Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
I’m still swimming my way through the bounty of last week’s new releases so I’m a little relieved this week’s group is a little skinnier. In addition to the great new releases of last week, I made the sound investment in the 7-CD Freddie King box set Taking Care of Business 1956-1973. That’s nine hours of Freddie King blues goodness and I’ve not scratched the surface of the wonders it beholds. This week’s list is skinnier but it’s not vacant. There’s one “must have” CD for me and some others of varying degrees of interest.
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
We Walk This Road
This is the must-have for me. Randolph has teamed up with uber-producer T Bone Burnett and I’m hoping the result of the collaboration will be something a little less slick and polished than Randolph’s previous outing Colorblind. Colorblind was a lot of fun and I still listen to it, but that kind of shiny production doesn’t play to the considerable strengths of Randolph’s Sacred Steel guitar mastery. I can’t wait to hear these songs.
Derek Trucks Band
Roadsongs
Derek Trucks is a phenomenal guitarist with few peers and I love listening to him play. I mention that because I was a bit disappointed in his previous album Already Free. I’m curious to know whether the songs come off better live where Trucks can extend them with some of his phenomenal fretwork. I’m not picking this one up this week but I’ll have an eye on it down the road when we have a slow week.
Cyndi Lauper
Memphis Blues
Apparently I missed the memo and the meeting when “we” decided to start taking ‘80s relics Jon Bon Jovi and Cyndi Lauper seriously. I can’t have been in the room because I’d have had a stroke and an aneurysm before committing a homicide.
Cyndi Lauper has gone from a pro wrestling prop and singer of Goonies theme song to some sort of respected song interpreter. On this latest album, she’s actually going to attempt to sing the blues. I’m experiencing souldeath. God help you if kingdom comes and you have a copy of this album in your possession. I am choosing to forgive Charlie Musselwhite, B.B. King, and Jonny Lang for assisting this piece of blues assassination because I am a benevolent snob, but I’m not real damn happy about it.
Bruce Springsteen
London Calling: Live in Hyde Park DVD/Blu-ray
The good news? This DVD is a very good representation of the Working On A Dream world tour. The bad news? This DVD is a very good representation of the Working On A Dream world tour.
I caught four shows on this tour — I know of what I speak — and Hyde Park has the same problems all four of my shows did (and I paid more than enough on my trek to sound off on the subject). The set list? Largely unimaginative with a few interesting nuggets sprinkled in. “Working On A Dream” is still an average song and “Outlaw Pete” is still awful. There are too many songs from The Rising and Born In The U.S.A.
I’ve seen portions of this show broadcast as part of Hard Rock Live on Palladia. The performances are uneven. I love Stevie Van Zant and so it’s with love that I offer to help him out: “London Calling” and “The ice age is coming.” Van Zant loves The Clash and loves “London Calling” yet he looks like hasn’t a clue what the words to the song are and he’s late every time he joins The Boss on the mic. “Jungleland” and “Rosalita” are better, performance-wise.
The E Street Band is still one of the great American bands and Springsteen still has one of the greatest song catalogs in pop music history. WOAD is a forgettable chapter being commemorated. I spent plenty of money on this chapter and the buck stops… here. I’m just saying no.
I’m not going to spend any time on these other releases but they deserve mention. We have the latest from Eminem (Recovery), Macy Gray (The Sellout), and Ozzy Osbourne (Scream). I’d also like to point you in the direction of El Bicho’s review of Stones in Exile, a documentary of the making of Exile On Main Street and Donald Gibson's review of Miley Cyrus' Can't Be Tamed.
I’ve had my say. Time for you to have yours. Here’s the full list:
(Hed) P.E. – Major Pain To Indee Freedom-The Best Of (Hed) P.E.
Aaron Nigel Smith – Everyone Loves To Dance
Addison Road – Stories
Allstar Weekend – Suddenly
Armstrong, Louis – Original Album Classics
Authority Zero – Stories Of Survival
Bearfoot – Follow Me
Blaze – Gang Rags
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band – London Calling: Live at Hyde Park
Call The Cops – Call The Cops
Carmen Consoli – Elettra
Carter Hulsey – A Note In Your Pocket
Chemical Brothers, The – Further
Coliseum – House With A Curse
Constellations, The – Southern Gothic
Crispell/Rothenberg – One Dark Night I Left My Silent House
Cyndi Lauper – Memphis Blues
Danzig – Deth Red Sabaoth
Darwin Hobbs – Champion
Delain – Lucidity
Derek Trucks Band, The – Roadsongs
Dir En Grey – Uroboros – With The Proof In The Name Of Living . . . – In Nippon Budokan
Duran, Hilario Trio – Motion
Eminem – Recovery / [Explicit]
Ffh – Wide Open Spaces
Fol Chen – Part Ii: The New December
Giggling & Laughing: Silly Songs For Kids – Giggling & Laughing
Griffin House – The Learner
Hacavitz – Metztli Obscura
Halford – Live In Anaheim / [2 Cd]
Health – Health :: Disco2
Herbie Hancock – The Imagine Project
I Shalt Become – Poison
James, Samantha – Subconscious
Jaron And The Long Road To Love – Getting Dressed In The Dark
Joyce Moreno – Slow Music
Keith Sweat – Ridin' Solo
Kele – The Boxer
Laurie Anderson – Homeland (Cd/Dvd)
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Live From Freedom Hall (Cd/Dvd)
Macy Gray – The Sellout
Manu Katché – Third Round
Mark Chesnutt – Outlaw
Mason, Steve – Boys Outside
Mayapuris – Mridanga
Mel Torme – Performance
Mike Oldfield – Hergest Ridge
Mike Oldfield – Ommadawn
Miley Cyrus – Can't Be Tamed
Moran, Jason – Ten
Moxham, Stuart – Personal Best
Nastasia, Nina – Outlaster
Negura Bunget – From Transilvanian Forest
Negura Bunget – Zirnindu-Sa
Norman Brown – Sending My Love
Orgone – Cali Fever
Osbourne, Ozzy – Scream
Party Tyme Karaoke – Party Tyme Karaoke – Contemporary Christian 3 (16-Song Cd+G)
Paul, Billy – Am I Black Enough For You
Perfume Genius – Learning
Pierce The Veil – Selfish Machines
Ram – Lightbringer
Recording Cast Broadway New The – Promises, Promises
Revive – Blink
Robert Randolph & The Family Band – We Walk This Road
Rollins, Sonny – Original Album Classics
Rpwl – The Gentle Art Of Music
Sarah Harmer – Oh Little Fire
Sia – We Are Born
Slint – Slint
Soundtrack – Shrek – The Musical
Soundtrack – 180 South
Soundtrack – The A-Team (Alan Silvestri)
Soundtrack/Tv – Hung : Original Television
Stars – The Five Ghosts
Terje Rypdal – Crime Scene
Tesh, John – One World
The Art Tatum Trio – The Jazz Biography
The Rolling Stones – Stones In Exile / [Dvd]
The Roots – How I Got Over
Theo – Nervous Nitelife: Summer Clubb
Tiesto – Asia Tour
Uffie – Sex Dreams And Denim Jeans
Umoja – The Spirit Of Togetherness
Uncle Kracker – Happy Hour (South River Road Sessions)
Various – One Big Trip
Various Artists – Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows:
Various Artists – Rough Guide To The Music Of In
Various Artists – Rough Guide To The Music Of Ru
Various Artists – Raise Hope For Congo
Various Artists – This Is The Blues, Volume 1
Various Artists – This Is The Blues, Volume 2
Various Artists – Reggae Gold 2010 / [2 Cd]
Versaemerge – Fixed At Zero
Vince Neil – Tatoos And Tequilia
Weiss, David & Point Of Depart – Snuck In
Wes Montgomery – The Jazz Biography
Windsor For The Derby – Against Love
Wishbone Ash – Sometime World: An Mca Travelogue / [2 Cd]
Woods, Dewayne – My Life's Lyric
Wovenhand – The Threshing Floor
You Me At Six – Hold Me Down
Zappa, Dweezil – Return Of The Son Of
Z-Ro – Heroin
