Cindy Blackman
Another Lifetime
(Four Quarters Entertainment)
Another Lifetime, from drummer Cindy Blackman, celebrates the music of the late Tony Williams. In order to properly pay tribute to her mentor, Blackman assembled several lineups, the most successful of which finds her joined by guitarist Mike Stern and organist Doug Carn, to cover highlights from Williams’ band Lifetime. Stern is a more than adequate substitution for John McLaughlin, playing off Blackman’s drum fills with screaming solos. Carn matches Stern solo for solo on the first of three different takes of “Vashkar,” and provides a soulful base for “Beyond Games.”
Blackman contributes three originals, one following the Williams fusion mode. Her duet with saxophonist Joe Lovano on Williams’ “Love Song” is sparse yet Coltranesque in its power. An uptempo version of “Wildfire,” recorded with Vernon Reid and Patrice Rushen, ends the album on an up note. —Jeffrey Siegel
Krokus
Hoodoo
(Sony Music)
Krokus, in utter defiance of the lack of discernible global demand, has returned. Mark Storace, the band’s lead vocalist, sounds almost eerily like Bon Scott, and Hoodoo’s first track, “Drive It In,” sounds like AC/DC doing Led Zeppelin’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll.” The album continues with bluesy, guitar-driven rock a la ZZ Top or Golden Earring, but sags somewhat lyrically and even, sadly, in the pure riffage department.
When your third song is a cover of “Born to be Wild,” it’s time to ask who’s running the band, the musicians or the Sony film licensing guy? Overall, it’s solid rock ‘n’ roll, and I suppose if you don’t have any AC/DC handy, this might serve in a pinch. But for some reason a band from Switzerland just doesn’t quite rock the way a band from a country founded by exiled criminals (Australia) can. —Tom Sturm
The New Pornographers
Together
(Matador)
After three albums of power-pop perfection, The New Pornographers stumbled with the sluggish chamber folk Challengers. Despite over-reliance on mid-tempos, the supergroup’s new album is largely a return to form. The songs on Together tend to be more lush, with the horn or string section occasionally providing riffs instead of the guitars.
Instant highlights include propulsive rockers like “The Crash Years” and “Up in the Dark” plus the psychedelic-tinged “Silver Jenny Dollar.” Less immediate but equally remarkable, “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk” segues from hypnotic piano figure to hand-clapping singalong. The album only falters when it veers into ballad territory with the Neko Case vehicle “My Shepherd” and overly sedate “Valkerie in the Roller Disco.” Maybe it’s just growing pains for a band that’s found a uniquely thrilling way to combine complex arrangements and abstract emotions and make them feel utterly pop. —Jeff Jackson
