Album Reviews: The Recommendation Edition

INTRODUCING THE NEW RANT SCREAM RATING SYSTEM!

With how quickly I go through musical obsessions, I am constantly looking for the next CD to consume my week.  Usually I find one, sing it in the shower until I can’t stand the sound of it any longer and move along.  But then there are those CD’s that engrain themselves in my head and refuse to let up; this is exactly what I found when Michael suggested the debut CD of Sara Bareilles. 

A singer songwriter from California, Bareilles is everything you could want from a pop singer: an incredible voice, variety in her songs, and an extremely talented writer.  Whereas Kelly Clarkson turned her grief with her record label into a monotonous drone in the press, Bareilles has taken the pressure for conformity and turned it into the infectious lead single “Love Song.”  What follows after that is twelve songs that run the emotional gamut but never cease to be great sing-a-long pop.  That isn’t to say that any of the music is throwaway summer trash because this CD is sure to catch on with the public and explode over the next year. 

There are moments where her style sounds like a female Maroon 5 (the blasting “Come Round Soon”) but then she recedes into a sweet love song (“Between the Lines”) where she sounds distinctly like her own artist.  The closest vocal comparison, and I hesitate to say this, is Sheryl Crow, but she contains a lot more power than Crow ever seems to have.

“Little Voice” is a stellar album that deserves a listen by anyone who enjoys a great female pop singer.  It’s on sale on iTunes for $7.99 so go pick up your copy today! 


Most people are probably more familiar with M.I.A than they realize.  After exploding onto the music scene with the critically acclaimed album “Arular” in 2005, she was quickly swept up to market cars with her infectious lead single “Galang.”  In NYC, this ad preceded almost every movie I attended that year but it wasn’t until David put her on while I was hanging out in his apartment one night that I really took notice of this unique talent.

M.I.A’s music has a frenetic pace and urgency that makes it come across as club music with a twist.  At first she sounds like a Sri Lankan Missy Elliot and that comparison might not be too far off.  There is something about her production style that sounds extremely innovative and brings comparisons to the unique style of American mastermind Timbaland.  “Kala,” her second album, was released this week and expands upon the same unique style that M.I.A. brought two years ago.  Something about her music is so in your face that it almost makes listening to an entire album difficult to digest.  With bird squawks, gunfire, and tribal drumming peppering her rapping, it is obvious from the opening moments of “Bamboo Banger” that this music will be unlike any hip-hop you’ve heard before, even if you are familiar with M.I.A.

In the style of some of my favorite rappers (Kanye West or Eminem) M.I.A tackles topics that have become sorely lacking in popular music but are so pressing to society.  Her last album dealt with the difficulties of war, and this album dissects it even more, while adding poverty, disease and the occasional song about “Boyz” thrown in (not to be confused with Britney Spears’ similarly misspelled track.)  Of course rather than cooing about boyZ dancing on a dance floor, M.I.A chooses to look at the various ways boys misbehave and start confrontations (wars included.) 

It would be nice to hear this album get some mainstream play, and with the help of Perez Hilton plugging her on his site perhaps it will.  When “Kala” hits, with great songs like “20 Dollar,” “Jimmy,” “World Town” and “XR2” it’s infectious dance hip-hop with a meaning, an extreme rarity in the genre better known for pulsing beats and forgettable (if any) lyrics.  While some of the songs don’t make the biggest impact (“Mango Pickle Down River” still has me confused), and it takes several listens to decipher many of the lyrics, even at its worst, “Kala” is unique. 

You can read a GREAT review of her album at FourFour….he can put it all together much better than I can in my current state. 

The last album I planned on reviewing for this entry is “Challengers,” the new album by my favorite Canadian power-poppers The New Pornographers.  Posters for the group’s upcoming appearance in Missoula are lining the coffee houses around town and every time I run into one I’m quick to point out to my friends what a great band they are.  Unfortunately, getting through the album has been a rather tedious project.

New Pornographers are yet another recommendation (from Daniel Keene) that I latched onto after he played them in his apartment a few years ago.  “Electric Version” was the first album I heard of theirs but it wasn’t until their last album “Twin Cinema,” that I was completely swept up in the layered pop of this cult favorite group.  I still play that album regularly, and find its lyrics as confusing as ever but they have a sound of tight harmonies by group leaders Neko Case and A.C. Newman, that is distinctly their own.  Unfortunately, that sound is growing a little tired on the album I downloaded Tuesday from iTunes, “Challengers.”

With this album, I’m asking myself if the whole “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” idea is true.  The group is still doing what they do fairly well, but it’s becoming very monotonous.  From the opening track “My Right Versus Yours,” it’s clear that this will be a slightly more mellow version of the Pornographers, but is that what the listeners want?  Growth is necessary but this album feels like a step in the wrong direction.  It makes for good background music but I don’t think there is much that will keep me coming back for more.  There are several standout tracks, including “Myriad Harbor,” which packs a little of the surprising punch the group is known for.  Everything else is pleasant enough but ultimately a disappointment.  To paraphrase a review from Entertainment Weekly, perhaps the NEW Pornographers should consider changing their name, because nothing about them feels new anymore. 

Comments

[Nicholas]

Though I am as far away from a movie buff as you are a tennis genius, I love this post and the near rating system!

Plus, I just have to say how much I LOVE the new header graphic. Did you take that picture? If not, where did you find it? It's so FAS!

[M]

Thanks Nicholas! You should download Sara Bareilles, you will LOVE her. As for the picture, it's just an old picture that I took when I was bored in the subway station of the train pulling up. When I was sitting around with nothing to do the other day, I thought it would be fun to come up with some new logos to switch around with and that picture continued the theme of the "blah's" with it being an actual city location. Fun times!

[Tania]

You like MIA? i LOVE MIA. She is coming to NYC on October 19th and if tickets are still available (i would assume they are) and your schedule doesn't conflict you should try to get to see her. I saw her live two years ago and she gave a great show; she was so high-energy and dynamic, and it was really more of a dance party than anything else.

[Anonymous]

If you like Sara Bareilles who is amazing by the way, you have to check out Matt Duke www.myspace.com/mattduke
He is soooo good : )

[M]

Oooooo! Tania, I might have to get tickets! I bet she is great live. Thanks for the tip. I'm LOVING her new cd. It's really grown on me. Although it is leaving my parents a little confused about the weird "world music" blasting from the speakers. :-)

[Tania]

Yeah you should SERIOUSLY go and bring friends. Friends who like to dance (maybe are dancers?). I have a friend who's seen her live 3 times and said that every single time it was amazing. And yeah, I think MIA confuses my parents a bit as well. But check ticketmaster.com! And continue to get well!

[i'm not gonna write you a love song]

you gotta see sara b perform live. "love song" is not even close to the most awesome effort on that cd...when she belts during "gravity" - amazing.