(Blue Note)
Somewhere in the last two years, Norah Jones lost the blues. Maybe it happened when her debut album, , garnered her a record eight grammys last year. Or perhaps it occured when the album spent countless weeks at number one on the Billboard charts. Whatever the case, the distinct shades of blue that colored Jones' first effort have faded, and upon listening to \Sunrise,"" the first track off , one can not help but notice that the sound is suddenly downright, well, sunny.
Not that that is a bad thing.?? While the bright and amiable ""Sunrise"" and country tunes ""Creepin' In"" (an upbeat collaboration with Dolly Parton) and ""The Long Way Home"" may reveal new approaches in Jones' world, the album on a whole stays close to the original formula.??
Jones' penchant for delivering hospitable ballads with a cinematic feel returns with the album's third track, the Richard Julian-penned ""Those Sweet Words,"" which already appeared as one of the sole bright spots in last year's film ""Alex and Emma.""?? The co-writing process works nicely again here for Jones, as several other band originals show up on the album.??Adam Levy's contribution, ""In the Morning,"" picks things up with a Wurlitzer solo and allows Jones to fire her voice back up to a bluesy smolder.
Some of Feels Like Home's best moments, however, come from Jones' now notorious collection of cover tunes.??The 24-year-old once again displays her eclectic taste in music by covering songs by Townes Van Zandt and Tom Waits. On ""Be Here to Love Me,"" Jones and her band nail Van Zandt's pleading chorus with a pitch-perfect harmony that resonates throughout the disc.
It is when the singer lends her own hand at songwriting, though, that the album truly shines.??Her smoky voice floats unobtrusively over a jazzy piano line in ""Don't Miss You at All,"" a re-working of Duke Ellington's ""Melancholia"" which features original lyrics written by none other than Norah herself.
When all is said and done, excellent arrangements and spot-on musicianship alone are enough to prevent any chance of a sophomore slump here.??However, Jones' true magic stems from the fact that, although as the title of the album suggests the music may carry an old familiar feel with it, the end product is still surprisingly fresh.??
Though she may sing the words, ""my toes just touched the water"" on the album's gently flowing track ""Toes,"" Jones isn't fooling anyone this time around.??With a superb follow up to one of the most successful debut albums ever, Jones sounds like she's been at this a very long time.
(Southern Lord)
Few realize that there was a pre-Nirvana world for Dave Grohl.?? Before the trudge of grunge brought him celebrity and the radio-friendly rock of the Foo Fighters proved his frontman prowess, Grohl cut his teeth on speedy punk and metal in the hardcore mecca of Washington D.C.
With Probot, Grohl has come full circle, recording music that is fast and hard with some of the musicians who influenced him early on.??The list reads like a who's who of pre-glam heavy metal icons that runs the gamut from thrash to sludge to black metal.??However, although rumored to be Grohl's ""death metal side-project,"" Probot avoids guttural gurgling vocals and chainsaw-emulating guitar work. Instead Grohl opts for intelligible, even melodic vocals and down tuned powerchords.
Despite the array of vocalists Grohl calls in, the album is consistent in sound and feel from beginning to end, making the glass-shattering pitch of King Diamond feel right at home alongside Motorhead legend Lemmy's signature booze and cigarette-scathed grumble. The likely cause for this phenomenon is that none of the tracks sound particularly like any of the vocalists' main groups, and are instead dripping with Grohl's influence. There are the pure drum-molesting beats paired with thick and decidedly non-virtuoso guitar work, thanks in part to a fellow grunge era notable, Soundgarden's Kim Thayill. The result comes off sounding a whole lot like another band with ties to Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age.
While Probot certainly is no work of heavy metal genius, it certainly holds its own as one of the more interesting releases in recent memory considering that most of the artists featured here faded from the landscape thanks in part due to the release of an album named Nevermind.?? The world needed that album to kill off the mainstream glut of Poison and their countless clones; unfortunately the underground took a hit from the metal backlash.??Probot is Grohl's mea culpa to the idols that were unintentionally buried by the grunge movement he was a participant in.
(5 Rue)
There is a level of lyrical sincerity that an artist can't cross without being labeled maniacal or perverse. When an album numbs a listener's sense of what is and is not to be mentioned in public for the length of an album, it's either deemed art or worthy of censorship. Xiu Xiu's new album,preys on that sense with an almost overwhelming amount of emotional exposure.
Xiu Xiu's lead singer, Jamie Stewart, has declared an open season on whatever the hell might be consider too risqu?? or unbefitting to be put to music by singing about human experiences that are acutely demented and inseverable from depression. Stewart's pretenseless, serious delivery separate Xiu Xiu from the rest- is devoid of comic relief or shades of hope.
Stewart's provacativness moves away from the safely erotic, mainstream intimacy of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake and into deep, sexualized depression. ""Break my face in/ it was the kindest touch you ever gave/ wrap my dreams around your thighs,"" Stewart sings in the title track. Many of the song's perspectives are those of a young child, which only adds to the malicious kinkiness found in many of the tracks. The spoken word ""Support Our Troops OH! (Black Angels OH!),"" forces the listener to reckon with Stewart as he rhythmically speaks to a ""jock"" who purposely killed a four-year-old girl simply to fit in. Xiu Xiu refines, and refines again, their fan base with each passing track with what seems to be purposeful obliviousness. Whether drugs, disorienting depression or simple bravery inspired Xiu Xiu to be so socially unacceptable is irrelevant. wasn't recorded to entertain or lick up any spilt record sales: It's purpose isn't shock but structured depression that's definitely not without an angle of beauty.
The music is captivating, somewhat unfocused and low-brow experimental. Ranging from ambient to abrasive, chords and cymbals are simply accompanying whatever Steward is singing. Or screaming.
will resonate with those who have some familiarity with Stewart's messages. Being able wrap your mind around Xiu Xiu's latest might be a challenge to those new to their music, but whoever eavesdrops onto this record will agree that Xiu Xiu's desperation is artfully in need of a more effective SSRI.
