Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Welcome to February, and another very short list of new album releases to chomp on this week. I guess Springsteen really is a hard act to follow. But we’ll give this week’s new entries their well-earned props for trying.
They include country dude Dierks Bentley, who is hoping to burn a few cash registers this week with his latest, Feel That Fire. Bentley does what he does best here, which is to take the best of the traditional Nashville and put the sort of heapings of modern studio gloss on it that usually sells buttloads of those shiny compact discs.
One American Idol runner-up who a lot of people still think should have won is Melinda Dolittle. She’s finally got her own CD out, where she shows exactly why she was so highly regarded as a gem amongst the karaoke singers a few seasons back. On Coming Back to You, Doolittle shows ’em how it’s done, sounding at times like a second coming of everyone from Tina Turner to Gladys Knight.
To some folks, The Fray may always be the house band for those castaways on ABC’s Lost. But on their new self-titled album they continue to churn out the sort of great songs that could even melt Benjamin Linus’ cold black heart.
The top reissue this week is Graham Nash’s boxed set Reflections, which features solo material as well as stuff from his days with the Hollies and his various collaborations with those other three guys from CSN&Y.
This week’s picks include El Bicho shamelessly campaigning for The Cure to get their due from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, and Pico talking about a collaboration between two master pianists representing for two generations.
Duet is a live meeting of two master performers, both of which happen to be virtuosic pianists. The old master Corea and the new master, Japenese former child prodigy Hiromi, run through some very delicate but melodic compositions played with jaw-dropping proficiency. Not to mention they intertwine their styles so fluidly, it often sounds like a single player with an extra pair of hands.
This is a real treat for anyone who appreciates unaccompanied piano, regardless of music style.
Recorded live on November 11th and 12th in 2002 at the Tempodrom Berlin, The Cure played a concert that had Cure fans, usually associated with the color black, turn green with envy at the announcement the band would perform in their entirety the albums Pornography, Disintegration, and Bloodflowers, which as Robert Smith says, “are inextricably linked in so many ways.”
Coming in at over three hours, Trilogy is a wonderfully draining experience, musically and emotionally. The show is constantly awash in an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colors and the Blu-ray brilliantly recreates them.
Just one of these sets is worth owning, but combined they are a must-have, especially if you are a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Aside from the great number of songs they created, no band not inducted has had more of an impact on music and musicians.
Here are all of this week’s new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:
Dierks Bentley
Feel That Fire
Capitol
Contemporary Country
Melinda Doolittle
Coming Back to You
Hi Fi
Neo-Soul, Contemporary R&B
The Fray
The Fray
Epic
Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, American Trad Rock
Graham Nash
Reflections [Box Set]
Rhino
Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Folk-Rock, Soft Rock, Album Rock, British Invasion, AM Pop
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Lonely Road
Virgin
Alternative Pop/Rock, Emo-Pop, Screamo
Marin Alsop
Marin Alsop Conducts MacMillan, Adès & Higdon
LSO Live
Contemporary Orchestral Music
The Bad Plus
For All I Care
Heads Up
Post-Rock/Experimental, Post-Bop
Bibio
Vignetting the Compost
Mush
Indie Electronic, Post-Rock/Experimental
Larry Blank
Rodgers & Hammerstein: Allegro
Sony
Musical Theater
Ann Hampton Callaway
At Last
Telarc
Vocal Jazz, Standards
Chicago
Chicago 18
Rhino Flashback/Warner Bros.
Pop/Rock, Adult Contemporary, Soft Rock
Heartless Bastards
The Mountain
Fat Possum
Indie Rock, Garage Punk
Iran
Dissolver
Narnack
Noise Pop, Indie Rock
The James Gang
Bang
Rhino Flashback/Atco
Album Rock, Hard Rock, Rock & Roll
Wynonna Judd
Sing: Chapter 1
Curb
Contemporary Country
Ben Kweller
Changing Horses
ATO
Alternative Country-Rock, Indie Rock
Leona Lewis
Spirit [Deluxe Edition] [CD/DVD] [Bonus Tracks]
J-Records
Pop Idol, Contemporary R&B, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Adult Contemporary
Majesty Crush
I Love You in Other Cities
Full Effect
Dream Pop, Indie Rock, Shoegaze, Alternative Pop/Rock
Dent May
The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
Paw Tracks
Indie Pop
Ronnie McNeir
Ronnie McNeir [1972]
Dusty Groove
Smooth Soul, Soul
Willie Nelson/Asleep at the Wheel
Willie and the Wheel
Bismeaux Productions
Western Swing Revival, Western Swing, Traditional Country
Daniel Taylor
The Voice of Bach
Sony BMG Europe
Baroque Vocal Music
David Zinman
Mahler: Symphony No. 5 [Hybrid SACD]
RCA Red Seal
Post-Romantic Orchestral Music
Original Soundtrack
He’s Just Not That into You [Soundtrack]
New Line
Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Film Music, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Soundtracks, New Wave, Alternative Pop/Rock
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Slumberland
Indie Pop, Noise Pop, Shoegaze
Phosphorescent
To Willie
Dead Oceans
Indie Rock, Alternative Folk, Lo-Fi
Telefon Tel Aviv
Immolate Yourself
Bpitch Control
Experimental Techno, Alternative Dance
Aaron Tippin
In Overdrive
Country Crossing
Truck Driving Country
Two Tongues
Two Tongues
Vagrant
Emo-Pop, Alternative Pop/Rock, Punk-Pop
Various Artists
Money Will Ruin Everything: The Second Edition
Rune Grammaphon NW
Structured Improvisation, Glitch, Sound Sculpture, Avant-Garde Jazz, Experimental Ambient, Experimental Dub, Electronica, Ambient Techno, Ambient Dub, Electro-Acoustic
Various Artists
Yuanlin Chen: Away from Xuan
Innova
Contemporary Orchestral and Chamber Music
Von Bondies
Love Hate and Then There’s You
Majordomo
Garage Punk, Indie Rock, Garage Rock Revival
Jim White
A Funny Little Cross to Bear
Luaka Bop
Americana, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Folk
The Zero Boys
History of the Zero Boys
Secretly Canadian
American Underground, Hardcore Punk, Alternative Pop/Rock
Zero Boys
Vicious Circle
Secretly Canadian
American Underground, Hardcore Punk, Alternative Pop/Rock
