 |
Classifieds: |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
| |  |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
New tunes are in bloom at your favorite record store, where new efforts by SheDaisy, Matisyahu, Etta James, Javier and Van Morrison are hitting shelves.
Country: Shedaisy, Fortuneteller's Melody (* * * out of four) The second word of the title is the key to this sister act's fourth studio album. Principal tunesmith Kristyn Osborn's knack for breezy, accessible hooks is enhanced here by a stable of strong collaborators, among them versatile producer John Shanks, whose roots-pop savvy is well suited to the trio's honeyed-oats sound. Another Shanks cohort, Sheryl Crow, also serves as co-writer on the buoyant Whatever It Takes and the achingly lovely Healing Side. Not every track is as impeccably crafted, but the Osborns and their supporting team play with pluck and grace throughout. —Elysa Gardner R&B: Etta James, All the Way (* * * ½) The legendary James usually brings fire and brimstone to everything she does. This diverse assortment of pop tunes finds her in a mellower, though no less passionate, mood. Songs such as Bobby Womack's Stop on By, Simply Red's Holding Back the Tears and Jevetta Steele's Calling You brim with emotion. She delivers a sweet Somewhere and a timely rendition of What's Going On. James doesn't shy away from odd choices — James Brown's It's a Man's Man's Man's World— but she's such a great stylist that she still makes the songs her own. This isn't necessarily what you expect from Etta James, but it's a side of her that is worth getting to know. —Steve Jones Javier, Left of Center (* * *) Connecticut crooner Javier follows up his well-received self-titled 2003 debut with a new collection of smooth, sexy soul. The enticing Dance with Me finds him trying his best to make a club connection over a Spanish guitar riff, while he goes for a more serious commitment on You're the One over a seductive funk groove. With sweet ballads such as The Answer Is Yes and Poetry, Javier shows his versatility as both artist and songwriter. Left of Center solidifies his position among the growing number of talented, young R&B male singers. —Jones Reggae: Matisyahu, Youth (* * *) It's not often you hear the words "Hasidic" and "Rastafarian" in the same conversation, let alone read them in one CD review. But the Jewish reggae/hip-hop/pop fusionist formerly known as Matthew Miller adapts the spiritual fervor that inspired his musical role model, Bob Marley, to his own Orthodox beliefs with a surprising lack of self-consciousness. More important, tracks such as the muscular Fire of Heaven/Altar of Earth, the pining What I'm Fighting For and the lyrical Jerusalem sound great, and Matisyahu's lean, resonant vocals give his expressions both authority and accessibility, whatever your faith or lack of it. —Gardner Pop/rock: Van Morrison, Pay the Devil (* * *) Understandably bored with the flimsy values of contemporary music, Morrison continues to mine favorite veins of the past, this time rooting out and ably reinvigorating such country gold nuggets as Hank Williams' Your Cheatin' Heart, Webb Pierce's honky-tonk milestone There Stands the Glass and Connie Smith's Once a Day. The whimsical and bouncy Playhouse is the best of his three originals, and he shines on a jazzy detour, Don't You Make Me High. But the keepers are vintage covers. Recording in Ireland, Morrison channels old-timey Nashville in such soulful, twangy interpretations as Things Have Gone to Pieces, a George Jones hit. Devil won't depose Merle Haggard, but it lends credence to Morrison's sobriquet, the Belfast Cowboy. —Edna Gundersen |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
