TV On The Radio make Album Of The Week with ‘Dear Science’, a mad cocktail drawing from two decades of Funk and Pop. Jenny Lewis comes second, followed by The Streets and Built By Robots.
Jenny might have better songs, ‘Acid Tongue’ is insanely catchy, but it’s more fun to listen to TVOTR plundering Prince’s chest of musical secrets. They also got hold of Isaac Hayes 70’s wardrobe of stage gear, check out the cloaks in the video for ‘Golden Age’ below.
You’ll get a lot of entertainment out of TVOTR’s ‘Dear Science’ and a few songs off Jenny Lewis’ ‘Acid Tongue’. The Streets make for good headphone listening while commuting or dinner parties at home and Built By Robots is your weekend fix if you are a Paul Weller fan.
Album Of The Week: TV On The Radio ‘Dear Science’
Think intricate, clever little vocal, guitar and string bits grafted on top of booty shaking R&B. Possible comparisons would be the Talking Heads or, at a stretch, Cypress Hill. But only Prince exhibited the same baroque excess. ‘Dear Science’ is a loads-of-things-happening-at-once album: Busy and often teetering on the brink of bombast.
Take a song like ‘Golden Age’, which flits effortlessly between Pop vocals, R&B beats and strings from a cafe house orchestra. Or ‘Stork & Owl’, which is just pure Prince, really. But TVOTR can go beyond the 80’s pop and produce the edgy ‘Dancing Choose’ and almost alternative sounding ballads like ‘Family Tree’ and ‘Shout Me Out’.
Watch TVOTR Play ‘Golden Age’ On YouTube
If this is all a bit too busy for you, check out ‘Crying’ and ‘Red Dress’, two fairly straightforward Funk tracks with that early 80’s Talking Heads feel.
If you like the more experimental side of R&B, say the work of Andre 3000 from Outkast, then this album is for you. If you’ve been a fan of Prince, the Bunnymen or mid- to late period The Cure, then this is a strong recommendation.
Readers from the UK and Ireland can download ‘Dear Science’ from iTunes UK.
#2: Jenny Lewis ‘Acid Tongue’
Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis is exploring new trails on her second solo outing. Half Country tinged Alternative Rock, the other half offers a mellow Lewis taking up the baton from Joni Mitchell.
Lewis, who made her name with Alternative Rock outfit Rilo Kiley, slips into the sound of early 70’s West Coast singer-songwriters like Mitchell, Carole King or Judee Sill with great ease. The harmonies on the title track are pure class, I haven’t heard something like this since Sill’s ‘Heart Food’ album.
Watch Jenny Lewis Play ‘Acid Tongue’
‘Black Sand’, ‘Godspeed’ and ‘Sing A Song’ are in a similar vein, chilled West Coast Rock with intricate melodies. It’s smooth stuff but you can sense how Lewis could turn any minute and drop the soft play.
Lewis is free to let go on the Country Rock numbers ‘See Fernando’, ‘The Next Messiah’ and ‘Carpetbaggers’. Yet it’s the quiet songs where she’s at her most mesmerising.
‘Carpetbaggers’ features Elvis Costello in a duet with Lewis. Costello, a long time Country fan, also contributes members of his band The Imposters who play on Lewis’ album. Costello is returning a favour here, as Lewis sang backing vocals on his most recent album ‘Momofuku’.
Listen To Jenny Lewis’ ‘Acid Tongue’ Here:
Readers from the UK and Ireland can download Jenny Lewis’ solo album ‘Acid Tongue’ from iTunes UK.
#3: The Streets ‘Everything Is Borrowed’
Credit crunch, recession, housing market slump - it’s all here, condensed into a four-minute soap opera. How much more topical can you get? Watch the video below.
Listening to ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ you’ll already have noticed that there’s a new wind blowing through The Streets.
The Streets mastermind Mike Skinner built a loyal following sounding like the kid at the back of the bus rhyming over some fresh hip hop beats. On his fourth album to date, the kid’s grown up and does poetry readings in the local culture cafe. Somewhere on that journey The Streets’ music has lost some of its sparkle.
The Streets’ spoken word lyrics lack the acerbic wit of earlier albums. In a genre that relies heavily on the rhymes, that is a real downer. With all due respect, Dan Le Sac v. Scroobious Pip have the fresher rhymes if that’s what you’re after.
Musically, The Streets are leaning towards a more embellished sound. As a result, ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ is sitting between the chairs: No longer propped up by tight hip hop beats it does not utilise the flexibility and freedom of pop music.
Mind you, ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ is still a very mellow collection of tracks. It’s just not my cup of tea.
It looks like The Streets have come to a turning point, or is it a logical conclusion? Skinner has said in the past that he is fed up with his The Streets alter ego. Maybe it’s time for something new. I’m certainly curious what Skinner will come up with next.
Listen Here to ‘Everything Is Borrowed’ on iTunes UK.
#4: Built By Robots ‘Locally Sourced Produce’
Singer-songwriter Gavin Grissett, the main man behind Built By Robots, manages to sound remarkably like Paul Weller. On the uptempo ‘We Came We Conquered’ he does Jam-era Weller, adding a trumpet in the chorus for that extra 60’s R&B feel. Grissett keeps up the Weller resemblances in the slow numbers. Check ‘Coming Down’ for an uncanny dead-ringer for a ‘Wildwood’-era Weller ballad.
There’s more on ‘Locally Sourced Produce’, Grissett’s debut album, than straight Jam/Weller pop. Grissett goes 90’s funk rock on ‘Before You Lose It’ and a few of the slower songs are embellished with a whimsical folky touch reminiscent of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Try ‘My Wave’ with its percussion and oriental-flavoured strings.
Watch Built by Robots Live On YouTube
If this would be 1975, I’d say ‘Locally Sourced Produce’ is a good example for a Pub Rock album. It’s 2008 and Pub Rock’s pretty much died out everywhere else, but there seems to be a corner of Dorset where it’s still alive and well. As Pub Rock goes, this ain’t Dr. Feelgood but it’s pretty decent.
Listen to samples of ‘Locally Sourced Produce’ and download the album from iTunes UK.
For more information on the band, visit Built By Robot’s MySpace page.
