Ray LaMontagne: Till the Sun Turns Black

I seem to talk quite a bit about seasonal albums. Be they Winter albums, or Summer albums, or, in this case, a Fall album.

I'm a fan of LaMontagne's work, which I first became aware of in episodes of Rescue Me. His voice has this deep, soulful pain in it that just draws you in. On his latest effort, he does this even more, with a lot of blues and jazz taking the place of the usual folk and rock.

The first time I listened to the disc, one thing came to mind, over and over again: Van Morrison's Astral Weeks. It's almost uncanny, at points, how much this album either channels, steals, or pays homage to Van's early (and, arguably, best) work.

Key tracks would have to include Be Here Now, Empty, Truly, Madly, Deeply, and the title track, Till the Sun Turns Black.

In the end: This album, much like Astral Weeks, flows amazingly, from start to finish. LaMontagne definitely knew what he was doing when he put this together. If you're looking for a beautiful, low key album to really begin the Fall and slow things down, this is the album for you.

On the web: The Late Greats has Ray's NPR Studio performance in it's entirety. And, if I haven't mentioned it enough, you can find more great tracks at The Hype Machine. Also, there's my review of his Live from Bonaroo 2005 EP.

Technorati Tagged: Ray LaMontagne | Blues | Van Morrison | 2006

Christina Aguilera: Back to Basics

I think you should know that I secretly... ok, not so secretly... love Christina Aguilera. Outside of a very obvious physical attraction, I actually think she's very honest, very talented, and has such a beautiful and powerful voice.

This album, Back to Basics, takes some very interesting twists and turns, combining hip-hop/R&B beats, 30s and 40s dance music, and her usual kickass, high octane voice into one of this year's best female vocalist albums.

The intro, aptly called "Intro (Back to Basics)" makes you think this is going to be a heavily-processed electronic beats album. But my girl's too good for that. She swings it around quickly, with mixes of gospel, hip-hop, smokey jazz samples, and hints of funk. The album closes on a similar note, with voicemails from fans talking about how much they love Christina. It's a bit heavy handed, but it works well as a coda to the album. Or, should I say, first disc.

That's right, there are two discs in this package. What a deal!

The first disc flows nicely, keeps good pace, works well as a great poptastic album for late in the summer. The second disc, while lacking flow, is, at points, painfully beautiful. Aguilera passes on a lot of the electronic production, sampling, and heavy beats, opting for studio instruments creating a soulful, powerful addition to an already amazing album.

On the first disc, spin up "Makes Me Wanna Pray," "Back in the Day," "Ain't No Other Man," and "Without You." On disc two, you'll want to hear "Candyman," "Nasty Naughty Boy," "Hurt," and "Mercy on Me."

In the End: This is the first Christina album I've listned to front to back. It's wonderful, it's crackling with vocal power, it's got a great sound, and it's got one of my future wives. All that makes this a great find, even if it is closer to the bubble gum pop-tarts than I usually go. Christina's smokin' hot, and so is "Back to Basics."

On the Web: Most of what I've mentioned is, as always, available on The Hype Machine.

Technorati Tagged: Christina Aguilera | Female Vocalists | Pop Music | 2006

Baker: Happy Birthday

Knowing someone in the band can be good or bad. In this case, it's good, because it made me aware of good music.

Happy Birthday is a short EP, just 4 tracks coming in just over 13 minutes, which is the worst thing about the album. And anyone who's a fan of rock 'n' roll will enjoy this.

Reputation is a drums-powered tune, that starts things off nicely. Gotta Get Out of the City begins with what I can only describe as an amazing Zep-inspired guitar riff, followed by a great pop/rock tune. Telescopes has a more mainstream pop sound, at points, almost borrowing from the late 90s alt-pop sound. Finally, Plans builds off of a simple bells and tambourine intro, exploding into a full band accompaniment, with the organ taking center stage in the chorus.

In the end: The band is just starting out, but once they've got a full disc of tunes, they will rock the house. It's the kind of rock music everyone can enjoy, not because it has no spine, but because it's solid. Jump on early so you can say "I remember when...."

On the Web: You can stream the band's EP off of their myspace page. There are also photos from their benefit show back in March in my fotki collection.

Technorati Tagged: Baker | Boston Music | Rock N Roll

Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway

Little Miss "First American Idol" managed to do something that none other has been able to: Kelly Clarkson has grown out of the shadow of "Idol" and become a genuine, enjoyable pop star.

Breakaway is a just-shy-of-45-minutes guilty pop pleasure for American culture. No one wants to admit they enjoy it, but any one of her not-saccharine, broken heart tunes makes you want to tap your foot and sing along. Sure, you won't catch anyone belting Breakaway, but you're guaranteed to hear Since U Been Gone or Walk Away being hummed, sung, tapped, drummed.

Some of the tunes are over produced poptastic music, but others are gems, straddling some pop-rock or pop-jazz lines, trying to channel the femal-vocalists of yesteryear. Addicted brings up a strong feeling of Fiona Apple, while Walk Away showcases her raw power as she definitely comes in the vicinity of Christina Aguilera's voice, powered down a notch or two.

In the End: If you get past some of the painfully cutesy love songs, Breakaway manages to do something that most top40 pop albums don't do -- transcend some musical barriers and appeal to a broad group of people. It's not so much that it's not offensive, it's just strangley enjoyable. Even if Clarkson was once an "American Idol." I'll forgive her... for now.

On the Web: As always, Hit up the Hype Machine for tracks. Also, pay close attention to Paula's Smokin' Kelly's Doobie, a mash-up containing Paula Abdul, Deep Purple, Kelly Clarkson, and the Doobie Bros.

Technorati Tagged: 2004 | Kelly Clarkson | Pop Music | American Idol

Spoon: A Series of Sneaks

I've been having a hard time getting through this album, but I'm not sure why. Something just hasn't clicked on this disc the way it did on Gimme Fiction.

That's not to say it's a bad album, there's just no hook. There's not a song or two that you walk away with really stuck in your head, unlike Fiction's Sister Jack or I Turn My Camera On

All that being said, the album *does* play well as background music, with the exception of 30 Gallon Tank which is just noticeable enough to not be ambient, but not noticeable enough to be a great tune.

In looking things up, I've found this is from 1998, which gives me a lot of hope, as they've obviously matured, improved, and experimented to reach the quality and skill of Gimme Fiction.

In the end: Any Spoon fan will obviously be about this. If you jumped in late, like I did, you may feel a bit disappointed.

On the Web: You can find 33 bootlegs from Spoon on on archive.org.

Technorati Tagged: Spoon | Background Music

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros: Streetcore

A coworker and I were discussing his latest CD purchases when he presented this gem to me to listen to and enjoy. I knew Joe Strummer's name from my love of The Clash, but was only aware of his solo works due to tunes in soundtracks, most notably, "Gross Pointe Blank."

It took me a while to actually pay attention to Streetcore as I would listen to it at work and zone out. But, one afternoon on a drive home, I actually started paying attention to it and found it to be a truly wonderful work.

Coming from a guy who was the voice of The Clash, you half expect some aging punk star trying to stick to glory days. But Strummer's sound seems have matured just right with a nice blend of punk, raggae, acoustic, and good ol' rock 'n' roll.

Coma Girl starts the album off in a fairly straightforward rock way. It's construction is pretty average, but it's still got a great beat. And then gears get changed on the next tune, Get Down Moses which has a wonderful raggae sound. Long Shadow switches gears again, changing into an acoustic rock tune, and, if Strummer were alive now, would be such a great ending to an Unplugged set. Arms Aloft switches back close to the rock 'n' roll, but definitely leans towards a more Alternative song construction/sound. It's both playful and enjoyable.

In the end: If you only know The Clash, you don't know enough. This album proves a few things:
1) Just because you were in successful band many years ago, your solo works may not suck.
2) Up until the end, Strummer's voice held that same power he had in the old days, but it is now smarter, more focused.
3) You should have gone to amazon by now and bought it.

Know it. Love it. Listen to it. Repeat.

On the Web: You can find all the tracks I've mentioned and so much more off of The Hype Machine.

Technorati Tagged: Joe Strummer | Rock | The Clash