record reviews

February 6, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

GREGG ALLMAN

Album: “Low Country Blues” (Rounder)

Grade: A

It was the blues that first inspired Gregg Allman and his late brother, Duane, before they created Southern rock with the Allman Brothers Band. So it’s fitting that Gregg has returned to the music for his first solo album in 14 years. Despite its title, the album is not all “low country blues.” The set ranges from the rural to the urban, with material from country bluesmen Sleepy John Estes and Skip James alongside horn-driven R&B by B.B. King and Amos Milburn, as well as the West Side Chicago soul of Magic Sam. Producer T Bone Burnett, working with his usual cast of ace accompanists as well as Dr. John on piano, provides tradition-minded but invigorating arrangements that make these various styles sound all of a piece without losing their essential character.

It’s Allman, though, playing his familiar Hammond B-3 organ as well as acoustic guitar, who provides the ultimate unifying voice. The 63-year-old’s vocals betray decades of famously hard living — at the time of the recording, he was just months from finally getting a liver transplant. But he still sings with a supple power, showing he’s completely at home with all the blues here.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer

Pushking

Album: “The World As We Love It” (Eagle Rock)

Grade: B

For 15 long years, Push- king has toiled away in the musical gulag, churning out albums for the masses in Russia. Now, they’re making a bold bid to emigrate to worldwide stardom, backed by a veritable Nobel Committee of classic rock heroes from the 1970s and ’80s, who have helped the quintet re-record some of their better songs.

Think “Baryshnikov meets Bon Jovi.”

Pushking is singer/songwriter Konstantin “Koha” Shustarev, guitarist Dmitry Losev, bassist Roman Nevelev, keyboardist Oleg Bondaletov and drummer Andrey Kruglov.

Each of the 19 tracks on “The World As We Love It” features at least one hard-rock icon, and often several more than that. From Alice Cooper to KISS’ Paul Stanley, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, guitar legends Steve Vai, Nuno Bettencourt and Steve Stevens, Pushking has assembled its very own Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, all in a bid to introduce the Moscow moshers to the rest of the world. Some of the best moments come from recently resurgent singer Glenn Hughes, who’s had his ups and downs through the years in bands such as Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and currently, Black Country Communion. His soulful yowling blends well with the backing band’s Soviet sensibilities on “Why Don’t You?” “Tonight,” and “Private Own.”

— Wayne Parry, Associated Press

GANG OF FOUR

Grade: “Content” (Yep Roc)

Grade: B

Society’s ills and political wills never spoiled the party for British post-punk minimalists Gang of Four. It was the party. Snide, shouting lyricist Jon King and spiky guitarist Andy Gill are what’s left of the original quartet.

Their wordy, vinegary catalog was ripe with angular funk, dub, and disco. Their shtick — rhythmic and otherwise — made them godfathers to today’s robo- rhythmic punk. It has also meant that Gang of Four must contend with its own legend, to say nothing of the merry folly of its young followers. “Content” is no “Entertainment!” (Gang’s dry, seminal 1979 debut). Nor is it a hipster’s lament. Instead, “Content” is an intense and handily stripped-down take on political and emotional resistance. The only futility, it seems to say, lies in trying to stand still. King and Gill are immediately recognizable from the Four of yore, what with the deadpan sneer and clinking riffs of “It Was Never Gonna Turn Out Too Good,” and the pair hasn’t forgotten how to pen an anthem, melodically or lyrically, whether it’s consumerism (“You’ll Never Pay for the Farm”) or antiauthoritarianism (“Do As I Say”) they’re on about. “Content” is not jolly, but it’s jolly good.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

STEEL MAGNOLIA

Album: “Steel Magnolia” (Big Hassle)

Grade: B

The duo of Joshua Scott Jones and Meghan Linsey were the second-season winners of CMT’s “Can You Duet?” competition show, and they’ve already made chart noise with “Keep on Lovin’ You.”

This debut album contains plenty more hit-worthy pop-country blasts like that number. Jones and Linsey are both powerful vocalists, and they possess undeniable chemistry. With their lively vocal interplay, they exude energy and emotion that often transcend producer Dann Huff’s tendency toward the generic in the musical accompaniment. The duo become even more engaging as the album progresses, and the arrangements become a little looser and more down-home, as on their own “Eggs Over Easy” and Keith Urban’s “Homespun Love.” The set then closes with Jones’ “Glass Houses,” a starkly unflinching number that puts his songwriting skills in sharp relief.

— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer

Amos Lee

Album: “Mission Bell” (Blue Note)

Grade: A

Sonically, Amos Lee hasn’t changed much since he made his memorable debut in 2005 with his self-titled album.

The music on his third disc, “Mission Bell,” still has that folksy, bluesy vibe, with a bit of country twang; his voice, with that slight rasp, is ever soulful. And acoustic strums of the guitar are still the centerpiece of his most moving work.

What has changed on “Mission Bell” is the carefree, often optimistic view that seemed to define the songwriting on “Amos Lee”: The main character on that album certainly had to deal with broken hearts and dreams, but there seemed to be a sense of optimism coursing through the songs.

“Mission Bell” is told from the vantage point of someone who seems to have suffered through tougher times.

Heartache provides an endless wealth of songwriting material for most artists, and it does for Lee as well. It has given him greater depth in his songwriting, with imagery more vivid, lyrics more intricate.

“Mission Bell,” which features collaborations with Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson, is a darker turn for Lee, and shows that his artistic arc is still peaking.

— Nekesa Mumbi Moody, Associated Press

THE GO! TEAM

Album: “Rolling Blackouts”

Grade: B

It was a different world when The Go! Team arrived in 2005 with its wildly upbeat, unique combination of cheerleader chants, dance beats and music influenced by ’70s TV themes.

How would this bunch of British indie upstarts ever find a home in the pop world? Well, they did — in part because Target adopted the band’s anthem “We Just Won’t Be Defeated” into a variety of commercials and in part because we now live in a music world where inventive indie bands such as Arcade Fire can hit No. 1 on the charts.

And maybe that’s the issue with The Go! Team’s third album, “Rolling Blackouts” (Memphis Industries). The ever-evolving world seems to have passed them by.

That’s not to say the horn-blasting, swaggering hip-hop amalgamation of “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.” isn’t thrilling, especially when rapper Ninja gets going. Or that the guitar-driven first single, “Buy Nothing Day,” featuring Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino sounding as perfectly poppy as Neko Case in the midst of The New Pornographers, doesn’t conjure up the aural equivalent of sunshine.

But so much of “Rolling Blackouts” has a been-there, done-that feel. As nice as it is to be reminded of Mike Post’s “Hill Street Blues” theme or faded disco instrumentals, the combination has been done — often by The Go! Team itself on its groundbreaking “Thunder, Lightning, Strike” debut. Unfortunately, it seems The Go! Team is idling a bit too much.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday

BOBBY LONG

Album: “A Winter Tale”

Grade: A-

It starts with the voice. Bobby Long has a great one, naturally emotive and effortlessly warm, in harmony with its spare, mostly acoustic surroundings on his debut, “A Winter Tale” (ATO). The British singer-songwriter makes “Dead and Done” as folk-groovy as Ray LaMontagne, while “Penance Fire Blues” brings out his Bob Dylan passion.

Still a newcomer, Long has a focus that other indie-folksters such as Iron and Wine and The Decemberists took years to find, making “A Winter Tale” a stunningly potent discovery.

— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday