<p> After luring in new listeners with a couple of approachable, eager-to-please records, <strong>Okkervil River</strong> retreats to the shadows on <em>I Am Very Far</em>, the band\'s most difficult album yet. Singer/songwriter Will Sheff has always labored over the sound of his records, and that obsessive attention to sonic detail has helped make Okkervil River\'s discography so distinguished, but <em>I Am Very Far</em> is the band\'s first that feels like it prioritizes production over songwriting. Many of these tracks are so boisterous and off-kilter they feel like attempts to out-marvel “Out Life if Not a Movie of Maybe,” the opening shot from 2007\'s <em>Stage Names</em> that Sheff recorded in part in an old hallway to make sure the drums boomed just right. The mix on <em>I Am Very Far</em> makes even that track seem timid: Every instrument (and there are often a lot of them) is pushed right to the front, including some damn-loud drums. Sometimes the effect is exhilarating, but sometimes it\'s just a logjam of clatter drowning out songs that otherwise don\'t make much of an impression. </p> <p><strong>The Cars</strong> reunion that Ric Ocasek insisted would never happen has finally happened, and the band\'s new <em>Move Like This</em> is as good of a reunion record as any fan could realistically hope for: A collection as tightly crafted as the band\'s best work. That\'s not to mistake it for the band\'s best work, of course. This is The Cars by numbers, churning out efficient lesser copies of old hits. The new tunes strike the same pleasure centers as the classics, but don\'t provide nearly the same lasting high. Bassist and co-singer Benjamin Orr, who died in 2000, is also sorely missed. His cool, understated delivery provided a necessary balance to Ocasek\'s dopey intonations, which are endearing in moderation (especially for nostalgia purposes) but are overbearing on their own.<br /><br />Just when you think <strong>Raphael Saadiq</strong> couldn\'t get any more retro, oh lord, did he get more retro. His new <em>Stone Rollin\'</em> is even more classicist than his 2008 old-school-minded <em>The Way I See It</em>, honoring an even more antique vintage of \'50s and \'60s rhythm and blues, indebted to Chuck Berry and the very earliest works of Saadiq\'s regular muses Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. This is usually the type of genre exercise that makes me cringeI mean, Saadiq is <a href=\"http://iamboigenius.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Raphael-Saadiq-Stone-Rollin.jpg\">literally playing dress up</a> herebut if you can forgive that whiff of theatricality, this is a strong record. Saadiq played most of the instruments himself, and his lean guitar work lends songs like “Over You” and “Heart Attack” some novel garage-rock grit. <br /><br />Also out this week:<br /></p> <p><strong>The Antlers</strong> - <em>Burst Apart </em><br /><strong>Tyler, The Creator</strong> - <em>Golbin </em><br /><strong>The Felice Brothers</strong> - <em>Celebration Florida </em><br /><strong>Manchester Orchestra</strong> - <em>Simple Math </em><br /><strong>Sleepy Rebels</strong> - <em>Yellow Tree </em><br /><strong>Sleepy Vikings</strong> - <em>They Will Find You Here </em><br /> <strong>The Wilderness Of Manitoba</strong> - <em>When You Left The Fire </em><br /><strong>Urge Overkill</strong> - <em>Rock & Roll Submarine </em><br /><strong>Young Legionnaire</strong> - <em>Crisis Works</em></p>
|
|
