MUSIC BOX |
MUSIC BOX
Josh Bell
Martin Stein |
John Vanderslice (3 stars)
Cellar Door
If john vanderslice really has a cellar door, you'll likely find some crazy shit when you open it. On his latest album, Vanderslice sings about war zones, dysfunctional families, and a nutjob who buys a rifle with a Bushnell scope to blast a bird into feathery bits. And, as always, he tells his messed-up stories with lovely pop melodies.
Things are always slightly askew in Vanderslice's world. He likes to work in the Kinks, and there seems to be nothing that makes him happier than writing a perfect hook and then contorting it ever so slightly, adding cellos and church bells but also scuzzing things up just to keep them interesting.
What holds it all together are Vanderslice's voice and story lines. He sounds totally affecting, but he also knows how to conceal his emotions, to set you up for as many twists as you'll get in a David Mamet caper.
Sometimes you have to listen closely to figure out whether Vanderslice is happy or sad, sincere or just screwing with you. It's worth the effort.
Andy Wang
Norah Jones (4 stars)
Feels Like Home
Considering the 18 million copies Jones' debut, Come Away With Me, sold worldwide, not to mention the eight Grammys she and her team won for the album, it's going to be almost impossible for this effort to be seen as anything other than a slight disappointment. That's a shame, because this is a good, solid sophomore album.
While it lacks a stand-out single, a la "Don't Know Why," to propel it into the album-sales stratosphere (though "Creepin' In," a duet with Dolly Parton is pretty catchy), all of the songs are good in their own right, and the album as a whole is not only a good follow up to Come Away With Me, it's also a nice, relaxing listen.
Jones hasn't changed things a lot here, although there is less jazz influence and more bluegrass and blues-tinged songs, but her sound is growing and changing, making this a good album for fans of her debut and new listeners.
Maria Phelan
Darin Talbot (1.5 stars)
Big Air
The first song on this CD, "Tweeker Shred Master," is a thoroughly uninspired, middle-of-the-road ska tune, but it gave me a little hope for the rest of the disc. Perhaps Talbot's "extreme sport folk-rock" wouldn't be as bad as I expected. I should have stopped listening then.
The next four songs sound like a general sampling from any early '90s alt-rock radio station, minus anything truly interesting or innovative. Then, with track six, "Snow Day" (yes, an entire song about staying home on a snow day), the album takes on a heavy Jimmy Buffet quality, which seems fitting since all of these songs are about skiing, snowboarding, sitting on a boat and drinking.
This might be acceptable if the lyrics and music were better, but they are both extremely mediocre. If you're into this sort of bland, uninteresting and uninspired music, you might as well save yourself some money and just put on a Jimmy Buffet CD.
Perhaps if I had downed an entire bottle of rum or tequila before listening to this disc, it would have been less painful. On the bright side, there's no way local radio will pick up anything from this CD or artist, so only people who choose to subject themselves to it will have to suffer.
Maria Phelan