Review

Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

Beck - Morning Phase

By the own artist’s admission, Morning Phase is very much a ‘companion piece’ to Beck’s stirring 2002 LP Sea Change. True enough, much of the same band returned for this recording, his first in six years- notably Beck’s own father David Campbell, whose string arrangements feature prominently. The album will please fans of Sea Change. This is mellow, slow tempo music tinged with sadness (as on ‘Blue Moon’, where Beck asks, ‘cut me down to size so I can fit inside’). Yet this is more melodic and not nearly as mournful as Sea Change, and Beck’s return to his singer-songwriter…

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The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

Adam Granduciel and his bandmates haven’t just hit a home run with Lost In The Dream, they’ve undoubtedly released one of the best albums of the year. Produced over a two-year period and inspired by Granduciel’s own battles with depression, there is undoubtedly a slight sense of uneasiness that lingers here, but the refashioning of classic and, in particular, 80’s rock, is inspired. No doubt some of the album owes a debt to a certain gent by the name of Bruce Springsteen (‘Burning’ would slot into the track listing of Born in the U.S.A with ease), but you can also…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

White Lung - Deep Fantasy

Vancouver’s White Lung are back with their third release, Deep Fantasy, a ferocious and frenetic punk rock race that effectively captures the energy of the band’s live work. There’s zero let-up from start to finish as the album sprints in with ten tracks in less than twenty-five minutes, but this is more than frontwoman Mish Way screaming her head off to three cord compositions. White Lung know a catchy hook when they find one (consider the addictive grunt of ‘Just For You’), and aren’t afraid of playing with melody (‘Down It Goes’). The closer, ‘In Your Home’, perhaps hints at…

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St. Vincent - St. Vincent

On a roll from two previous albums that already garnered rave reviews (2011’s Strange Mercy and her 2012 collaboration with David Byrne, Love This Giant) Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, now returns with what is undoubtedly her best effort yet. This is confident, ambitious work, drawing the listener in with a distinct blend of what one could almost describe as ‘prog pop.' Clark’s considerable guitar skills play a prominent role throughout, but she has brought together a broad variety of instruments with a dash of electronica to craft her at times quite complex arrangements. But despite her experimental nature, from…

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Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats

I’ve always thought that those detractors quick to dismiss Regina Spektor’s career with words like ‘quirky’, ‘oddball’ or ‘sentimental’ were missing out on a unique talent with incredible piano and songwriting skills and a sad-sweet voice to match. Sure, there are moments when whimsy or sentimentality may arguably have led Spektor a step too far into eccentric or syrupy territory, but she finds success more often than not. What We Saw From The Cheap Seats isn’t necessarily a huge departure from earlier work –in fact it reminded me a great deal of her first effort, Soviet Kitsch- and yet this…

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The Cranberries - Wake Up and Smell The Coffee

Back from an even longer break are The Cranberries, as it has been over ten years since their last studio album, Wake Up And Smell The Coffee. Dolores O’Riordan’s extraordinary voice never quite managed to claim the successful solo career it deserved through the two albums she recorded during the band’s interim hiatus, but with her old partners back in tow they’ve reunited to create one of the strongest album releases of 2012 to date. O’Riordan’s voice always possessed a dreamy, tender quality that worked well when set alongside her talented bandmates, and tracks like the gorgeous opener ‘Conduct’ or…

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Garbage - Not Your Kind Of People

Yet another band back from a long hiatus and also recording independently from a major label, Garbage return after six years with Not Your Kind Of People. The album is a genuinely successful combination of the ‘dark pop meets garage’ that clearly defined their earlier work but was perhaps not as pronounced on Beautiful Garbage and Bleed Like Me. The electronica has been toned down a touch here, but not so much that you can’t hear shades of Nine Inch Nails on a track like ‘Battle In Me’. Elsewhere, ‘Blood For Poppies’, ‘I Hate Love’ and ‘Automatic System Habit’ showcase…

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The Hives - Lex Hives

After five years The Hives are back with their fifth full-length album, this time released on their own Disques Hives imprint. If you’re familiar with the Swedes’ stomping, energetic sound spearheaded by Pelle Almqvist’s charged yelps and howls then you won’t be left disappointed. To be fair, few fans of The Hives would ask the band for a reinvention anyway, and charged tunes like the two-word-only track ‘Come On’, 60’s-themed ‘Midnight Shifter’ and single ‘Go Right Ahead’ are sure to become popular live staples (and yes, with regard to the latter, don’t worry, The Hives asked Jeff Lynne for permission…

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Steel Panther - Balls Out

Back with their second album under the name of ‘Steel Panther’, the L.A quartet divide time between parody of 80’s glam rock and out-and-out tribute. What could tire quickly as a one-trick gag in the vein of Spinal Tap or those spectacular Australian parody-rockers Bigphallica actually works here because, thankfully, the band possess the musicianship to back it up. These are frenetic, high-energy rock songs with gratuitously over-the-top lyrics that aren’t out to compete with anyone for profundity (to point: “Get on your knees and help me please because it won’t suck itself”). It’s certainly not for everyone, but there’s…

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Betty Wright and The Roots - Betty Wright: The Movie

This is Wright’s first album in a decade, and if you’re looking for music with the sass, funk and soul that she was best known for in the 70’s, then you’ll find it here, but there are also modern flourishes on offer as well. This isn’t just because Wright has the benefit of The Roots as her backing band, or because of drummer Questlove’s deft hand co-producing the album, though both certainly help. She shares the stage on ‘Real Woman’ with Snoop Dogg, and on ‘Grapes On A Vine’ with Lil' Wayne, but it is perhaps ‘Whisper In The Wind’…

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