Record reviews

October 2, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

NICK LOWE

Album: “The Old Magic”

Grade: B

“Prepare yourself for some blues to descend,” Nick Lowe warns on “Stoplight Roses,” the exquisite ballad that opens his new album. We probably didn’t need the warning. Since he rebooted his career with 1994’s “The Impossible Bird,” the 62-year-old Brit has eschewed the exuberant roots-rock and winking, ironic tone of his “Jesus of Cool” days for a mellower and more emotionally direct style that suits his dominant new persona — lovelorn and reflective.

Lowe mines that vein for more gold on “The Old Magic.” With originals such as “House for Sale” (“Whatever happened to my happy home?”) and Tom T. Hall’s “Shame on the Rain” (”... for making me twice as blue”), he’s careful not to sound like just a mope.

He’s aided in that endeavor by a spare but resonant accompaniment, largely grounded in country-soul. Just in case, he does summon the old pep a couple of times, with “Checkout Time” and “Somebody Cares for Me.” They break the languid pace, but they really don’t break the overall mood. While others are painting the town, the solitary singer, as he puts it in another number, reads a lot.

—Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer

SUPERHEAVY

Album: “SuperHeavy”

Grade: C

The supergroup is a familiar concept for rock fans. But has there ever been one as random as this one? SuperHeavy is the unlikely collaboration of Mick Jagger, Damian Marley, Joss Stone, ex-Eurythmic Dave Stewart and Indian film composer A.R. Rahman.

What should be a train wreck actually meshes in interesting fashion on songs such as the reggae-meets-raga “Unbelievable.” All hands get a chance or three to pilot the ship.

As strong as Stone’s voice is, she’s better here as a backup than a front woman. And Jagger cagily picks his moments for maximum impact, prowling around the edges of songs such as “Miracle Worker” like an alley cat. Rahman would seem to be the most superfluous bandmember, but he consistently adds the album’s most exotic moments.

Intriguing on first listen, SuperHeavy is a novelty act, slightly less than the sum of its considerable parts.

—David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

DAS RACIST

Album: “Relax”

Grade: B

Ever since 2008’s catchy “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” became a YouTube sensation, one question has loomed large regarding Das Racist: Are they kidding?

Like an ethnically mixed Beastie Boys, scruffy MCs Victor Vazquez, Himanshu Suri and hardy-har-har hype man Ashok Kondabolu trade on inside jokes and oddball nonsequiturs that pay homage to hip-hop and rap’s social ideals while satirizing the form. But on what side of the fence the rappers fall — giddy farce or serious commentary — is what makes “Relax” fascinating.

As they did throughout devilishly snarky 2010 mix-tapes “Sit Down, Man” and “Shut Up, Dude,” Das Racist’s first album is rich with recognizable samples, delectable melodies and riveting rhythms. “The Trick” tips its (high) hat to Tom Tom Club. “Punjabi Song” benefits from a blend of Bhangra and electro. But it’s the sinister and silly singsongy voices — gruff, nasal, cloying — and the scripts they follow that make Racist exceptional.

—A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

RY COODER

Album: “Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down”

Grade: A

Having completed his brilliant trilogy about a bygone Southern California with 2008’s “I, Flathead,” Ry Cooder now turns his attention to 21st-century America. And it’s not a pretty picture. As the legendary outlaw puts it from his perch in heaven in “El Corrido de Jesse James”: “There’s goings-on man can’t stand no more.”

Cooder takes deadly aim at rapacious bankers, warmongers, land barons and the like, showing the devastating impact of their actions on ordinary folk. He does this in a manner that mixes the scrappy populism of Woody Guthrie with the first-person narratives of Springsteen in Steinbeckian “Ghost of Tom Joad” mode. So, amid angry jabs such as “No Banker Left Behind” and “Christmas Time This Year” are wrenchingly poignant tales such as “Quick Sand” and “Baby Joined the Army.” All of it is set to an incredibly rich melting pot of folk, blues, country, rock and norteno.

As the title hints, “Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down” is not without its mordant humor. And flat-out hilarious is “John Lee Hooker for President,” in which Cooder adopts the laconic tone of the late blues great. Amid wanting “nine fine-lookin’ womens on the Supreme Court,” he makes a campaign pledge that’s hard to resist: “All you backbiters and syndicators, hear what I say ... I ain’t gonna stand for no trash-talkin’ or double- dealin’. And there’s one point I really want to prove. If you vote for John Lee Hooker, you know you gonna groove.”

—Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer

GIACOMO GATES

Album: “The Revolution will be Jazz: The Songs of Gil Scott-Heron”

Grade: C

Giacomo Gates covers some hallowed ground here. Gil Scott-Heron said the revolution would not be televised and would not go better with Coke. He didn’t mention Twitter, but Scott- Heron, who died this year, was notable for melding ferocious proto-rap with wordplay worthy of Langston Hughes.

A trucker-turned-singer, Gates would seem the perfect interpreter. Gates, who didn’t do jazz singing publicly until age 40, styles himself after bop wordmasters such as Eddie Jefferson.

Gates is ardent in his approach to such passionate works as “Winter in America” and “Lady Day and John Coltrane.” He gets the vibe. But his voice is much stiffer and less effective than the master’s. And over 10 tunes, that’s a problem.

—Karl Stark, Philadelphia Inquirer