underground rap that I listen to is the interesting ways that whichever crew can manipulate a beat. On TD/TB, there are no big name producers, and it shows. The tunes mostly seem ready-made/corporate. A steady-beat over some mellow soul or some smooth jazz.
Being the hopeless romantic, my favorite track is going to be "Lovin' I Lost"; which laments and praises the past relationship all at the same time. And is bedded with a fantastic Curtis Mayfield mix to bring some old soul to the bedroom. (2.5 of 5 stars)
While a Beck fan, who has worked with Charlotte in the past; and also a fan of Gainsbourg as an actress; this will be my first foray in to her music. Although I'm not generally the biggest fan of indie-electronic music led by women, my curiosity got the better of me. (I did just watch Melancholia...)
The Depeche Mode influence is obvious. There is an effort here to bring the dark dance vibe. The addition of Beck, I'm going to assume, adds the additional flavor of something more fun; something more funk. Without him, I'll bet that Charlotte would just have chosen straight-ahead dance beats to carry her songs forward. And that may have been enough for many people. But I appreciate the playful poppiness of "Terrible Angels" and echo-y drums of "All The Rain".
Outside of Beck, Charlotte's performance is largely unnoticeable. Her voice is monotoned in the upper register and muddled by enough echo to make her cloudy/smokey... veiled. Her personality does not come through. Maybe I'm being prejudiced against a singer/not-songwriter, but lines as interesting as "into the eye of a needle you can fly like a mosquito and turn into a million different people" should be able to be sold without too much effort. This becomes especially evident in a couple of non-Beck tracks, "Anna" and "Out Of Touch", which seem electronically lifeless.
The standout, though, is a tremendously written track by Conor O'Brien, aka Villagers, who I am a big fan of. I can hear his voice when Charlotte sings his "Memoir" as if it were her own. If Beck's not going to carry you with jams, she should have been doing this with the rest of the tracks. Something more organic. The album comes with a live disc which shows a much more dynamic performer playing livelier indie-pop tunes. Decent, but not what I'm basing this review on. (2.5 of 5 stars)
I do have to hand to the Keys on one standpoint. They have gotten out a product by themselves or a side-project virtually every year of their existence. Plus, they are consistenly good. Amped-up garage blues is a tried and true format and they haven't run it aground quite yet. I do see, however, a pattern of sameness in the last couple of releases. I do not blame the common element of producer Danger Mouse for this, as he seems to be the one who has pushed their sonic boundaries beyond their two-man limitations. It's more of a songwriting stagnancy that I see. As if Dan were leaning on the production to compensate for playing virtually the same riffs. It all sounds great, but will it always sound great? This will weigh on me as we proceed with their newest.
From my calculations, it appears that there were three new-material studio releasess today. A Trey Songz EP of American R&B; Hot Chelle Rae, which is sugary sweet bullshit to make Maroon 5 look like Led Zeppelin. And this... black metal.
A collection of droning minor chords and growling muted vocals. Each song is named "Epitome", as to make you aware that this is one story. And it starts with "Epitome VII" which makes you understand that this is a continuation of their last album, which ended at "The Fall: Chapter VI".
First of all, horrible production. And I'm not saying this because of the vocals; because I'm sure that this is what they were going for. But the drums sound like pitter-pat on tupperware. The drummer is clearly doing some damage, especially on double bass. But it sounds like shit. The guitar as well has, not a good buzzsaw sound; but a childish tinny buzzsaw sound.
The riffs themselves are not bad. "VII" suffers from reminding the listener too closely to Manson's "Sweet Dreams", but "VIII" has value- as a riff. Altogether, I don't know who this music is for. Where value is put on droning on so long that there is seemingly no end. Where vocal is so purposefully muddled to the point of subliminal "Head On" informercials underwater. This all makes "IX" - the drumless, vocalless, 2-minute guitar ballad my favorite. (.5 of 5 stars)
I am not in the habit of using this space to cover previously tread ground. Greatest hits, live records, reissues, songs that have been released before. But this week saw a lack of any new album released that I'm going to have any thoughtful response too. So, I chose the new live, acoustic release by Chris Cornell. It helps that I love Cornell. It also helps that I got the record for free for buying a concert ticket. Win-win. (Unless it sucks)
The album opens with what I considered the only saving grace from his Timbaland-produced Scream album. Then, it was a blues-ballad hidden-track called "Two Drink Minimum" - now inexplicably called "As Hope and Promise Fade". We also lose, for some reason, the John Mayer co-writing credit. This is the kind of song that serves much better in an acoustic format, ditching the uptown high-class studio buzz of 90's-Eric Clapton-style "blues" for something a little grittier.
More quality versions exist with the Audioslave covers. Because, even with the excitement of a Tom Morello et. al. performance, the songs chosen from their catalog here are amoung the more placid and mid-tempo. So we're not really losing that much and we get to focus on the dynamic voice/lyrics of Cornell.
That's not always true. I'm going to side with the original releases on some of these tracks. "Can't Change Me" for example, gained a lot from the arrangement of Alain Johannes. The Songbook version is certainly good; but we are missing a key element. Same goes for the Temple Of The Dog tracks. Maybe I'm just romanticizing my childhood; but I'm going to side of those sessions- which I consider still to be magical.
Cornell's set, taken from several shows, run the gamut across his career. Pretty evenly spread between his solo career and his various bands. Rounding out the record are a cover of Lennon's "Imagine" and a new acoustic-studio track called "The Keeper". Mellow, but still inspiring despite a lack of any vocal gymnastics. Cornell provides an interesting setlist of career-spanning tunes and delivers them effectively. The recordings are good and Cornell's voice is still in top form. (3.5 of 5 stars)
Trying to recreate classic songs is going to be hard for anyone. You usually end up using modern technology and professional musicians. The end result too often come out sounding sterile and practised when the reason we loved these songs in the first place was because of their guttural instinct sloppiness.
