Artist: X-Clan Album: Return From Mecca Label: Suburban Noise
If hip-hop didn't sound like it does, this album probably wouldn't get four-and-a-half stars.
And you don't have to tell me that basing my judgment of an artistic effort on its contemporary peers eventually creates a static, cookie-cutter genre. I know that. But I can't help it if the true four-star value of this album only makes itself clear in the musical context of artists like Yung Joc, Jim Jones and The Pack - believe me when I say that Return From Mecca is a refreshing chunk of substance in an increasingly vacuous genre, a well-made album displaying the conscious views of a relatively dope rapper who, for a moment, makes you forget about the late '90s and Puff Daddy and Ma$e dancing together in sequined shirts.
In the 14 years since their last release, though, it seems as though the world has conspired (or perhaps it was just The Man) to keep X-Clan from any kind of commercial success: Indeed, of four original principal members, only Brother J is still alive to represent the red, the black and the green. But don't worry - he was the tightest dude in the original X-Clan anyway.
The fact remains that, even a decade and a half later, Brother J still drops some serious science. Teaming up with producers such as DJ Khalil and DJ Quik, he actually creates relevant, bangin' tracks, and his didactic flow is hard yet emotional, the way one imagines Malcolm X would rap or like KRS-One used to.
The album's single and far-and-away tightest track is "Weapon X," but Brother J's conscious flow on songs like "Why U Doin' That?" and "Voodoo" also attract attention. And where Brother J steps up, his guests stay with him - Chali 2na's verse on "Funky 4 U" brings back memories of Jurassic 5 before they released Feedback.
Bottom line: If you're the kind of listener who embraces blind materialism, then YouTube "Weapon X" and call it a day. But if you're looking for some kind of substance, perhaps Return From Mecca is for you.
- Cass 'Money' Luskin
Artist: Norah Jones Album: Not Too Late Label: Blue Note
Norah Jones is becoming one of the best singers of her generation. The young Texan mixes a succulent, Grammy-grabbing blend of jazz and bluegrass to create a sound just as sonically moving as it is original.
She's wholeheartedly averted the sophomore slump, and, through her powerful voice, Jones proves herself a lasting force to be reckoned with in the biz.
Norah Jones wrote or helped write all 13 tracks. She likes to take her time; in the last five years she's released only two albums, but both moved millions of units worldwide.
The leadoff single, "Thinking about you," vaults her back to the national front and center. It's more bluegrass than anything, but country and jazz influences subtly breach the track. "Sinkin' Soon" allows her to fully indulge in the jazz genre by stealing a page from the musical "Chicago," which she does perfectly. "My Dear Somebody," on the other hand, lets her pay homage to the country of the olden days.
The later boasts the powerful voice of Ms. Jones accompanied with nothing more than a piano. It's the sort of romp that will make you want to sit in a saloon with a frosty mug of beer.
At record's end, Jones pulls off an amazing vocal performance on "Rose's Lullaby," followed by the title track. The said numbers are absolutely amazing and leave you wanting more from this extremely talented young artist. Unfortunately, if history repeats itself, it'll be another three years before fans are treated to more soulful, resonating Norah Jones jams.
- Stephen Davis
Artist: Katharine McPhee Album: Katharine McPhee Label: RCA
As Season 6 of the critical darling indie series "American Idol" gets rolling, last year's salutatorian, runner-up Katharine McPhee, is set to take off her clothes and bask in the money pool. Following the footsteps of her AI brethren, McPhee is set to make a statement with her debut release, and a statement is set early.
While on the show, Katharine took her fans on a roller coaster ride. Starting off with a bang, she became the quick female favorite before losing some of her spunk and personality to the other contestants. Fortunately, McPhee was able to regain her composure just enough to finish far behind champion Taylor Hicks.
Nevertheless, Katharine was always a strong competitor. She had a personality that pleased the masses, even spreading a disease known as "McPhee Fever." However, there lies one problem: the "disease" is immensely curable. The antidote is time.
The true test will be whether her fans have stuck out the many nights anticipating the release of her album, or have they, like fans of so many other Idol competitors, moved on?
In regard to her album, McPhee has said that she wanted to make a CD that, "[She] would personally listen to," and I feel that she has gone way beyond that. Listening to the first track, "Love Story," I quickly forget who I am listening to. In the last five months her voice has matured and become almost unrecognizable compared to what was heard during the show.
After "Love Story," we get to "Home," a soft, semi-ballad that recalls Christina Aguilera's cornball hits. From there you get to "Dangerous," a quick up-tempo jam you could easily have pulled from a Rihanna album.
But later on she belts out amazing tracks that bring back memories of her unforgettable performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Her voice shows amazing strength and growth that really sets her apart from the numerous contestants that have come and gone, failing to make even a dent in the industry.
Looking back on the album, you can't help but be impressed. The development of her voice from an untrained, at often times, strained sound to the mature, pure resonance on the album only leaves one question in your mind, "How did she not win the whole thing?"
- Stephen Davis
Artist: Love Of Diagrams Album: Love Of Diagrams EP Label: Matador
The No Wave scene that graced the dingy progressive clubs of New York City in the late 1970s has spawned quite an impressive following for a movement that lasted all of 18 months before degenerating. Love Of Diagrams, a lean three-member band from Australia, is poised to establish themselves with the likes of Sonic Youth and the Liars as another dark, reasonably sanitized band that has a fondness for the brash, innovative, discordant music of the post-punk period.
The recirculation of Love Of Diagrams' self-titled EP on Matador is meant to whet appetites in the U.S. market pending the release of their full-length U.S. debut in April. The EP, which consists of three original tracks and a live cover of Pylon's "Cool," is a quick, jolting listen. Something like a shock from a defibrillator, it infiltrates your system, but nothing about the songs proves to be exceptional as you mull them over.
Love Of Diagrams embraces the order and structure of music as a means of defying conventionalities. The songs seem to be exercises in how far a note can be stretched, and the prickly, urgent feel of the music gives one the sensation that the band is trying to find its way out of the confines of the song as they are creating and playing it. Love Of Diagrams possesses a noticeable technical prowess, and they create an intriguing texture in each song by weaving together palpable bass lines, crunching off-kilter guitar and a relentless drum beat. The lyrics are obtuse three or four line chants swapped between guitarist Luke Horton and bassist Antonia Sellbach. Primarily, the flat vocal interchange adds to the manufactured disarray of the EP - the choral drone contrasts with the frequent time signature changes that occur throughout the songs - yet it can also serve as a distraction to the progression of the music.
The abrasive tone of the music and the almost emotionless delivery of the lyrics succeed in conjuring a defeatist ethos. Precisely because of that, the music feels hollow. Even the final track, "No Way Out," which ends with the monotone yelp, "I got a way out now," seems uncertain in its conclusion. Love Of Diagrams deftly avoids cranking out monotonous songs, yet for all the intensity, their music lacks resonance.
- Priya Hora
Artist: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Album: Some Loud Thunder Label: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
In between runs as the Monkey's bassist and coaching high school baseball, Peter Tork once proclaimed, "pop music is aspirin." Considering how impossible it is to accurately define pop music, this is profoundly illustrative. Pop music, like aspirin, is just supposed to make you feel better and rarely do its effects significantly impact your way of being.
And if pop music truly is aspirin, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's self-titled debut was an industrial-sized container of pain relief. It was repetitive, completely unchallenging, and their blogs-to-riches path to success was championed as the ideal for independent music. The album's lack of depth or artistic statement wasn't a shortcoming but precisely on point: It was a "pop" album that just wanted you to bob your hand, tap your feet or gyrate in some other manner.
Sadly, most bands aren't happy making just pop music. They want to produce art, change lives and make the jump the Beatles did from pop frivolity to legendary works of genius. This is why Wilco makes Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and Outkast forgets "Hey Ya"-esque R&B to do a concept album/film about a 1930s speakeasy. While the former arguably succeeded and the latter failed, Clap Your Hands Say's Some Loud Thunder falls somewhere in the middle.
For this album, they yearned for a more complex, resonant sound. CYHSY enlisted Flaming Lips and Mogwai producer Dave Fridmann to add his brand of distorted production. He and the band's liberal use of trumpets, accordions and pianos end up making many of the songs overindulgent and somewhat unlistenable. In fact, one download service has issued a warning to purchasers that the files aren't damaged but that Some Loud Thunder is supposed to sound as bad as it does.
However, in between the album's failed production and computery, "beep-bop" noises exists the type of energetic and bouncy music that made up their first album. "Underwater (You and Me)", for example, is a delightful tune whose demo-ish sound quality can't detract from its aesthetically pleasing melody.
"Satan Said Dance," a disco song that could get even the most lead-footed indie rocker awkwardly dancing, is completely vapid and thus entirely captivating. It asks the important theological question, "What is hell like?" The answer is that apparently hell isn't fire, brimstone and torture, but instead Satan really just wants to throw a never-ending dance-off.
The song almost makes me wish Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! would listen to Satan more often and forego complexity and artistic statements to write the soundtrack to his kick-ass dance party.
- J. Ridewood
Artist: The Broken West Album: I Can't Go On, I'll Go On Label: Merge
Sometimes the winter blahs can seep into one's music selection. The iron-gray days compel us to play Nick Cave albums and Joy Division remixes over and over, and the spring flurry of new releases seems eons away. Luckily, L.A. band The Broken West have thrown us a lifeline with their debut full-length, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, which is just the thing to pull us out of the wintry doldrums.
The five-piece band released their first EP in 2004 under their original name, "The Brokedown." Legal demands from an outfit of the same name forced the boys to adjust their name, but their musical identity certainly seems intact.
Slip this disc into your car stereo on the first sunny day of the year, and the first thing you'll notice is - good heavens - there's a beat. From the first second of opening track "On The Bubble," The Broken West waste no time laying the groundwork for their melodic power pop grooves with a strong, foot-tapping bottom sound.
With neat song structures, soaring choruses and just-long-enough guitar solos, The Broken West show their loyalty to the freewheeling spirit of classic rock. Standout tracks "Big City" and "Down In The Valley" show off this vintage sensibility, bringing to mind contemporary retro-rockers Sloan.
"Brass Ring" has hit single written all over it, with a piano-driven melody, harmonic backing vocals and a delightfully raucous close. It's something Britt Daniel of Spoon might have come up with.
By the end of I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, it's easy to tell why The Broken West draw comparisons to power pop forebears Big Star. Infectious as the hooks may be, this is more than just pop for pop's sake. Powerful guitars and percussion add swagger that prevents the tunes from sounding too clean and packaged. Lyrics hint at an underlying urge to just say to hell with life, run away and start over, a theme familiar to rockers since the beginning of time.
I Can't Go On, I'll Go On is enjoying a healthy amount of buzz, with recent mentions on NPR's World Cafe and an endorsement by the ever-discriminating folks at Gawker.com.
And hey, if this album can cheer up a New Yorker, imagine what wonders it can do for an Austinite.
The Broken West begin a U.S. tour in February and will appear at Emo's on Feb. 27.
- Mandy Calkins
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