John Hiatt (2.5 stars)
Master of Disaster
Hiatt writes terrific songs and has more grit in his voice than the Mississippi. Where Master of Disaster falters is in its too-casual approach to the actual music. Hiatt can do quiet intensity (Crossing Muddy Waters) and gee-tar whoopdeedoo (Beneath This Gruff Exterior). Here he settles for neither, and the result is a mixed bag.
Good: the honest ache he works up in the title song; the New Orleans jive of "Wintertime Blues," jaunty enough to raise Dr. John from the almost dead; the driving groove of "Love's Not Where We Thought We Left It." Not so good: the slight ballad "Howling Down the Cumberland"; the way the passionless heartland stylings of "When My Love Crosses Over" renders a pretty song unable to sustain life; the sleepy country waltz of "Old School"; that, in the end, too few notes shake the plaster.
Slim Thug (3.5 stars)
Already Platinum
Rappers are, if anything, creatures of habit—especially if those habits lead to expanded bank accounts. Following in the build-major-label-buzz-via-the-independent-route-then-sign-with-the-big-boys footsteps of Cash Money, Slim Thug rode grimy beats and lyrics to near-icon status in Houston long before his recent deal with Virginia-based hitmakers the Neptunes.
As such, his major-label debut, Already Platinum, isn't so much a pronouncement as an announcement: that he's self-made, self-paid and ain't changing the flow (molasses-slow Southern drawl) or beats (the "screwed and chopped" sound popular in Texas). Though Slim won't win any awards on the lyrical front, he has arguably done more to export H-Town's signature sound. Which is bad and good. Bad because the 16 tracks would've benefited from a less-is-more approach. Among the standouts are the sonically distinct "Ashy to Classy" and "Delicate," posse cuts "Boyz N Blue" and "3 Kings", the Pharrell Williams-assisted "Already Platinum" and sunshine-y "Incredible Feelin" which, thankfully, leaven some of the gangster braggadocio.
The King Cheetah (3 stars)
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The King Cheetah LP
This post-punk trio from England are on tour to promote their first full-length album. Angry as all get-out but with a nice lyrical sense that comes through between screams and thrashing guitars, the hypnotic "Vampire State Building" at the end is a refreshing drink of water after eight hot tracks.