ON CD > REVIEWING THE MUSIC.>popJONI MITCHELL "Shine" Hear Music - Three stars Joni Mitchell is angry -- angry enough about a lot of things to storm back into the music business after she had walked away from it in 2002. Melancholy has been replaced with feistiness and combativeness. "Shine on the fishermen with nothing in their nets/ Shine on rising oceans and evaporating seas/ Shine on our Frankenstein technologies" and so on, she scolds on the title track. "Money makes the trees come down," she condemns in "This Place." Mitchell even does a bouncy, edgy reprise of her 1970 hit "Big Yellow Taxi" ("Don't it always seem to go that you don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what you got 'til it's gone.") The songs on "Shine," for the most part, dwell in the spare, experimental jazz-inspired atmosphere of her later albums. None of the material on the album is among Mitchell's best. Some of the songs (almost rants) are overkill overkill Vox populi An excess of anything . The rhythmic "Hana," the lyrical "If" -- based on the Rudyard Kipling poem -- "Night of the Iguana iguana (ĭgwä`nə), name for several large lizards of the family Iguanidae, found in tropical America and the Galapagos. The common iguana (Iguana iguana " and "Bad Dreams" stand out, though. Still, in a world of money jingles and emo sap, it's a relief to hear a great songwriter returning with a fire in her belly. >ROB LOWMAN folk > ANDREW JACKSON JIHAD "People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World" Asian Man - Three stars This strangely named Phoenix duo gives folk music a real kick in the pants. Using traditional instruments and catchy melodies, they craft energetic, sing-along tracks whose rapid-fire lyrics stray a little from your standard hootenanny hoot·en·an·ny n. pl. hoot·en·an·nies 1. An informal performance by folk singers, typically with participation by the audience. 2. Informal An unidentified or unidentifiable gadget. fare. For example, "People II: The Reckoning" tells Mrs. Robinson of the Simon & Garfunkel song that "the world won't care whether you live or die," while a cold-blooded killer narrates "Bad Bad Things." Worth checking out. >SAM GNERRE alt-country > STEVE EARLE "Washington Square Serenade" New West - Three stars After an uncharacteristically long three-year absence from recording, the hard-core troubadour troubadour One of a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians, often of knightly rank, that flourished from the 11th through the 13th century, chiefly in Provence and other regions of southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy. returns with a collection inspired by his move from Nashville to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. and marriage to singer Allison Moorer. The strong protest streak that marked previous work has been replaced by gentler social observation. It almost sounds as if Earle just discovered multiculturalism, satellite radio (on which, in truth, he hosts an alt-country show) and urban gentrification gentrification, the rehabilitation and settlement of decaying urban areas by middle- and high-income people. Beginning in the 1970s and 80s, higher-income professionals, drawn by low-cost housing and easier access to downtown business areas, renovated deteriorating . To this end, traces of trance and world music get added to the sound mix -- John King of the Dust Brothers produced the album -- but after awhile, more familiar territory like addiction, sweet love and, yes, old-school rabble-rousing is vigorously revisited. Out Tuesday. >BOB STRAUSS rock > SOUNDTRACK "Into the Wild" J Records - Three stars Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder's first solo outing scores Sean Penn's "Into the Wild," which arrived on screens this weekend. In the frequently hard-hitting disc, Vedder puts his earthy baritone to a set of 11 mostly rambling, folky folk·y n. & adj. Variant of folkie. songs (nine originals and two covers) that perfectly mirror the tale of the film's fatally idealistic young vagabond VAGABOND. One who wanders about idly, who has no certain dwelling. The ordinances of the French define a vagabond almost in the same terms. Dalloz, Dict. Vagabondage. See Vattel, liv. 1, Sec. 219, n. who learns too late that Alaska is bad for your health. With the exception of "Far Behind," the lone rock number, the album's pretty, shimmering shim·mer intr.v. shim·mered, shim·mer·ing, shim·mers 1. To shine with a subdued flickering light. See Synonyms at flash. 2. songs have an early R.E.M. feel. Among the best: "Setting Forth," the gentle "Rise" and the gorgeous "Long Nights," all of which deserve a place on future Pearl Jam set lists. Vedder's two instrumentals are rather unexciting in comparison, but in all, "Into the Wild" is a fine soundtrack for an especially fine film. >FRED SHUSTER jazz > JOHN COLTRANE "Interplay" Prestige - Four stars Life has been pretty good for Coltrane fans this month. Ben Ratliff's marvelous musical bio arrived recently, followed by this five-disc set, which collects all of the saxophone titan's sideman side·man n. A member of a jazz band who is not the leader or a featured soloist. session work for Prestige between 1956 and 1958. While available before, only the most dedicated fan owns most of this and, even then, the recordings have now been superbly remastered. Made while Coltrane was working with Miles and playing with Monk, these dates find Coltrane laying the seeds for his superb Atlantic albums, speeding effortlessly through hard-bop originals and putting his soul into sensitive ballads. Collaborators include Kenny Burrell, Max Waldron and Red Garland, but everyone takes a back seat when Trane blows his horn. Listen in as he builds up a head of steam, on the cusp of changing jazz forever. >GLENN WHIPP WHIPP WhiteWater Head Impact Protection Project CAPTION(S): 5 photos Photo: (1 -- 5) no caption (CD covers) |
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