Category Archives: 2008 music reviews

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Randy Newman – Harps and Angels

Randy Newman has been away for awhile, and right when the country needed him most.

His last album of original songs, Bad Love, was released in 1999. And so the first decade of the 21st century had thus far gone unchronicled by America’s finest musical satirist. That is truly a shame, because George Bush has certainly deserved an earful.

He finally gets it in the centerpiece song of Newman’s excellent new album Harps and Angels. That song is ‘A Few Words in Defense of Our Country’ and anyone who knows Randy Newman knows defense isn’t what’s really on his mind.

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Ron Sexsmith – Exit Strategy of the Soul

Ron Sexsmith is either incredibly consistent or maddeningly inflexible — perhaps both.

Over nine studio albums, he has danced with the girl that brung him, rarely straying from his signature McCartney-esque singer-songwriter blend of folk and pop. And by rarely, I mean never. If you listened to his albums at random, you’d have a hard time putting them in chronological order. Sure, his vocals have gotten stronger and his production a little more crisp, but only by the smallest degrees. His idea of a bold stylistic departure is hiring a horn section to back him up on a few tracks.

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My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges

I had heard a lot about My Morning Jacket but I’d never actually heard them. Then I saw songwriter/lead singer Jim James’ haunting performance of ‘Goin’ to Acupulco’ in I’m Not There and I realized it was time to jump in.

My Morning Jacket is one of those bands (like Radiohead and Wilco) that did a certain thing very well for awhile, then suddenly started doing something strange and different equally well. Evil Urges is their OK Computer or Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Now, coming to the band fresh with this release doesn’t allow me to talk about their evolution, so all I can talk about is the music. And the music is nothing short of superb.
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Beck – Modern Guilt

Throughout his impressive career, Beck has explored many, many paths — dabbling in funk, rap, tropicalia, metal, folk and psychedlia, just to name a few. He’s released albums I can dance to and albums that make me want to cry in my beer (ok, my Coke). What he hasn’t done, until now, is bore me.

Modern Guilt is not a bad album, by any means. I’ll go so far as to say it’s a good one. But it’s the first Beck album that hasn’t hit me as something brand new. Most of the tracks feel like B-sides to his earlier, better material.

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Coldplay — Viva La Vida

On their first few albums, Coldplay was a band that sounded like Radiohead (pre-OK Computer) but wanted to be U2. On Viva La Vida, Coldplay is a band that sounds like U2 but wants to be Radiohead (post-OK Computer).

Though they have a proven knack for emotionally resonant arena rock, they’ve opted to get “artistic” instead. And by artistic, I mean they’ve largely thrown aside such quaint concepts as melodies, choruses and intelligible vocals.

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