This weeks big new releases (5-12-11)

Amy Winehouse – Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Island)
BBC Review:
Amy Winehouse performed, wrote and lived with a seductive and startling blend of confidence and vulnerability. Her early death may not have been a huge surprise to anyone who had an interest in her life, but it shocked her beloved Camden and far beyond because she was one of us. She may have had an exquisite voice redolent of broken hearts and lost weekends, but even when Amy was selling millions of records she could be found shooting pool and downing drinks in north London pubs.

Less than six months after her premature passing, fans now have Lioness: Hidden Treasures to remind them of what they’re missing. This release comprises alternate takes, rarities and unreleased tracks, while regular collaborators like Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi have been involved with compiling the album. The question persists, though: would this material have surfaced if Amy had lived?

Jazz standard Body and Soul, recorded with Tony Bennett, has already been released on the latter’s September 2011 album Duets II, and as a single. It was Amy’s last recording, is beautifully produced and poignantly sung throughout. The same is true for covers of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow and The Girl from Ipanema. The ’68 version of The Zutons cover Valerie is a languid shuffle compared to the energetic single release, and an earlier recording of Tears Dry on Their Own soothes but never catches fire like the version found on Back to Black.

Amy’s tender, torn and devastating voice always impressed on record, but it was her lyrics that really mattered. Like Smoke, an excellent collaboration with Nas, is calm but opens with a typically dramatic Amy line: "I never wanted you to be my man / I just needed comforting." Musically it’s a cousin of Fine Young Cannibals’ The Flame, while its blend of wry rapping and heartfelt nostalgia adds up to the best thing here.

Elsewhere, Between the Cheats, with its sad title, doo-wop melancholy and lines like "I would take a thousand thumps for my love," recalls the darkness in Amy’s life. Just as sorrow crept in to her best songs, cuts like You Know I’m No Good, it’s here in spades. But no one ever expected Walking on Sunshine from a woman who battled through troubled relationships and addictions so publicly.

In the end, the best a posthumous album assembled in this way can offer is a welcome and dignified reminder of an artist’s abilities. Lioness manages this, but also leaves listeners sadly wondering where a less-troubled Amy might have been able to take her incredible talent.

The Black Keys – El Camino (Nonesuch)
BBC Review:
If you thought the new wave of blues rock first kicked up by The Datsuns in 2002 had buried its dog, bellowed its last and done gone died around the release of The White Stripes’ Icky Thump, Ohio’s The Black Keys are here to keep kicking up that down-home desert dust. Ten years and seven albums down the lonesome lost highway from debut The Big Come Up being (wrongly) lumped in with the dense posse of Jack White wannabes, they’ve torn away from the pack, embraced modernity in the shape of fifth album producer Danger Mouse and the 2009 hip hop project Blakroc, cracked the Billboard top five and sold two million albums. They’ve even become soundtrack mainstays. Twilight? Any movie set anywhere near a Midwest dustbowl? Or featuring hick zombies? Or a half-naked starlet chained to a radiator in Tennessee in dirty pants? Meet your new go-to geezers.

They’ve achieved this, all told, by metaphorically slamming every retro button with open palms and enthusiasm. Singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer/producer Patrick Carney gunge America in the face with everything they know and find sonically comfortable, all at once. On El Camino, mariachi, C&W, gospel, psych rock, blues and soul all mash together into a warm and occasionally dazzling torrent; their appeal is less in fresh sounds as fresh composites of old ones, wrapped around classically dusty tales of errant womenfolk and addiction to love.

This seventh studio album throws up some fantastic examples: opener Lonely Boy takes base-level Duane Eddy rock’n’roll and layers on Monks synths, gospel blaze and mariachi twangs and ends up sounding invigorated and new, like The The burning alive in the Arcade Fire. Dead and Gone bristles with psych noir classicism, grisly guitar noise and glistening melodies, as if scooped from Tarantino’s scratchiest B movie nightmare. Gold on the Ceiling, all glam handclaps and Rhubarb & Custard synth splats, even does a soul-swathed Glitter stomp around the hoe-down. At times you wonder if this is an album or an all-you-can-eat Americana buffet.

For a record that rummages so excitedly through rock history, though, there’s a paucity of sucker-punch hooks here and, tellingly, it’s when The Black Keys nod to their own blues rock blueprint that they’re least engaging. Little Black Submarines is outdated blues balladry with a turgid Zep second act that seems dug up from a desert grave in 2004; Mind Eraser is a poor man’s disco remix of The Sopranos theme; and Money Maker could be, well, by The Datsuns. No, it’s in the Tornados twangles of Hell of a Season and Lonely Boy and the Supremes shimmy of Stop Stop or standout track Nova Baby that El Camino finds its identity and The Black Keys their new purpose – to reinvigorate rock’n’roll from the roots up. A heftier dash of melodic sparkle to their churn of genres and next time their meat might match their might.

Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (Box Set) (Virgin)

Amazon.co.uk Review:

An introductory drum roll drops out and is replaced by a single suspended electric guitar, which is then paralleled by a snare, filled in with the bass, and--crash!--"Cherub Rock", the opening track, is enveloped in an explosion of metal guitar. So the journey begins. This album is pre-experimentation vintage Pumpkins. Produced by Butch Vig (Garbage, Sonic Youth, Nirvana's Nevermind), Siamese Dream is first about guitars. Lots and lots of guitars. A very close second is Jimmy Chamberlain's unquestionably excellent power drumming. Throughout each song, Billy Corgan delivers angsty lyrics in his signature breathy whine. "Disarm" is a nice intermission halfway though the album. As the title of the song suggests, it throws the listener into a different mood with its full string arrangements and radiant orchestral chimes. But then it is back to the aural masochism--a pain that rarely sounds so sweet. - Beth Bessmer

CD Description:

This box set includes the original album remastered with reimagined cover art, 17 previously unreleased or alternative versions of Siamese Dream era songs, previously unreleased full Length DVD From The Metro 1993,13 postcards featuring original album collages, 24 page booklet featuring complete lyrics, unpublished personal photos, liner notes by David Wild, and track-by-track annotations by Billy Corgan.

The Cure – Bestival Live 2011 (Sunday Best)
BBC Review:
When The Cure – the band Robert Smith formed with schoolmates in Sussex sometime in the late 1970s – played 2011’s Bestival back in September it marked their first UK show in some two years. But little had changed in the band’s world – unsurprising, really, as few contemporary bands can claim to have spanned features in Sounds, Smash Hits and NME (collecting a Godlike Genius Award along the way) with such enviable ease.

From the early 80s it took them no time to hollow out the energy of punk into something bleak and beautiful – and like all great bands they quickly created their own universe. Once the listener-in-waiting gets past this set’s awful bootleg-like cover – it might be a charity release, benefitting the Isle of Wight Youth Trust, but nothing can excuse this lazy effort – the sound quality is wonderful, immediately putting aside any fears of bootleg quality presentation in that department.

Punk allowed anyone to be a frontman, and Smith lets his singing do the talking here. It is the Gothfather and company’s fifth live album, their first since 1993, and captures their current vitality as a live band. Their two-and-a-half hour sets are frequently described as ambitious, which implies they might struggle to meet the demands of such a duration. But few can forget the number of hits they’ve had – easily enough to fill a lengthy performance. Close to Me, The Lovecats and Boys Don’t Cry all feature on what might seem a marathon listen to the casual fan; but to the hardcore crowd, this stirs memories without anyone losing the way back to their tent.
  
The opener, Plainsong, confirms rumoured changes in The Cure’s line-up, with the return of Roger O’Donnell on keyboards. These are presented to the fore of the mix, offering a very different sound following six years of the band operating as a trio. The brooding magnificence of A Forest threatens to overshadow the first half of the set, but it’s neatly pruned, as tight and otherworldly as its studio version. And the song’s in good company as the band casts a luxuriously hypnotic spell on the senses, getting through more material on two discs than most bands do across a career. From the scratchy dark funk of Play for Today to the half-awake sensuality of The Only One from their last album, 2008’s 4:13 Dream, it’s effortless. 

Observant fans will acknowledge the first airing of The Caterpillar since 1991, but this is primarily a celebratory set of greatest hits to appeal to casual and obsessive fans alike. It confirms The Cure as an ongoing, still-vibrant concern.

Bob Dylan – Life And Life Only: Radio & TV 1961-1965 (Left Field Media)
Description:
While Bob Dylan s career has proven fascinating to track at virtually every juncture, few could seriously argue that the period between his arrival in New York City in 1961 and his first forays into electrification on 1965 s Bringing It All Back Home - the era when Dylan developed at a rate unparalleled by any other artist in the rock age - remains the most scintillating, satisfying and dynamic of all. This 80-minute collection represents Dylan at his most fertile via radio and television broadcasts made throughout this astonishing era. The collection features songs and interviews from the 1961 folk Hootenanny at the Riverside Church, New York, just six months after Bob s arrival in NYC and before he had even signed a record deal. His appearance on Oscar Brand s Folk Song Festival broadcast in October 1961, aired on WNYC radio, is then featured, followed by a second Oscar Brand radio show broadcast on WNBC in the spring of 1963. Two television appearances from The Steve Allen Show in February 1964 and the Les Crane Show in February 1965 - barely a month before the release of Bringing It All Back Home - complete this superb set. Featuring an eclectic selection of Bob s take on otherwise unreleased traditionals, plus a number of Dylan classics, this CD will surely remain the default collection of live Dylan during his greatest era.

Nils Lofgren – Old School (Weinerworld)

Description:

Nils Lofgren's first New Release in 6 Years.Nils Lofgren's new solo album release is a classic Nils rock album featuring a collection of 12 songs. 11 are new originals by Nils and Irish Angel is a beautiful ballad written by Bruce McCabe that Nils has been performing in his shows recently. Let Her Get Away is a haunting acoustic gem co-written with Root Boy Slim. Bruce Springsteen's Guitarist. Featuring rough, raw blues dobros and searing electric guitars to beautiful acoustic tracks,Old School is classic Nils at his diverse best. Featuring the legendary Paul Rodgers, Lou Gramm and Sam Moore as guest vocalists, this album has it all and promises to rank among his best.

Next