What does one say about Air? It's one of those groups whose music just is what it is. Ambient, relaxing, spacey and dreamy, Air's latest release, "Pocket Symphony," is not the impenetrable classic its first album - 1998's "Moon Safari" - was, nor it is as experimental as some later albums, like "10,000 Hz Legend.
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Although Jarvis Cocker from Pulp and Neil Hannon of Divine Comedy sing on a couple of tunes, Air's best tracks here might be the ones without any vocals, including "Mayfair Song" with its delicate light piano and soft blips. Air's music lends itself to becoming a kind of superb white noise, and while previous works have yielded chart hits, this is not the kind of electronica you'll hear at a raving party - maybe not even on a commercial - nor on pop radio. This is Air at what might be its most introspective and somber; it's rain music.
There is a sort of repetition among the songs that at times gives it the feeling of the Muzak playing in a New Age shop where one buys crystals and incense.
But it is a soaring, lovely work that's just a soundtrack to nothing, which is not at all an insult.
Malcolm Venable, The Pilot
Tracks to download: "Mayfair Song," "Lost Message"
Good news for people who loved Modest Mouse's last album: The Washington state trio that broke big with 2004's "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" is back with a disc that continues to mix bouncy pop with gritty indie rock.
At first glance "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" seems to drift into the same waters charted by marine-obsessed groups such as The Decemberists. Despite song titles including "March Into the Sea" and "Missed the Boat," however, the album isn't actually about boating, except as a metaphor for something singer, guitarist and songwriter Issac Brock's words do not make especially clear. Not that you need to understand the music to enjoy it.
(And the group's big hit was "Float On," so maybe it's not such a departure.)
There are outstanding tracks here, such as the hard-driving would-be hits "Dashboard," "Fly Trapped in a Jar" and "Fire It Up." While the album as a whole may not completely live up to "Good News," it's definitely worth diving in.
Jim Washington, The Pilot
Tracks to download: "Dashboard," "Fire It Up," "Fly Trapped in a Jar"
It is a safe bet. Take the name of an icon, make it the title of a song, and you have a hit.
So, if you want to hear, "Johnny Cash," buy "Relentless," Jason Aldean's next CD, set for a May 29 release.
Aldean and Miranda Lambert pair up on the ballad "Grown Woman" on his forthcoming release, although the production makes her contribution barely discernible. It's a good piece though, as are "Not Every Man Lives," "Do You Wish It Was Me?" and the title song.
The other offerings, while not earth-shaking, are fairly decent, particularly "My Memory Ain't What It Used to Be," a good heartbreak song about a senior citizen problem - sort of.
Aldean, the 2006 Academy of Country Music's Top New Male Vocalist, was also hailed as the 2007 Superstar of the Year by a fan poll taken by CMT.
He has a good country voice and uses it well, but it is sometimes overshadowed by overproductionitis, a problem affecting too many Nashville performers.
"Relentless," it should be added, is top-heavy with the ballads. Ah-h-h - heartbreak galore.
Frank Roberts, The Pilot
Tracks to download: "Johnny Cash," "Grown Woman," "My Memory Ain't What It Used to Be," "Do You Wish It Was Me?
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Weather Report stalwart Joe Zawinul's "Brown Street' appears to be a clash of disparate musical concepts. The live two-disc set features the music and core members of one of jazzdom's most influential cutting-edge, eclectic fusion outfits paired with the moribund concept of the big band. But what could have been a potential stylistic mess is a wonderful, crisply recorded and performed 90 minutes of furious fusion.
The set features Zawinul's classic compositions and keyboard work and some WR alums bolstered by the hurricane huffin' 'n' puffin' of the WDR Big Band Koln directed by cutting-edge arranger Vince Mendoza. The 15-person brass outfit knows how to swing and blow a wall of sound as it powers classic WR music. Collective performances and solos are a splendid give-and-take between quartet and big band.
Highlights include a pastoral reading of "In a Silent Way," the inexorable groove of "Boogie Woogie Waltz" and the genteel impressionistic fervor of "A Remark You Made."
On "Brown Street" two seemingly incompatible elements converge to create one breathtaking storm of live jazz.
Eric Feber, The Pilot
Tracks to download: "In a Silent Way," "Boogie Woogie Waltz," "Carnavalito"
Mary Weiss' sob-soaked vocals provided a soundtrack for teen angst and heartbreak as lead singer for the girl group the Shangri-Las.
This album, her first in decades, sees her backed by garage rockers the Reigning Sound. Weiss' voice still harkens back to earlier times, but now cured by cigarettes it's more mature. This gives its heartbreak quality a knowing sadness that adds depth to songs that could easily sound like retro retreads.
Most of the material, written by the Reigning Sound's Greg Cartwright, fits Weiss, who even takes a shot at the Shangri-Las' hit "Heaven Only Knows" though its lyrics sound unconvincing at this late date. While the ballads veer off key, rockers such as "You're Never Gonna See Me Cry" and "Don't Come Back" fit her persona at this late date. She still suffers from heartbreak but has learned from it.
By the end of the album, Weiss has found love but on her own terms. The sense of closure is captured by the album's closing, ending the same way the Shangri-Las' "(Remember) Walking in the Sand" begins.
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