For the record: Kelllie Pickler, Craig Finn, The Internet and Mike G
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KELLIE PICKLER '100 Proof' (19/BNA)
I've said it before; I'll say it again. There are two types of "American Idol" winners: those whose limited staying power will give them their 15 minutes of fame, and those who'd have made it had the show never existed, working their way through the conventional dues-paying processes.
Kellie Pickler's style was ill-defined on her first two albums. Of her singles, all but "Best Days of Your Life," which went platinum, peaked in the Top 20. Even "100 Proof's" first single, "Tough" only made it to No. 30 last year. Nothing offered a clear sense of her true musical direction. Until now.
"100 Proof" might mystify some younger fans because co-producers Frank Liddell (Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert) and Luke Wooten avoided the generic. Instead, they placed Ms. Pickler in a cohesive, spare traditional country framework with understated arrangements that put pedal steel up front, not relegating it to the background as many current albums do.
She ably stakes out this territory on the powerful opening track: "Where's Tammy Wynette," a Jimmy Ritchey/Don Poythress/Leslie Satcher number about the domestic turbulence Ms. Wynette's hits so masterfully documented. Ms. Pickler co-wrote six of the 11 songs, including the sweetly contented "Rockaway." "Unlock That Honky Tonk," a roaring, take-no-prisoners number, was penned with Leslie Satcher.
While the title tune is more love ballad than drinking song, on the explosive "Stop Cheatin' on Me" her voice projects intensity on a par with early Dolly Parton. Things turn more personal on the teary "Mother's Day," co-written with husband Kyle Jacobs, and "The Letter (To Daddy)," ballads alluding to her highly complex relations with both parents.
It's no surprise she's so comfortable snarling "Don't tell me country's gone!" on "Unlock That Honky Tonk." Ms. Pickler has told interviewers the first song her grandfather taught her was the raw Hank Williams Sr. favorite "My Bucket's Got a Hole in It." In any case, "100 Proof" resoundingly reveals her true, triumphant voice: that of a young traditionalist totally of the moment, on an album I consider one of 2012's best.
-- Rich Kienzle, for the Post-Gazette
CRAIG FINN 'Clear Heart Full Eyes' (Vagrant)
Occasionally the mood could strike -- the need to listen to Craig Finn without the full-on rock 'n' roll bluster of his band, The Hold Steady.
For those times, we now have "Clear Heart Full Eyes," the first solo album from the talk-singing frontman from Minneapolis. Fears that the songwriter, who specializes in dark, funny, literate narratives about desperate people coming of age, would turn earnest or start strumming folky ballads are quickly cast aside.
The hard-edged tales would be suitable for a Hold Steady work-over, but here they're given a more subdued, largely acoustic treatment from producer Mike McCarthy (of Spoon, not the Green Bay Packers) and a quartet of Austin ringers. There's a quite a range, from the spare, Spoon-like quality of "Jackson" to the rolling country-bluegrass feel of "New Friend Jesus" to the boogie-rock of "Honolulu Blues."
The album leads to a trio of slow, unsettling breakup songs, starting with the opening line of "Rented Room," evocative of "The Graduate's" Benjamin Braddock: "Just kinda livin' in a rented room/And I've been trying to stop obsessin' you/There really isn't all that much to do." On "Balcony," atop a crying pedal steel, he delivers a line that even Dylan and Elvis C. would love: "I hope your dude don't break his nails/when he tries to help you carry all your stuff."
-- Scott Mervis, Post-Gazette
THE INTERNET 'Purple Naked Ladies' (Odd Future Sony)
MIKE G 'Award Tour EP' (Mike G)
Odd Future, hip-hop's quirkiest, most testosteronal ensemble, has more solo shots than it does group efforts, with critics focused on hearty vocalist Frank Ocean and producer/MC/provocateur Tyler, the Creator. But now it's time for other Odd-balls to start showing off.
Before dropping his full-length "Gold," rapper Mike G (cousin to G-Funk's Warren G) releases the humbly mumbling "Award Tour" with production from several Odd Future-ists. Unlike his collective, Mike goes for laid-back grooves and moods sketched in few words. "Chanel" makes him into a romantic hero through its Euro-disco ambience. Like his work within Odd Future, Mike sounds too content to blend into the background, with witty free associations that often miss the mark.
Syd the Kyd (the beat-making girl of the group) and Matt Martians hit the mark and then some. As the Internet, they forge their own jiving, jazzy target and pummel it. More P-Funk than G-Funk, this rough-edged take on spacey R&B can be noisy and mean, with its four-letter odes to lady parts, and tracks such as "Cocaine" and "Gurl." But when Syd sings the gently poetic "Fastlane," it's as if she and Martians appropriated the spirit of Nina Simone at her sultriest.
-- A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer
ALSO NEW THIS WEEK
Tim McGraw, "Emotional Traffic": The Washington Post says the country star's 11th album "isn't McGraw's finest hour (McGraw, like Madonna and Elvis, is a singles act), but it's a solid outing from a solid singer in his prime, doing mostly as he pleases."
Lamb of God, "Resolution": Virginia metal band's seventh album and follow-up to "Wrath," which debuted at No. 2 on the charts in 2009, is said to be a return to early sound.
Ingrid Michaelson, "Human Again": The indie-pop artist has described her fifth studio album as "fiercer and not as childlike." It features the single "Ghost."
Rodrigo y Gabriela, "Area 52": Latest album by hybrid Latin/metal/jazz guitar duo is the first to feature outside musicians. It consists of nine of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero's favorite catalog songs re-arranged and re-configured for a 13-piece Cuban orchestra known as C.U.B.A. It also features drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, Testament, White Zombie), sitarist Anoushka Shankar and drummer Samuel Formell (Los Van Van).
Nada Surf, "The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy": The acclaimed indie band's seventh record and first in four years was an attempt to capture its live sound. "We've always played faster and a little harder live," says vocalist/guitarist Matthew Caws. It features guitarist Doug Gillard (Guided by Voices) and was produced by Chris Shaw (Wilco, Brendan Benson).
Lacuna Coil, "Dark Adrenaline": Italian metal band worked with producer Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Bullet for My Valentine) and promises a "melodic, sensual, metallic rush," starting with the single "Trip the Darkness."
First Published January 26, 2012 12:00 am
