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album reviews

April 30, 2013

LL Cool J

6
Authentic 429

"Authentic"? What jive. LL Cool J is rap's longest-running act, and it's his pop savvy, his indifference to orthodoxy, his easygoing star power that've kept him going. On Authentic, LL's first LP not released by Def Jam, the guest list is a testament to open-mindedness and crossover ambitions: Snoop Dogg, Travis Barker, Chuck D, Charlie Wilson, Eddie Van Halen, Earth, Wind and Fire, Monica, Seal, Brad Paisley. The beats are unfussy and direct; the choruses are built for ra... | More »

Various Artists

7
Live From Festival Au Desert, Timbuktu Clermont

This documents the annual celebration of the Sahara's rich musical tradition, a festival whose alumni include Robert Plant. The 2012 fete was more Afropop hootenanny than motherland Lollapalooza, long on semiacoustic jams full of virtuoso soloing and trance-inducing grooves. Following the decree of Sharia law in part of Mali, the 2013 festival has been "postponed," making this a glimpse of an endangered culture. | More »

April 23, 2013

Alice Russell

7
To Dust Tru Thoughts/Caroline

We may have invented it, but as with many things (rock & roll, punk, house), we've no choice but to accept that the British do soul music as well as we do, often better. See Alice Russell, whose fierce remake of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" in 2006 began a lively run through the UK rare groove DJ scene. Her fifth set, To Dust, works Russell's exquisite taste for beats and atmosphere into some of her strongest songs. "Heartbreaker" smolders like a Black Keys jam; h... | More »

Steve Martin and Edie Brickell

6
Love Has Come for You Rounder

Did Steve Martin rock his signature arrow-through-the-head prop at these bluegrass-y sessions? Hard to tell; except for unfussy harmonies, he expresses himself only via his stately, joyous banjo-plunking. The star is Edie Brickell, the hippie-pop one-hit wonder (and Mrs. Paul Simon), whose sassy vocals feel down-home but all her own. The songs tap folk tradition without getting stuck in it; they’re full of struggling lovers, an ’84 Ford, a baby in a suitcase and some memorable mel... | More »

Junip

7
Junip Mute

As a solo artist, Argentine-born, Sweden-based indie-folk auteur José González can massage your worried mind like Cat Stevens. With his band Junip, there's a dark, funky undercurrent pulling against the pastoral kindness. Here, he dangles tensile guitar and low-talking tenor over stark, worldly grooves and drone-haunted synths, like Fleet Foxes with a hellhound on their trail. González's hippie bromides have a "hey, whatever" mordancy; see the mumblecore dirge-b... | More »

April 22, 2013

Ghost B.C.

6
Infestissumam Loma Vista

The Swedish metallers raised eyebrows with their Lucifer-loving lyrics, Blue Öyster Cult choruses and their frontman's infernal pope get-up, but on their second LP they embrace something even more unholy: prog. The songs are knotty and complicated; the multivalenced "Jigolo Har Megiddo" feels like it's set not in hell but in Kansas. The results are intricately plotted, if not as instantly bewitching. | More »

Kid Cudi

5
Indicud Republic

Someday this Cleveland MC/producer/former weed enthusiast will find the lyrical and vocal charisma to match the scrumptiously dark, quasi-industrial tenor of his moody beats. But Cudi’s pitchy-dawg voice remains his own worst enemy. He has some interesting pals (Father John Misty, Kendrick Lamar, RZA, Too Short), and they are, without exception, welcome presences. Keep your friends close, Cud! | More »

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

More Song Stories entries »