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closeWednesday, Oct. 14, 2009
CD reviews from Nellie McKay, Flaming Lips, and Pacha Massive
Nellie McKay
Normal as Blueberry Pie
****
An argument could be made that McKay has been working toward this album her entire career. Enamored of an era that now exists only in memory, the precocious McKay dives headlong into the smooth, sweetly naive sounds of a simpler time. The skillful homage to Doris Day — most of Pie are songs popularized by Day; the album’s title comes from a lyric in Wonderful Guy — is the best thing the singer/songwriter has done since her debut. Drifting between jazz, Latin pop and cabaret, McKay mesmerizes with nostalgia.
Download this: Meditation
— Preston Jones
The Flaming Lips
Embryonic
***
Double albums are a dicey proposition. There’s rarely enough material to warrant the excess, and bands run the risk of appearing overzealous. The Flaming Lips take the risk with Embryonic, the follow-up to 2007’s At War With the Mystics. Eighteen songs later (although calling some of these brief, riotous sound collages "songs" is a stretch), the Lips haven’t done any lasting damage to their reputation. In fact, Embryonic is the woolliest, darkest music the psych-Okies have fashioned in more than 10 years.
Download this: Convinced of the Hex
— Preston Jones
Pacha
Massive
If You Want It
****
New York City’s Pacha Massive has a lot in common with another NYC act, Brazilian Girls. Both traffic in a suave brand of chilled-out, down-tempo dance music perfect for international departure lounges and late nights in stylish places. But, on its second album, Pacha Massive comes across as a bit more approachable, not as studied and distant as the Brazilian Girls can be. Still, on such tracks as Pacha Llego and the deliciously urbane To the Top, Pacha Massive shows it can be as sophisticated as the best of them.
Download this: To the Top
— Cary Darling
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