'BLOODSONGS'

'BLOODSONGS'
Gil Mantera's Party Dream (Audio Eagle) sss 1/2
With "Bloodsongs," Gil Mantera's Party Dream proves that behind the crazy stage antics is a legitimate band, producing infectious synth-pop, with whiffs of everything from Kraftwerk to the Rapture, and Human League to Yo La Tengo.
"Elmo's Wish" is the best track on the 11-song album, with its soaring synthesizer and a Vocorder chorus that will make you smile. Guitarist Richie Bernacki (a.k.a. Ultimate Donny) adds realism to the wall of artificial sound.
Other highlights include "Chocolate Pie," an unlisted extra track that begins with a clock-tower bell calling out the hour, and the bouncy "Alligator Missions."
Then there's the bubblegummy "Bunz Therapy." It's the heartwarming tale of a boy and his waterslide, in which a wheezing synthesizer serves as the canvas for some sprightly musical canoodling. Another standout, "McCoojah & amp; Kizmit," has a beautiful, movie-theme melody.
"Bloodsongs" avoids the main roads. Musically, it's both '80s retro and post-modern. Lyrically, it's earnest and whimsical.
But it seems to go directly to the brain's pleasure center.
--Guy D'Astolfo, The Vindicator
'29'
Ryan Adams (Lost Highway)
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Ryan Adams' latest release -- his third this year -- opens with a rollicking title track. It's a rockabilly template complete with lyrics about getting arrested, drinking too much and watching his dog die.
But it's a false start, really. The rest of "29," is Adams at his pared-down, contemplative best. It's a short CD at only nine songs, but each one is a tiny masterpiece, completely different from the song before -- or after.
"Nightbirds" is a true beauty. Spooky and dreamy and sad, the song seems to vibrate. The crescendo comes near the end when Adams' vocals disappear under a cover of artful white noise.
The next track is similarly beautiful. "Blue Sky Blues" features horns, strings, wind and water sounds. "Blue sky, when you gonna learn to rain," Adams asks.
As quickly as he ventures out, he returns to his classic alt-country storytelling with "Carolina Rain."
Others, like "Starlite Diner" and "Elizabeth, You Were Born to Play that Part," features Adams backed simply by piano, though the latter ends with an orchestral flair.
The closing track, "Voices," sounds like Adams is sitting on the edge of his bed, leaning in close.
--Kim Curtis, Associated Press
'THE BREAKTHROUGH'
Mary J. Blige (Geffen) ss
Mary J. Blige can do punch-in-the-gut emotional pain and passion, but can she do love and happiness? More importantly, do we even want her to?
Blige continues her starry-eyed ascent from 2003's "Love & amp; Life" with 16 songs about love and relationships, with straightforward nods to her music-producer husband of two years. "So glad to have someone to hold me," Blige wails in "About You," featuring the Black Eye Peas' Will.i.am, who co-wrote and co-produced the track.
Adept flourishes, from the groovy organ current of "Gonna Breakthrough" to the classic '60s R & amp;B of "I Found My Everything," lend "The Breakthrough" a clean, fresh sound.
That, unfortunately, may not be enough.
Since creating the "hip-hop soul" genre with her 1992 debut album, Blige has endured addiction, suicidal tendencies, heartbreak and abuse. This has placed her in a catch-22 situation: To find enlightenment means moving past pain, and Blige's pain was raw, inspiringly heartfelt and all-encompassing.
A few standouts on "The Breakthrough" harness this pain, reflecting on Blige's troubled past instead of just praising her pain-free present. "
But the soul and panache of her sweeping voice -- the modern-day equivalent of Aretha Franklin's -- is worthy of more passion than what's contained on "The Breakthrough."
--Solvej Schou, Associated Press
'UNPREDICTABLE'
Jamie Foxx (J) s
Sure, Jamie Foxx has had some big hits as a singer -- with Twista on "Slow Jamz" and with Kanye West on "Gold Digger." But if he wasn't Jamie Foxx, Academy Award-winning actor, he'd basically be the male equivalent of the hook girl, singing choruses while rappers handled the verses.
His debut "Unpredictable" (J) doesn't really change that perception. Foxx definitely has charisma to burn, but it doesn't come across when he sings. Most of the songs play like second-rate Luther, with way too many ballads that never really get beyond lukewarm love cliches. Even "U Still Got It," with its unique idea as an appreciation for a babymama, comes off a little played-out.
The songs that do work, like the title track with Ludacris, rely on the rapper to break up the monotony of Foxx's cooing lover-lover banter. Luda offers some much-needed humor as well as double-time rhymes that liven up the groove.
Completing an album in the midst of a movie career may be a feat of discipline, but that doesn't make it great music. "Unpredictable" is actually "Incomplete."
--Glenn Gamboa, Newsday