BuzzCuts: New Music
On their new albums Keane makes misery palatable, Frank Black embraces Americana, Sam Bush' genius is apparent, Regina Carter honors her mother and Futureheads remain catchy and fun.
Keane
Keane, "Under the Iron Sea"
Frank Black, "Fastman, Raiderman"
Futureheads, "News and Tributes"
Sam Bush, "Laps In Seven"
Regina Carter, "I'll be seeing you: a sentimental journey"
"Under the Iron Sea"(Interscope)
It's hard to tell whether Keane is lashing out at the ills of the world or crying out from the personal conflict caused by fame on their new release, "Under the Iron Sea."
It's the follow-up to their best-selling debut, "Hopes and Fears," and the Grammy-nominated romantic piano popsters tackle new territory: dark and angry. But, being Keane, it only can be so morose since undertones of sonic hope shine through the lyrical pain and confusion.
Like the group Editors, whose debut "The Back Room" pits grim content against poppy music, Keane experiments with that equation. "Atlantic," the dark album opener, sets a mysteriously eerie tone, but the album quickly rebounds — sonically, at least — with its upbeat first single, "Is It Any Wonder?" The whole of "Iron Sea" is a moody back-and-forth commentary on the band's whirlwind success. "Hamburg Song" nods toward the dramatic and grandiose while "A Bad Dream" displays an emotional breakdown.
Fortunately, the hopeful "Crystal Ball" and dreamlike "The Frog Prince" tie things together to remind us that things are seemingly OK in Keane land. It's almost hard to imagine life being difficult for these guys when they present their turmoil in such a gorgeous package.
Whoever said misery had to be dark and ugly? It surely wasn't Keane. (Ari Bendersky)
Frank Black
"Fastman Raiderman" (Back Porch)
Frank Black is a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll. He's also honky-tonk, pop, jazz and blues on this sprawling double-disc.
With 27 tracks, there's plenty of room for the former Pixies frontman to stretch out and explore his musical boundaries. And that's just what he does, oscillating among genres.
He goes all the way country on "Don't Cry That Way" and "Dirty Old Town," a honky-tonk duet with Kentucky crooner Marty Brown.
Black is poppy on "Wanderlust," playful on "I'm Not Dead (I'm in Pittsburgh)," bluesy on "Where the Wind is Going" and Pixie-esque on "Elijah." There are jazzy touches and experimental elements. Horns, harmonica and steel guitar complete the musical palette. No classic American style is left untouched.
But there are a few duds and they drag down the 95-minute collection. Black is best when he's rocking, or at least upbeat. The slower songs lack vibrancy and become monotonous after a few verses.
Recorded over two years in Nashville, Portland and Los Angeles, the album includes contributions from Levon Helm of The Band, Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick and Simon Kirke of Bad Company.
It is rich and varied, but if Black would have unforgivingly cut the fat, it could have been a single, stellar CD. (Sandy Cohen)
The Futureheads
"News and Tributes" (Vagrant/Star Time)
Their name seems humorous when you realize how much appreciation The Futureheads have for the past.
Behind an arsenal of alternative, dance and punk-flavored influences, the band gives a fresh take on old ideas with their sophomore effort, "News and Tributes" — much in the way they did on their 2004 self-titled debut.
Start-and-stop rhythms, jangly guitar hooks and well-placed four-part harmonies show why the band spent parts of last year opening for the likes of Oasis, The Foo Fighters and Franz Ferdinand.
Sharing lead vocals are guitarists Barry Hyde and Ross Millard, who give bassist David "Jaff" Craig plenty of room to set the tone. But mostly it's Barry's younger brother Dave Hyde on drums who steals the show. Hyde is a crisp, energetic percussionist with enough chops to take over a song, but enough restraint to avoid going too far.
Opening track "Yes/No" sets a howling Gang of Four-like tone before the band eases into perfect guitar pop territory with two tracks you can't help but bounce your head to — "Fallout" and the terrific first single, "Skip to the End."
Other standouts include a surefire crowd-pleaser in "Worry About It Later," the mellow "Thursday," which starts out like it belongs on a Beach Boys record, and a strutting yet playful closer in "Face."
"News and Tributes" may sound like most summer records — painfully catchy — but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. (John Kosik)
Sam Bush
"Laps In Seven" (Sugar Hill)
Sam Bush's latest album, "Laps In Seven," sums up why the mandolinist and fiddler is idolized by young acoustic music players and why he's a hard sell to the mass market. He's just too creatively restless to fit into a defined marketing niche.
Labeled by some as the King of Newgrass, he led the expansion of acoustic music in the '70s by taking bluegrass' core sound and bringing in jazz, R&B, rock and reggae influences. His success at bridging styles inspired modern eclectics like Nickel Creek and Alison Krauss and gained him admirers as disparate as jazz fiddler Jean Luc Ponty and Americana icon Emmylou Harris (both of whom appear on the new album).
"Laps In Seven" is a typically challenging yet tasteful outing. He rocks out with guitarist Buddy Miller on "The River's Gonna Run," combines Celtic and jazz fusion on "New Country," gets funky on a cover of Jeff Black's "I Wanna Do Right" and tears with high-speed abandon through traditional bluegrass on "Bringing in the Georgia Mail."
Along the way, he illustrates that his genius isn't that he refuses to recognize lines between genres and formats; it's that he engagingly reveals how well they can all fit together. (Michael McCall)
Regina Carter
"I'll be seeing you: a sentimental journey" (Verve)
Jazz violin virtuoso Regina Carter says making this album helped lift her out of the doldrums after the death of her mother last year. She celebrates Grace Carter's spirit with an intimate collection of songs from the Swing Era and earlier, from the 1920s to the '40s, that her mother enjoyed.
Carter avoids wallowing in nostalgia by taking a fresh creative look at the jazz tradition. Rather than recreate the classic swing sound of violinist Stephane Grappelli's combo with guitarist Django Reinhardt, Carter uses an unusual front-line with clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera and accordion player Gil Goldstein — imagine a hotly swinging Lawrence Welk.
They get the session off to a sparkling start with some playful interaction and spirited improvisations on "Anitra's Dance," a jazz version of an Edvard Grieg composition that reflects Carter's classical training, and on the briskly paced "Little Brown Jug." Dee Dee Bridgewater's sassy scat singing enlivens the Yiddish tune "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon" and Rodgers and Hart's "This Can't Be Love," while another standout jazz singer, Carla Cook — Detroit-native Carter's childhood friend — guests on three tracks, including W.C. Handy's classic "St. Louis Blues." Surprisingly, neither vocalist sings "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," but Carter's voice-like violin romps through the Ella Fitzgerald hit.
Carter saves her most passionate playing for the ballads, including the lesser known Ellington tune "Blue Rose" and Les Brown's "Sentimental Journey" featuring John Clayton's sparse, darkly voiced arrangement for just clarinet, violin and bass. The tender "I'll Be Seeing You" sounds at times like a haunting Italian movie theme, closing the session on a poignant but hopeful note. (Charles J. Ganz)
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