Kaki King plays her acoustic guitar like a drum set, literally tapping on it to create percussive sounds. But she also lays down foundational, virtuosic finger-picked or fret-slapped rhythmic patterns upon which she stacks everything from electric guitar and keyboard to bass, actual drums and, sometimes, vocals. One would expect a massive wall […]
After 2007’s “Diamond Days,” a personal high-water mark for veteran Eric Bibb, “Get Onboard” offers further proof that he is working at an extremely high level of artistry. Several tunes, including “If Our Heart Ain’t in It,” “Stayed on Freedom” and “God’s Kingdom,” conflate folk, blues and gospel in a way that’s uniquely […]
The Presidents of the United States of America remain best known for their 1995 self-titled album. Luckily, the band hasn’t changed much. Instead of peaches and kitties, bandleader Chris Ballew now sings about ladybugs and French girls. But the sparse, compact formula that led the group to success in the mid-’90s remains intact. Punchy […]
Del the Funky Homosapien has spent much of the past eight years either off the radar or somewhat incongruously all over it, as was the case when he took over the song “Clint Eastwood” on the first Gorillaz record. But his 2008 is looking lively. In addition to rumored new albums from Hieroglyphics and […]
There are debut albums, and then there are debut albums that serve notice that the landscape has changed. Twenty-one-year-old Alabama native Ashton Shepherd and producer Buddy Cannon have delivered the latter. Unabashedly country in production and theme, the set is refreshing, authentic and delightfully un-PC. Liquor? Lots of it. Heartache? Check. Dirt roads? […]
Recorded in 18 days, some tracks in one take, Bauhaus’ fifth studio album proves that even a quarter-century’s hiatus can’t kill a great band, especially if it was undead to begin with. There’s no trickery here — apart from the sinister seduction of Peter Murphy’s ever-deepening Transylvanian croon — and the bare, live style […]
It’s not quite “Motown 3,” but Michael McDonald is certainly taking his time transitioning back to making new music. “Soul Speak” features 11, well, soulful covers from his personal favorites, along with a trio of new songs that hold their own amidst their formidable surroundings. Highlights include a winning, sultry take on Leonard […]
The Gutter Twins’ Sub Pop debut, “Saturnalia,” is teeming with the kind of raw and gritty music one might expect to hear kicked around in, well, the gutter. And considering that the project is a collaboration between indie vets Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli, that’s certainly not a bad thing. There’s something ominous and […]
A handful of American artists have explored the connection between West African music and American blues, but Markus James has lived this connection for the past seven years (and four albums). “Snakeskin Violin” continues his profound world blues passage. Working, as usual, with several Malian players, including Hassi Sare (njarka violin), Mamadou Sidibe (calabash, […]
Jim White narrated the 2004 film “Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus,” an insightful peek at the often dark place where music and religion meet in the rural South. But the title here is meant to describe his recent bouts with contentment. With accompaniment as varied as vocals from Ollabelle and Brazilian percussion from Mauro […]
Most largely instrumental jazz albums lose their appeal after the 50-minute mark. Notwithstanding its four R&B-style vocal tracks (including a winning rendition of Deniece Williams’ “Free” by Corinne Bailey Rae), Marcus Miller’s zesty CD has adrenaline to spare at the close of its 70-plus-minute funk-jazz marathon, when he speeds across the finish line […]
Stephen Malkmus has neatly kept all his parts in place on his fourth solo album: the languid lyrical nonsense, the obtuse stories that seem to go nowhere until they do (sometimes), the once-again-lengthy compositions and the ’70s-pop-prog trickery. (OK, that’s new.) They’re all so intact, in fact, that “Real Emotional Trash” feels often calculated […]
This album was going to change the world, its rocking power-pop and savagely smart lyrics saving a generation from the torpor of 1978’s one-hit disco flashes and smotheringly produced corporate rock. Things went wrong from the moment CBS Records changed the title to “Pure Pop for Now People” for its U.S. release. But Nick Lowe’s […]
It may be his poppiest and slickest work to date, but “Golden Delicious” is more proof that Mike Doughty still knows where to make the melodies twist and turn to find the sweet spot among the ridiculous, the sublime and the sad. Opener “Fort Hood” is a deceptively boppy-sounding look at a soldier […]
