Nikka Costa (4 stars)
can'tneverdidnothin'
In an alternate, much better universe, Nikka Costa is a huge pop star. The funk-rocker, who made her U.S. debut with 2001's Everybody Got Their Something, returns with the long-awaited follow-up, can'tneverdidnothin', an energetic, catchy and musically diverse album that is exactly what mainstream pop music should sound like.
Of course, Everybody Got Their Something only spawned one minor hit ("Like a Feather"), and Costa's mix of pop melodies, old-school funk, rock guitars and completely live instrumentation doesn't necessarily make her music easily categorized or digestible. But songs like the infectious lead single, "Till I Get to You," the gritty "On & On" (with a riff half-nicked from AC/DC's "Back in Black") and the irresistibly sexy "Happy in the Morning" could easily be massive radio hits if given half a chance.
Costa's sound is partly a throwback to people like Prince and Stevie Wonder, with organic instrumentation and personal songwriting wrapped around a hook-filled pop sensibility, influenced as much by classic funk and soul as classic rock. Her closest modern analogues are Alicia Keys and Lenny Kravitz (who plays drums on a few tracks here), but Costa is less easily pigeonholed than either of them, combining equal parts Keys' neo-soul and Kravitz's retro rock.
It's best to forget all that, though, and just close your eyes and listen to this immensely enjoyable album, lost in Costa's powerful voice and forceful songwriting, imagining yourself in that wonderful alternate universe.
Gorillaz (2.5 stars)
Demon Days
You know we've reached some sort of milestone when Guinness names Gorillaz as the Most Successful Virtual Band. While there's no telling what the competition was like for that title, there's no questioning the success the fictional quartet of Murdoc Nicalls, 2D, Russel Hobbs and Noodle—in reality: Damon Albarn and Tank Girl artist Jamie Hewlett, with an always-shifting number of guest artists. They've had award nominations in the UK and here, and millions of units sold—and that was for the eponymous debut in 2001.
It's been four years since the last release, Laika Come Home, and Gorillaz is back with an album produced by DJ Danger Mouse of The Grey Album fame. Also joining Albarn are Neneh Cherry, snippets from the Dawn of the Dead sound track, the Verve's Simon Tong, choirs from San Fernandez and London, De La Soul, and even Dennis Hopper.
With such a grab bag of talent, it's no surprise that Demon Days is a grab bag of results. The music is unfailingly interesting, with a mix of samples, vocals and rich strings, including violins, violas, cellos and double bass. However, interesting doesn't mean "holds up under repeated listenings." I kept finding myself wanting something that I could latch onto, some sort of emotional interaction with Albarn. But the tracks all feel like cold intellectual experiments, rather like visiting a postmodern art exhibit. The varying layers and textures are there but it's nothing you'll be discussing long after you leave the gallery.
Erasure (2 stars)
Nightbird
|
Erasure hasn't strayed far from home in this, their 11th album. Andy Bell and Vince Clarke are dishing out pretty much the same sound as they did back in the '80s. That can be a good or bad thing, depending on whether you think Bowling For Soup's "1985" is satire. Either way, the energy the duo had 20 years ago has gone the way of big hair and Day-Glo pants. Even the album's "break-out" dance single, "Breathe," needs to go do a few lines of coke and then come back to the party.
DJ Tiesto (4 stars)
In Search of Sunrise 4: Latin America
|
Having come dangerously close to new-age music, the Dutchman is back on firmer ground, mixing his trademark trance sound with the rhythms of Central and South America on this two-disc set. Much as Miles Davis interpreted Iberia with his Sketches of Spain, Tiesto incorporates Spanish guitar with his dreamy guest vocals and samples, coming up with a new vision of an old culture.