May '07 Releases

Ah, May, it wasn't super hot and the All-Star game was still two months away, yeah, May is all right by me. Aside from being the most pleasant month of the year, May also brought us these albums:

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81

BRMC followed up 2003's critically acclaimed "Take Them On, On Your Own", with a more laid back, more accoustic, and more reflective sound on 2005's "Howl". The natural question is where will "Baby 81" fit into BRMC's catalog? Will it be the hazy, straight ahead rock reminicent of Jesus and the Mary Chain or will it be the blues-y, Americana sound they most recently experimented with? The answer is, of course, somewhere in the middle with some deviations.

"Baby 81" gets a kick start with "Took Out a Loan" and "Berlin" two straight forward rock songs. However, where early BRMC had subtlety, these two songs add up to little more than what is heard on the first listen. Unfortunatly this is a problem that plagues "Baby 81". The more soulful and blues based songs like "666 Conducer" and "All You Do Is Talk" aren't so charming or insightful that they can stand on their own, while rock songs like "Lien On Your Dreams" and "Need Some Air" lack the sexiness and edge needed to make them interesting.

Now don't get me wrong, none of the songs on "Baby 81" are bad, in fact most sound like they require a good bit of technical expertise, but in the same respect they are songs trying to live in two worlds and getting stuck somewhere in the middle.

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Wilco's last two albums ("Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and "A Ghost is Born") were undoubtable brilliant and cemented Wilco as one of America's greatest band, but they were also uneven and aloof. "Sky Blue Sky" appears to be a reflection of lead singer Jeff Tweedy's attempt to slow down and level out after a multi-year struggle with pain killers and depression. Whether it's the apathetic, life goes on attitude of opening track "Either Way" or Tweedy's unique way of looking on the bright side on the title track, "Sky Blue Sky" is fluid, genuine and unforced. Jams on "Side With the Seeds" and "Shake It Off" are pleasant but sound restrained, as if a conscious effort not to relapse into previous destructive behavior. Wilco does take a courageous step on "Hate It Here", a song about being left in middle age, but performed with all the angst and desperation of teenage heartbreak. "Leave Me (Like You Found Me)" tenderly outlines Tweedy's dependence and loneliness. "Walken" follows in the mold of "Heavy Metal Drummer" and "I'm a Wheel", relieving the tension Tweedy has slowly been building. The single "What Light" touches on Wilco's country roots, but is fairly indescript.

"Sky Blue Sky" closes with "On and On and On", frankly one of the most romantic alternative songs I think I have ever heard. "On and On and On" describes a couple going, well, on and on and on through life, staying together, working things out and trying to make things better. It's not the type of song one would play at their wedding reception, but rather a song that would be better suited for a few hours after the guests had gone home, genuine, unassuming and intimate. Unfortunately, it probably won't help Wilco sell any Volkswagons.

Feist - The Reminder

Until recently, Leslie Feist hadn't had alot of commercial success in here career. While she was lauded for her part as one of the brilliant Canadians that make up Broken Social Scene and her most recent album, 2005's jazzy "Let It Die", was very smooth and sexy, the records just weren't flying off the shelf. Then middle America came calling, Feist was selected to be one of the VH1's always edgy "You Oughta Know" artists, spiking "The Reminder" into the Billboard Top 20 albums along side the likes of Fall Out Boy and Fergie.

Feist's push to the attention of the VH1 crowd doesn't seem to be entirely coincidental. Her vocals have been pushed to the forefront of the "The Reminder", despite Feist saying less than she did on "Let It Die". Single "My Moon My Man" makes a conscious effort not to deviate into anything interesting. "The Park" drags on for nearly five minutes without any real focus. "The Water" unsuccessfully tries to stretch Miss Feist's vocal range without providing anything tangible for the listener to latch onto. "Sea Lion Woman" and "Past in Present" return to Feist's usually jazz infused style, but I have to be skeptical anytime hand claps are used on back to back songs.

Very few of the songs on "The Reminder" feel relaxed, spontaneous or personal. The lack of these characteristics makes Feist's current work little better than slightly interesting background music.