funky and spaced-out as Powertrip, but it
fits in well with the band's musical landscape.
PAUL MCCARTNEY
New
(MPL/Concord)
At 71, having been one of the driving
creative forces behind the biggest band of
all time (and certainly one of the biggest
celebrities on the planet), Paul McCartney
had a lot riding on the response to his latest album, simply entitled New. His 16th
solo studio album (and the first of original
material since 2007's Memory Almost Full),
New fulfills the promise that rock's greatest living legend still has what it takes.
McCartney has made an album as strong
as the ones he made in his solo heyday of
McCartney and RAM, (shortly after the
Beatles break-up) and in the early days of
Wings. New is the most cohesive
McCartney album since 1997's Flaming
Pie, and possibly 1989's Flowers In The Dirt.
From the opening rocker, "Save Us;" to the
very Beatlesque "On My Way to Work; to
the ultra modern and completely infectious "Queenie Eye," New is a fun ride,
that never slows down, even during the
ballads. There are numerous references to
his days in the Fab Four, especially "Early
Days," a bookend song to George
Harrison's "All Those Years Ago" and
"When We Were Fab." This is also the first
album McCartney has recorded with his
current band. (They have played together
since 2001, so it's about time). Macca was
smart enough to bring in established producers and co-writers, but kept the slant
on younger studio stars such as Paul
Epworth (Adele); Mark Ronson (Amy
Winehouse); and the sons of two long time
McCartney associates, Giles Martin (son of
George Martin) and Ethan Johns (son of
Glyn Johns).
It's clear that McCartney is still writing
and recording new music because he loves
the whole process of creating songs and
getting them to the marketplace. He certainly doesn't need the money; for him, it's
about the passion. And thank goodness for
that.
– Bruce Pilato
8
MONSTER MAGNET
Last Patrol
(Napalm)
Monster Magnet is one of the progenitors
of stoner/space rock who have successfully merged '60s British rock with punk,
blues and psychedelia. The Garden State
quintet, led by distinctive vocalist Dave
Wyndorf, has matured musically with
each album they've released throughout
its 24-year career. On its ninth full-length
release, Last Patrol, Monster Magnet revisits its experimental hippie roots with trippy sounds and spacey atmospheres with
full-on psychedelic rock. CD-opener "I
Live Behind The Clouds" takes awhile to
finally get going with its slow buildup
with a desert plains vibe while a Western
gunslinger element decorates the title
track. The uplifting "Hallelujah" is a handclappin,' foot-stompin' hoedown laced
with sexual innuendos and an infectious
chorus. "Three Kingfishers" combines '70s
classic rock with a Middle Eastern flavor.
There's a lot of spacey moments that build
through atmosphere and repetition, but
some songs are just too long and overstay
their welcome. Last Patrol might not be as
groovy or heavy as Dopes to Infinity or as
8
– Kelley Simms
EMINEM
The Marshall Mathers LP2
(Aftermath)
Sequels are always tricky business, but
out of Eminem's vast catalogue, the primary project worthy of a follow-up would
be 2000's boundary-breaking The Marshall
Mathers LP. Well over a decade later, the
rapper's complex wordplays and lightening fast rhymes remain, though there's a
little less anger and a lot more maturity
now that the superstar is 42. Outside of his
own undeniable talents, The Marshall
Mathers LP 2 benefits from executive producers Dr. Dre and Rick Rubin, a true
study in contrasts who miraculously manage to blend their street credibility and
stripped down sensibilities. Eminem's got
his hit singles covered thanks to the
Rihanna duet "The Monster" and
"Headlights" (featuring fun’s Nate Ruess),
but there's also plenty of near violent vulnerability (“Bad Guy,” "Survival”) to seem
almost as urgent as the first round.
– Andy Argyrakis
7
PANTALEIMON
The Butterfly Ate The Pearl
(Grass Girl)
Pantaleimon is mostly idiosyncratic,
self-taught, twee-multi-instrumentalist,
singer/songwriter Andria Degens, as
aided and abetted by a coterie of artists
known to roam at or near the borders of
freak folk; and not surprisingly the collection of nine songs on this fifth recording is
mostly of t