CD Review: "19"

"19," the first outing by British songstress Adele, plays out on the current musical landscape much like a dichotomy one might have imagined in the decade that the British neo-soul emulates; Adele is the Ronnie Spector to Amy Winehouse's (slightly more cracked-out version of) Diana Ross. Adele doesn't approach the table with the slick Mark Ronson horn sections that have markedly benefitted Ms. Winehouse and others, but rather brings an album that's seems more forward looking (think Carole King) than the Motown (think Holland/Dozier) knock-offs of the recent past.

The single, "Hometown Glory," is a fantastic example of where this young woman's strengths lie and where a little sprucing up might help jump-start a promising career. When this track was released as a free download, the line "Shows that we ain't gonna stand s***, shows that we are united..." was unsurprisingly trimmed to cut out the naughty, naughty expletive. However, where censorship may limit artistic license, in this case it helped reign in a young songwriter in the way a high-powered producer might; find both a more commercial option and give the lyric more weight with universality and simplicity.

There are a couple of unfortunate misses that seem like throwaway tracks. ("Crazy For You," "First Love") They sound a little like the emo-love songs we all used to scratch out on the back of algebra homework in our bedrooms. The latter makes a bold choice with celeste accompaniment, but could have used more instrumentation. There are also a couple of moments that the indomitable Randy Jackson (har) might call "a little pitchy," but again, good production will (thankfully) always forego "authentic" sounds for pitch correction. You can be sure that you won't find a sour note on a sophomore album from Adele.

The shining moments on this album vary between the perfect tracks for a sunny day drive and heartbreaking ballads. "Cold Shoulder" has a bit of a Lily Allen spin to it with a diverse sonic pallette. The strings have a sort of jagged dialogue with riffy guitars at about 1:02 that you might find on something like a My Brightest Diamond album. With fuzzy electric piano and killer harmonies on the chorus, "Right As Rain" wouldn't be out of place on a B-sides Greatest Hits of the 60's compilation. The tastefully funky organ splashes add to the top down, sunglasses and wind in the hair feel of the track.

"Hometown Glory" really is the one of the most haunting songs I've heard in a while and is the masthead of a trifecta of ballads on this album that avoid the torch song but bring the same gut-wrenching emotion. "Chasing Pavements" is a clear choice for another single, but the Bob Dylan cover "Make You Feel My Love" really channels the gospel-tinged quasi-"power ballads" of the Sixties ("Bridge Over Troubled Water").

With a voice that far surpasses her years (she's 19 if you didn't catch that), Adele will undoubtedly have the world bowing at her feet with a few years of experience and some careful producing direction.

...And she won't need a beehive, hideous eye makeup and a crack problem to do it.

CD Review: "The Shepard's Dog"

This isn't really a new release, but I've been too busy actually listening to this album to write a review until now. I honestly can't say enough in praise of the latest record from Iron & Wine, "The Shepard's Dog." It really is the creative blossoming of an already well-established artist who's whispery voice has produced some of the finest roots-esque gems in the last decade or so ("Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" aside). However, this album is anything but easily labeled under the "Folk" section at your local Sam Goody. This is an aural treat that refuses to be pigeonholed into simple genres, and may very well leave you absolutely breathless at some points.

On "The Shepard's Dog," Sam Beam has created a vibe that is both familiar and exotic, frequently pairing his signature vocal stylings with evocative African drum beats that seem to (surprisingly) complement everything that we're used to hearing from Iron & Wine. It hearkens back to Paul Simon ("Graceland") who almost single-handedly sparked the "world music" phenomenon by introducing the west to relatively unknown artists (Ladysmith Black Mambazo). Mr. Simon's ability to blend his songcraft with new and exciting musical dichotomies is one that Mr. Beam seems to have studied.

Standout tracks on this oeuvre include "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car," "Wolves (Song of the Shepard's Dog," "The Devil Never Sleeps" and the lyrical content on "Innocent Bones" is probably some of Iron & Wine's most original. ("Cain bought a blade from some witch at the window, Abel bought a bag of weed" "There ain't a penthouse Christian wants the pain of the scab but they all want the scar.")

Having cast aside a lot of the lo-fi-esque production that can be found on earlier EPs from Iron & Wine, the studio creativity on this album is superb with the eerie vocals on "Carousel" and the Shankar-style sitar that creates a floaty sort of drone on "White Tooth Man." Ironically, this might be the only criticism I have of this album; it does occasionally rely heavily on the almost jam-band practice of long passages of droning guitars and floaty vocals. Several songs on this record (Tracks 1, 2, 9) seem to chug along with hardly any harmonic motion leaving the attentive listener a little tired after a minute or two.

After all of the lush, layered soundscapes of the first half of the album, Iron & Wine becomes the Wizard and clicks your metaphorical heels for you and carries you back home on "Resurrection Fern." Maybe it's the stylistic familiarity of this track that reminds you of why you fell in love with this band in the first place, but this song may very well be the best thing Iron & Wine has ever written. The harmonies on the chorus are pristine (undoubtedly provided by Beam's equally talented sister, Sarah) and the lyrics are incredibly evocative, acting as a sort of capstone to the Biblical imagery spread throughout Beam's body of work.

"And we'll undress by the ashes of the fire
Our tender bellies are wound around in baling wire
All the more pair of under water pearls
Than the oak tree and its resurrection fern"

If you must pick one song on this entire LP, make it that one.

I look forward to wherever Iron & Wine will go from this point. The options are endless and the destination will undoubtedly be as surprising and sublime as "The Shepard's Dog."

CD Review: "Little Voices"

Again, I've shamelessly allowed iTunes to introduce me to another amazing artist through their evil corporate marketing strategies that I love so dearly. I was immediately grabbed by the piano sound on the catchy single, "Love Song," that's been making the rounds on "indie" radio and commercial spots for a couple months. However, Sara Bareilles is, or should be, far more than a one-hit wonder promoting satellite tv-radio.

She is an incredibly straightforward songwriter with metaphors that seem too easy from someone so young (She's only 28). Despite the title of this album, Bareilles' voice is anything but little. I have a suspicion that her quirky looks have kept her from being grabbed up by the corporate machine that would have so easily turned her into any other pop singer with a Timbaland backing track and ample cleavage. Her voice far surpasses the subtleties of just about anyone out there on the radio and when she really lets go (check out "Come Round Soon" at about 2:20), she threatens to give the Mariahs and the Whitneys out there a run for their money. Browse through the videos of her live performances and you'll find that this girl has no need for any auto-tuning that so many of these singers rely on, either.

Her piano work is definitely a product of the coffeehouse/bar circuit where she undoubtedly cut her teeth. It's beautifully layered, but simple enough to let her melodies and lyrics take center stage. The production on the album never strays too far from her piano-drums-bass-guitar equation, but just when this begins to get a little tiring, the sound takes a different color with subtle underlying synths and strings. Other than the lyrics, some of the most interesting spots on the album are the overdubbed backup vocals that Bareilles lays down as a real showcase of her ingenuity with harmony and vocal timbre. The harmonies on the chorus of "One Sweet Love" rival those of the most polished L.A. backing artists.

Standout tracks on this album include the single, "Love Song," the gospel-influenced "Many the Miles" and the exceptional pop-ballad songwriting on "Between the Lines" and "Gravity." There are several weak spots, but they are largely overshadowed by the strength of the rest of the record. While Bareilles has a keen sense of humor, her efforts at cheeky irony often come off as a more trite than insightful ("Fairytale") and while I love the funky guitar riffs on "Love on the Rocks," I wish Bareilles would feel free to let go of her singer-songwriter roots (and chord progressions) for a moment and just let the funky groove shine through on that song. I can only hope that this exceptional artist continues to move in new directions and releases a follow-up as soon as humanly possible.
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