‘IN RAINBOWS
‘IN RAINBOWS
Radiohead (available online radiohead.com)
Grade: A
Radiohead is pounding a large nail into the music industry’s coffin with its new studio album. And not just by releasing it independently and bypassing record labels. And not just by initially releasing it digitally only, bypassing the shrinking number of brick-and-mortar stores that sell compact discs. The most astounding thing the British alternative rock quintet is doing with “In Rainbows” is this: You decide how much you’d like to pay for it. That’s right — you can name your own price when you travel to radiohead.com to place your order for the mp3 files.
There’s little doubt that huge numbers of Radiohead admirers will spring for the disc box version of “In Rainbows” that can be ordered at the same Web site and that will arrive in early December. This deluxe package will include all sorts of extras, and even with its established price of something close to $82, advance sales have been brisk.
So after all the prerelease hoopla, how does “In Rainbows” actually sound? Certainly not as experimental and downright bizarre as “Kid A” (2000) or “Amnesiac” (2001), which found the band pushing the sonic envelope over a cliff. After these two daunting outings, Radiohead aimed for more of a direct, live-in-the-studio feel on 2003’s “Hail to the Thief.” “In Rainbows” seems to be a mix of these two styles, resulting in something that’s both an artistic success and relatively easy to enjoy. Put it this way: If you loved “Paranoid Android” off the group’s classic “OK Computer” album, you’ll be pleased.
“15 Steps” leads off the proceedings in tricky 5/4 time. It’s layered with clattering beats, and features some surprisingly jazzy, Wes Montgomery-style guitar lines. Also making an immediate impression is “Bodysnatchers,” with Colin Greenwood’s gloriously dirty and distorted bass front and center. Yorke’s lyrics on this one seem to be inspired by the late Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” Whipping itself into a furious climax, this one ends with Yorke repeatedly screaming “I’ve seen it coming.” What he has seen sounds like an apocalypse.
A welcome relief comes with the icily beautiful ballads “Nude” and “Faust Arp.” The comparatively quiet, mid-tempo tracks “Reckoner” and “House of Cards” give even more depth to the collection. Both are loaded with the kinds of complex textures and atmospheres that invite repeated listenings.
However it’s marketed and sold, whether independently, digitally, free or $80, none of it would matter if “In Rainbows” didn’t deliver the goods. Happily, Radiohead triumphs again.
— Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press
‘NECESSARY EVIL’
Deborah Harry (Eleven Seven Music)
Grade: B
Deborah Harry, the iconic vocalist from the punk-new wave band Blondie, is in feisty, sexy shape on this long-overdue collection of rock and dance-oriented material, her first solo release in 14 years.
“Necessary Evil” finds the 62-year-old Harry working with the production team Super Buddha (Barb Morrison and Charles Nieland), and the combination sparks some choice moments, starting with the collar-grabbing title track that delivers screaming guitar lines from the school of Hendrix.
“You’re Too Hot” is a raunchy slice of garage-punk — all loud and nasty, but that’s just a lead-in to the aptly named “Dirty and Deep.” This one is reminiscent of the Blondie dance hits “Rapture” and “Atomic,” with electronic bloops and beats providing the backdrop for Harry’s lascivious line, “You’ve gotta lick it like you love it/All over me.”
Less randy and more high-gloss is “Two Times Blue,” which shows that Harry can still hit the high notes and deliver a classic pop song. Also notable are “Jen Jen” and “Naked Eye,” both produced by Blondie guitarist Chris Stein.
— Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press.
‘Souljaboytellem.com’
Soulja Boy (Collipark/Interscope)
Grade: C
Seems like everyone was keeping score a few weeks ago when rappers Kanye West and 50 Cent squared off for domination of their flagging genre. But folks might better pay attention to Soulja Boy’s assertion on “Don’t Get Mad,” the closing track of his debut, “SouljaBoytellem.com”: “If you don’t get it, it’s a movement.”
The Atlanta teen who also says he’s “17 and runnin’ things” claims to represent a new generation of rappers — and backing up his contention, his single “Crank That [Soulja Boy]” just shot to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, fueled in part by a Soulja Boy campaign on the Internet (which keys to the site that shares its address with the title of his debut).
Rap music had to go somewhere, but this is a startling direction for it to progress, or degenerate, or evolve, depending on your perspective. “SouljaBoytellem.com” is dumbed all the way down to the core, with almost every track reduced to a few hollered mantras against a simplistic rhythm.
The sheet music for these songs could fit on a Post-It, and the chants are along the lines of this, from the track “Booty Meat”: “Girl, shake that booty meat/That booty meat/Shake that booty meat/That booty meat.”
At least the release won’t surprise anyone who’s been reeled in by the ridiculous arching shouts of “Crank That [Soulja Boy].” This kid isn’t one to break from his shtick — except for a “Soulja Girl” that has a real melody and seems to be the result of more effort than all the other tracks combined.
Perhaps this rudimentary project isn’t even a bad thing. Stripping rap down to little more than hypnotic, repetitive refrains — even in such a raw, demo-sounding context — shakes the stagnant genre to its foundation. Maybe others, including Soulja Boy himself, will find more inventive ways to build on that base in years to come.
Or maybe by the time West and Fiddy are butting heads again, this kid will have become an unknown soldier.
— Chuck Campbell, Knoxville News Sentinel
‘THE CAKE SALE’
The Cake Sale (Yep Roc)
Grade: A
This shouldn’t work.
The Cake Sale is an Irish-based collective led by Brian Crosby of the band Bell X1, with contributions from Damien Rice and Josh Ritter, as well as members of the Cardigans, Crowded House, Snow Patrol and the Thrills, among others.
The nine songs were written specifically for the project, which benefits Oxfam International’s campaign for fair trade, but in only one case does the composer sing his own tune. The album was assembled in patchwork fashion, with vocals and instrumental overdubs recorded in various countries in deference to the schedules of the many artists involved.
The result should be a sprawling, disjointed mess, but instead the album is a cohesive set of engaging, tuneful pop. The songs are mostly midtempo ballads that create a pensive mood, but eight lead vocalists ensure sufficient variety, and they have plenty of appealing melodies with which to work.
Various artists in various time zones sounds like a bad idea, but “The Cake Sale” sounds great.
— Steven Wine, Associated Press
‘BRAVE’
Jennifer Lopez (Epic)
Grade: C
From its rapid-fire disco samples and hum-worthy melodies to its thick beats, Jennifer Lopez’s “Brave” is a million miles removed from 2007’s placid but nice “Como Ama Una Mujer” (her first all-Spanish album) and a gazillion galaxies from the turgid “Rebirth” (her last Anglo effort). While we can’t decide if “Brave’s” kinda-bold moves — the string slicing “Do It Well,” the haughty “Hold It Don’t Drop It” — have much to do with J-Lo’s husband, salsa singer/actor Marc Anthony, admit it: He’s better for Lopez’s sound than her last three guys combined.
(Her wifely role in Anthony’s “El Cantante” bio-pic of Hector Lavoe had more substance than any acting gig she’s had previously, too. Just saying.)
Though there are missteps — the Beyoncé-rushed singing on “Stay Together,” the Beyoncé-busy drums on “The Way It Is” — Lopez’s voice is strong, clear and sultriest when she’s being herself on the silky midtempo “I Need Love” and “Wrong When You’re Gone.” Even her strung-out chamber ballad “Never Gonna Give Up” is genuinely sweet in a Latina-”Eleanor Rigby” fashion. Her clothing line is named Sweetface, no one’s ever called her music that before.
— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer
‘EVERYBODY’S BROTHER’
Billy Joe Shaver (Compadre)
Grade: B+
For all of his rough-and- tumble ways, there has always been a unique spiritual quality to the music of Billy Joe Shaver, and that’s one of the things that make the 67-year-old honky-tonk poet so fascinating.
On “Everybody’s Brother,” that down-to-earth spirituality transcends the explicitly Christian nature of several of the songs. As usual, Shaver draws from his sometimes stranger-than-fiction life: On “The Tough Get Going,” he sings about breaking his neck on his wedding day last year, which happened to be a Friday the 13th. “It’s bad luck to be superstitious,” the Texan philosophizes. Helping him realize his typically honest vision are John Anderson, Kris Kristofferson, Marty Stuart, Tanya Tucker and Johnny Cash (in a 1976 duet).
— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer