On January 15, LBM released Illembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu, the latest in a prolific career that has included more than 50 albums, two Grammy Awards and performances for the Queen of England and Pope John Paul II.
Real Emotional Trash is Malkmus’ most complete nod to classic rock and the long-form jams of the Woodstock era. It is a completion of musical ideas he has toyed with before, both in Pavement (see “We Are Underused,” from Brighten the Corners, or “Speak, See, Remember,” from Terror Twilight), and in his solo career (see “No More Shoes” from Face the Truth).
Al Green tours like he’s 45, looks like he’s 35 and sings like he’s 25. At 60, the soul legend is so full of life that it is hard to get him to focus on one topic for very long and so full of songs that he can hardly get a full sentence out without breaking into one.
This January, ten years after their first effort, the brainy indie-pop group Of Montreal released Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? to critical acclaim and the biggest audience of their career. The album is intensely confessional and sometimes cringingly direct, dealing with front man Kevin Barnes’ split from his wife (they eventually got back together) and his isolation in Norway, where he lived while making part of the album.
