New Music Reviews: Justin Townes Earle, Weekend, Cee Lo Green, The Tallest Man On Earth
When I started new music reviews at the beginning of the year, I was shooting for 50 album reviews. This should wrap it up plus an EP to grow on. With all the critic hype of Kanye West's new album, I'm not going to have have a chance for a proper listen and will pass on it until next year. Sorry for the diss Kanye, we all feel your pain once in awhile. But here's four worthwhile additions to wrap up your year from Americana, to noise rock, to neo soul, and Swedish folk...don't let the genres fool or confuse, they're pretty solid albums.
Justin Townes Earle-Harlem River Blues
It's always good to add a sturdy dose of Americana to your collection and I can't think of a better addition this year than the latest from Justin Townes Earle. Earle has a voice very reminiscent of Billy Bragg with a little, just a touch, of Johnny Cash thrown in. Musically, it plays kind of a second cousin to Lucinda Williams "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road". You've got the hillbilly swing of "Move Over Mama", the honest and poignant tale of waiting for a "Christchurch Woman" and the pure Americana harmonicas on "Ain't Waitin'" all taking center stage as standouts on Earle's fourth album. The title track has been stuck in my head for days as the perfect congregation singalong while Earle sings a praise of letting the dirty water cover him over and he's not gonna make a sound. I don't usually pick up on a lot of Americana each year but I'm glad I dabbled in this one. Fads come and go, this will hold steady years to come like a reliable pick up truck. Recommended. Grade: A-
Yes, it appears on first listen that the San Francisco noise rockers of Weekend have been listening to a lot of the Jesus and Mary Chain's "Psychocandy". Songs drenched in feedback and reverb creating an almost ghostly effect. The vocals are really pushed to the foreground here so if you're looking for something immediate, you may want to look elsewhere. But for those who stick around, you'll find some devastating cornerstones like the warped sounds piercing through the opener "Coma Summer" or the insistent drive of "Age Class". My personal favorite is the creepy Peter Hook like basslline that drives along "End Times" as a sort of seance to Ian Curtis and Joy Division. These guys are in debt to post punk a ton but find a way to add just enough freshness to hit you like a jack hammer. A little bit too much filler here and there, but consistent enough if you like the trick. Stick with the above mentioned songs as well as the wonderful "Landscape" and head spinning "Youth Haunts" for the best half of material. Grade: B+
JHO Picks: Coma Summer Youth Haunts Age Class End Times
I can't think of a better two words to describe the latest album than funky fun. The "Billie Jean" stomp of "Bright Lights Bigger City" will either draw you in to its beat or leave doing the Dougie. I'm drawn in by the beat for my favorite ode to Saturday nights of 2010. Green uses his neo-soulful like voice to accompany songs the same way, I don't know, Billy Ocean used the same technique on songs like "Carribean Queen". The way Green gives out a "Baby" scream in "Love Gun", draws upon seventies AM horn driven pop on "Satisfied" or "Cry Baby", or works doo-wop like he's Smokey Robinson in 1965 on "Old Fashioned", there is something for everyone to enjoy on "The Lady Killer". The Band Of Horses' cover "No One's Gonna Love You" has a chorus that joyfully jumps out of the grooves like an old 45 and the profanity laced but ever so catchy soul of "Fuck You", with some of the best tongue in cheek lyrics of the year, are probably the best two tracks. And hey, "Fuck You" got a nod for a Grammy this coming February. An absolute joyful album. Grade: A
The Tallest Man On Earth-Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird (EP)
Kristian Matsson is the one man band who makes up The Tallest Man On Earth and as I mentioned in a New and Noteworthy article a couple weeks ago, "The Dreamer" is sublime. Being the first song Matsson used an electric guitar, the other four songs are just as delicate and poignant, just Matsson with an acoustic guitar. "Little River" is light and breezy, "Like The Wheel" is mournful and touching, and "Tangle In This Trampled Wheat" is coffee house folk by the numbers. What they all have in common is a huge connection to early Dylan. Of course the standout is "The Dreamer" with its line "Sometimes the blues is just a passing bird" stringing together a gorgeous chorus that ends with "That you're the light over me". It's a lighter inducing hymn that has yet to find its audience but should speak to the teary eyed masses. Treat this EP as a sampler and then maybe check out "The Wild Hunt" released earlier this year to great reviews. That's what I'm planning on doing. Grade: A-
JHO Picks: Little River The Dreamer Like The Wheel
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