MUSIC REVIEW - Dan Auerbach

Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid

Dan Auerbach is undoubtedly most well known as the singer-guitarist from the Black Keys. After five albums with the band (and hopefully many more), Auerbach has written, produced, and mixed a own solo album in his almost entirely vintage private studio. And it’s spectacular. Auerbach has almost always defined himself as a bluesman, and this album showcases that side of him; along with his abilities to create beautiful yet subtly complex melodies while kicking ass and taking names.

The entire album is incredibly worthwhile. Interesting sound tricks and playful audio asides are thrown about at random intervals, but are carefully placed so as to not detract from the songs. As musicians tend to do on solo albums, Keep It Hid is mellower overall in tone compared to a Black Keys album, but that is not a criticism – the soft points have an earnestness which forbears the doldrums, and serve to make the albums’ thicker moments all the more savory.

Starting off on a little experiment in acoustics, the first track is incredibly bare. It then drops into a rich delta blues jam (“I Want Some More”) with some funk to it – heavy fuzz and some whirling guitars are layered on a guitar and synth backbone. Song 3, “Heartbroken in Disrepair”, replaces the delta for call-and-response, keeping the heavy bass-lines intact. Next few songs tone it down again, but in a good way – for example, track 5 “Whispered Words” for takes it’s time building up a gorgeous melody that draws you in to the highly emotive singing. He lets loose again on track 8, aptly named “Mean Monsoon”. It’s followed immediately with “The Prowl”, a song defined by it’s simplistic and beat-centric – I love it.

I would love to continue a song-by-song review, but I feel I must congratulate those who’ve read this far, and apologize for rambling on. Suffice to say that the remaining five tracks build upon those mentioned, while continuing to develop individual sounds for each. It’s actually a little difficult to believe this album is the work of one man, given the variety and depth achieved.

Will I play it on my show? Yes, it’s going on twice this Saturday. RIYL – The Black Keys, Heavy Trash, early White Stripes.

BUY THE CD/MP3's ON AMAZON
http://www.nonesuch.com/artists/dan-auerbach
http://www.myspace.com/danauerbachmusic

MUSIC REVIEW - Lily Allen

Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You

A short three years after Lily Allen was thrust somewhat unceremoniously into the spotlight with the release of her first album, her second full LP has finally come out. While the first album showcased a girl who had been working hard for years to get famous, and the tracks showcased a lot of that work. They might have been based on a life that was partially created to garner more media attention, but the songs were undeniably fun (for the most part).

This album is a little different. Ms. Allen has been claiming for months to be headed in a different direction, and in doing so has lost some of what defined her first album. The songs have the same basic vibe (synth, drum machine, boys are smelly), but the songs don’t match the pure entertainment from Alright, Still. It seems like she’s gotten a bit full of herself, to be quite honest. The songs are still going to have the crap played out of them, though, because she’s popular and they aren’t really bad, per se. They just aren’t as good as you’d hope.

Will I play it on my show? Probably, begrudgingly. RIYL – Kate Nash, The Bird and The Bee.

BUY THE CD/MP3's ON AMAZON
http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/lily/
http://www.myspace.com/lilymusic

MUSIC REVIEW - M. Ward

M. Ward – Hold Time

M. Ward first came to my attention with his 2005 album Transistor Radio, but I’m m most familiar with him as the “Him” from She & Him, the collaboration between M. Ward and actress / singer Zooey Deschanel. This album, Hold Time, continues his pattern of ethereal excellence. Ward has a classic coffeehouse voice (makes sense, as he’s from Portland), and his compositions are light and pleasant.

The album as a whole will appeal mainly to people who enjoy soft pop. If you like that kind of music, this is crack. If you don’t, this will be horrible – pay close attention to the RIYL in this case. Regardless, on tracks like “To Save Me” and “Hold Time”, it’s had not to be impressed with his abilities as a songwriter and producer. “Hold Time” is the highlight of the album for me. I usually dislike overly whispery, wafting tunes, but the violin backing on this song helps to congeal it more than many songs of this sort. I also enjoy “Epistemology”, a garage-band blues track that has the unique combination of peach-fuzz distortion, violins, and banjo.

Will I play it on my show? Likely. RIYL – Rilo Kiley, She & Him, Bright Eyes, Tom Waits.

BUY THE CD/MP3's ON AMAZON
BUY THE VINYL ON AMAZON
http://mwardmusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/mward

MUSIC REVIEW - Horatio Lee Jenkins

Horatio Lee Jenkins – Drunker Than Satan

From the liner notes:

The legendary musical hero, Horatio Lee Jenkins, humiliated Satan in a drinking contest and composed the gloriously brilliant song “Drunker Than Satan” about the experience. He followed that work of genius with the emotionally devastating masterpiece “OH SHIT! I Don’t Feel So Good” and with the most romantic song ever made “Girl, This Bed Is Too Big Without All 12 Of You”. Horatio Lee Jenkins, the world’s most potent heterosexual, then brought us a new uplifting anthem of hope, acceptance, and unconditional Christian love: “It’s Okay To be Gay”.

This album is loltastic. It’s 4 country tracks fully embrace the melodrama inherent in the genre and turns them into songs we all can relate too. Songs about drinking Satan under the table then going back for more beer. Songs about feeling like shit after drinking Satan under the table, then deciding the only cure is more whiskey. Songs about missing the 12th girl in your 13-way. Songs about born-again Christian heterosexuals accepting gays. Truly universal themes.

And just when you think the album is as good as it could possibly get, his brother, friends, and band mates put out 3 EPIC bonus tracks. EVEN BETTER, his brother’s name is my FAVORITE WORD IN THE WORD, so much my favorite that it is my religion on Facebook – Trafalgar. True story.

So, in the words of Horatio Lee Jenkins, HELL YEAH.

Will I play it on my show? MoDef. RIYL – A little country with your comedy.

Listen to his songs here:
http://drunkerthansatan.com/
http://www.myspace.com/drunkerthansatan

MUSIC REVIEW - Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand – Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

If you like Franz Ferdinand, you’ll like this album – however, I don’t think it’ll persuade any non-believers to change their opinions. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is the product of a very good band that is fully aware they have reached most definitions of success that one can realistically hope for. But they don’t really seem to care; the music still features the yearning and intensity of their previous releases, fueled primarily by thumping bass lines and their trademark Talking Heads-esque harmonizing.

However, where this album fails, in some sense, is that it lacks any really stand-out singles. There’s no individual song that you can point to and say, “Yes, THAT is awesome.” There’s not a defining track to the CD for Franz Ferdinand. As far as possible shortcomings for an album, that is a very minor one, particularly in this case. Every song featured is well conceived, written, and mixed. The overall quality, both in terms of musicality and production, is extremely high, as one would expect from such a band. Because of these factors, if you like Franz Ferdinand, you’ll like this album, but there’s nothing here to convert new fans.

I like “Ulysses”, the single from the album, “Send him away”, and “Bite Hard”.

Will I play it on my show? Yes. RIYL – Umm, Franz Ferdinand, The Futureheads, The Talking Heads.


http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/franzferdinand