Print Page
Playlist, March 2013
2/26/2013
Tosca
Odeon
G-STONE
Though Tosca never found such widespread acclaim as Kruder and
Dorfmeister (Richard
Dorfmeister is a member of both acts), the duo always leaned more soulful, less
playful than their
fellow Viennese sample scrabblers. Recorded live, Odeon
follows earlier Tosca releases in the
sensual-vocal-meets-dreamy-beat sweepstakes. Nocturnal, oceanic, mysterious,
and sometimes
funky, Odeon recalls a more easily digestible Massive
Attack, circa Mezzanine. Ominous chords
resound, delays spin, tribal beats pound, assembled vocalists purge their inner
Maria Callas. Play
loud, but not before 2am.
KEN MICALLEF
Johnny
Marr
The Messenger
SIRE/ADA
Being The Smiths’
guitarist ensures
Johnny Marr’s
lifetime cred, which
he lends generously
to others (Modest
Mouse, The Cribs).
For himself, however,
the arpeggiated guitar
master sounds like
he is imitating his
imitators. Rising to
the top of the title
track, his glorious
guitar work is the
savior. It drives the
keening “Lockdown,”
gurgles under the
melancholic “New
Town Velocity,” and
spikes the jagged
“The Crack Up.” Even
at his most derivative,
Marr is still better
than most.
LILY MOAYERI
STRFKR
Miracle Mile
POLYVINYL RECORDS
The Portland, Ore.’s
conglomeration of
musicians that revolves
around songwriter
Joshua Hodges delivers
its fourth collection of
electro-disco-synthpop.
These 15 songs
alternate between lush,
carefree, midtempo
numbers and a less-
8-bit-blip, more
funk-oriented strut.
Comparisons to the
Flaming Lips, Pinback,
Passion Pit, MGMT,
and Grandaddy are still
inescapable, with the
slurry, vaguely psych
synth tones, but the
subbass-reinforced
melodies reveal an
extended attention to
detail. These aren’t
ghostly, haunting
electronics, but they
might possess you to
groove.
TONY WARE
Various
Artists
West of Memphis:
Voices for Justice
SONY LEGACY
The companion
album to the
documentary of
the same name,
West of Memphis
features political and
emotional songs of
support for the West
Memphis Three, who
were convicted as
teenagers for murders
many believe they
didn’t commit. Along
with powerful songs
by Lucinda Williams,
Band of Horses, Bob
Dylan, Patti Smith,
and more, the release
includes parts of the
moving original score
by Nick Cave and
heartbreaking letters
from Death Row read
by Henry Rollins and
Johnny Depp.
BARBARA SCHULTZ
Qluster
Lauschen
BUREAU B RECORDS
Though Qluster’s
Lauschen is beat-free
in contemporary
terms, there’s no
shortage of movement
in this undulating,
light filled music. The
duo, formerly known
as Cluster/Kluster,
one of electronic
music’s early-1970s
innovators, consists
of founder Hans-
Joachim Roedelius
(77) and new member,
Onnen Bock (28). Vast
and atmospheric, and
infused with a clarity
that borders on good
vibrations, Lauschen
is miles away from
much contemporary
electronic music
which often seems
bathed in clomping
beats and dead-eyed
samples.
KEN MICALLEF
Low
The Invisible Way
SUB POP
In 2011 Low released
the reverb-enriched
C’mon, a more
hopeful, less chaotic
album than much of
the “slowcore” band’s
recent catalogue.
In contrast, The
Invisible Way nods to
the group’s starker,
more fragile origins,
working serene,
searing harmonies
around fi gures of
piano and acoustic
guitar. Production
by Wilco’s Jeff
Tweedy captures
both intimacy and
air, and the best
songs (“So Blue,”
“Just Make It Stop,”
“To Our Knees”)
use compounding
dynamics to make a
staggering impact.
TONY WARE
Night Beds
Country
Sleep
DEAD OCEAN
The feel of this
release by Winston
Yellen’s group Night
Beds is at once lush
and tender. Vocals
on ballads like “Even
If We Try” have a
hymn-like quality,
with washes of
strings and vocals
peeling away at times
to leave Yellen’s
sweet, plaintive voice
alone in all its glory.
Yellen wrote these
lovely songs in the
Henderson, Tenn.,
cabin once owned and
frequented by Johnny
Cash and June Carter.
The recordings are
much more ethereal
than a Cash tune, but
it seems that sacred
place was a great
inspiration.
BARBARA SCHULTZ
Print Page