"You Are the Quarry"

"YOU ARE THE QUARRY"
Morrissey
(Attack/Sanctuary)
sss In interviews promoting his first CD in seven years, cult fave and ex-Smiths singer Morrissey still professes to shunning relationships.
So what's he doing singing lines like, "Close your eyes and think of someone/You physically admire and let me kiss you." Of course, this being Morrissey. he soon concludes "Let Me Kiss You" with the kicker: "But then you open your eyes and you see someone/That you physically despise."
Morrissey fans, he's back!
Romantic entanglements aren't the British rocker's only quarry. "I love you," he sings to his adopted home, America, but there are limits to Morrissey's adoration since he launches a blistering attack on the Home of the Free on "America Is Not the World." "America, your head's too big, because America, your belly's too big." If the United States' president has never been "black, female or gay," Morrissey complains, "You've got nothing to say to me."
The thin-skinned shouldn't have too many problems weathering Morrissey's storm because the ringing, guitar-driven melodies rank with his best work and vocally the mopey guy sounds in fine fettle.
"CALIFORNIA"
Wilson Phillips
(Columbia)
s Who better than Wilson Phillips, the '80s hit-makers whose parentage includes Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, to celebrate the rich trove of music made in or inspired by the state of California?
Just about anyone.
Oh sure, the power trio of Carnie and Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips, ending the extended hiatus since the previous 1993 album, can still harmonize decently. But they're not equipped to shed new light on songs most pop fans know by heart -- Neil Young's "Old Man" (who sounds more beaten-down than ever here), the Eagles' "Already Gone," the Byrds' "Turn, Turn, Turn," Jackson Browne's "Doctor My Eyes," and, most tragically, the Beach Boys' "In My Room," which features the writer, Brian Wilson, on piano and vocals.
Most arrangements hew closely to the originals, and that's a two-edged sword: At times this lavish set is nothing more than California karaoke, and at other times, it's a platform for the kind of zipless, desperate-to-please phrasing practiced by children's choirs. One test for a covers collection like this is whether it enhances our appreciation of the material. By that measure, this is an expensive catastrophe that tramples the memory of some great hit songs.
"AUF DER MAUR"
Melissa Auf der Maur
(Capitol)
sss For someone who once backed up Courtney Love and Billy Corgan, Melissa Auf der Maur seems alarmingly ordinary at the microphone on "Auf der Maur."
It's just as well that the former bass player for Hole and Smashing Pumpkins doesn't shred her vocal chords with predictable rage a la Love or go on whining nasal binges a la Corgan, but it wouldn't hurt Auf der Maur to be a more distinctive singer.
Nevertheless, the Montreal native's relatively nondescript voice actually factors in fairly well on her new venture, a sonic gem that could mark the performer's third consecutive involvement in a modern-rock breakthrough act.
Like Hole and Smashing Pumpkins in their day, nothing sounds quite like "Auf der Maur" in 2004. Recorded by the performer with help from such all-star associates as Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins) and Eric Erlandson (Hole), the album is something of a modern marriage of Black Sabbath and Heart.
Driven by dissonance and blasted by high-voltage waves of relentless electric currents, "Auf der Maur" is offset from austerity by elements of New Wave quirk, 1990s chick band sass and old-fashioned pop melodicism.
"FORCE OF NATURE"
Mountain Heart
(Skaggs Family Records)
sss To understand why the Ricky Skaggs-produced Mountain Heart seems destined to play a key role in keeping bluegrass music relevant, listen to "Another Day," the second track on the six-man band's latest release. The mournful melody, laced with the requisite fiddle, banjo and mandolin, manages to sound, on one hand, like an old-time Appalachian ballad and, on the other, like a fine example of 21st-century acoustic music. Its dark lyrics are similarly double-edged. They present a problem pulled from today's headlines (spouse abuse and murder) and a solution pulled from a 19th-century court of mountain justice ("The sheriff tracked him down on the other side of town ... but they never brought him in/Just turned their backs and then/Let her daddy even up the score").
That intriguing union of past and present is what makes "Force of Nature" -- and, indeed, everything about Mountain Heart -- appealing.
"TICAL O: THE PREQUEL"
Method Man
(Def Jam)
ss A moment of silence, please, for another once-adept MC who has descended into mediocrity. After making us wait six years for a new album, Method Man drops "Tical 0: The Prequel," which makes no effort to break from the hip-hop status quo.
He teases us with RZA in "Intro," but fails to follow through with Wu-Tang Clan-style edginess. The leader stuffs the disc with mostly disappointing cameos. "We Some Dogs," featuring Redman and Snoop Dogg, is misogynistic fluff, as is "Rodeo," with Ludacris.
The baritone demonstrates few MC acrobatics on this, his third album. But he includes the hooks, beats and guest spots that make it fodder for the nightclubs and airwaves.
"I'M ALL FOR YOU: BALLAD SONGBOOK"
Joe Lovano
(Blue Note)
ssss A ballad requires not just a lover with a slow hand but one who also can sense the possibilities. Tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano fills the bill, providing a memorable touch on this quartet recording full of personal pianissimos.
Lovano's playing is often a difficult mountain to approach, requiring commitment and time to appreciate his accomplishments. That said, this disc is more heartfelt and accessible than his usual output. "I'm All For You" features Lovano not at his whirling best but at his most developed.
"Stella By Starlight" shines because it swings while slowly revealing its voluptuous core. Lovano coaxes the smoke from the coals of Dizzy Gillespie's "I Waited for You." Another rich encounter, "Like Someone in Love," finds Lovano in a breathy duet with Hank Jones, the subtle pianist-genie of this session.