Category: CD Reviews (Page 80 of 399)

Me, Myself, and iPod 6/3/10: A true Disney princess

esd ipod

Memorial Day, plus a super-busy movie screening schedule, threw this week into complete chaos. It didn’t help that I’ve been sick. I know, wah wah wah. Sorry, I’ll quit whining.

The Like – He’s Not a Boy
With Mark Ronson at the helm, the Like out-Locksley Locksley with this catchy slice of ’60s pop.

Cowboy Junkies – Cicadas
The press release boasts of the band finally operating independently, but that’s about the only thing that appears to have changed about the band, from the sound of this song from their upcoming album Renmin Park.

Quitzow – Cherry Blossom
Man, who slipped Daft Punk the ecstasy? I want to shake that person’s hand.

Setting Sun – Sacrifice
Fans of Joseph Arthur and Pete Yorn, take note.

Anna Rose – Whispers
She’s Alan Menken’s daughter. Yes, that Alan Menken. But this tune is closer to Joni Mitchell than “Kiss the Girl.”

Tracey Thorn: Love and Its Opposite


RIYL: Everything But The Girl, Beth Orton, Amy Rigby

TraceyThornThough it’s a bit jarring to consider, it has been 11 years since the last proper Everything but the Girl studio album (1999’s Temperamental), and singer Tracey Thorn’s solo output in that period has been relatively sparse. Love and Its Opposite, her first new disc in three years, is worth the wait—an extraordinary adult pop record, full of meditations on middle age, its disappointments, and tiny victories.

The somber piano ballad “Oh, the Divorces!” opens the record, with Thorn employing her distinctive, languid voice to emanate empathy as she imagines the sad scenes leading toward a relationship’s downfall and aftermath. She ponders the reticence to wed in the first place, in “Long White Dress,” casting the wedding gown as love’s “opposite,” while quietly celebrating those who demur. Fear of loneliness, however, sends the protagonist to the “Singles Bar,” where life as a cougar ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. “Can you guess my age in this light?” she asks. “Who will be taking me home tonight?” This triptych forms the foundation of the record, delivering a melancholy take on aging, romance, and sexuality.

Elsewhere, Thorn’s wit pokes through on the up-tempo “Hormones,” and she floats on the danceable groove of “Why Does the Wind?” making one miss Everything But The Girl just a little bit. In all, however, Love and Its Opposite argues convincingly for Thorn’s continued viability as an artist, solo or otherwise, and as a chronicler of the everyday. (Merge 2010)

Tracey Thorn Myspace Page
Click to buy Love and Its Opposite from Amazon

The Purrs: Tearing Down Paisley Garden


RIYL: The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Velvet Underground, The Brian Jonestown Massacre

The Purrs Tearing Down Paisly GardenThere’s much to be said for a band like the Purrs, with ten years together and six solid releases under its belt. They might not be household names, but they’ve never compromised their music to raise their profile. This is where the music comes out ahead, and Tearing Down Paisley Garden is yet another winner.

At seven songs, Paisley is not quite an EP, though had it been released in 1972, it still might have been considered a full-length album. And then, looking at the makeup of the songs themselves, Paisley could even be called an “odds and ends” kind of collection. “Only Dreaming” and “I Move Around” are covers of songs by ’80s goth rockers Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and the late Nancy Sinatra collaborator Lee Hazlewood, respectively. And “Just a Little More” and “It Could Be So Wonderful” are new recordings of old songs, which explains the oddly out of time reference to “the president” in the former.

In spite of what could easily have been a set-up for a major bomb, Paisley plays like a strikingly cohesive collection, exhibiting all the Purrs trademarks – Jason Milne’s cutting lead guitar lines, Jima’s lackadaisically cool detachment and sarcastic wit, and that reverb-laden, psychedelic shoegazey sound married to seasoned pop songcraft. If there’s anything different about the Purrs this time around, it’s a subtle but noticeable uptick in their mood compared to last year’s excellent Amused, Confused and More Bad News that comes through even in a downer like “I’m Slipping” – which in this case keeps a song about sexual transgressions against a friend from devolving into a pity party. And in the case of the disc’s closing tune, “Always Something In My Way,” the title ends up coming across less as a complaint and more as a celebration of the challenges that would crush a lesser person. Clearly, these Seattle stalwarts are having more fun than ever, which is exactly how a good rock record should sound. (self released 2010)

The Purrs MySpace page

Me, Myself, and iPod 5/26/10: Legendary Scottish band, ahoy!

esd ipod

The Trashcan Sinatras – People
I love the Trashcan Sinatras. I’m not sure when they went from the Trash Can Sinatras to the Trashcan Sinatras, but oh well, but I’m guessing someone at SPINart fucked it up when putting the artwork for Weightlifting together. Anyway, they’re a fabulous bunch of guys, and God love them for sticking with it after all these years of relative obscurity. This is the first single from their new album In the Music, and it’s another smoove slice of literate jangle pop. If you like this, you should know that the rest of the album is even better.

Kathryn Calder – Slip Away
The newest member of the New Pornographers (she’s lead singer Carl Newman’s niece, and she joined during the sessions for Twin Cinema), Calder is picking a curious time to release a solo album, since she’s tied up with touring with the New Porns for the summer. But one listen to this track from the album Are You My Mother?, due out in August, shows that perhaps Carl and Dan should bring her to the writing table, because I’ll take this over anything on the last New Pornographers album any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

Donn T – Look At
Two words: Female Kenna. If that doesn’t immediate ring a couple bells, then I have one word for you: Kenna.

See Green – I Can Change
Well, that didn’t take long. Courtenay Green, who’s fast becoming a regular in these parts, covered “I Can Change” from LCD Soundsystem’s new album This Is Happening. Man, is James Murphy the new Neil Young, where his songs sound infinitely better when covered by other people?

La Roux – Bulletproof (Hyper Crush remix)
Armed with a bass line that will set off car alarms, this mix of La Roux’s “Bulletproof” is totally ADD madness, but it’s cool. And I still haven’t grown tired of that Macintosh voice program.

Clubfeet – Teenage Suicide
If you’re anything like me, you saw that title and immediately sang the words ‘Don’t do it’ in your head, since that was the name of the hit song the DJ played in the movie “Heathers.” Well sure enough, immediately after the breathy male lead sings “Teenage suicide,” two girls shout, “Don’t do it!” Bonus points for reading my mind.

Shadow Shadow – Is This Tempest in the Shape of a Bell
Gotta give some love to the guitar pop set. Man, this would have been huge in 1975.

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