record reviews

June 26, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Bo-Keys

Album: “Got To Get Back!” (Electraphonic)

Grade: A

The Bo-Keys not only extend the venerable Memphis tradition of recording instrumental rhythm & blues, the multigenerational band also employs several veterans who played on the original Stax and Hi label recordings that the Bo-Keys emulate.

The band’s first album in seven years, “Got To Get Back!” highlights contributions from players who toured and recorded alongside B.B. King, Al Green and Isaac Hayes, as well as trumpeter Ben Cauley, the lone surviving member of the Bar-Kays from a plane crash that also took the life of Otis Redding. Known as an instrumental group, the new album showcases several soul and blues vocalists who span the ages, including William Bell, Otis Clay and Charlie Musselwhite.

Perhaps it is the participation of so many veterans, or perhaps it is the passionate zeal of band leader Scott Bomar, but for one reason or another, the Bo-Keys present a muscular yet spare sound that captures the grit and grease of classic, horn-driven R&B. Where many revivalists pale compared to the originals, the Bo-Keys would have fit right in next to legendary Memphis musical crews the Bar-Kays and Booker T. & the M.G.’s.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

BON IVER

Album: “Bon Iver”

Grade: A

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is a speak-softly, big-stick-carrying kinda guy.

He doesn’t need to talk himself up, like his pal Kanye West, who drafted him to sing on “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.” He doesn’t need showy solos to prove his musicianship. The music speaks for him just fine.

And his sophomore album, “Bon Iver” (Jagjaguwar), says plenty with its eclectic arrangements and dreamy, poignant storytelling. Even when it’s hard to make out what he’s singing, it’s not hard to make out what he’s feeling.

Vernon’s secret weapon is his inventiveness, and he unleashes it early and often. On the opener, “Perth,” he stacks his falsetto vocals to make them sound mighty, and then he fills the song’s empty spaces with what sounds like a chorus of little bearded folkie angels to help him do his bidding.

He builds “Calgary” from something sweet and acoustic to something driven and rocking before he declares “When the demons come, they can’t subside.”

For “Beth/Rest,” Vernon turns toward Bruce Hornsby and the Range’s “Mandolin Rain” — no, really — and plays up the ache in his vocals. He sounds so much more alienated when surrounded by soothing synths, extraneous bits of saxophone and guitar solos.

“Bon Iver” makes it clear that Vernon’s raw, thrilling debut “For Emma, Forever Ago” was no fluke. He’s now a major player in the indie-rock world, whether he acts that way or not.

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

PITBULL

Album: “Planet Pit”

Grade: B

Pitbull’s “Planet Pit” (Mr. 305/J) sounds more like a trip to a Miami Beach nightclub than an actual album.

It’s packed with thumping dance grooves (from producers David Guetta, Dr. Luke and Red One), guest appearances (Enrique Iglesias, Ne-Yo, Kelly Rowland and more), and even pickup lines. (“Mama, you’re the Internet,” Pitbull says in “Come N Go,” “and I’m looking for a download.”)

The best of the floor-fillers is “Rain Over Me,” featuring Marc Anthony, where his soaring voice matches the thunderous Euro-house, synth-driven groove.

— Glenn Gamboa, Newsday