Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris
All I Intended To Be 2008 Nonesuch


Oh, Emmylou Harris, how I love you. Oh, how I think Blue Kentucky Girl is one of the finest albums country and bluegrass have ever known and oh, how I look to your voice as one of the most defining of the genres. And oh, what a joyous treat your 2006 pairing with Mark Knopfler was. And some are saying that your newest album, All I Intended To Be, is the pinnacle of your career. I almost agree.
This album is very good. And I love the way you sing sorrow. But I also love the way you sing joy, and there is very little of that to be found here. To say I don't miss that, would be a lie. However, it is beautifully maudlin, it moves slowly to be sure, but it also quite care-free and the more I listen to it the more I admire it. 'Gold' is one of the high points, featuring amazing backing vocals by Dolly Parton, it feels the most timeless, truly among the greatest in your deep canon. As is 'How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower,' a fittingly melodic and harmonious tribute to June Carter that seems to float off of your fingers and your lips.
The interspersion of cover songs was an interesting idea and it truly does work. They mesh with the originals so well, in fact, that even if you are familiar with the song, like Merle Haggard's 'Kern River,' its easy to forget that it is not one of your own.
To call this album the most personal of your career, however, would be an understatement. The assembly of so many longtime friends, of such powerful caliber is impressive and the care put into this album is nearly tangible. It sounds as though many old friends and lost loves simply got together and worked through their emotions for each other one song at a time. And though I miss songs like 'Sisters Coming Home,' this is by far the most peaceful you have ever sounded.

Duffy

Duffy
Rockferry 2008 Mercury

Welsh vocalist Duffy is one of the latest in the line of young ladies leading the charge of New Soul, and while I do not think that Amy Winehouse comparisons are inappropriate, I would have to say that Duffy has the more compelling and stronger voice while also exploring a different facet of Soul Music than Winehouse. And unlike her British counterpart, it is far more likely that we will get more albums by which to better judge her legacy.
The songs on Rockferry tend to be more atmospheric and sultry but also far more wistful and lacking any form of self-consciousness. They rely heavily on techniques utilized by the great Motown producers and even Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound. With thumping bass throughout, brilliantly subdued guitar, drums played with the perfect mix of funk and soul and downright amazing backing vocals, the album is an absolutely underplayed and welcome assault. The slow-building title track opens the album, giving way into something ethereally epic with each second that passes. And even armed with pulsating and commanding songs like 'Mercy' and 'Delayed Devotion' the album is far less hip than any of the new soul divas, but that is by far its strength and in many ways, it feels far more genuine than most.
And most striking about Duffy herself is the modesty with which she carries herself. When responding to praise about her album, she quietly replies that she "can't take it in, because I didn't do it on my own," before citing the plethora of help she had in producing the album. Some have criticized her and others within the movement of misrepresenting true soul, something she partially agrees with, saying that she is not trying to define it, but she also disputes the claim that a 24 year-old white woman from Wales cannot have soul, saying that race should not be an issue and she has the perfect album to back that argument up.

Devotchka

Devotchka
A Mad And Faithful Telling 2008 Anti

I absolutely adore when artists dabble in cross-genres and Devotchka is a group after my own heart. Originally a backing band for burlesque shows, this Denver-based quartet somehow manages to blend the best of Eastern Bloc folk music with Latin sounds such as Mariachi into something wholly organic and whose individual parts do not clash but rather compliment. They are one of those maverick acts who could be said are more punk rock than most punk bands themselves in that they dare to forgo conventions and so it is only fitting that A Mad And Faithful Telling was released on Anti-,who has an excellent reputation of releasing great albums by groundbreaking and off the cuff artists, new and old. And while they are not as bombastic musically as some of their contemporaries within the so-called Folk-Punk and Gypsy Punk genres, their live show is said to be something to behold complete with trapeze artists and various musicians appearing from within the crowd.
Each member boasts an impressive repertoire of instruments to their credit, with accordion, melodica, theramin, trumpet, violin and countless others piercing throughout one another and making their glorious presence known.
Each song moves in its own way, from the stirring, melodic epic 'Transliterator' whose string section swirls about over the haunting verses before giving way to the oddly catchy chorus to the instrumental 'Comrade Z' whose jarring Slavic rhythm section bounces joyfully and the rapid movements of Mariachi trumpets and violins dance rapidly around it to the closing track 'New World', which I swear to god could have been a Pixies song in the right era with its atmospheric female vocals in the background that painted for me a picture of Kim Deal.
Devotchka is a band to be awed by, and A Mad And Faithful Telling is the memo on that.

Black Kids

Black Kids
Partie Traumatic 2008 Red Int/Red Ink

The Cure's Robert Smith had such a unique and noticeable voice, one that for me, defined the 80's gothic new wave like no other, and within in it, all cracking and desperate, you could feel the emotion pouring from with in him and you could in some ways empathize with whatever he was putting forth. Many vocalists have tried to mimic this voice and failed, and to me it has always seemed half-hearted and it has always been a gigantic turn-off for me. And so now there is this new up and coming band from Florida called Black Kids who's singer Reggie Youngblood at times, unleashes a full-on Robert Smith assault. And here's my conundrum: for the most part I really like the music. It draws upon the greatest of the morose new wave acts like the Psychedelic Furs while in the same turn making it infectiously dancey. And the female vocals only help. Add on top of that, the great, satirical lyrics and the fantastic use of of call and response. My favorite lines have to be (the female vocals are in italics) Abracadabra/Every summer you disappear/Because its so sticky in the dirty south/Oh yeah its hot as balls!/Hey watch your mouth!.And then add to that the fact that Youngblood's low register vocals are brilliantly beautiful and remind me a lot of Jim Kerr of Simple Minds fame. Its almost enough to make me forgive that one thing. But its a glaring thing. Though the more I listen the less apparent it becomes.
So there you go, do with that what you will. For the most part i really like this album. For the most part.

The Breeders

The Breeders
Mountain Battles 2008 4ad Records

This album bores me. And that is a painful statement to make because as a teenager in the early 90's, the Breeders' albums defined much of my music listening. They were able to combine quirky and poppy, experimental and rock like few others could. And on this album, some of those qualities remain, but for the most part the songs are just bland. In some ways I attribute this to the fact that the Deal sisters seem so tired in the harmonies, almost as if they are phoning their performances in. But its more than that, the songs themselves, even the uptempo ones, move along at paces that suggest a collective apathy towards the project, even if that is not indeed the case. All in all, their are some gems, most noticeably "German Studies," a pleasant reminder of the Breeders of old featuring actual German lyrics that seem to be sung with more conviction than any of the other tracks. So rather than a "Pod" or a "Last Splash," chalk this one up as more of a "Title Tk": not bad, just sort of ho hum.

The B-52s

The B-52s
Funplex 2008 Astralwerks

It has been 16 years since The B-52s released a proper studio album, a fact that should be worrisome, for time is not always forgiving to musicians and their last effort, Good Stuff was mediocre at best. But this band are party animals of the purest pedigree and their bombastic attitudes have not aged on bit. This album is sexy. It's dripping with it, in fact and every thing you'd expect from a classic B-52s album is there: Fred Schneider's unapologetic pop shout, Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson's enthralling and sassy harmonies, Keith Strickland's catchy riffs and the lyrics that beckon you to forsake your self-conscious ego and dance for god's sake. It's like the early 80's again only with better production (though sometimes it seems a tad overproduced). Standout tracks include "Juliet of the Spirits," a insanely catchy and spacey dance ballad and "Too Much To Think About," an innuendo-laden swaggering anthem using celestial imagery to describe what I'm pretty sure is sex, culminating in the line "Tonight! When Bodies Collide!" The party has not stopped for this Athens, Georgia party band and it most likely never will, as evidenced by the defiant shouts of the final track "Keep This Party Going." Will Do.

Be Your Own Pet

Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward 2008 Ecstatic Peace

This band rules. Total lo-fi garagey punk reminiscent of legendary California pioneers the Avengers.
The songs are for the most part fast and simple but by the same token, never bland, featuring deceptive tempo shifts and drawing upon doo-wop and rock and roll to round things out and make them interesting. And the vocals rule. With songs about food fights, Robocop (with the best song title ever, 'Bitches Leave'), druggie hipsters, zombies and Valley of the Dolls, they are a band after my own heart. One of my most fav lines from the album has got to be from the freak-out groove 'Becky' in which vocalist Jemina Pearl shrieks "That doesn't matter anyway/Cuz I've gotta brand new friend, okay?/Me and her, we'll kick your ass/We'll wait with knives after class."
The only bummer about this record is that Be Your Own Pet have recently announced that they are breaking up which is a shame because I really would have enjoyed seeing them live. Oh well. Check it out, Yo!