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July 2, 2009
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2009-07-02 
Reviews - CD
Booker T.
Potato Hole
(Anti-)

B

Booker T.

While it's true you can never really go back in life, Booker T. Jones, after nearly 50 years in music, has given us a solid set of tracks with the new Potato Hole. Narrow-view soul fiends may recoil at the overt rock business going on here but, as someone said to me recently, "Wasn't Green Onions a rock song?" True enough. With the volume-knob happy Neil Young on lead fuzz guitar and current insurgent country hot shots The Drive-By Truckers chugging along in tandem, Potato Hole is fat with rock soul. Jones should be credited for taking chances with his music at a time when he could simply be resting on his laudable Stax laurels.
— Jeff Monk
Dave Matthews Band
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
(Sony/RCA)

A

Dave Matthews Band

Great songs never hurt and DMB has a plethora on this disc. Carter Beauford brings his masterful hi-hat offbeats and crazy-assed fills. Stefan Lessard is the twine that binds each song carefully together and gives Carter the freedom to move around the time signatures. Leroi Moore's sax adds jazz solos and a funk foundation to the mix. (Moore, who passed away last August, is the GrooGrux King of the title). Boyd Tinsley is the tinderbox, setting tunes ablaze with his sparkling violin solos. Then there is the enigmatic Dave Matthews: acoustic guitar basher, stunning lyricist and one of rock's premier emotive singers.
— Chris Brown
Dinosaur Jr.
Farm
(Jagjaguwar)

A+

Dinosaur Jr.

Dinosaur Jr. is back. Again. The fifth offering from the classic lineup of Lou Barlow, J Mascis and Murph finds the band treading familiar water in the most positive sense. The only difference between this effort and 2007's Beyond is that you can hear Barlow's bass clearly in the (intentionally) muddy, lo-fi production. Along with the eleven Mascis-penned guitar epics, you will be treated to two Barlow-sung tracks (Your Weather and the brilliant closer Imagination Blind). These are the loudest pop songs you will ever hear - ear-bleeding country, indeed.
— Nick Friesen
Eels
Hombre Lobo
(Vagrant)

B+

Eels

Mark Oliver Everett is ostensibly Eels the band, and even though he's got the requisite full-length nü-hipster beard and a gunny sack full of sad songs, he still kicks up enough dust to shake off any noticeable pretense. This album, replete with matching Cohiba cigar packaging, is a step forward for Everett and his way with a lovelorn lyric reveals that he really is mired in a haze of romantic impracticality. Tracks such as That Look You Gave That Guy and What's A Fella Gotta Do resonate with a deep craving and some profound insight along with his archetypal world-wise, drunk-at-the-bar reverie.
— Jeff Monk
Marilyn Manson
The High End of Low
(Interscope Records)

C+

Marilyn Manson

Antichrist semi-pro. With tunes such as Pretty as a Swastika and Arma-goddamn-motherfuckin-geddon, Marilyn Manson can still ruffle a few feather boas, but the spooky kids who liked this in 1996 have grown up and Manson probably should too. It's not as if The High End of Low is a terrible album. It's certainly better than his previous outing - the emotive breakup record Eat Me, Drink Me - but at this point, his satanic shock shtick just seems forced. I Want to Kill You Like You They Do In The Movies, I Have To Look Up Just To See Hell - we've heard all this before. Boredom comes to mind before Beelzebub.
— Jared Story
Voivod
Infini
(Sonic Unyon)

A

Voivod

Some inherit money, others property - but Voivod inherited riffs. When the veteran Quebec metal band's guitarist Denis (Piggy) D'Amour died of colon cancer in 2005, he left a laptop full of musical material for the band to release. Infini is the second Voivod album made with posthumous Piggy guitar work (Voivod released Katorz in 2006) and will most likely be the last release from the band. Despite playing short-handed, Infini is an amazingly consistent album with barely a blunder. Of course, Piggy's highly technical guitar work is the highlight, but Jason Newsted, Michel Langevin and Denis Belanger all turn in excellent performances.
— Jared Story
Regina Spektor
Far
(Sire Records)

B+

Regina Spektor

On this, the follow-up to 2006's Begin to Hope, Spektor reveals herself as a kindred writing spirit to John K. Samson. Not always relying on a hook (Wallet) allows the songstress to tell tales about quirky characters who dwell in a city that has been mythologized for years - New York City. There are pure-pop gems (The Calculation) as well as the saddest songs about the simplest things (Blue Lips). The diversity is partly due to the four producers Spektor worked with; all put their slick stamp onto songs that could have just as easily existed with simple piano accompaniment. But fleshed out, the tunes help Spektor achieve her full potential as a performer.
— Nick Friesen
Nicole Atkins
Neptune City
(Red Ink Music)

A

Nicole Atkins

Yes, there has been a wave of exceptional female soul singers over the last few years, each seemingly better than the last, but New Jersey chanteuse Nicole Atkins has really flown over the bar with her exceptional second album, Neptune City. The attractive sprite has the kind of vocal power that almost defies description but one listen to tracks such as the bouncy Love Surreal or the haunted '60s girl group-inflected Maybe Tonight and you'll be convinced that this gal may indeed be the next big thing in music. She wrote all the songs, too, and their ability to convey the affairs of the heart is as bona fide as, well, being a singer from Jersey.
— Jeff Monk
Wilco
Wilco (The Album)
(Nonesuch)

A+

Wilco

Disc of the Week
It's been a decade since Wilco released the underrated pop masterpiece, Summerteeth. On its seventh studio recording, the band returns to its alt-country sound for another great summer record. The pop perfection of Wilco (The Song) is undeniable, while You and I (featuring Feist) is as lovely as anything else Wilco has recorded. Frontman Jeff Tweedy has finally solidified the ever-changing lineup, and it shows in the album's consistency. Most obvious are the contributions from guitar legend Nels Cline, whose work on 2007's Sky Blue Sky seemed to be more subtle. Here, he supplies the layers that have been absent since the late Jay Bennett's departure from the band in 2001. Hopefully, this collection will let the masses in on what we fans knew already - that Wilco is the most important American band of its generation.
— Nick Friesen
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