Fab Four Suture
STEREOLAB
Too Pure/Duophonic
On this, its 10th or so full-length, the enduring (and once incredibly influential) hiptronica outfit Stereolab continues the trend of fooling around with the established elements of its own long-trademarked milieu that has emerged over the past few releases. You know what you're getting — jaunty, repetitive rhythms; upper-register female vocals; all manner of synth soundplay; and a vibe that flirts with kitsch but never quite gives in to it — only you're getting it in increasingly rearranged forms.
Fab Four Suture was conceived as six vinyl 7-inches, and released that way, as well as in this single-CD format. Taken as a whole, the material retains a somewhat fragmented, self-indulgently experimental vibe that keeps it interesting, and boasts a handful of tunes that wander surprisingly far from Stereolab's core sound. But not too far, and in the end, this is more or less the same signature that listeners long ago decided they either loved or hated.
3 stars
—Scott Harrell
Songlines
THE DEREK TRUCKS BAND
Columbia
Why is it that a lot of jam bands at some point go searching for their inner song band? It happened to Gov't Mule, North Mississippi Allstars and Galactic, all with less than satisfying results. Now we have Derek Trucks, one of the best slide guitarists on the planet (who also plays a mean conventional guitar) sublimating his axe work in favor of his six-piece band and, worse yet, vocalists. Hey, the band is tight, the singers are OK, but the drawing card here is the soloist and how he interacts with the ensemble. On that we get shortchanged. Oh, and very few of the songs — penned by a variety of writers, from Trucks to Rahsaan Roland Kirk to Toots Hibbert — are particularly memorable. The standout tracks are (surprise!) the two instrumentals: a heady 10-minute version of "Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni," by the late Sufi titan Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; and Trucks' own African-inspired "Mahjoun," with its undulating groove and slyly insinuating guitar work (although at 2:27, it's way too short). Someone tell Derek that it's OK to jam out on wax as well as stage.
2.5 stars
— Eric Snider
Donuts
J DILLA aka JAY DEE
Stones Throw
Recently deceased due to an incurable blood disease and lupus, Jay Dee was the man behind countless underground hip-hop jams, from classic A Tribe Called Quest songs to Common's Like Water for Chocolate, as well as a host of below-the-radar production appearances. This album, the first released under his own name, is a disorienting collection of beats, 31 tracks in all, only one of which surpass the two-minute mark. Dilla's trademark was always classic boom-bap with off-kilter samples and scratches in the mix, and this is an album-length display of his prowess behind the boards. Donuts suffers from the lack of focus and a dearth of new ideas that often characterize instrumental hip-hop albums, but Dilla's singular sound is more than funky enough to carry this one to the finish line.
3.5 stars
— Cooper Lane Baker
Loud and Clear
WORDS NOW HEARD
JMB
Chris Martin, a South Florida local-music scenester (and former member of Glasseater and Unsung Zeroes), makes a seriously misguided attempt to marry emo-pop to strummy Adult Contemporary fare with his second album under the Words Now Heard banner. The watered-down and far-too-white R&B of "Flower in a Field of Weeds," Loud and Clear's worst track, is laughable, and the rest of the overwrought balladry and underrepresented power-pop comes off as expendably lightweight. Most of the instrumental performances are adept, even admirable, but the variety-band production and Martin's apparent inability to craft material that doesn't sound forced and postured — not to mention his overdone attempts to sell it, and himself — render Loud and Clear irritating wherever it isn't completely banal. (www.jmbrecords.com)
1.5 stars
— SH
Carmen McRae for Lovers
CARMEN McRAE
Verve
I'm usually leery of these bargain-price "lifestyle" CDs, the kind designed and marketed as mood music. But this one rises well above. These 11 standard ballads ("My Funny Valentine," "My One and Only Love," "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye"), sung by a largely underheralded jazz master, are pure magic. Recorded from 1957 to 1959, the performances — some backed by just a small group, others including a string section — resonate with understated elegance, managing to balance delicacy and strength. There is nothing definitive about this set — it's only 42 minutes long — but it's damned seductive.
4 stars
— ES
This article appears in Mar 1-7, 2006.
