Orbital has returned with Wonky, their first album since 2004 (Blue Album)– that is imminently listenable, and very much Orbital. However, it also conveys interesting hints of past musical goodness.
Dntel is Jimmy Tamborello, a musician who burst most strongly onto collective consciousness through his collaboration with Ben Gibbard, under the moniker The Postal Service. However, under the moniker Dntel Tamborello has been responsible for leading the charge on modern glitchy electronica, first coming to the notice of this reviewer with the fantastic 2003 Kompact compilation, Triple R Friends, to which Tamborello contributed his 2001 song, “This is the Dream,” as remixed by Superpitcher.
Never before has this reviewer attended an arena rock show with the emotional power of Roger Waters' current The Wall tour. The show, which plays through the classic 1979 Pink Floyd album in its entirety, was an amazing visual and aural spectacle.
It’s not often one hears a new recording that immediately grabs the listener as something to which you’ll need to listen over and over. However, Norwegian Ane Brun’s new (and eighth) album, It All Starts With One, does exactly that.
Indigo Dreams is like many of the other BoDeans albums, and relies on the powerful combination of Llanas and Neumanns’ voices to buttress solid instrumental backing and a good folksy-rock sound. With Llanas now gone and replaced with Jake Owen, it remains to be seen whether the BoDeans will be able to carry forward with such power.
Peter Gabriel is in a class all his own as a musician. He has helped bring countless talented musicians to global attention, all the while also creating powerful music of his own. His latest outing, New Blood, is a re-imagined set of Gabriel’s classics set to a 46-piece orchestra, arranged by John Metcalfe (and, of course, lovely voices on various duets)
Do you like folk with a twangy country feel? If so, Dehlia Low will leave you feeling fulfilled. The album is a perfect blend of old timey, almost familiar tunes, presented with beautiful vocals, impressive instrumentation, and kickin’ rhythms. Starting with the songs: with song titles the likes of “State of Jefferson,” “Living is Easy,” “Drifting on a Lonesome Sea,” and “Cannonball Blues,” Dehlia Low has followed the traditional path of folksy, oft-depressed lyricism, a mirror of the Appalachia from which their musical tradition stems.
The show was very faithful to the recorded versions of their songs. Often, that can come across as lacking – if one merely wanted to hear album-perfect versions of songs, one could do so without paying for a $50, in this case) ticket. However, Portishead made those songs come alive through a combination of raw performance (particularly from Ms. Gibbons), as well as a powerful visual presentation.
Glitchy, techy, not too upbeat but not too down… this is a great album. It pulls together quality elements of the likes of Dntel and Royksopp while retaining a distinct enough sound to be interesting. Listening to it, one feels both comforted by its familiarity and yet uncertain of quite where it’s going next.
Thievery Corporation has a sixth album out called Culture of Fear. Surprising no one, it’s good. Sadly, though, it doesn’t really push the boundaries.
