]> http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/editorial/albumreviews/0,,,00.html Most Recent Album Reviews on ARTISTdirect 86400 Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:19:01 PST en-us http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4798762,00.html Seasoned producer 88 Keys makes his debut as an MC with a concept album built on the hilarious premise of a would-be nice guy's sexual disappointment, resulting bitterness, reckless debauchery, and, finally, unexplained death. Keys keeps regular company with Kanye West, who guests on one of the best tracks—dropping the immortal "I know a guy who got drunk and claimed a fat girl raped him"—and is credited as "executive producer" on The Death of Adam. No matter who is ultimately responsible for the sound of the record, its expectedly solid beats, keyboard leads, jazzy piano and horn samples and smooth soul backing vocals are run through the gamut of tempos and moods in perfect accord with the wildly lurching narrative. It's all anchored by organ, strings and a surprising amount of over-driven rock guitars on a couple of tracks, including, "The Friends Zone," which makes use of indie-rock band Shitake Mushroom, but is even more notable for some of Keys' funniest rhymes, including "I Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:19:01 PST 4878458 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/movies/title/0,,3876831,00.html Bolt's bark is a lot worse than his bite—literally. The titular dog of the latest film from Disney Animation studios can shake the earth with his "ruff" intonation. In fact, once he lets it loose, a whole pursuing army is taken down in a hale of wind and debris as the earth shakes. However, Bolt is just acting on a high octane action T.V. show, though he has no clue. That's where most of the film's humor comes from. Bolt stars on one of television's hottest series, but he thinks he's actually saving the world. Once he accidentally gets misplaced in the studio's shipping department, he has to face the real world. Bolt may very well be the most effective analysis of celebrity delusion committed to CGI. In that respect, it's hilarious and very smart. However, for the kids, there are some rollercoaster action sequences and really heartfelt moments. The movie's teeth are a bit sharper than they seem. Voice acting this time around, John Travolta nails his part as Bolt. His performance is Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:04:47 PST 4876972 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/movies/title/0,,4673339,00.html The holidays are meant to be joyous occasions where families come together to rejoice in each other's company—in theory, at least. In practice, families are far more bizarre than the outside world could ever know. The holidays can be a time of awkward encounters, airing of family drama, and the cataclysmic mixing of outsiders. A Christmas Tale (Un conte de noël), captures family awkwardness and absurdity in a well-built story that is, well, totally French. The film tells the intricately woven tale of Junon (played by French national treasure Catherine Deneuve), an aging mother of three who has developed leukemia. The family is not unfamiliar with the disease; many years earlier Junon and her husband Abel (Jean-Paul Roussillon) had a child with leukemia that their daughter, Elizabeth (Anne Consigny), was unable to donate her bone marrow to. In an attempt to provide a new donor, the couple had a third child, Henri, but before they could use his marrow, his afflicted brother died. Now, Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:29:31 PST 4876969 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/movies/title/0,,4529949,00.html When Andrew Bagby was killed on November 5th 2001, he left behind much more than his memory. Childhood friend and filmmaker Kurt Kuenne set out to create a loving documentary about Bagby that illustrated the life of this quirky friend for Zachary, the child he left behind. The result, Dear Zachary, is as an emotionally captivating snapshot, seven years in the making, that examines Bagby's life and death through Kuenne's all-encompassing lens. Bordering on journalism, Dear Zachary comprehensively interviews nearly everyone in Bagby's sphere to create a full picture of the man who once starred in Kuenne's childhood films. Bagby made a exceptional bad guy on Kuenne's prototypical home movies, but in real life he was a really good guy. He was once a med student in Canada, he gave great wedding toasts, and everyone had a funny story about him. But it was the brutal story of his murder that left his friends and family reeling. On a November day, Shirley Turner, a much older woman Bagby Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:13:39 PST 4876968 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4855125,00.html As G.M. and Ford teeter on bankruptcy, a disaster that would surely plunge Detroit further into the abyss of unemployment and crime, its hip-hop scene has been having distinctly different luck. Better luck. And Royce Da 5'9", a longtime staple of Detroit hip-hop (having been linked at various times to such rap luminaries as Eminem and DJ Premier), is looking to capitalize on it. While The Album won't be what launches him into stardom, it does do a good enough job at keeping Royce's name popping in the streets in the meantime. Is that enough, though? First, the good. Royce is in full lyrical heat on The Album, and his voice–slippery and slyly menacing, able to flip from whisper to growl in half a bar–perfectly complements the grimy, lo-fi production. His flow, always his strongest point, is at full strength on good chunks of the album–listening to him effortlessly segue from mercurial to stuttered and clipped frenzy without skipping a beat is Royce at his best. With all of his Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:36:17 PST 4876925 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4764942,00.html Scottish party boys Shitdisco made their debut overseas with 2007's Kingdom of Fear, which has now been Americanized as The Emanator. The name change makes sense, as the metal-sounding Kingdom of Fear is actually a much worse name than Shitdisco. There's nothing fearsome about the group's hedonistic, gleefully derivative dance music that nips from everyone from Talking Heads to Gang of Four to Franz Ferdinand to even a Rage Against The Machine riff. It's a high-speed and glossy album, meant for dancing and sweating and hooking up. To that end, The Emanator holds its ground. The tempos are relentlessly brisk, the hooks repeated enough to batter their way into even a stubborn listener's consciousness, and "Reactor Party" in particular is an irresistible hit–with the most iPod commercial-ready hook since the Caesars' "Jerk It Out." Lyrically, Shitdisco are as subtle as AC/DC, just about as sex-obsessed, and even a little sillier, as borne out on the dance-punk opener "I Know Kung Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:47:10 PST 4876899 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4856326,00.html Sasha Fierce is the undeniably fabulous alter ego of the lovely and talented Beyonce Knowles. Yes, she's fierce, and she sure can sing her ass off! It's as though the title of Beyonce's new album, I Am…Sasha Fierce!, is an announcement that "Sasha Fierce" has arrived. But did we really need to be made aware of this fact? Beyonce has already (and competently) etched a place for herself in the diva realm with her soaring pipes, her beautiful face and bodacious body. However, she's less "bootylicious" and ultimately less "fierce" on this go around. The album abandons some of the hip-hop grooves that marked her prior efforts in favor of more soulful R&B compositions where Beyonce's shimmery voice and knack for introspection dominate the landscape. Dancefloor numbers, like the ubiquitous 2003 hit "Crazy in Love," from Dangerously in Love, are in shorter supply. A spate of contemplative songs where Mrs. Jay-Z demonstrates her sensitive side live on this album. Perhaps Miss Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:37:05 PST 4876898 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4791350,00.html While you're reading this review, Jay Reatard has probably just written a handful of songs. The twenty-seven year old scrappy punk rocker known for being incredibly prolific (really, that feels like an understatement) has spent the last few years releasing dozens and dozens of brilliantly catchy rock nuggets. This compilation—his first release for the indie label Matador Records—is thirteen songs short clocking in at a touch over thirty-minutes, and once again, it showcases Reatard's brilliant and consistent ability to be sugary sweet-accessible while maintaining a frenetic, off-the-cuff spirit. Incorporating shades of Husker Du, The Pixies, New Zealand indie rock, and classic garage rock bands of the '60s, the Memphis-based wunderkind boasts a policy of zero filler on this record, every song serving the sole purpose of kicking the door down and inspiring an instant mosh pit. "You Mean Nothing To Me" with its disarming background hiss is clap-a-long Buddy Holly armed with a Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:06:44 PST 4876720 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4619077,00.html Tender, touching and utterly serene indie rock led by absolutely angelic frontwoman/keyboardist Maria Sais de Sicilia is the order of the day on Lydia's latest, effort, Illuminate. Lydia isn't a girl; it's a band that employs the philosophy that slow and steady certainly wins the sonic race! Illuminate is contemplative, somewhat maudlin music of which the centerpiece is the gorgeous way de Sicilia trades creamy vocal harmonies with guitarist/vocalist Leighton Antelman. The duo comprises the heart of the band, and they complement one another perfectly throughout the dreamy compositions that make up the entirety of Illuminate. If you're looking for upbeat pop, then you can skip past Illuminate, since the music isn't exactly engineered for the sunniest of days. Rather, when it's gloomy and you want nothing more than a cup of tea and a scratch pad, Illuminate avails itself as the perfect accoutrement for such a pursuit. It's also best listened to when in solitude, since the record Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:05:34 PST 4876719 Album Review http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,4796919,00.html A lot of people missed the boat on 1973's Berlin, Lou Reed's heartwarming piece of rock theatre about a self-destructive couple burrowing into the depths of addiction and depression–all against the charming backdrop of a divided Berlin. Panned at the time of its release, the album would prove to have legs, and eventually secured a widely agreed-upon spot as one of Reed's pivotal albums. Berlin: Live At St. Ann's Warehouse is Reed's opportunity to say. "Told ya so!" Some have complained that the presence of a showy backing band (complete with choirs) and an adoring live audience dilutes the impact of the story, but while Berlin certainly had arthouse pretensions, it also had the sort of bombast that made it at least as natural a fit for the stage as it was for the screen. The story remains the same, the characters are the same–but Reed, of course, is different now. His signature delivery is still droll and detached, but at 66, he can no longer be mistaken for the young lovers Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:21:56 PST 4876560 Album Review