Elle King’s Shake the Spirit shows off her musical pedigree and spitfire style in a fast-paced, enjoyable fifty-minutes. The LA-based singer has a rough-and-tumble rock ’n’ roll voice that recalls Wanda Jackson, with plenty of modern sass and honesty to spare. (Case in point: “Naturally Pretty Girls,” in which King discusses body image, the ease of living enjoyed by girls with perfect skin and hair, and her views on her own looks.) Listening to Shake the Spirit feels like pulling into some low-down dirty backwoods dive for a raucous, let-the-good-times-roll tour de force. A unique spin on retro styled genres with plenty of heart to spare.
Yves Tumor’s first LP for Warp Records is monumental. Safe in the Hands of Love expands on his earlier inclinations; it’s bigger, bolder, lusher, and lovelier. Yves Tumor is never one to shy away from his most experimental urges and although there’s more of a “traditional” song structure here than previously, the artist’s roots in noise and ambient make for some surprising twists and turns in what’s definitely one of the weirder entries into the realm of slowed down, spaced out sad R&B. Some of the underground’s finest experimental/noise artists make contributions here: Puce Mary and Oxhy show up on the bristling “Hope in Suffering (Escaping Oblivion & Overcoming Powerlessness)” and Croation Amor adds an unsettling beauty to “Economy of Freedom.”
Using Britain's referendum on exiting from the European Union as the reformative spark, supergroup The Good, The Bad & The Queen have returned over a decade later with their second release, Merrie Land . Damon Albarn, Clash bassist Paul Simonon, Verve guitarist Simon Tong, and Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen are back to muse on the state of being British in 2018, this time with legendary Tony Visconti in the producer's chair. Fans of Albarn's particular brand of electro-melancholia will find more to enjoy here.
You Won't Get What You Want is the name of the latest LP from heavy rockers Daughters — perhaps it’s a nod to fans who were expecting more of the same from the manic Rhode Island quintet. Instead, the band serves up a brooding, sludged up foray into the realm of noise/experimental with bristling old school industrial menace. It’s a tour de force, thick with ominous riffs and simmering atmospherics. Daughters has the impressive ability to consistently evolve their sound in fittingly dark and aggressive ways and this most recent album stands as one of the highpoints in their dynamic career.
With a musical resume influenced by his time in uber-successful bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin, Andrew McMahon has been creating solo magic since 2013. Upside Down Flowers is the latest from his Andrew McMahon In the Wilderness project and it’s an intimate, well-crafted collection of songs, filled with the bravado of youth (“Teenage Rockstars”) and the hopefulness of rock ’n’ roll dreamers (“Ohio”). The songs are eclectic and eminently listenable. The melodies are introspective but bordering on anthemic with lyrics that are smart and sensitive. A must-have for fans that’s sure to win over listeners who appreciate thoughtful indie pop.
L.A. band Touche Amore celebrated their 10th anniversary by playing their 1000th show at The Regent Theater in their hometown and this is the aptly titled recording. The follow-up to 2016's acclaimed Stage Four , the album delivers 29 tracks of the group's earnest blend of punk and emo, with the crowd frequently joining in on vocals. The video for “Flowers and You” attests to the audience's enthusiasm and frontman Jeremy Bolm's stage presence.
On Take Good Care , the Revivalists' fourth studio album, the New Orleans-based band rides high on their signature accessible sound: pop lightly tinged with funk and blues, akin to Maroon 5 or Jason Mraz. “All My Friends” is a catchy single with sing/song verses and some bluesy guitar licks. “Got Love” is another strong track with bright horns and gospel-inflected vocals. The closing song, “Shoot You Down,” is a heartfelt anti-gun violence ballad, perhaps the best use of frontman David Shaw's flexible voice.
For Rick & Morty fans, the music in the show is an important part of the whole experience. With improvised and ridiculous lyrics, over the top score moments, the soundtrack on its own serves as a comedy album that parodies genres right and left. One such highlight is the Bowie-esque “Goodbye Moonmen” performed by Jemaine Clement from Flight of The Concords. Also included are the actual songs used in now web-famous moments of the show, such as Blonde Redhead's “For The Damaged Coda” from the episode, “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind.”
Pop divas don’t get much larger-than-life than Mariah Carey. That’s a rarified stratum in pop culture that is accessed only through a combination of world class talent, coupled with peak MTV-era overexposure (as well as the resulting hangover), and having your very own immortal Christmas standard to boot. Caution is her fifteenth album overall, which is certainly indicative of a workaholic career, yet more importantly it’s only her second collection of all original material released this decade. No longer beholden to the insatiable pace of a meat grinder industry, Mariah Carey has time to create and release the albums she wants to make. As a result, there is an unmistakable quality to her recent works that had been missing in her mid-to-late '00s marathon. Caution is no different, however, unlike the statement-making length of The Elusive Chanteuse , it runs a brisk 38 minutes and is largely composed of Mariah embracing her role as the R&B slow jam queen. Songs such as “GTFO” and “With You” sound like a sultry, smoky update on her many '90s ballads, with only the production hinting that it's 2018. But when she does liven up the pace it just goes to show the depths of her pop acumen: Mariah can still crank out bangers with the best of ‘em. On what is undoubtedly the album’s highlight, “The Distance” manages to deftly combine a deep, deep groove with diva-sized vocal acrobatics. Skrillex, who produced the track, does his best impression of retro-futurist funk lords Benedek, Sasac, and Dam Funk, mixing '90s R&B synth flourishes with a comically fat bassline. It’s as groovy a production as you’ll hear all year, hell; it would even sound great as an instrumental. Add Mariah Carey (along with a well-timed Ty Dolla $ign verse) to the mix? You’re gonna need to cool off after this one.
Don’t expect Italo disco, a sweeping score, or retro giallo vibes from Thom Yorke’s Suspiria soundtrack. His compositions for the upcoming Luca Guadagnino remake pay effective tribute to the film’s history, its moody horror, and dark fairytale nature but they’re all done with that Thom Yorke flourish that makes every track feel imbued with the melancholy of the ages while still somehow managing to sound like they were written about 5-10 years in the future. Highlights include the gentle, lilting piano and melancholy flute on “Suspirium,” which stands in sharp contrast to the ominous ambient “Volk" and its icy, stabbing synths, while haunted distorted vocals open “Has Ended” before Yorke’s downtempo, distraught vocals kick in over hypnotic beats. The original Suspiria has already staked its claim as an arty, darkly beautiful classic — we’d reckon Thom Yorke’s soundtrack for the 2018 update will attain a similar status.
With the music world still processing the untimely loss of former Soundgarden/Audioslave leader Chris Cornell, the beloved rocker is given his first official career retrospective. Put together by Cornell's widow Vicky "for his fans," the set covers all periods of his career and includes previously unreleased tracks taken from the archives. Available as a single CD, two LP, four CD deluxe and CD/LP/DVD super deluxe box sets, Chris Cornell serves as a fitting tribute to a performer whose "voice was his vision, and his words were his peace."
Has a band of nerds ever been more successful than Rush? Rock ‘n roll heroes to some, a four letter word to others, Rush remain a remarkably contentious point of discussion for a band that has sold over 40 million albums. As a pillar of Rush’s patented prog rock sound, 1978’s Hemispheres is a key piece of their legacy and has been reissued in a deluxe edition CD (including live cuts from the era) to commemorate the album’s 40th anniversary.
Though the band’s true mainstream breakout would happen a few years later with Permanent Waves (which ingeniously melded new wave to their power-trio’d prog), Rush built up a rabid following in the mid to late ‘70s due to albums such as Hemispheres , despite being largely panned by critics and ignored by radio. By this point the band had perfected their concept-heavy formula: a handful of short, well-crafted rock tunes to complement one big epic to either open or close the record. Just like 2112 , arguably the band’s most well-known release, Hemispheres puts the big ‘ol prog epic right in front. However, unlike the aforementioned 2112 , there isn’t a moment of filler to be had here. Though it’s all of FOUR songs long, Hemispheres features two classic hard rockers from the band, “Circumstances” and “The Trees,” which might be the most enjoyable Neil Peart preach-along of their entire catalog. There’s also one of Rush’s best instrumentals, the Raymond Scott-quoting “La Villa Strangiato.” And then, of course, is the requisite 18 minute “Cygnus," the centerpiece of the album. Though it may not have quite the catchy peaks of other Rush sagas like “2112” or “Xanadu,” it is undoubtedly their least meandering, most musically taut prog creation up until this point, truly sounding like one complete song rather than a bunch of disparate parts glued together. All of Rush’s calling cards are present in its extended running time: dexterous lead bass, guitar playing that deftly switches from finesse to bombast, stop-on-a-dime tempo changes, and plenty of big ass drum fills.
It’s hard to describe any album with 4 songs that equal nearly 40 minutes as lean or stripped down, but Hemispheres is absolutely the best elements of '70s Rush condensed into one. Only the most self-consciously cool will deny the electricity in these grooves. Everyone else, feel free to geek out all over again.
