Album: Love is Magic Artist: John Grant Release Date: October 12, 2018 Favorite Tracks: “Love is Magic,” “Tempest,” “Diet Gum,” and “Is He Strange? Thoughts:
American expatriate John Grant resides now in Iceland where he makes very weird music. The synths and disco beats make the album feel straight from the early 80s complete with spoken word segments reminiscent of Laurie Anderson. The lyrics are crude, angry, deeply personal, and sometimes just plain bizarre. It took me a few listens to warm up to Love is Magic, but it still doesn’t feel as good as Grant’s earlier work.
Some new albums that don’t exactly contain new content, so I’m reviewing them in bulk.
Album: MassEducation Artist: St. Vincent Release Date: October 12, 2018 Favorite Tracks: “Slow Disco,” “Los Ageless,” Thoughts: A release of Masseduction with everything stripped away except Annie Clarke’s voice and a piano, making her sound more like a chanteuse. I think I like this version better, although I didn’t really like the original much at all. Rating: ***
Album: My Way Artist: Willie Nelson Release Date: September 14, 2018 Favorite Tracks: “Summer Wind,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “One for My Baby (And One More For the Road,” “What is This Thing Called Love?,” and “My Way” Thoughts: Willie Nelson sings swinging standards in the style of Frank Sinatra. What’s not to like? Rating: ***
Album: Piano and a Microphone 1983 Artist: Prince Release Date: September 21, 2018 Favorite Tracks: “17 Days,” “Cold Coffee & Cocaine,” and “Why the Butterflies” Thoughts: The first posthumous release from Prince’s music vaults is a glimpse of an artist at work. Just Prince tooling around on a piano, working on several songs, and being amazingly talented. Rating: ***1/2
Got a backlog of albums from recent months, so here’s a collection of quick reviews.
Album: re:member Artist: Ólafur Arnalds Release Date: 24 August 2018 Favorite Tracks: “re:member,” “undir,” and “ekki hugsa” Thoughts: Piano-based ambient music, reminiscent of Sigur Ros. Very soothing. Rating: ****
Album: Marauder Artist: Interpol Release Date: 24 August 2018 Favorite Tracks: “If You Really Love Nothing” and “The Rover” Thoughts: I’ve liked Interpol’s previous recordings, and this is an acceptable addition to their oeuvre. But it feels a bit redundant and uninspired Rating: ***
Album: Negro Swan Artist: Blood Orange Release Date: August 24, 2018 Favorite Tracks: “Charcoal Baby,” “Holy Will,” “Daenham Dream,” and “Out of Your League” Thoughts: Dev Hynes fourth album recording as Blood Orange is smooooooooooth. The music is chill, but the lyrics examine depression and anxiety through an intersectional lens of political consciousness. Rating: ***
Album: The Now Now Artist: Gorillaz Release Date: June 29, 2018 Favorite Tracks: “Humility (feat. George Benson),” “Hollywood,” Thoughts: Damon Albarn’s second band – a “virtual band” at that – is now a veteran band of 20 years. It features a stripped-down sound with fewer guest artists and I think it benefits from that even as it falls a bit short of Gorillaz best work. Rating: ***1/2
Album: Be the Cowboy Artist: Mitski Release Date: 17 August 2018 Favorite Tracks: “A Geyser,” “A Pearl,” “Me and My Husband,” “Nobody,” “Washing Machine Heart,” and “Two Slow Dancers.” Thoughts: Something of a concept album from the point of view of a married woman expressing her angst and ennui underneath a cheerful veneer. I love Mitski’s dynamic vocals and her guitar-playing style. She’s versatile musically too, transitioning through country, disco, and electro-pop without breaking a sweat. Lyrically she has a power with words to express introspection and vulnerability, even if it’s coming from the point of view of a character. Rating: ***1/2
This album from Tancred, the stage name for a project of Maine’s own Jess Abbott, is a collection of 90s style power pop, somewhere in-between Letters to Cleo and The Breeders. The lyrics are confessional and intimate. Abbott alternates rockers with quieter, acoustic tunes. I prefer the former, but really there’s something for everyone here.
Album: Hell-On Artist: Neko Case Release Date: June 1, 2018 Favorite Tracks:
Hell-On
Halls of Sarah
Curse Of The I-5 Corridor
Sleep All Summer
Pitch or Honey
Thoughts:
Looking through my archive I’m surprised that I’ve never reviewed a Neko Case album before as she is one of the great voices of our times, whether on her own or with the New Pornographers and side projects like case/lang/veirs. Turns out this is Case’s first solo album in five years, and I haven’t been reviewing albums that long. Hell-On offers what you expect from Neko Case – strong singing, heartfelt and poetic lyrics, and dynamic music that surprises and pleases. This album also has a lot of guest artists including Beth Ditto, k.d. lang, AC Newman, Kelly Hogan, Doug Gillard, Laura Veirs, Joey Burns, Mark Lanegan, and Eric Bachmann (the last two each share vocals with Case on a pair of stunning duets). This isn’t Case’s best album (it’s a few notches below Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Middle Cyclone) but a merely good Neko Case album is still a wonder to behold.
Almost Had To Start A Fight/In and Out of Patience
Tenderness
Thoughts: The Parquet Courts are an indie rock band from New York City by way of Texas. Produced by Danger Mouse, the music has a lot of elements of classic punk rock mixed with funk, psychedelia, Everley Brothers-style harmonies, dub reggae, and pub sing-a-longs. This approach could be generic but the Parquet Courts manage to make a joyful sound that’s even danceable. Despite the amalgam of retro sounds, the lyrics of this album are “woke” (ast the title implies) focusing on current issues, albeit not through specific references but via moods that are rooted in our times. Rating: ****
Album: Kiss Yr Frenemies Artist: Illuminati Hotties Release Date: May 11, 2018 Favorite Tracks:
(You’re Better) Than Ever
Shape of My Hands
Paying off the Happiness
Thoughts:
The Los Angeles-based band lead by Sarah Tudzin plays bubblegum rock songs with an edge, a style they call tenderpunk. Over the catchy melodies are lyrics with wit and whimsy of the woes of the twentysomething. My favorite track, the cheerful power pop of “Paying off Happiness” is about being in constant debt. As the young people say these days, it’s relatable.
Album: Tell Me How You Really Feel Artist: Courtney Barnett Release Date: May 18, 2018 Favorite Tracks:
“Hopefulessness”
“Charity”
“Need a Little Time”
“Nameless, Faceless”
“I’m Not Your Mother, I’m Not Your Bitch”
“Crippling Self-Doubt and a General Lack of Confidence”
Thoughts:
Australian singer-songwriter Barnett’s second album contains crunching guitars and strong punk melodies over which Barnett’s world-weary voice sings quotidian lyrics of frustration and self-doubt, anger and tenderness, confrontation and ambivalence. The 90s indie rock sound is aided by the guest appearance of Kim and Kelley Deal on “Crippling Self-Doubt and a General Lack of Confidence.” But this is not retro music, it’s fully-engaged in the cultural issues of our times, just not in an anthemic, speaking for everyone manner. If I’d gotten around to making a best albums of 2015 list, Barnett’s debut Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit would’ve been a shoe-in, and Tell Me How You Really Feel builds and improves on that. I’m grateful to be alive at a time when I can hear an artist like Courtney Barnett coming into her own.
Frankie Cosmos – the stage name of Greta Kline (a perfectly fine popstar name but I suppose she’s trying to distance herself from her famous parents, Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates) – sings in a sweet voice over power pop arrangements, sounding kind of like Kimya Dawson crossed with 90s bands like Velocity Girl and Belly. The songs are short and the 18 tracks combined total just over 30 minutes so the album feels over before it really gets started. The music is pleasant but it doesn’t leave a lasting impression on me. Maybe I’ve just gotten too old to relate?
