Hey there, dear reader. Man of the Hour is kicking off the month of July with new tunes for your iPod, your stereo and yes, even your record player. From the album you can’t escape to the tracks deep below the underground, we’re here to tell you what to buy, what to borrow and what to skip, so let’s drop the needle on another edition of Headphones.
Album: Lazaretto by Jack White
There was no way to escape it. Anybody who even dips a toe into the world of music journalism knows that whenever Jack White drops an album, its everywhere. You can’t toss a Rolling Stone at a Pitchfork without hitting a glowing review for the former White Stripes frontman, for whom it seems the words “brilliant”, “innovative” and “groundbreaking” are written before the needle ever comes down on the vinyl. Oh, and yes it has to be vinyl. White has been a long time advocate for the medium, an undeniably positive contribution to the musical landscape, allowing for many classic blues and jazz albums to be heard as they were meant to be, in all their analog glory, even if some albums did turn out painfully bad upon a vinyl transfer (we’re looking at you, Master of Puppets reissue). Hell, White is such an advocate for the analog that scoring his newest release on record gives you a slew of exclusive and hidden tracks, as well as (we kid you not) creating holograms while the record plays. Not full on Tupac at Bonnaroo holograms, mind you, but impressive all the same.
Which leads us to whether or not the album is even worth playing in the first place, holograms or not. The truth is, while Jack did burst on the scene with a string of incendiary records as The White Stripes (with a since MIA Meg White on drums), his later efforts have been somewhat lacking. Yes, his myriad of other group efforts had hits of varying quality (namely the Raconteurs catchy “Steady As She Goes” on one end of the spectrum, and The Dead Weather’s “I Cut Like A Buffalo” strongly at the other), but despite what the ultra-hip bloggers will tell you, there hasn’t been anything terribly exciting on his post-White Stripes releases, andLazaretto is no exception.
While White’s obvious idol Bob Dylan famously and continuously evolved throughout his storied career, White seems content to repeatedly pay homage to his blues roots (opening the album with a Blind Willie McTell cover), or retread styles he’d already played out years prior (tracks like “Temporary Ground” and “Want and Able” would have been right at home on The White Stripes 2005 Get Behind Me Satan and “That Black Bat Licorice” plays like a track from The Dead Weather’s cutting room floor). His signature guitar style, routinely praised but which truly can alternate between face-meltingly intense or squeaking dreck, has been almost entirely replaced on this record in favor of violin solos, which play out to varying degrees of success.
The album, however, is not without its gems. The title track packs a punch, as does the single “High Ball Stepper”, and will both be quite at home in that “indie music mix” NPR tends to play when you’re driving to work. “Entitlement” brings in a bit of a country energy, and “Alone in My Home” has a new, almost late Beatles-esque sensibility that hint at a new version of Jack White we could have gotten from this whole record, had we been so lucky. Alas, as evidenced by tracks like “I Think I Found the Culprit” (which starts out very sonically intriguing until White’s typical whaling vocals kick in and it becomes another cookie-cutter JW track), this dog might be a bit too old to start learning new tricks. Hardcore White fans may enjoy the continued reliability, but the paint’s starting to chip on a once great ride, so save your scrap and just download the track or two you dig.
Single: Brill Bruisers by The New Pornographers
When the New Pornographers first came on the scene in 2000 they were billed as a “Supergroup” (though admittedly made of folks unknown stateside). After a few radio half-hits from their debut Mass Romantic and churning out two college station staples (Electric Version and Twin Cinema), the New Pornographers fell to the wayside, never achieving the success of their Grammy winning BC-counterparts Arcade Fire. Though all that seems like it may change, because whilst Win Butler and co. are touring with their drearily-hip new album, the old gang came back together to make a new record, the title track of which hit the web earlier this month as a teaser for the August release. And a hell of a tease at that, as this isn’t the sound of some aged rockers strapping their Strats on for one last romp. “Brill Bruisers” bursts forth as an arena-ready opener, complete with colorful choral hook. So colorful, in fact, that the NP lets you paint the album cover yourself in a ceaseless stream of rainbow while the song plays on their website’s homepage. Taking a page from the Flaming Lips Guide to Psychedelia and blending it with their usual retro-pop vibe, The New Pornographers are not only back, but potentially better than ever. Score the single on iTunes, and while you’re there, pre-order the album. If this track’s any indication, it’s gonna be well worth it.
Music Videos:
Electronica: “North Circular” by Real Lies
Real Lies might just be the most exciting electropop act to come over from across the pond since Alt-J, though the two sounds couldn’t be more different. Where Alt-J favors more intense, bombastic beats, Real Lies prefers spoken word and soft synths, like the theme from Shaft meets John Cooper Clarke. The video for “North Circular” takes place, where else, along London’s North Circular, with the members of the band skulking in hoodies at the nearby gas station. It’s a slick, smooth track with video to match.
Hip-Hop: “Tomorrow” by SYA
Let’s face the facts, here: Hip-hop, once a novelty in the 80’s and a voice of the people in the 90’s, has now become a commodity. To flip on MTV or browse Vevo is to feel a sense of mourning for a once innovative medium. Gone are the days of thrilling vids like “Fight the Power”, “99 Problems” and the strikingly cinematic “California Love”; tossed aside for the cliches of cars, cash and well-endowed women. Yet, let you the reader be assured, this shallow, hum-drum hip-hop is only the surface of a deep, deep well. There’s still some art left in the art form, even if you have to dig. There, amongst the brief signs of life like Tyler the Creator’s “Yonkers” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools (Drank)” is the video for SYA’s “Tomorrow”. Sure, the artists doesn’t have gold records or even a label, but it seems only outside that corporate machine can the real art happen anymore.
Pop: “Shades of Cool” by Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey has always been a master of the music video, from the self-shot career-launcher “Video Games” to the controversy courting “National Anthem”, and of course all the David Lynch love on display in her cover of “Blue Velvet”. So it comes as no surprise that this track off of her new album Ultraviolence, entitled “Shades of Cool”, would be such an aptly named video. Basked in an ethereal blue for most of the video, Lana somberly serenades our pseudo-Phillip Marlowe as he cruises L.A., trying to shake off some ghost (perhaps Lana herself). Imbued with her typical flair for neo-60’s chic, “Shades of Cool” solidifies not just Ultraviolence as a must buy record, but Del Rey as an artist determined to be around for a long time to come.
R&B: “Repeat Pleasure” by How to Dress Well
A mystery that ends with more questions than answers, “Repeat Pleasure” is as intense and intangible as the song its built around. To write off the soulful and experimental work How to Dress Well is doing as PBR&B (as many critics seem to be doing) is to thrust a “hipster” image on an artist who’s really far to fun to be shirked off as such.
Rock: “Mecca” by Wild Beasts
Admittedly, Wild Beasts “rock” about as hard as the average Coldplay track, but the video for “Mecca” jumps out with the energy of a classic Clash concert. Blending animation and live action, “Mecca” plays like an acid-trip during the Saved by the Bell credits, albeit a rather contemplative one.
Lastly, while Headphones is all about is all about looking forward to the next big thing, sometimes its important to take a step back and remember the past. Last week, one of the true saints of soul music left us. Originally intending to be a background singer and guitarist within his brother’s group, The Soul Stirrers, Bobby Womack quickly came to the forefront under the mentorship of the legendary Sam Cooke, penning their big hits “Looking for a Love” and “It’s All Over Now” (which would also become a #1 hit for The Rolling Stones). After Cooke’s death in 1964, Bobby worked in a Memphis music studio, playing guitar on classic albums like Aretha Franklin’s Lady Soul and Sly and the Family Stone’s There’s a Riot Going On before scoring his own hit with “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha”. Womack then began a steady career of churning out R&B hit after R&B hit, but was never afraid to branch out, experimenting in genres like blues, rock, jazz and even country. Though addiction plagued his later years, he never stopped making music, collaborating with contemporary icons like Mos Def and Gorillaz. Womack is best known for writing and performing the title track for the blaxploitation film Across 110th Street, a theme later reused for the opening of Quentin Tarantino’s genre-homage, Jackie Brown. Check out his performance of the song on a 1973 episode of Soul Train below, and be sure to swing by next time for another edition of Headphones.
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