Sunday, March 20, 2011
ALICIA KEYS
Album: “The Element of Freedom”
Grade: B
When Alicia Keys declared herself a “Superwoman” on her last album — with an “S” on her chest, oh, yes! — she certainly had good reason. She had competed by herself, more or less, against one prefab pop singer after another with teams of handlers and armies of producers and songwriters for the better part of a decade and come out on top. From “Fallin’” to “No One,” Keys had proved she was the real deal.
Maybe that’s why “The Element of Freedom” sounds a bit disappointing and shockingly incomplete. Though Keys is in fine voice, as usual, and has constructed even more of her trademark soaring soul anthems, the bulk of them sound a little short.
The first single “Doesn’t Mean Anything” ends up being prophetic. It sounds big and feels important, but it lacks passion and an interesting point of view. It’s a pattern she repeats throughout the heart of “Freedom,” in the equally bland follow-up “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart” and the sweet-sounding emptiness of “How It Feels to Fly.”
Keys does get a boost from the power couple of Jay-Z and Beyonc . B’s appearance on “Put It in a Love Song” pushes Keys to try something different in her phrasing and her rhythms, while the inspirational influence of Jay-Z rubs off on Keys for “Empire State of Mind [Part II],” reminding us how essential her chorus is to that smash hit.
“The Element of Freedom” shows that even Superwoman can run into some creative Kryptonite every now and then.
— Glenn Gamboa, Long Island Newsday
Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers
Album: “Rare Bird Alert” (Rounder)
Grade: B
With his introductory bluegrass album, 2009’s “The Crow: New Songs For The Five String Banjo,” actor, writer and comedian Steve Martin proved he could write and play with a talent comparable to top-level acoustic musicians. Across 16 songs, most of them instrumentals, his banjo work measured up with his all-star supporting cast.
For “Rare Bird Alert,” Martin records with the Steep Canyon Rangers, a well-regarded bluegrass ensemble that backed him on tour. He limits guests this time, but employs two marquee names: Paul McCartney, sounding decidedly un-British, on “Best Love,” written by Martin for his wife, Anne; and the Dixie Chicks on the beautiful “You,” a ballad about how a relationship’s end can include fond memories, even if things didn’t work out.
But the album’s biggest difference comes from more vocals, allowing Martin to write lyrics that express the mix of braininess and goofiness that has made him such a popular comedian. He includes a string-band cover of his million-selling 1978 novelty hit, “King Tut,” and an original, “Atheists Don’t Have No Songs,” done gospel style, about how nonbelievers lack a catalog of good spirituals. “Jubilation Day” celebrates the end of a relationship with glee — and humor.
Still, the foundation of “Rare Bird Alert” is the tight musical interplay of an outstanding group of musicians — with Martin leading the way.
— Michael McCall, Associated Press
RON SEXSMITH
Album: “Long Player Late Bloomer” (Ronboy Rhymes)
Grade: A
With his seemingly effortless way with a melody and a lyric, it’s no wonder that on his latest album Ron Sexsmith’s unflinching takes on life and love are often framed in terms of music and its mediums. “ ... I’ve turned the record over/ I’m a long player/ My song is my savior,” he sings on the title cut, in a sonorous voice that soothes and insinuates — leavening, along with the clean pop classicism, the mostly downbeat themes. And elsewhere: “This ain’t no random shuffle / There’s reason in these rhymes” (“Believe It When I See It”). “The music’s calling me/ Oh, every time I follow/ I hear this melody” (“Every Time I Follow”).
Sexsmith has long been a cult favorite — and a favorite of fellow songwriters — who has never broken through to the masses. “Long Player Late Bloomer” is another stellar effort. But as he points out in the title song, it’s not worth getting to the top if you have to sell your soul to do it. He’s seen that happen all too often with the music he loves. As he puts it with brilliant succinctness: “From a turntable to a phone/ From a revolution to a ringtone.”
— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer
MOGWAI
Album: “Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will” (Sub Pop)
Grade: B
Seven albums in, it’s safe to say that the Scottish post-rock band Mogwai isn’t much for giving straight answers. But if you’re willing to play along, you’ll reap the most satisfying instrumental rock music this side of “Explosions in the Sky.” “Hardcore” is classic Mogwai: sprawling guitar lines and rhythm work; song titles chosen at random (“You’re Lionel Richie”); energy that alternates between deeply moving (“Death Rays”) and deeply pensive (“How to Be a Werewolf”). The band’s metal influences shine through a bit more than usual — the great “Rano Pano” finds them trudging like a doom band — as do the strange nods to Kraftwerk (“Mexican Grand Prix”). That kind of reckless abandon was once a frustrating fault. Now it’s simply another thing the band does well.
— Michael Pollock, Philadelphia Inquirer
LUPE FIASCO
Album: “Lasers” (Atlantic)
Grade: C
Love the cover of highly skilled Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco’s third album, which crosses out the neon o in Losers and turns it into Lasers. If only a similarly simple editing job could have magically transformed this disappointingly diffuse result of a three-year battle between the artist, born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, and his record label.
Fiasco is one of the sharpest, most independent minds in hip-hop, and “Lasers” has its moments. Most pointedly, there’s the politically engaged “Words I Never Said,” which takes aim at Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and President Barack Obama, and the racial fantasy “All Black Everything.” But pop crossover moves such as the Trey Songz-assisted “Out Of My Head” and the closer “Never Forget You,” by John Legend, feel watered-down and phoned in.
— Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer
GINA SICILIA
Album: “Can’t Control Myself” (VizzTone)
Grade: A
“You can’t go wrong if you play a simple song,” Gina Sicilia declares over a simmering R&B groove on “Gimme a Simple Song.” The 25-year-old singer follows her own advice throughout her third album, offering songs as straight and true as they are deep in feeling.
Sicilia’s debut album, “Allow Me to Confess,” earned her a nomination as best new artist at 2008’s national Blues Music Awards. The mostly self-penned “Can’t Control Myself” shows that the Temple University graduate — working again with likewise talented producer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Gross — continues to grow and to transcend the boundaries of the blues with a striking blend of passion and maturity.
Her richly toned, slightly husky alto is an immediate grabber, and the album title notwithstanding, she knows how to harness its power. That only heightens the impact of the performances here, from the rock-edged blues of Willie Dixon’s “Crazy ’Bout You Baby” to the tender soul of “As Long as You’re Here,” the Latin-tinged, Drifteresque romanticism of “Before the Night Is Through,” and the country-flavored “Once in a While.”
— Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer