Category: CD Reviews (Page 161 of 399)

Scripts ‘N Screwz: The New Noise

May 29, 2009 /

If there’s one thing you’d expect from an East St. Louis rap duo, it’s the ability to convincingly go dark, and on their full-length debut, The New Noise, Scripts ‘N Screwz deliver: for nearly an hour, the album envelops the listener in a grim, seedy wall of unforgiving sound that effectively frames their stark, socio-politically oriented rhymes. It’s distinctly inner-city stuff, with anger to spare, but it’s also a work of deep thought – and the probing lyrics are well matched by the steadily shifting production, which shifts from the dense, flashy barrage of tracks like “Brick” to the pared-down menace of “Eyes Wide Shut.” Scripts ‘N Screwz claim OutKast as a major influence, but don’t go into The New Noise expecting the freewheeling, genre-hopscotching whimsy that typifies OutKast’s albums; where releases like Aquameni and Stankonia tried to bring the street to the FM dial, Noise sits on the stoop and dares you to come to it. It isn’t always a happy journey, but it’s an unmistakably worthwhile one – if you like your hip-hop lyrically conscious and a little off the beaten path, this is Noise you need to hear. (The V.E. Company 2009)

Scripts ‘N Screwz MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Hip Hop, Rap

Solomon’s Seal: The Sea, The Sea

May 29, 2009 /

U.S. based British band Minibar has been a fixture on the Los Angeles indie pop scene for the last decade, but yet Minibar has managed to stay under most everyone’s radar. Those who know the band know the slightly smoky and brooding vocals of front man Simon Petty, who is also one heck of a songwriter, and now he gets to prove that point with his debut solo effort, The Sea, The Sea under the moniker Solomon’s Seal. Petty’s obsession with the Smiths is documented in the press materials, and he’s also said to be influenced by the late, great Nick Drake. One thing going for Petty right off the bat is that he doesn’t feel compelled to fake a British accent like other alt-popsters. His vocals bring the songs effortlessly to life – and the songs themselves, with their beautifully sparse production and arrangements, are simply wonderful. The haunting instrumental “Solomon’s Suite” is an odd opener, but then right from the soothing piano and smooth vocals of “A Trick of the Light,” Petty’s artistry just shines. Other standouts are “Sleeping in the Car,” which sounds like a Glen Phillips-Joseph Arthur hybrid, the pretty guitar/vocal of “I Built a Fire,” and the romping, Peter Gabriel-esque “A Part of the River.” (Unshackled 2009)

Solomon’s Seal MySpace Page

Alternative, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

My Favorite Highway: How to Call a Bluff

May 29, 2009 /

Depending on how cynical you are, there are two ways you can look at My Favorite Highway: Either they’re a television music supervisor’s wet dream – and the latest withered apple to fall off the Something Corporate branch of the blink-182 family tree – or they’re every bit as earnest as they seem, and their full-length debut, How to Call a Bluff, is really just the front line in a new wave of bands whose members grew up listening to Third Eye Blind, Matchbox Twenty, and Everclear. Either way, there’s no getting around the fact that lead Highwayman David Cook is a songwriter with a gift for melody and his heart strapped firmly to his sleeve, and if that just happens to be exactly what it takes to get your music played in an episode of “The Hills,” that’s no reason to write the band off as a crass, watered-down facsimile of something that wasn’t all that great in the first place, is it? Well, again, that depends on your level of cynicism – but if you can bring yourself to listen to Bluff without hearing the strong echoes of the band’s influences, though, you’ll find it a veritable buffet of sweet, fizzy pop treats, all gleaming surfaces, sticky hooks, and giant choruses. If this Highway leads to less-traveled environs, some beautiful vistas could await. (Virgin 2009)

My Favorite Highway MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy: How Big Can You Get? A Tribute to Cab Calloway

May 29, 2009 /

You’ve got to give Big Bad Voodoo Daddy credit for having enough chutzpah to dedicate an entire album to the repertoire of a legend like Cab Calloway – and for tracking the whole thing live on vintage gear – but it’s a well-known musical maxim that you needn’t bother cutting a cover unless you’ve got something new to add, and that goes double for someone whose songs have been bought, sold, covered, and compiled as often as Calloway’s. As a result, How Big Can You Get? is about as thoroughly inessential as you can get – it’s impeccably performed, and adds a dash of modern production sparkle to a stack of well-worn tunes that includes “Jumpin’ Jive” and “Minnie the Moocher,” but it lacks the heat and spice of the original recordings, and anyway, there’s no reason to spend money on relatively faithful interpretations of Calloway’s songs when plenty of compilations and reissues are available for a minimal investment. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy remains as likable as ever on these recordings, even if lead singer Scotty Morris doesn’t do himself any favors by encouraging comparisons to Calloway, and fans of the band should be consistently entertained. As a gateway to Calloway’s world, however, it’s not worth opening. (Vanguard 2009)

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy MySpace page

Big Band, CD QuickTakes

Greycoats: Setting Fire to the Great Unknown

May 29, 2009 /

We love to see publicists promote records released in the previous year because they believe in them, mainly because it takes us back to a time when record labels had more patience with their artists, and would take the time to groom them, drum up some geniune buzz for a band rather than fabricate fake buzz, etc. (We’re well aware that those days weren’t as innocent as we might think, but they’re our memories, and we’re sticking to ’em.) We’ll see how this old-school approach works for Setting Fire to the Great Unknown, the debut album by Minneapolis quartet Greycoats. Their bio boasts comparisons to Arcade Fire, Radiohead and Sigur Ros, but a better point of entry might be a more guitar-oriented Keane. “Goodbye, Sweet Youth, Goodbye” sports a soaring chorus that the boys from Battle would kill for, and singer Jon Reine has nicked a few tricks from Tom Chaplin’s playbook in terms of vocal phrasing. It’s gorgeous stuff – Thom Yorke will surely mutter obscenities under his breath when he hears “An Echo in the Dark” – and, in an ideal world, the band is only a soundtrack or “Grey’s Anatomy” moment away from vaulting to the next level. (Greycoats 2008)

Greycoats MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Melodramatic, Pop, Rock

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