Contact Us Advertising Information Online exclusives Cover Story Buzz Feature In Case You Missed It Vote 2009 Boulderganic Fall 2009 Student Guide 2009 Boulder Weekly Sweet 16 Anniversary Boulderganic 2009 Summer Scene 2009 Email Newsletter Legal Services Best of Boulder 2009 Annual Manual 2009 Newspaper of the Future Kids Camp Guide 2009 Wedding Marketplace 09 Jobs available Student Guide 2008 Best of Boulder 2008 Annual Manual 2008 Join Our Mailing List
|
October 16-22, 2008
buzz@boulderweekly.com
CD shorties
One Kind Favor, B.B. King 
by Dan DeLuca
As anyone who’s seen B.B. King perform in the past decade or so can attest, the considerable powers as a singer and guitarist of the iconic blues man, who turns 83 this month, are largely undiminished by time. What can sometimes mar a King of the Blues concert, however, is a more than understandable tendency to take it easy after all these years and rely on showbiz shtick.
Happily, there’s not a smidgen of that to be heard on One Kind Favor, an old fashioned (but not purist) recording produced by T-Bone Burnett, with a deeply sympathetic band that includes Dr. John on piano and Jim Keltner on drums. The song selection is astute, pulling from King’s heroes and contemporaries, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson (“See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”), T-Bone Walker (“Waiting For Your Call”) and Lonnie Johnson (“My Love Is Down” and “Tomorrow Night”), the band swings, and King sings it like he means it. More than anyone could have a right to expect.
—MCT
Forth, The Verve
by Arjuna Orland
You really can’t blame anyone for getting excited about The Verve, one of the most influential and impressive rock bands of the ’90s, reuniting after a decade off to tour and record their first album of new material in 11 years. But to get a geeky hard-on over the group reincarnating as a weepy stoner version of Coldplay? Please. Aside from a few highlights, like “Numbness” (which could at least hold the jockstraps of the slow, depressing jams on 1995’s classic A Northern Soul), Forth disappoints by mostly sounding too much like singer Richard Ashcroft’s unremarkable solo stuff. But what’s really to be rejoiced here is the exultant return of lead guitarist Nick McCabe, whose sonic innovation is as tasteful and transcendent as ever. There are a few remarkable moments on Forth that recall why The Verve was important in the first place, like the drive of “Noise Epic” and the multi-layered, sleazy crawl of “Columbo,” but in the end finally getting the chance to see The Verve in concert trumps these 10 tracks.
The Hawk is Howling, Mogwai
by Arjuna Orland
One tends to sort of outgrow the lyrics of most heavy rock with age; one also tends to at least slightly outgrow the blueprint-oriented “build-up instrumental” rock of bands like Explosions in the Sky when turned on to the truly volatile genius of, say, Mogwai, an unpredictable Scottish band that gets weird, noisy, bright, terrifying, luscious and beyond while in general letting the music speak for itself. And in all honesty Mogwai’s tantalizing new record, in terms of musical diversity and courage, can only be compared to something like the mayhem of Miles Davis’ sprawling mid-’70s ethereal bombast, such as Get Up With It. The Hawk is Howling solidifies Mogwai’s original knack for creating dark beauty by taking the most pleasing and un-clichéd aspects of prog-rock (minus the solos) and juxtaposing that indulgent spacey-ness with the inspired despair of the Black Heart Procession and Godspeed You Black Emperor.
Gym Class Heroes, The Quilt
by David Hiltbrand
As the title suggests, The Quilt is a colorful patchwork project. The hip-hop darlings of the Warped Tour, Gym Class Heroes are a biracial band from Upstate New York that proudly wear their rap identity on their sleeves. But they keep pulling choice pop influences out of their pockets. “Blinded by the Sun,” for instance, quotes extensively from Corey Hart’s 1984 hit, “Sunglasses at Night.” The ballad “Like Father, Like Son” sounds like the Temptations meet Dr. Hook. Even the most white-bread song on the CD, “Live a Little,” suggests a mash-up of Fountains of Wayne and the Beach Boys. Gym Class Heroes are like House of Pain with serious musical chops. Superficial but pleasing, this offering is best consumed in small doses.
—MCT
Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Hudson
by A.D. Amorosi
Jennifer Hudson has been a loser on TV’s American Idol and a winner in the film Dreamgirls. Although she was awarded an Oscar, in part because she tore the house down as the discarded Effie, pouting and howling her hurt way through “And I Am Telling You,” there’s been no proof of this singer’s real pop prowess. Until now.
Nearly two years in the making, Jennifer Hudson is what commercially calculated R&B has become: equal parts big, brassy sass and slow, simmering soul aided by producers and songwriters who do the same for other diva clients.
While Timbaland’s “Pocketbook” offers Hudson a sparse, kinky groove in which to croon, “Spotlight” finds her producer/writers, Stargate and Ne-Yo, going for their usual steely finish. The world can do without another Dianne Warren power ballad, but Hudson does eat up the torch and treacle of “You Pulled Me Through.”
s the record good? Indeed. It’s grand even when it’s at its most generic and features a great voice belting emotional tunes — even if it’s a little too clear that a committee has decided which emotions to feel. And in the able gospel of “Jesus Promised Me a Home,” you get a feel for where Hudson’s heart — and soul — might truly lie when not complicated by big business.
—MCT
Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
back to top
|
| |
