Cat Power
Jukebox
(Matador)
This is the second batch of (often) well-known songs Cat Power has reconfigured, re-envisioned, denatured, up-ended and honored in her slow and soul-soaked way. This time Power is joined with a band that retains some of the grit and swagger of her earlier recordings. Power boldly conquers such ubiquitous songs as "New York, New York" and Joni Mitchell's "River" while paying tribute to other giants like Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and James Brown with less-heard songs. This is a likeable record, but still, there's something slight about it. Or maybe we've just come to expect great things from Cat Power, and this one isn't a letdown, though it isn't transcendent either. — John Adamian
Miles Davis
The Complete On the Corner Sessions
(Columbia/Legacy)
This lavish six-disc set centers around the controversial On the Corner. In 1972, Miles Davis pissed off and confounded jazz critics by melding jackhammer rhythms, sitar drones, sci-fi keyboards, wah-wah trumpet and coruscating guitars into a visionary fourth-world funk. The album laid the groundwork for hip-hop, techno, ambient and more. The box compiles the On the Corner sessions as well as later material that appeared on Get Up With It and Big Fun. That wide swath of music doesn't necessarily belong on the same set. Longtime fans will be more interested in the previously unissued songs. They range from fascinating curios to remarkable jams. Each selection is a potent reminder the future is still catching up to this music. —Jeff Jackson
Egypt Central
Egypt Central
(Fat Lady Music)
Since bands like Linkin Park took the essence of rock, castrated it and then attached their own huge, studio-fabricated phallus in the place of its former cock, we've been subject to cookie-cutter shit like this album. Yes, they've got skilled musicians, a decent singer (who, incidentally, appears to embrace the Captain Jack Sparrow fashion template), and some qualities reminiscent of cool L.A.-style rockers like Perry Farrell, Slash, Tom Morello, etc. But, as is so often the case with rock bands of the contemporary era, the whole does not equal the sum of its parts. File this one in the ever-expanding stacks of over-produced, self-indulgent Hollywood fluff. —Tom Sturm
Black Lips
Good Bad Not Evil
(Vice)
Nobody will mistake Good Bad Not Evil for anything other than derivative garage rock—and that's a good thing. Innovation is beside the point here and it's not like Black Lips aren't finding interesting variations within the tight strictures of the genre. After several platters of primal stompers, their new one dials down the distortion, slows the tempos, and spotlights their songcraft. You can hear flashes of acoustic guitar, psychedelic effects and even hillbilly melodies. Of course their best songs still tend to be the loud, fast, and catchy ones like "O Katrina!" and "Step Right Up." But despite a few missteps, the flower-punk direction suits them. Black Lips execute that oldest rock 'n' roll trick, making redundancy sound fresh all over again. —Jeff Jackson
