By Jesse Cataldo
Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass – Matador Records
Usually cohesiveness is the foundation of a strong album, but in the case of Yo La Tengo’s, it’s a lack of cohesiveness that makes it so unified. It may seem oxymoronic, but the reckless combination of disparate elements and the audacious style-changes that occur from song to song that make I Am Not Afraid Of You… the best of the band’s albums since 1997’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One. Bookended by two ten-minute long renditions of spacey jazz-rock, the album switches from plucky piano pop (“Beanbag Chair”) to jazz fusion (“Mr. Tough”) to John Cale inspired Brit-folk (“Black Flowers”) without missing a beat. And at over 80 minutes long, the album leaves you full and satisfied, an ample accomplishment for a jukebox-like collection of scattered aims and genres.
4.5 stars
Ornette Coleman – Sound Grammar – Sound Grammar It’s interesting that aging jazz artists don’t follow the same path as aging rockers, pushing rehashed imitations of earlier work or dragging themselves around the country on over-hyped farewell tours. Maybe it’s the lack of brand names. Maybe it’s a statement about the inherent class and inventiveness of the genre. Maybe it has something to do with the staggering number of influential jazz musicians who died while still in their prime. Either way, nearly fifty years after almost singlehandedly inventing free jazz, Ornette Coleman is still pressing innovative, challenging music upon his listeners. From the jarring opening notes of “Jordan” to the string experimentations of “Sleep Talking” to the neat cool of “Once Only,” Sound Grammar is not the sound of an artist in repose. Even at seventy-six, Coleman isn’t afraid of pressing his limits.
3.5 Stars
Ratatat – Classics – XL RecordingsRatatat rode in on a wave of good feelings with their 2004 self-titled album, defining themselves as the mostly subtly constructed, and by extension best, of a batch of bands striving to sound like or inspired by the background music of early Super Nintendo games. They produced a light-as-air, thoroughly enjoyable debut, had their music featured in a Hummer commercial and then disappeared, presumably forever. Now they’ve returned with Classics, which although not much of a departure, raises the stakes enough to surpass its predecessor. The sound here is expanded, more delicate while simultaneously bigger and more complex. It may not bode well for the band’s future, but Classics serves as a satisfying afterthought, a nice surprise from a largely forgotten band. 3 Stars
Akron/Family – Meek Warrior – Young God Records
Akron/Family created a great deal of atmosphere on their 2005 self-titled debut, a record that sounded like a haunted house without any of the dreary associations that comparison would normally evoke. Yet somehow, all the good vibrations the band earned on that effort are gone by the end of Meek Warrior, frittered away in a parade of forgettable acoustic driven ballads. After exceeding the entire sub-genre of freak-folk with their debut, Meek Warrior inexplicably dives directly into its midst, embracing a fading trend that never stood for much of anything to begin with. While the majority of songs are passable, there’s none of the spark that was present on their debut. This fact is made glaringly apparent by the band’s insistence to stick its noses in all the wrong place, especially on the nine-minute-plus album ender “Blessing Force,” whose hippie chant blowout ending summarizes everything wrong with the album
2 Stars