Record Reviews

The New Zeitgeist

Album: “Myths and Mortals”

Grade: A

Many of the lyrics on “Myths and Mortals” date back more than a century, which is why the New Zeitgeist is singing of fairies, fables and linnet’s wings. This is real roots music that connects Dublin and Austin.

The Chicago-based duo Jen Reilly and Eddy Bluma pair original material with poems by W.B. Yeats, Carl Sandburg, William Allingham and Sidney Lanier, and they make the words sing. It helps that Reilly could win a Kathy Mattea impersonation contest – her sturdy alto matches the material, whether the setting is dappled grass or a dusty trail. Bluma’s guitar and a supporting cast that includes Lloyd Maines on Dobro and pedal steel deftly straddle musical genres.

There’s a crunchy hint of the blues on “Looking Glass Man,” while “Peter Pan’s Remorse” conjures druids. “Desert Rose” gives a country waltz an Irish lilt, and “Kingdom Highway” is Gaelic gospel. It all makes for an enchanting mix like nothing else being heard in roadhouses or pubs.

— Steven Wine, Associated Press

DJ Khaled

Album: “Grateful”

Grade: C+

Nobody has a talent for persuasion like DJ Khaled. With each summer album and anthemic single, the Miami-based, Palestinian American producer/DJ/host throws a party, invites a slew of featured big-name guests and manages to get them to sing and rap over his light-as-Fluffernutter melodies while he yells, “We the best music” or, “Another one,” a lot. Sometimes, it’s a groovy, intimate affair, like Drake on the murky “To the Max.” Sometimes, Khaled packs a clown car (the flighty “Down for Life”) with as many as five pals (Future, Travis Scott, Kodak Black, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Rick Ross), and it’s a slapstick mess.

The sultry, boastful “Shining” features Beyonce and Jay Z. “I’m the One” has Justin Bieber at his muskiest, with Quavo, Chance the Rapper and Lil Wayne along for the rough ride. The extra-long “Grateful’s” most winning moments come with its most understated elements, like when Rihanna does her usual Eartha Kitt purr against a Carlos Santana guitar sample on “Wild Thoughts.” After that, talents like Nicki Minaj and Migos get caught in a maelstrom of dance-hop that’s funked up but sameish. Aural wallpaper punctuated by the host’s loutish shouts is good, but not great. Another one?

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

Big Thief

Album: “Capacity”

Grade: A

Big Thief’s “Masterpiece” was one of last year’s most exciting debuts, bristling with fraught emotions, dissonant electric guitars, and assertive vocals. “Capacity,” the Brooklyn quartet’s surprisingly quick follow-up, is even better: It’s more varied and complex, with sturdier melodies and moments of stirring beauty.

Like PJ Harvey, Adrianne Lenker explores raw-nerve territory, and the imagery often has elements of nightmarish fairy tales. Although the guitars occasionally amplify the intensity as they did on “Masterpiece,” for the most part, the arrangements favor contained tension over cathartic aggression. Lenker has noted a youthful fondness for Iron & Wine, and you can hear a similar folk-rock precision in “Mythological Beauty” and “Black Diamonds.”

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer