Nina Gordon
BLEEDING HEART GRAFFITI (3.5 stars)
It's been six years since Nina Gordon's first solo album, Tonight and the Rest of My Life, and in that time she's been busy getting her heart broken. Bleeding Heart Graffiti charts the life cycle of a relationship, from the initial highs to the devastating lows to the post-break-up recovery. Like Gordon's first album, it's a slick pop creation, produced by mainstream hard-rock guru Bob Rock (Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Metallica). Rock allows Gordon to retain some of the rock edge she had in her old band Veruca Salt while embracing lush, full pop production and the epic feel of a concept album, complete with transitional vignettes at the beginning, middle and end of the song cycle.
The concept isn't inflexible, though—some songs don't fit neatly into the narrative, and the structure is loose enough to allow for interpretation. The bouncy, slightly funky "Suffragette" (co-written with Wendy and Susannah Melvoin) is a girl-power tribute that has nothing to do with romance, and most of the songs can easily be taken on their own without fitting them into a larger tapestry.
But that tapestry gives a greater weight to Graffiti's fluffy pop-rock, and gives Gordon the chance to celebrate the joys of romance (on lead single "Kiss Me Til It Bleeds") and the bitterness of parting (on the excellent kiss-off "Turn On Your Radio") with equal verve and pleasure. Since her alt-rock days, she's developed into a mature and confident singer-songwriter; let's hope we don't have to wait another six years to hear what she does next.
COMETS ON FIRE
AVATAR (3.5 stars)
The fourth album from heavy psych-rockers Comets on Fire doesn't begin so much as interrupt, as if the listener has slipped undetected into the group's smoky practice space in time to overhear the final eight minutes of a mind-melting three-hour jam session. Yet despite its free-swinging experimentation, opening cut "Dogwood Rust"—from its intertwining dual guitar riffs to Ethan Miller's multitracked vocals—cuts an unmistakably deliberate sonic course.
That controlled mayhem upped the ante on 2004 tour de force Blue Cathedral, and it maintains the Comets' skyward trajectory here, resulting in some of the Santa Cruz quintet's choicest collages to date: acid-blues workout "Jaybird," screeching metallic slab "Holy Teeth" and the rhythmically pulsating "Sour Smoke" among them.
Avatar feels less than monumental only when it sounds too considered, as on Summer of Love throwbacks "Lucifer's Memory" and "Hatched Upon the Age." Both are quality tunes that might have been highlights for many other bands, but they come up short on a disc at its best when veering sharply away from convention.
Toby Lightman
BIRD ON A WIRE (3 stars)
There's no doubt that Toby Lightman is a talented singer-songwriter. On her second major label release, Bird on a Wire, Lightman sings her brand of soulful, guitar-based pop with confidence and swagger. But that swagger sounds no different to me than the pride of the last five or so finalists vying for the American Idol title. That translates into a singer who could hold her own in the recording industry. But that's not enough anymore. (Was it ever?) There are too many talented singer-songwriters out there.
Where Lightman scores big is in the producers and backing musicians she chooses. Half of the tracks are produced by multi-instrumentalist Bill Bottrell and his regular rhythm section, bassist Dan Schwartz and drummer Brian MacLeod. These are the guys behind Sheryl Crow's Grammy-winning debut and Rosanne Cash's stellar Black Cadillac earlier this year. The other tracks are produced by industry veteran Patrick Leonard, who plays keyboards on all of his tracks. Thanks to the musicians, Lightman's music swings, bounces and paints just the right melodic textures to keep the listener involved.
So, Taylor Hicks, if you're reading this, finding your backing band and producer is more than half the battle, my friend.
Various Artists
GLOBAL UNDERGROUND 10 (2.5 stars)
Thank you, Al and Tipper Gore. This is the first electronica CD set I've ever noticed that came with a Parental Advisory sticker, giving me the incentive to plow through the three discs covering the label's output since 1987.
Three discs. Nineteen years. Sixty-five tracks and as many artists. Clearly, there's something for everyone—but dirty lyrics?
Included are giants such as Fatboy Slim ("Sunset [Bird of Prey]"), Felix da Housecat ("Silver Screen Shower Scene"), Danny Tenaglia ("Turn Me On"), Sasha ("Be As One") and others. But they're like a sprinkling of salt over an otherwise bland dish, one so full of different ingredients that the competing flavors cancel one another out.
Out of the three discs, the third does stand out somewhat. A compilation of material from 1987-1995, it showcases the dynamism and energy of the period far better than the other two CDs, each from 1996-2006. Stand-out tracks on the third disc are Alfredo's "Inspiration," with its driving rhythm and soaring vocals, and "Let the Bass Kick" by Egma, with its exciting use of staticky samples.
As for the sticker, it's there for a song titled "Frank Sinatra" by Miss Kittin & The Hacker, from their 1998 EP Champagne, featuring a reference to oral sex. Consider it the punk red pepper in the mix.