blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with eccentric

Wherefore art thou Lazaretto
3 Out Of 5 Stars

A step back from his solo debut, "Blunderbuss," Jack White goes very scattershot on his second solo album, "Lazaretto." Recorded with the all-male Buzzards and all-female Peacocks alternating tracks, the focused energy of the debut is missing here. The time spent in Nashville seems to have guided Jack White into some more country elements, and not in a good way.

There's even a full on twangy ballad, "Alone in My Home," a duet with Lille Mae Rische, that meanders a bit but not so much as the following song, "Entitlement." This feels more like a Neil Young song at its heart. If you're looking for rockers, there are a few. "That Black Bat Licorice" and "Just One Drink" mix it up with white signature crunchy guitars and a touch of Rolling Stones swagger. And just to make sure he hasn't lost his fire, there's a white-hot instrumental called "Highball Stepper." But where "Blunderbuss" had a fire that burned all the way through the album, "Lazaretto" is White experimenting. That's a good thing, because between all his time in separate bands, he's earned the right.

"Lazaretto," which is named after an 18th century asylum, is Jack White exorcising what seems like some of the thoughts in his head and guitar that don't have an outlet in The Dead Weather or The Raconteurs. Again this is not a bad thing. But it does lead to what is essentially an average album.

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "That Black Bat Licorice" Jack White

DNA Splicing
4 Out Of 5 Stars

"Wise Up Ghost." In which two of the music world's encyclopedic nerds play with Costello's past and Questlove's concepts of pop and funk. Musically it is a fascinating record, with the two of them combining bits of Elvis' older tunes with deeply funked out basslines, boiling things to a rare essence; the songs that equal or surpass the originals.

For example, just as deep as the second song, sample lyrics from "Sweet Underground" and "Hurry Down Doomsday" are tangled together to create "Sugar Won't Work." Or how "Stick Out Your Tongue" rewrites "Pills and Soap," one of Costello's angriest protest songs. Which is something else to note about "Wise Up Ghost." The Roots place a lot of dark menace into songs that weren't as sinister as they were when they started out life.

Even the samples spin things around. The tinkling piano of "Satellite" tease "Tripwire" into a more spooky area, along with the subject matter. Questlove and Elvis don't just stick with the lyrical cut and pasting, songs are pulled into the sampler like "Satellite," as well as "Radio Silence" on the (bonus track version) "Can You Hear Me."

It's not like Elvis hasn't explored collaborations and re-visiting before. This comes closer to "The River In Reverse," with Allen Toussaint and the roaring Stax romp of "Get Happy" than other Costello works, while The Roots bring out the moments when Costello becomes more a sublime singer, even though there's more than a little menace to the demanding title track or "Stick Out Your Tongue." "Wise Up Ghost" may sound like a mismatch of talents, but The Roots make this album into one of Costello's most interesting in a long time.

Current Mood: enthralled
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Walk Us Uptown" Elvis Costello and The Roots

Dare Accepted
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Not quite as good as "The Original Soundtrack," but hitting many of the same high points, 10cc parlayed the success of "I'm Not In Love" to an album that tinkered with pop conventions and progressive rock with "How Dare You!" It's also the band's last proper album as a four piece; by the next album Kevin Godley and Lol Creme would depart to focus their attentions on artier rock and their guitar invention, the Gizmotron, which is used to good effect on the album's title track. (It used a set of small wheels against the guitar strings that allowed you to almost infinitely sustain guitar notes.)

"How Dare You!" also grapples with the art-rock sensibilities of Godley and Creme vieing with the more conventional pop and rock aspirations of Graham Gouldman and Eris Stewart. I've previously postulated that 10cc was the kind of rock band Monty Python would have dreamed up if not The Rutles, which again finds the band wrestling over their direction. The still funny "I Want to Rule The World" is narrated by an angry baby who's had it up to here and wants to be the world's youngest tyrant (shades of Stewie from "Family Guy," anyone?). On the opposite end, you have "I'm Mandy, Fly Me," which opens with a snippet of "Clockwork Creep," then goes on to narrate the tale of a plane crash survivor who dreams of his rescue by the stewardess on the travel brochure. All of this is going about through some radical tempo shifts and a meaty guitar solo. It ranks among the band's best compositions. Then comes that dichotomy again; the uncomfortable tale of the stalker in "Iceberg."

That back and forth is what holds "How Dare You!" from achieving the full heights of "The Original Soundtrack," probably adding to or abetted by the creative schisms in the band itself. "Art For Art's Sake" seemingly confronts this dilemma head on. It might be the most straightforward song the band ever wrote, highlighting the differences between creativity and commercial production. It's kind of like "The Worst Band In The World," except that band has grown up and is lost in a quandary of their success.

"Money talks so listen to it,
Money talks to me.
Anyone can understand it
Money can't be beat."

If there was any note to go out on, "Art For Art's Sake" summed it up pretty well. While Gouldman and Stewart would retain a level of success under the 10cc banner on "Deceptive Bends," the push and pull of the two factions of the group are what made 10cc (and by extension, "How Dare You") such a fascinating band.

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Current Mood: dorky
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Art Of Art's Sake" 10cc

Iceland Folk Pop,
3 Out of 5 Stars

Of Monsters and Men and "My Head is An Animal" is a folkish collective that comes more to the pop side than the folk side, favoring big hooks, Hey Hey and La La La choruses and harmonies that recall (for me anyway) 10,000 Maniacs. There's a lot of fairytale inspired lyrics, like on "Dirty Paws" and "Your Bones," with foot pounding drums and vocal interplay. They sing with a happy enthusiasm, yet at times the topic is sadness - like "Dirty Paws'" epic battle of the birds Vs the bees and a sky colored "Black by the killing machines." They may not be as cold as Bjork, but they sure do try.

But at the same time, there's a joy to the album. "Mountain Sound" has a classic pop vibe to it, and "Six Weeks" will bring Arcade Fire to mind. I caught them at this year's Newport Folk Festival and they made a gleeful racket on stage, with the crowd La La-ing to the band's every bouncy chorus. The earthy sound of the debut is even more open and enthusiastic onstage than on record (I admit, I bought the disc after seeing them as opposed to knowing the songs beforehand), and was surprised at just how well the show translated to recording. That's a feat not too many bands can manages, and the six kids pull it off nicely.

Recommended for fans of Arcade Fire, Edward Sharpe and 10,000 Maniacs.

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Current Mood: cold
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Six Weeks" Of Monsters and Men

One will never be as bad as Tom Waits
5 Out of 5 Stars

A clattering bumpy ride of an album, this is Tom Waits at his visceral best. "Bad As Me" as the Waits persona as God's last drunken bluesman rising from the gutter to try and find what is better, even if even he knows it's all a myth. All you have to imagine is the man with the beaten suitcase at a train station, aware that baggage follows you everywhere you go, bit "maybe things will be better in Chicago." It's a theme that rolls along from beginning to end of "Bad As Me," with the final chorus of Auld Lang Syne fades from the lament of losers gathered on "New Year's Eve." It's a collection of songs worthy of Waits best albums, like "Rain Dogs," "Swordfishtromboines" or even early work like "Blue Valentine."

Tom has also assembled what could be his best band in many a year. Marc Ribot leads an all-star cast of guitarists, including Keith Richards and Los Lobos' David Hildago (who gets the best licks in the rocking "Let's Get Lost"). It's Ribot's typical pick and stab style that makes the greatest impression on the tougher numbers, including the exceptional "Hell Broke Luce." Punctuated by Ribot (and Richards) guitar snap, New Orleans Brass and sampled machine gun fire, Waits barks about the soldiers we've dumped in Iraq and Afghanistan and then forgotten.

"The Big **** bomb made me deaf,
A Humvee mechanic put his Kevlar on wrong?
I guarantee you'll meet up with a suicide bomb."

Then ends with the soldier/narrator home, blind, deaf and broke, cursing "What is next?" It could be the most powerful song he's ever written. Waits does have a sense of humor, though, and that comes through in the non-sequiturs that make up the title track, but goes a bit overboard when he quotes "Mr Jagger, and Mr Richards" while singing a song about getting "Satisfied" as Keith riffs away behind him. It's "Bad as Me's" only misfire, the rest of the album is just a kick. Given the usual long waits for Waits, "Bad As me" is well worth the time it took to arrive.

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Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Bad As Me" Tom Waits

Winter Music
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Grey skies, swirling flakes, choir-boy son. In "50 Words for Snow," her first new collection of songs in eight years, Kate Bush pulls herself in a cold cloak of moody introspection that seems perfect for brooding on the shortest days of the year. The CD clocks in at a dreamy hour, with songs stretching as long as 13 minutes. Themes drift in and out, establishing themselves but never pulverizing you. "The World is so loud," she quietly intones on the opening song, "but keep falling, I'll find you." This is no "Running Up That Hill." "50 Words for Snow" takes its time to accumulate.

That may make it tough going for some listeners. Some of the songs here take on a classical, even operatic quality (comparisons to Tori Amos' recent "Night of Hunters" sprang to mind on my first listen) to many of the songs. There's also nothing here that ropes you in on a first listen. Kate is exploring a sensual world here, and it moves in slowly. Still, there are two moments of pure oddness here. On "Snowed In At Wheeler Street," Kate may have drawn the absolute weirdest vocal performance out of Elton John's career, and on the title track, Stephen Fry drily keeps giving his 50 words, each phrase becoming increasingly odder as the song goes on. All the while, Kate is egging him on, singing "come on now, you've got 32 to go!" With its bubbly synth gliding underneath, it's the most likely song to become remixed into a single.

Then again, despite the melancholy, cold feeling to the disc, "50 Words For Snow" contains songs about making love to a snowman ("Misty") and possibly getting it on with Bigfoot ("Wild Man"). Chilly or not, you never know what to expect when it comes to Kate Bush. I'm more than willing to sit by with a cup of hot cocoa and see where the seasons take her.