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Kelis
Tasty
(Arista)
C
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Kelis (rhymes with
release) Rogers is another in a long line of hip-hop pop-tarts
looking to gain entry into the personality cult that lifted
gals like Beyoncé and Missy Elliot into the stratosphere
of musical money-making. She has all the requisite elements
covered. She’s photogenic (and uses talented digital
airbrush artists), uses name producers (The Neptunes on some
tracks), and gets more than a little saucy on many of the
tracks on Tasty. Can she sing? She gets over, and that’s
all that really matters — this kind of über-produced
nonsense is more about image than substance. Everyone involved
knows that, and for making the Kelis package so complete,
someone should be heartily congratulated. Opening track Trick
Me has a near-reggae riddim that is welcome but rather out
of place. In Public is about doing the nasty in the great
outdoors, and Protect My Heart is funky like Chic used to
be.
Jeff Monk |
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Various
Artists
A Ninja Tune Retrospective
(Ninja Tune Recordings)
B+
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Since the early 1990s,
Ninja Tune has been one of the few independent labels that
has been able to grow and develop its own unique sound without
being tied to the trends of the moment. This latest release
is a retrospective look through the back catalogue, highlighting
some of the down-tempo breakbeat and trippy instrumental hip
hop that put the label on the map. Over two discs you will
find cuts from nearly every Ninja producer that matters, along
with forgotten gems from Montreal’s turntable wizard
Kid Koala, DJ Vadim’s breakout single My Revolution
(which can now be played on U.S. airwaves thanks to an overturned
FCC ruling about the sexually offensive nature of the track)
and memorable selections from label head honchos/political
activists Coldcut. It is easy to forget the depth of the Ninja
Tune roster, but it is collections like this that remind you
just how much they have contributed to electronic music.
Anthony Augustine |
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Harry
Connick Jr.
Only You
(Columbia/Sony)
B+
Website: harryconnickjr.com
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I really doubt talented
old Harry could wreck a collection of classics from the ‘50s
and ‘60s even if he tried playing the piano with a hammer.
Hell, this guy’s the very reincarnation of Sinatra,
so let him go about his lounge business; swaggering, oozing,
and — hey, is this guy hitting on my woman? Whoa, hold
on Connick JUNIOR, I’m watching you. If anything, Harry’s
is a little too wimpy here, but the slick sounds of a big
band on Save the Last Dance for Me and others make him less
sissy and more sexy/sweet. Slow, melodic tunes wander elegantly
through the air like Cuban cigar smoke and will make you crave
a bourbon and a pair of wingtips. Or a seething guitar solo.
Ladies, this is the kind of thing guys put on when trying
to ‘seal the deal.’ You’ve been warned.
Mike Warkentin |
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The
Weekend
Teaser+Bonus Level
(Teenage USA Recordings)
A
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Canada’s The
Weekend should be huge. It’s just not right that a band
with such utterly wonderful pop ’n’ roll sensibilities
should remain less than world dominators. Leader Andrea Wasse
writes the kind of modern, ’70s-informed ear candy that
should be heard by anyone who enjoys this kind of soaring
songcraft. The album compiles their previously released Teaser
EP and fleshes it out with five additional burners cut from
the same sonic cloth. Wasse deals in gloriously mindless,
pop-fodder complexities, such as her love of a washed-up ’80s
rockstar (’80s Rockstar), the less-than-perfect reality
of a one-sided romance (Perfect World) and even whining teenage
rebellion (Me vs. the World). Co-Weekender Lincoln Cushman
lays on some brilliant synthesizer cheese that really gives
the band a uniquely unclassifiable sound. If this album is
a teaser one can only expect the real thing will be worth
the titillating warm up. Get this.
Jeff Monk |
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Yes
The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection
(Rhino/Elektra)
B
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How completely inaccurate
album titles can be. English progressive rockers Yes are one
of those comped-to-death bands with two box sets and numerous
collections and greatest hits packages in their hefty back
catalogue. Using the word “ultimate” only puts
into sharp focus the inability of any compiler to choose a
set of tracks that will please everyone. Disc one of this
three-CD set contains early years hits such as the still-entertaining
Roundabout and Long Distance Runaround. Disc two rolls through
into the ’80s when the band was commercially re-born
with the new-wave, radio-friendly synthesizer hit Owner of
a Lonely Heart, and other similar bloodless histrionics. The
third disc is re-worked acoustic versions of five classic
tracks, and seems like something of a commercial afterthought.
Throw in Roger Dean’s classic futuristic landscapes
on the packaging and it makes for one lovely, less-than-ultimate
collection.
Jeff Monk |
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Moby
18 B-Sides + DVD
(V2)
B-
Website: www.moby.com
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With the plethora
of bonus discs and throw-away B-side compilations that fill
the bins at your local record stores these days, Moby’s
18 B Sides + DVD is worth your hard-earned dollars, giving
you a lot of bang for your buck. There’s nothing really
new on the music side of this release; it’s mostly some
mega mixes and lackluster songs that didn’t quite make
the album. But if you’re a fan, this package is worth
picking up for the “extras,” which include a DVD
made up of Moby’s full 2003 Glastonbury performance,
6 videos (including the excellent but somehow sad We are All
Made of Stars, starring Arnold and Willis of Different Strokes
fame) and various behind the scenes footage and interviews.
There’s really only one negative aspect about this whole
package: Why didn’t Moby leave the songs off and just
release this as a DVD?
Sean Allum |
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Brides
of Destruction
Here Come the Brides
(Sanctuary Records)
C
Website: www.Bridesofdestruction.com
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Tommy Lee isn’t
the only ex-Crüe member who can marry a Baywatch babe
and start his own heavy rock band. No sir, Nikki Sixx matches
Pamela Anderson/ Methods of Mayhem and raises Donna D’Errico
and Brides of Destruction. And how is Here Comes the Brides?
Well, it’s over produced for one thing, lacking in that
raw edginess that made Sixx’s Mötley days so successful.
Someone is constantly playing with the vocal effects here
and it becomes annoying — as do lyrics that reveal just
how many drugs Sixx used to do. There are moments of kick-ass
rock here — 2x Dead and Brace Yourself have potential—
but they are moments only, and the Devil Horns never reach
full extension during this nine-track effort. Check out Revolution
for a bad song that could be titled Words That Rhyme.
Mike Warkentin |
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Joe
Jackson
Two Rainy Nights: Live in Seattle and Portland
(Koch)
D
Website: www.joejackson.com
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Joe Jackson is one
of those rare artists who does what he wants and usually puts
out a solid effort, even though it may not be commercially
acceptable. That said, his latest disc seems like an afterthought,
and the results are disappointing at best. The 14 songs here
span his marvelous, 25-year career, but it’s the arrangements
and his insistence on changing things up that are utterly
baffling. After 2003’s Volume 4, a rocking return to
form with the original Joe Jackson band, you wonder why he
would put out a live album recorded in 2001 — especially
since he bastardizes Got the Time (the punk-era classic) and
others by turning them into bossa nova-type servings of cheese.
If you’re looking for Jackson at his best, buy his greatest
hits or even his last studio album but, whatever you do, overlook
this recording.
Sean Allum |
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Omar
and the Howlers
Boogie Man
(Ruf Records)
B
Website: www.Omarandthehowlers.com
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Great big Texan Omar
Dykes has been doing this for a long time; 25 years and 15
albums. Boogie Man is the follow-up to 2002’s Big Delta
(which was a re-recording of Omar’s best cuts), and
features 11 tracks delivered in the Texas electric blues style.
Omar’s Wolfman Jack/Howlin’ Wolf voice hasn’t
lost its raspy growl, and it is this quality that sets Boogie
Man apart from the rest of the genre; Omar’s gravelly
vocals make Thorogood look like a choir boy. The title track
is a gritty, nostrils-flared effort with just enough distortion
to let you know you’re in Texas now, son, while White
Crosses serves up some dusky, Mexican-influenced, heavy reverb
licks. Omar loses his edge on a few tracks that slip into
stock blues obscurity, but this disc really cooks when he
plays the thick, electric, I-smell-hair-burning Texas blues
that got him where he is.
Mike Warkentin |
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