The Strokes
With 2001's Is This It, one of the best rock debuts in recent memory, the Strokes became the It band, driving a garage revival that included the White Stripes, the Hives and the Vines. Since then the New York quintet has even been getting ink on the gossip pages because one of its members (drummer Fabrizio Moretti) has a movie-star girlfriend (Drew Barrymore). So expectations were high, maybe too high, for this, the Strokes' sophomore release. But although Room on Fire lacks some of the fresh spark of its predecessor (there's nothing here that will instantly burn into your consciousness like "Last Nite"), the Strokes largely live up to the hype. On short blasts such as "I Can't Win," the chugging guitars, steady drumming and ragged vocals (courtesy of frontman Julian Casablancas) that have defined the Strokes' sound still make them pretty cool punks for a bunch of former prep schooler. At 25, Casablancas, who remains the group's sole songwriter, still has plenty of room to grow as a composer, but he brings a melodic pop sensibility to the psychedelic-tinged "12:51," while adding lyrical bite to the breakup song "What Ever Happened?": "I wanna be forgotten/ And I don't wanna be reminded." On the album's only ballad, the bluesy throwback "Under Control," the Strokes do their best Rolling Stones imitation and show that one day they just might be their generation's answer to Mick, Keith and company.
ROCK
Cassandra Wilson
CRITIC'S CHOICE
Cassandra Wilson will not be pigeonholed. The blonde-dreadlocked contralto with the jazz feeling, blues heart and pop sensibility sings what she wants, how she wants. In 1996 she upgraded the Monkees' PG romp "Last Train to Clarksville" to a languid maturity. Five years later she headed down South to record a disc of folk, rock and Brazilian tunes in a Mississippi train depot. On Glamoured (a Gaelic term meaning "to be whisked away"), Wilson blindsides jazz traditionalists again. Without piano or horns, her sound—driven by crisp drumming, resonant guitars and supple bass lines—comes across as both brash and dreamy. Even stripped down to a bass-voice construct (as on "Throw It Away," a 1995 Abbey Lincoln tune), Wilson's fluid interpretation gently swings. Elsewhere, thanks to an insistent groove accented by cowbells, Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" becomes syncopated sensuality. Of the six originals, check out the pulsating "I Want More" for its searing harmonica solo and hear how iconoclasts improvise.
JAZZ
Joss Stone
The future of blue-eyed soul lies in a 16-year-old girl from Devon, England: Joss Stone. On her impressive debut disc, she performs R&B more convincingly than any other white female singer since another Brit, Lisa Stansfield, in the late '80s-early '90s. While Stone continues work on her first CD of new material, due out next year, these 10 covers provide a tantalizing showcase of her mighty, mature-beyond-her-years voice, which blends the full-bodied richness of Stansfield with the natural blues colors of Janis Joplin. The album, which was coproduced by 70s R&B singer Betty Wright, serves up southern-style retro soul on cuts like 1967's gritty "Dirty Man." Not all of it works (like a radical revamp of the White Stripes' "Fell in Love with a Girl"), but when she asks, "Can I get a witness?" on the gospel-infused "Some Kind of Wonderful," you'll be raising your hand.
R&B
Howie Day
There is nothing on Day's second disc that you haven't already heard from a rash of other sensitive male singer-songwriters like John Mayer, Pete Yorn and David Gray in recent years. Still, the 22-year-old who emerged from Boston's coffeehouse circuit keeps things percolating along nicely with his literate, VH1-ready pop. Although the CD tails off toward the end, songs such as the jaunty "Perfect Time of Day" are easy on the ears, while the melancholy ballad "I'll Take You On" flashes sharp lyrical insight: "Be my illusion and I'll be your distraction."
POP
Country Tribute Albums
LAVIN', LOVIN', LOSIN'—SONGS OF THE LOUVIN BROTHERS
Louvin brothers Charlie, now 76, and Ira, who died in 1965, developed two-part harmonies that have been approached only by the Everly Brothers. On this CD, 15 country collaborations pay loving homage to the duo. Among the many highlights are the poignant reunion of Emmylou Harris and her former sideman Rodney Crowell on "My Baby's Gone" and the touching duet by James Taylor and Alison Krauss on "How's the World Treating You."
I'VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY: A TRIBUTE TO WAYLON JENNINGS
This disc isn't really superior to Lonesome, On'ry and Mean, an earlier tribute to Jennings, who died last year. It does have a greater sense of intimacy, though, with his widow, Jessi Colter, and his son Shooter (fronting his country-rock band Stargunn on the title song) making affecting contributions. But it's Travis Tritt who best captures Waylon's spirit with a gritty "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean."
REMEMBERING PATSY CLINE
Cline, who died in a plane crash in 1963, was a pop-jazz chanteuse trapped in a country singer's duds, and this roundly entertaining salute, including Lee Ann Womack, Natalie Cole and k.d. lang, features thoughtful arrangements better suited to Birdland than the Grand Ole Opry. Her signature song, "Crazy," is artfully rendered by cabaret favorite Diana Krall.
JUST BECAUSE I'M A WOMAN: SONGS OF DOLLY PARTON
Full of piquant surprises, this all-female project is a very enjoyable celebration of one of country's most revered figures. A genre-spanning guest list includes Melissa Etheridge, Norah Jones and R&B's Meshell Ndegeocello. The biggest revelation? Shania Twain's delicate, understated "Coat of Many Colors."
- Contributors:
- Chuck Arnold,
- V.R. Peterson.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
