Kaki King
Dreaming of Revenge
(Velour Recordings)
Kaki's fourth album is by far her most collaborative and experimental, yielding many more successes than misses. Instead of being an artist in search of a voice—her percussive guitar has been distinct from the start—here she's figuring out where she fits in. She experiments as much with production values as style. Some stuff sounds a bit Frisell, other stuff like Brian Eno. My favorite tune here, "Montreal," has a mix of lilt and rhythm that feels like a David Byrne soundtrack. She sings more on this album, too, and her soft, shuffling voice only sometimes carries the song—very successfully on "Pull Me Out Alive." Not so much on "Life Being What It Is."
—Mark Roessler
Madonna
Hard Candy
(Warner Bros. Records)
Yep, she's still Madonna. If that's what 50 looks like, sign me up for her Pilates class and stem-cell milkshake regimen. She still rides the cutting edge of dance production, utilizing both modern- and retro-sounding beats, synths, Vocoders and such, and she's obviously assimilated some genre phenomena like Fergie, Gwen Stefani and even Peaches. Justin Timberlake, Timbaland (who's also on the M.I.A. record) and Kanye West help hip-hop up a few tracks, and there remain those hardbody boy-toys singing her props in the background. The melodic direction of Hard Candy vastly improves toward the end (betraying a few listens to Amy Winehouse, old Shirley Bassey or Portishead)—so much so that one wonders why these songs were relegated to the deep cuts.
—Tom Sturm
Billy Bragg
Mr. Love & Justice
(Anti-)
The title of Billy Bragg's latest distills the thematic streams that have dominated his influential and honorable career: romance and politics. His first effort for Anti- again balances the love ode ("M for Me") with the protest song ("Sing Their Souls Back Home," a plea for the return of soldiers from foreign battles). Bragg has never held back his disdain for modern politics, particularly those espoused by America and his native England, as he acidly reminded the Calvin audience during his intimate solo appearance last year. Aided by backing band the Blokes, Mr. Love & Justice delivers Bragg's points with relatively softer edges, including horns and lush production. Here's hoping he remains the sharp stick in the bloated underbelly of government and corporations.
—Matthew Dube
Elbow
The Seldom Seen Kid
(Fiction/Geffen)
This bunch of Brits makes some interesting noise. It would be unfairly reductive to raise too much of the specter of Radiohead, with whom Elbow shares a pleasant sense of ambience and a slow swirl of unfurling textures beneath well-delivered tenor vocals. What Elbow brings to the party is a more conventional pop sensibility—the layered vocals are slicker, the instrumentation more expected. It all adds up to an airy, orchestral brand of expansive pop that's good for slowing down a day. The Seldom Seen Kid remains compelling from start to finish; even when it flags, it doesn't linger long in maudlin territory. Extra points for calling a tune "An Audience With the Pope."
—James Heflin
