What started as a gig scoring Spike Lee’s HBO documentary “When the Levees Broke” has been imaginatively expanded by trumpeter Terence Blanchard into this epic-length, orchestral-string masterwork. As the two-year anniversary of the New Orleans deluge approaches, the Crescent City native delivers his compelling and poignant reflections on the catastrophe, with the support of […]
We have an unexpected pairing on “Dub Qawwali” — electro-dub savant Gaudi and the late, legendary Pakistani qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Working with recently discovered Khan vocal tracks, Gaudi has artfully crafted a surprisingly profound blend of Qawwali music and dub reggae. Qawwali is the music of Sufi mysticism, and Khan was surely […]
Blaqk Audio made its presence known on MySpace earlier this year before revealing itself as the electronic side project of AFI’s Jade Puget and Davey Havok. With “CexCells,” the pair delivers an emotionally charged collection that pays homage to pioneering dance/rock/electronic acts like Depeche Mode, Visage and Human League. Havoc’s vocals, at times, even […]
Danish duo Junior Senior named its debut album “D-D-Don’t Don’t Stop the Beat”; its lead single, “Move Your Feet,” ricocheted around the world, causing much dance-floor damage along the way. The b-b-beat continues on “Hey Hey My My Yo Yo.” In fact, the songs here are more catchy, and yes, more fun. “Hello/Hip Hop […]
Lori McKenna’s major-label debut, which comes after four independent releases, may be one this year’s best country albums. McKenna says her songs are a collision of autobiography, observation and a vivid imagination, and there’s plenty of proof here to back her up. The rocking and insightful “I Know You” name-checks D.H. Lawrence and could […]
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try … whoops. Disney did succeed with “High School Musical,” to the tune of 7 million albums sold worldwide, a catalog of DVDs, a concert tour, stage and ice shows, and lyrics that every teen on the planet knows by heart. “High School Musical 2″ doesn’t dance […]
After five years and numerous release-date shifts, a proper UGK album is finally ready to hit stores. Still criminally slept-on by the masses, the duo of Bun B and Pimp C certainly makes up for lost time here with a 29-track double-album that proudly flies the flag for Southern hip-hop. The OutKast-featuring “Intl’ Players […]
Marie Daulne, founder of Zap Mama, has been a major figure in world music since the early ’90s, crunching genres from Congolese traditional to rap via what was initially an a cappella quintet. In all that time she’s never released a tighter, more immediate record than the new “Supermoon.” Daulne wrote four tunes on […]
A wide array of artists lend their talents to interpreting the music of singer-songwriter Jesse Harris on the soundtrack to this upcoming Ethan Hawke-directed film. Harris, widely known for his Grammy Award-winning work with Norah Jones, wrote every song here including two score arrangements, and he and Hawke handpicked the artists to perform their […]
It used to be that Okkervil River’s Will Sheff couldn’t sing worth a damn, but things change. His whirly yelp, still unsteady, is here as much a fantastic destructive force as it is a story’s fragile narrator. This nine-song collection revolves around the themes of movies, fiction, fame and (naturally) death. The cerebral lyrics […]
On her debut album, 19-year-old newcomer Kat DeLuna offers a unique blend of pop, R&B, house, hip-hop, bachata, dancehall, merengue and opera — and surprisingly pulls it off. With vocal strength reminiscent of the late, great Selena, the Dominican-bred chanteuse might just be starting a musical movement all on her own. On the Elephant Man-assisted […]
Listening to Georgia native Luke Bryan sing about trucks, Mama, red-eyed gravy and wrestling hogs and gators, you realize he knows of what he speaks, at least in general terms. And that’s the attraction to this fine record. Bryan, who co-wrote 10 of the 11 cuts, doesn’t break any new musical ground here (he […]
Irish singer-songwriter Ciaran MacFeely’s (aka Simple Kid) 2004 effort, “1,” was one of the most underappreciated debuts of that year, marrying his slack, stoner-y and at times fuzzed-out acoustic slide with elements of Britpop. Musically, it was all lo-fi; lyrically, the songs were clever, catchy and charming. Follow-up “2″ is a headphone record full of […]
After three wildly improvisational Groundtruther CDs with drummer Bobby Previte, Charlie Hunter emerges a changed man on “Mistico,” his debut on Concord’s resuscitated Fantasy imprint. The guitar/bass wiz returns to the trio setting of his early-’90s beginnings, and an ax with seven strings in lieu of eight. But this time, a keyboardist (Erik Deutsch […]
