Scroll down for the latest releases by Ted Leo, The Arcade Fire, K-oS and Michael Carpenter

Ted Leo + Pharmacists
Shake The Sheets

(Lookout)

lookoutrecords.com

While Ted Leo sings against a man who merely wants to stay the course, with potentially hazardous consequences, musically, he pretty much stays the course. On this album, Leo is in a classic power trio format, and the songs are sharp (both musically and lyrically) and road tested. Compared to 99% of the music out there, Leo is still one of the most inventive rock songwriters around. By his own standards, Leo is not offering much new. Yet, his approach is certainly fresh enough that there's little room for complaint.

After all, who else can write a hooky song about the failure of the American health care system that flows so smoothly? (I know -- some of you are thinking, "Who else would want to?"). The song begins with a meaty ringing riff, and the rhythm immediately percolates as Leo sums things up in four lines: "You got a problem with your heart/follow the line down your left arm/if there's no money in your left hand/you could be pulled apart." That about says it all. The song has its share of stops and starts, a burst of melody, a guitar solo that tangles notes together and a breakdown at the end, where the names of various prescription drugs are whispered.

This is what makes Ted Leo so special. Bright ideas and a bevy of catchy musical tricks. Some artists just have a knack for putting that memorable, cool sounding bit in a song that elevates it. Few can match Leo for that. It helps that he is one of the best guitarists in rock, augmented by a crack rhythm section of Dave Lerner on bass and Chris Wilson on drums. Wilson is more key than ever on this disc, since the band has been stripped down to a trio. He is Will Rigby good at serving the song while still finding little things to fill out the sound without getting in the way. Yet he can just pound it out when necessary. And, with his beard, he is ready to join a Civil War reenactment at a moment's notice.

With all of this praise, this album is a slight letdown. I know that some writers really have enjoyed the new ultra barebones band, and I'll agree that Leo benefits from sometimes making his lyrics a bit less prolix. Furthermore, I don't want to say that this is just too much more of the same, when I can't get enough Ted Leo + Pharmacists.

I will say that there just aren't as many classic tracks as on the last two albums. Certainly, there are no bad songs here, but just not as many that hit the highest level. This is tempered by the strong social message. The urgency of the playing is a sign that they had to get this record out before the election.

I also would like to find Leo taking some new musical directions, primarily in instrumentation. In that sense, I would love it if he would follow in the footsteps of many of his obvious antecedents like The Jam and Elvis Costello. Some horns, some strings, crazy psychedelic production.
For now, I'll enjoy the album that's in front of me. The title cut is played at a less frenetic pace then many of the other songs on the disc. Yet it is more resonant than when it was recorded, in light of John Kerry's defeat in the presidential election. Alternating choppy chords and more melodic rhythm parts, Leo sings in a subdued voice, wanting to know when things are really going to change. This tempo picks up when he notes that how hard it is to change things when you have so many day-to-day troubles that must be addressed immediately. Things resolve themselves in the bright refrain: "Roll out and make your mark/pull on your boots and march/then roll on and meet me/where you'll find me doing my own part." Things end with a light lilting guitar, contrasted with some ska skank notes.

This theme of fighting for what you believe in is a constant on the disc. It shows up on the typically rousing single "Me and Mia". When he gets his guitar a-jangling, Leo conjures up one of the brightest guitar sounds since the days of the late James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders. Also, Leo throws in some reggae rhythm here and there, which provides a nice breakdown between the otherwise fast beats that propel the tune.

The song "Bleeding Powers" is Irish folk-rock recast in a snappier context, and might have the most memorable chorus on the album. This song was previously featured on the stop-gap EP Tell Balgeary, Balgury Is Dead, and sounds even better with the band (whereas it was just Ted on the original version). Already a concert favorite, "Little Dawn" is a song of hope, where Leo again unleashes an arsenal of guitar tricks -- tricks that add to the song, not merely dazzle. The song is ebullient rock mixed with a little R & B spiked punk. The song ends with a long coda that fits this attempt at encouragement, with Leo saying over and over "It's alright."

Yes, it's alright. Maybe I'm just suffering from Ted Leo Greatness Fatigue. Even if this is a notch below the last two albums, that still puts it safely in the upper echelon of 2004 releases.

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The Arcade Fire
Funeral

(Merge)

mergerecords.com

There have been two strong driving forces that have excited me in the musical world over the past two years. One is the procession of artists drawing on the underrated post-punk sounds of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, folks who are finding that there is a lot more gold to be mined from that era. The other is a smaller group of artists who are finding ways to draw from a broad array of influences to make music that is highly ambitious and challenging, yet still has a certain accessibility. Among this group are The New Pornographers, Broken Social Scene and Fiery Furnaces. I'm certainly not saying they sound like each other, but there is a core sensibility that they share. They are students of the classics and the obscure shoulda-been-classics, who are trying to make music that measures up by taking the bits from the past that suit their current aims. Even when it doesn't work (and I'd certainly say that about the first Fiery Furnaces record), there is still a charge and energy that is laudable. When it does work, as on the New Pornographers' two albums, it makes for new classics.

This may be one of those new classics. This Montreal band took inspiration from the deaths of close family and friends prior to creating their debut album. Thus, the title. However, the title is no indication whatsoever of the music. The Arcade Fire creates music with sweep and grandeur, love and laughter – rarely has a record been more about being alive. Thank the drummer for keeping things nailed down. At times, the rest of the musicians whip into such a frenzy they seem to want to start playing at a million miles an hour.

Thankfully, things are kept under control enough to showcase these wonderful songs which are stuffed full of inventive ideas and have arrangements that up the ante even further. I think this disc took me aback initially, as it was hard to get a handle on some of these songs, as there is a lot going on. This does not mean they are disorganized, it just takes a few plays to put it all together.

This also due to the expressionistic lyrics that tell stories, but stories that don't quite make sense, though they follow a certain logic. Combined with the passion of the performances, it is easy to ultimately be swept up in the intensity. It's a 21st Century wall of sound, built on the usual guitar, bass and drums, with all other manner of accompaniment.

A good example is on "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)", which hurtles in on clangorous guitar chords, then juxtaposes in the verse to a bouncy drum beat with strummed guitars, bells, strings and other assorted noises. This rock rhumba is later counterpointed by a nifty lead guitar, that is almost twangy. This is like Frank Black meets the Tall Dwarfs meets Tyrannosaurus Rex, with tons of power. While the song is mostly rhythm driven, there is a heart tugging melody in the middle eight that is sublime. Moreover, Win Butler's tremulous vocals are urgent and emotional.

Not everything is quite so baroque (though most of it is). The piano centered "Crown of Love" is grounded in a classic melody that could have carried a song in the ‘50s or ‘60s...maybe even a ‘40s movie musical. It's a tune with a swoon, the string accompaniment adding to the timeless feel. The song is about a guy who wants his girl back, yet he's not capable of loving anymore. A real Catch-22: "I carved your name, across my eyelids/you pray for rain, I pray for blindness." It's lovely and mysterious, and then the song pace picks up to a gallop and races to the finish line in a breathless surprise. Smashing.

The band likes these transformations. The next song, "Wake Up" goes from a rock waltz with massed choral vocals to a shift to a near Motown structure. Of course, it doesn't sound quite like Motown. Every influence and inspiration is transformed when it runs through The Arcade Fire's hands, into a sound that somehow manages to be both rustic and sophisticated. If music could be down home and edgy simultaneously, this would be it. So I hear everything from snatches of The Band to Spoon, yet it never comes out like a Xerox.

Mrs. Win Butler, better known as Regine Chassagne, gets a couple of lead vocals, and her French accented singing just adds a bit more otherworldliness to the proceedings. Indeed, that's what I'm trying to get at here. The Arcade Fire creates its own world on this disc. It's not an altogether unfamiliar world. It's just a bit more magical, a bit more thrilling, a bit more intense. It makes for an exciting listen, a band exploding with ideas that manages to lasso them long enough to make great songs.

K-oS
Joyful Rebellion

(Virgin/Astralwerks)

astralwerks.com

This Toronto hip-hop artist showed a great deal of promise on his debut platter, Exit. K-oS asserted himself as an intelligent rapper, cut from the cloth of past greats like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest (at times, his rap style is reminiscent of Q-Tip), Arrested Development and less accessible artists like Abstract Tribe Unique. Here, K-oS raises the stakes with an album that is hip-hop, pop, rock, R & B, reggae at various times. His singing and rapping are confident, the songs memorable and the lyrics consistently substantial.

Just listen to the different songs. The opener, "Emcee Murdah", sports flamenco guitar and could be fairly compared to Love, though it's not quite so hippy-dippy. K-oS critiques hip-hop, using the real murders of past rap emcees to analogize the death of hip hop as an art form, due to rappers who put more importance on hitting the top of the charts than saying something. This is a theme that he revisits throughout the album -- he really wants his music, and all music, to be meaningful.

This is followed by the reggae-rock groove of "Crucial", which certainly betrays a Bob Marley influence, though the hook is more straightforward R & B. Yep, the Marley influence is so strong, he quotes a line from "I Shot the Sheriff" ("all around my home town/they're trying to shoot me down") and some other Marley-isms. The song is full of creative guitar work, from choppy ska parts to simple leads played with dexterity.

This is followed by "Man I Used to Be", which sounds like an early ‘80s soul staple (a bit of Michael Jackson-cum-Eddie Grant lite funk) with some great rapping. This song clearly shows (much in the way Andre 3000 has been demonstrating on the past two Outkast albums) that we have a new generation of hip hop artists for whom rapping is just one means of conveying a message. While rap has had periods of stagnation, K-oS is an example of what keeps it growing -- a constant absorption of the culture around it, whether past, present or future. Hip hop has always been defined by audio collage -- it used to be scratches and then samples, and now it's more about unifying traditionally African-American music into something classic and modern.

Of course, classic can just be classic. The first single off the album, "B-Boy Stance", is simply stunning. It's a convergence of the layered musical tracks of Public Enemy with a dollop of De La Soul audacity thrown in. The rhythm is propulsive, the song is littered with hooks, from vocal drop ins to insistent speedy funk guitar, shifts in the underlying rhythm track -- this shit always sounds good. The audacity comes when the song suddenly halts, breaking into an acoustic interlude, as K-oS croons, with the rhythm track coming back in and bringing the song to the end. Invigorating stuff.

After this, the album can't quite sustain this level of sheer excellence, but it's not for a lack of trying. There are other great songs, like "The Love Song", with a basic hip hop beat mixed with a tune that is half Electric Light Orchestra, half War. K-oS asks the pointed question "why am I telling lies to the people from the stage/pretending it's all good, when inside there's fire and rage?" Again, he's trying to break out of standard rap roles and get a message out. In some respects, this recurring theme of ‘what can an emcee really accomplish' is the hip hop equivalent of a self-reflective French New Wave film, or a lot of Pete Townshend's work throughout the ‘70s. K-oS loves rap, but is aware of the limitations and stereotypes that fuel them. From one standpoint, he succeeds in overcoming them, by incorporating his rap with different sounds. However, somewhat like early Public Enemy, he needs to go further than identifying the problem. He needs to now say the things that are inside his heart and mind that go beyond the state of hip hop. I'm fully confident that he can do it, and as grand as this album is, his ceiling is much higher.

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Michael Carpenter
Rolling Ball

(Not Lame)

notlame.com

In the liner notes, this affable Aussie pop master opines that this is his best album. With some artists that would be an empty boast. But, as Dizzy Dean used to say, it ain't braggin' if you can do it. However, Carpenter's declaration is debatable. Not because this isn't a good album -- far from it. It's just that Carpenter has yet to make a lackluster album. Any of his albums could arguably be his best album.

What Carpenter has done is what so many artists should do, but so few manage. Somewhat akin to one of his musical heroes, Tom Petty, Carpenter has found a way to expand the scope and style of his music with each new release, while never undertaking a radical makeover. This is a slow-and-steady wins the race approach that is difficult, because: 1) a lot of artists are impatient, and, 2) when you do things in such an incremental fashion, sometimes it's hard to tell when you're moving forward.

These changes can be subtle. "Let Down" is a Beatlesque pop song, which is no stretch for Carpenter. Yet the way he puts together the instruments to make the composition comes to life is a testament to how he keeps progressing. On this song, Carpenter incorporates the Mellotron and flutes to accentuate the emotional depth of a compelling take on how going through bad times is simply unavoidable. The conviction of his singing is complimented by the precisely arranged song that builds beautifully. This song is really comforting. While Carpenter is not a wordsmith, he is a very direct lyricist who is connected to what he writes. This empathy pervades all of his work.

This is true on a tune with a similar tone, "Good Enough", which is one of his best efforts to date. This is a song about a woman who is trying so hard to make a man love her, that she may be giving up her own identity and happiness. The song is in the vein of Squeeze and Crowded House, and he details her problems in the verses and uses the chorus to sum it all up, his voice moving to the top of its range -- it's very soulful. We all know someone (or many someones) like the woman Carpenter is singing about here -- a person who is plagued with Doormat Syndrome: "She never spares a thought for herself/sometimes she feels so low it seems that she can't be helped/but being happy doesn't seem to matter/as long as he seems to still want her, yeah." Again, I must praise him for his empathy -- he manages to detail what is wrong here, yet he clearly understands how someone can get in such a position.

Not that Carpenter thinks that you should take problems lying down. "No One" may be his most intensely rocking number yet. Carpenter notes in his liners that this is about a woman who was struggling immensely with loneliness. Tellingly, he says, "It made me sad and frustrated for her." You see, he put himself in her shoes. And this typifies his work. This is what so many great country artists have done for decades - taking the concerns of the common man and articulating them in a way that everyone can relate. He does a great job of that here, putting the struggle to music, with a free spirited pleading vocal, and blistering guitar work. This is *Damn the Torpedos* level intensity, with an injection of, I dunno, Thin Lizzy? Whatever, this isn't so much a cry for help as a roar for attention.

I think these tracks exemplify what puts Carpenter a cut above - the ability to really touch the heart and soul. Of course, he still can pen a light hearted tune that is nothing more than a musical smile. The title cut, which came off a bit more like a Buddy Holly song when he did his solo acoustic tour the year before, is still a very classic piece of rock and roll songwriting that fans of Nick Lowe and Walter Clevenger will dig. For shimmering joyful power pop, you can't do much better than "Emily Says" -- rule of thumb: if a Michael Carpenter song has a woman's name in it, there's a 98 percent chance it will be great. "The Day Before" has a melody in the verse that is vaguely psychedelic, and Carpenter winningly moves it into a pop chorus, and throws in a memorable guitar part in the after chorus.

One of biggest complaints with so much of the music coming out today is that it's not really about anything. I don't necessarily need a political dissertation or a Laura Kipnis essay set to music. But when a writer picks up a guitar or sits at the keyboard, I'm hoping that he or she has something to say. Too often, it just sounds like some folks stringing together chords in a song form, without any idea that drives the whole thing, whether it's a mood or a clever notion or just trying to make me dance. This is never a problem with Michael Carpenter. He wants to reach people, he cares about people and this drives his writing. Combined with his innate talent at creating memorable pop songs in the Beatles/Beach Boys/etc. Tradition, it almost always produces terrific songs.

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