On “Hourglass,” Dave Gahan wisely returns to the highly synthesized electronica of his main band Depeche Mode. Unlike his more guitar-centered solo debut, 2003’s “Paper Monsters,” the follow-up is on the whole dark and moody, filled with thick, dense beats and pulsating grooves. The ambient “Saw Something” is a haunting, echoey opener, followed by […]
“Country Girl” — the song that has famously made Missouri-bred Rissi Palmer the first black woman in two decades to hit the Hot Country Songs chart — is a propulsive, soul-fueled stomp offering a useful lyric lesson about how you don’t have to be “a Georgia peach from Savannah Beach” to identify as country. […]
It has been quite some time since the music of Babyshambles leader Pete Doherty received more notoriety than his drug arrests. That won’t change with “Shotter’s Nation,” though there are a few instances where the songs manage to make the listener forget about the court appearances and remember Doherty’s uniquely skewered way around a […]
System of a Down may be on hiatus, but its sound isn’t, thanks to frontman Serj Tankian. “Elect the Dead,” his first full-length solo effort, boasts the same kind of arty arrangements and cascading dynamics as SOAD’s ouvre, a sign that while guitarist Daron Malakian is often considered the band’s mad genius, Tankian’s elastic, […]
Dwight Yoakam’s long friendship with, and admiration for, the late Buck Owens is well documented, which makes this heartfelt tribute to his mentor a natural. And Yoakam’s treatment of 15 Owens classics is spot on, which is not to say he mimics Owens note for note. At times Yoakam clearly channels his mentor (”Act […]
“The Last Poet” is the sound of Mick Jones excited again about music. As such, it’s exactly the kind of record his diehards expect from him, one full of accessible guitar rock with plenty of melodic solos, singable choruses and conscious, sweetly idealistic lyrics. Sparked by his production work with the Libertines, his songwriting […]
If Neil Young has been consistently inconsistent throughout his career, he is rarely as all-over-the-map on the same album as he is on “Chrome Dreams II,” named in reference to a 1976 album that never materialized. The humble, sweet strummer “Beautiful Bluebird” conjures the mid-’70s acoustic classic “Comes a Time”; the steel guitar-soaked “Ever […]
This album’s pensive name and introspective title track belie a project with stronger rock undertones and more outright romanticism than previous Juanes efforts. What remain are the memorable melodies guaranteed to become hits and the distinctive guitar riffs, but with a decidedly more pronounced edge. The lyrics, which have always been a Juanes strong […]
On the coattails of Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler’s genre-busting “All the Roadrunning” collaboration comes “Raising Sand,” the intriguing pairing of Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss. Produced by T Bone Burnett, who contributes his keen knack for proffering compelling, off-the-beaten-path tunes, the CD traverses multifarious roots styles, from country (the […]
What a revelation to wake up one morning and download a new Radiohead album that had only been announced 10 days earlier. Although the actual music here could easily have gotten lost in the hubbub over the name-your-own-price scheme, it proves to be just as inspiring as the band’s new biz model. Many of the […]
Having first blazed down the teary-eyed emo trail in 1999, Jimmy Eat World keeps successfully tapping into the teenage angst-ridden pop/punk market five albums in. “Chase This Light” finds the band returning to the more accelerated power pop of 2001’s “Bleed American” rather than the darker tone heard throughout 2004’s “Futures.” With Butch Vig […]
R.E.M. has been generous with greatest-hits and rarities compilations, but it hasn’t released a live album until now. “R.E.M. Live,” recorded in February 2005 in Dublin, pits classics (1986’s “Cuyahoga”) against recent tunes (”Leaving New York”) and hits all the marks (”Everybody Hurts,” “Walk Unafraid”). R.E.M. knows there is a sweet spot between Michael […]
Stanley Clarke is one of the finest jazz artists of his generation, and “The Toys of Men” is the masterpiece we’d expect from this master bassist/composer. The overarching theme is the lunacy of war. The 11-minute, six-part opening title track is an instrumental articulation of Clarke’s perception of the dark side of human nature […]
From the opening bars of the title-track demo for “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You),” there’s no trouble channeling the goose bump-raising atmosphere that yielded Aretha Franklin’s groundbreaking Atlantic debut. That song is just one of the enthralling, you-are-there moments on this double-CD of ’60s- and ’70s-era demos and outtakes. […]
