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But when it’s the only one in your kitchen, everything you serve is going to taste the same, no matter how fine a cook you might be. In a musical nutshell, this is Charlie Puth’s problem. The rising-star singer-pianist — who hit the radar on Wiz Khalifa’s Grammy-nominated Paul Walker elegy See You Again — is a skilled player blessed with a crystal-clear falsetto. Và on this major-label debut, he showcases an affinity for old-school soul và R&B, an ability lớn upgrade them with low-impact hip-hop touches, and the technical know-how to produce his own tracks. Trouble is, despite all that, & despite its title, Nine Track Mind is essentially a one-track album — virtually all Puth’s songs are earnest ballads that tick all the teen-romance boxes but lack the true emotional conviction that comes with experience. & as with See You Again (which only appears on the deluxe edition, btw), Puth fares best when paired with a more charismatic foil like Selena Gomez or Meghan Trainor. Bottom line: The guy’s got skills, but until he gets some seasoning, he’s about as intoxicating as a vanilla shake. RATING: 2.5 (out of 5)Elton John Wonderful Crazy Night Understatement has never been Elton’s way. But even for Capt. Fantastic, Wonderful Crazy Night’s title is something of an oversell. Truth is, John’s umpteenth studio disc is a fairly standard & predictable (albeit consistently solid) affair, with 10 more middle-of-the-road piano-pop ditties co-written with Bernie Taupin, co-produced with rootsy tinges once again by T-Bone Burnett and co-starring his longtime touring band. Ignoring contemporary trends and VIP cameos in favour of old-school songwriting và sounds, it makes for a fine evening lớn be sure. But it’s hardly a night lớn remember. RATING: 3 (out of 5)
Dream Theater The Astonishing Oh, it’s astonishing, all right. If only for the absurd amounts of audacity & ambition on display. The prog-metal vets’ 13th studio outing is a sprawling, cinematic behemoth: A 130-minute, 34-track concept album about (all together now) a plucky band of rebels battling an oppressive future empire — mix in an impenetrable musical labyrinth that includes a symphony, a choir, và enough brain-cramping complexity to make 2112 look like Chopsticks. Devotees & nerds will drool. For non-fans, though, it’s nothing but punishing. RATING: 3 (out of 5) NOW HEAR THIS Bruce Springsteen và The E Street Band Chicago January 19, 2016 The quái thú giveth, the monster taketh away. After the East Coast blizzard kiboshed his NYC show, Springsteen gave away downloads of his Windy thành phố set — a typically epic 210-minute show that included The River in full, essentials and faves lượt thích Born to Run and Rosalita, & best of all, a beautiful rendering of Take it Easy in memory of Glenn Frey. The freebie is over, but that last number alone is worth the price. RATING: 4 (out of 5) Charles Kelley The Driver The Lady’s man is single and ready lớn mingle. Musically speaking. Personable Lady Antebellum frontman Kelley stretches his legs with his solo debut, taking his sandy pipes past country-pop with forays into gritty roots-rock, soft-centred California pop và southern soul — while enlisting Stevie Nicks và Miranda Lambert as new duet partners. Sorry, Hillary. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)
Basia Bulat Good Advice Living well is the best revenge. Making great pop comes a close second. Singer-songwriter Basia Bulat turns the breakup album upside-down with her fourth và most commercial release, setting her heartbreak against big beats and soulful melodies artfully produced by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. She’s living the single life — in more ways the one. RATING: 4 (out of 5) J. Cole Forest Hills Drive: Live from Fayetteville, NC Turns out you can be a prophet in your homeland – if you’re J. Cole from Fayetteville. The Carolina rapper documented this triumphant homecoming gig in a revealing HBO special. For those without cable, here’s the celebratory soundtrack with Cole performing FHD in its entirety — but without the explosive star-studded encore. Hey you can’t have everything. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)
St. Lucia Matter No man is an island. Except for Jean-Philip Grobler of St. Lucia. Thankfully, he is a các buổi tiệc nhỏ island. With an ’80s theme. The Brooklyn-based synthpopster pulls out all the stops on his retrophilial sophomore album, insistently inundating your ears with lush keyboard layers, tom-tom-laden backbeats & supple Duran Duran vocals. Go dancing on the sand. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) Wet Don’t You Understatement often goes underappreciated. So on one hand, this female-fronted Brooklyn trio and their slowly soft-pedaled synthpop ballads & sweetly soothing R&B slow jams seem a welcome respite khổng lồ pop’s endless noise. Ultimately, though, most of their uniformly languid debut album simply washes over you without a ripple. Wet và wild they are not. RATING: 2.5 (out of 5) Cherry Poppin’ Daddys The Boop-a-Doo If you’re gonna go retro, go all the way. After paying tribute khổng lồ the Rat Pack on their last disc, these Oregon ska-jazz punks swing further back — specifically to lớn the ’20s & ’30s — for their latest nostalgia-fest, sincerely & expertly recreating speakeasy classics by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Fats Waller và other Jazz Age masters. Hi-de-ho, hepcats. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) Buddy Miller & Friends Cayman Sessions at Sea He’s on a boat. But roots-rock MVP Miller isn’t singing Margaritaville on the Lido Deck. He’s holding court with fellow travellers from Kris Kristofferson & Lucinda Williams lớn Kacey Musgraves — while informally covering classics lượt thích Sunday Morning Coming Down, Wild Horses và Angel From Montgomery. All that’s missing is unlimited shrimp. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) Guided by Voices Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won the War The club is mở cửa again. Frighteningly prolific indie god Robert Pollard dumps out another treasure trove of 100 rarities, outtakes, live lunacy, drunken experiments, bad drumming và half-baked whatnot — including early versions of many GBV classics like Motor Away và Glad Girls, recent leftovers và even demos from his next album. Chill the brewski. RATING: 4 (out of 5) London Orion Orchestra Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here Symphonic This week in Things Nobody Asked For: A British orchestra transforms Pink Floyd’s 1975 classic into an occasionally interesting but ultimately inessential symphony with the help of cameos by Alice Cooper, keyboardist Rick Wakeman & two guitarists from an Aussie Pink Floyd tribute band. Shimmer away, you calculatedly opportunistic cubic zirconium. RATING: 2 (out of 5) Dressy Bessy Kingsized Better make that Queensized. Denver singer-guitarist Tammy Ealom & her boys are back in a big way on their first album in eight years. And along with a nostalgic slate of crunchy bubblegum rock & punchy power-pop, the E6 offshoot welcomes ringers like R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Mike Mills & Scott McCaughey, among others. Royally entertaining. RATING: 3 (out of 5) Field Music Commontime Britain’s Brewis brothers are hardly household names. But they should be. Especially in households that appreciate the classic pop-rock tunesmithery và impeccable production of everyone from The Beach Boys, Bowie & Supertramp to lớn 10CC, Squeeze & Peter Gabriel — all of whom are brought khổng lồ mind by their uncommonly good sixth disc. Welcome. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) King Mud Victory Motel Sessions Sorry, James Ellroy readers. This L.A. Duo’s debut is not named after the local noir author’s notorious Mobster Squad base. But it easily could have been — greasy, gritty, grim and gravelly, these blasts of barnburning blues-rock from Freddy J IV and Van Campbell hit every bit as hard as Bud White & Dudley Smith working over a suspect. Grand, lads. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) Miranda Lee Richards Echoes of the Dreamtime Richards will not be rushed. This is only the sublime Cali singer-songwriter’s third album in 15 years. Và in keeping with that approach — & its title — it’s an unhurried & reflective affair, with mellow folk-rockers that stretch up to lớn eighty minutes long và atmospherically hazy production that includes plenty of (yes) echo. Close your eyes and enjoy. RATING: 4 (out of 5) Night Beats Who Sold My Generation Three guys in a đen muscle car. A dive-bar marquee. & a title reminiscent of a classic-rock LP. You might expect Seattle’s Night Beats khổng lồ be hard-driving bruisers. & you’d be wrong: They’re heavy ’60s-style psych-rockers whose darkly headnodding grooves, reverb-soaked vocals & bong-hit sonics roll deep & trippy. Try to dig what they all say. RATING: 3 (out of 5) Freakwater Scheherazade A decade later, the story continues. Like the titular 1,001 Nights queen, Americana singer-guitarists Catherine Irwin and Janet Bean spin compelling narratives on their first disc in a decade, intertwining their haunting voices on modern-day murder ballads, gothic ghost stories và twisted tales of addiction, treachery và disaster. They’ll keep you up at night. RATING: 4 (out of 5) DVDS OF THE WEEK Black Stone Cherry Thank You: Livin’ Live You’d expect đen Stone Cherry to go over in Birmingham, Ala. But give the Kentucky crew credit for winning over an arena of fans in Birmingham, England with their hard-driving, high-energy brand of southern rock và metal — not to mention a full-sized production và a 100-minute set with covers of Sunshine of Your Love and Layla. You’re welcome. RATING: 3 (out of 5) Jack Bruce More Jack Than Blues & more jazz too, if you want khổng lồ be absolutely precise. The year after his 2005 reunion gigs with Cream, superstar bassist Bruce upgraded from a nguồn trio khổng lồ a big band, teaming up with Germany’s muscular Hessischer Rundfunk ensemble for an 80-minute mix of rearranged solo classics, blues standards và Cream highlights — along with some magnificent four-string solos, of course. Jack in. RATING: 3 (out of 5) Ritchie Blackmore The Ritchie Blackmore Story Mr Congeniality he is not. But notoriously ill-tempered guitar god Blackmore plays nice for the camera in this long-overdue đoạn clip memoir, reminiscing about his life và career, from his heyday with Deep Purple and Rainbow khổng lồ his current medieval ensemble Blackmore’s Night — và recounting many of his more notorious dustups and bustups along the way. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) Keith Richards In His Own Words Said the man himself: Talk is cheap. But for those who want khổng lồ hear Keef chitter-chatter about anything và everything from meeting Mick Jagger and the glory days of The Rolling Stones to lớn snorting his dad’s ashes, here are nearly two hours of random TV interviews from the ’70s lớn this decade — và from around the world. Best of all: No commercials. RATING: 3 (out of 5) Lynyrd Skynyrd Gone With the Wind Nuthin’ fancy — but plenty of it. Gone With the Wind is a standard documentary about the rise, fall and controversial rebirth of the southern-rock pioneers — told via the usual set of interviews with members, managers, producers & critics, plus plenty of vintage live footage. But at 160 minutes, it’s longer than any encore of không tính phí Bird. Make it a Saturday night special. RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) Steve Hackett The Man, the Music Of Genesis and revelation. Again. Mere months after the release of Steve Hackett’s exhaustive 14-disc box Premonitions: The Charisma Recordings 1975-1983, here’s a 140-minute doc that chronicles the influential guitarist’s life & career — with the usual plethora of interviews & archival footage. Hackett & his fans have never had it so good.
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RATING: 3.5 (out of 5) IN THE PIPELINE Feb. 12 BlowFly, 77 Rusty Trombones Charles Bradley và Menahan Street Band, Live From the House of Soul Paul Carrack, Soul Shadows Elvis Costello, Detour Live at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Featuring Larkin Poe Lee DeWyze, Oil & Water Dion, thành phố new york Is My home Vince Gill, Down to My Last Bad Habit Kula Shaker, K 2.0 Lorrie Morgan, Letting Go … Slow Kanye West, WAVES Wynonna và The Big Noise, Wynonna & The Big Noise You Say Party, You Say buổi tiệc ngọt Twitter: