Category Archives: 2010 music reviews

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Tift Merritt – See You On the Moon

At some point in a relatively new artist’s career, she stops being the “next so-and-so” or “a cross between x and y” and becomes just who she is.

Since the release of her 2002 debut Bramble Rose, Tift Merritt has been compared to such greats as Emmylou Harris, Dusty Springfield, Lucinda Williams, Carole King and Joni Mitchell. But with her latest release, See You On the Moon, it’s safe to say she’s established what it means to be Tift Merritt.

It means one of the best voices in the business — equally at ease with a throaty rasp or a delicate high note — singing heartfelt, well-crafted songs over subtly muscular instrumentation. And it means her keen intelligence and big heart shining through every note.

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Keane – Night Train

I have a soft spot for EPs. Artists who find themselves between albums — and the touring and publicity machine that comes with album releases — can keep their creative juices flowing with these musical quickies, and fans don’t have to wait years for new material. Favorite artists of mine such as Ben Folds and Belle and Sebastian have put out some of their best work on EPs.

The Web has made EPs something of an anachronism. It’s easier now to upload a new track to your website — paid or free — and offer up new music in breadcrumb fashion. That’s how Lil Wayne became the hottest rapper in the world before he ever released a proper album. But I remain a CD guy, and I prefer a physical EP to a group of downloaded songs that I can’t hold in my hand.

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Eminem – Recovery

Eminem’s sixth studio album, Recovery is perhaps more notable for what’s not on it than what is. You won’t find Paul here, or Steve Berman or Ken Kaniff. No skits at all, in fact, among the disc’s 17 tracks. No D12 collaboration, no MTV-friendly celebrity-obsessed party jam. And most surprising of all, no Slim Shady. That is, none of the schoolyard accents and serial killer fantasies that have typified Marshall Mathers’ alter ego since he got his start more than a decade ago.

What you do get in Recovery is easily Eminem’s finest album since 2002’s The Eminem Show and a true rival to his masterpiece, 2000’s The Marshall Mathers LP. By definition, Recovery can’t deliver the shocking cultural drop-kick of that album — Eminem is a thoroughly known quantity now — but artistically it’s right there with it.

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She & Him – Volume Two

She & Him (the indie pop group consisting of actress-singer-songwriter Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M. Ward) has come to symbolize a certain precious, hipster mindset. It’s music for people who know every line of 500 Days of Summer (also featuring Ms. Deschanel), people who wear dryly ironic t-shirts, people who wear hats to parties.

Deschanel, who writes all of the band’s songs (save for a few covers), is an unconventional beauty with an old-fashioned voice and a penchant for 50s and 60s doo-wop and girl-group pop. It would be easy to dismiss her, and this group, as completely shallow, picking over the bones of classic song styles for the sake of looking cool. At times I’ve been tempted to do exactly that.

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Josh Rouse – El Turista

It’s fascinating to watch artists follow their muse to unexpected places.

Earlier this year, Rufus Wainwright released a collection of mournful chamber pieces featuring just his piano and vocals. And now we have masterful pop songwriter Josh Rouse, born and raised in the Midwest, putting out a new album sung half in Spanish.

I mention these two albums together because both artists have proved themselves eminently capable of smart, crowd-friendly pop music but neither appears all that interested in selling CDs. They’d rather stretch their musical muscles into new and unexpected directions — an opera here, a bossa nova there — and trust their loyal fans to follow.

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