LITTLE ROCK — M.I.A.
MayaInterscopeB
Noisy, clanging and at times deliberately amateurish, Maya (the title is in a glyph on the CD), the third album by the Sri Lanka-born and London-educated M.I.A. (real name Maya Arulpragasam), is less provocative and inventive than the first two. But it’s not the murky, careerjeopardizing disaster some haters have pegged it as. It’s just not as novel or thrilling as the admittedly revolutionary brace of Arular (2005) and Kala (2007), and it dubiously leans more on M.I.A.’s heavily auto-tuned singing voice than her beats.
What’s worse is the hubris that’s infiltrated the atmosphere, curdling the party vibe, permitting the release of some lazy filler, while at the same time calling what may be undue attention to the schizoid realities of the M.I.A. persona.
Any artist who strives for authenticity - be they Bruce Springsteen or Snoop Dogg - is vulnerable to being neutered by success. Either you absorb the paradox of rock ’n’ roll and understand you’re destined to be, as The Boss had it, “a rich man in a poor man’s shirt” or you wind up like Sid Vicious or Kurt Cobain. You can’t let yourself believe it’s not show business.
So the problem with the third M.I.A. album is not that M.I.A. isn’t really the Third World rabble-rouser she plays in the public imagination, it’s that she’s caught between pop dreams and revolutionary rhetoric. A couplet like: “I won’t turn my cheek like I’m Gandhi/ I fight the ones that fight me” is a lot less compelling when your enemy is assumed to be Lynn Hirschberg.
- PHILIP MARTINDanzig Deth Red SabaothEvilive/The EndD
Glenn Danzig, burly shouter of the early-’90s rock slab “Mother,” needs an intervention. Once a respectable hard rock act under the tutelage of Rick Rubin, Danzig seems dead-set on smothering his diminishing musical worth with bad production values. Deth Red Sabaoth is too cheapsounding and shoddy to pass for even a rough demo, let alone a finished product.
Remember those raging one- and two-minute punk scorchers from his Misfits days? Yeah, neither does he. But even a few extra clams for decent recording gear wouldn’t make Danzig sing in the correct pitch or enunciate - unless someone also persuaded Rubin to sit in, asa charity case.
- JEREMY M . DOHERTY12 Stones The Only EasyDay Was Yesterday Wind-upB-
According to 12 Stones lead singer Paul McCoy, the group’s name reflects a reference to the 12 stones the Israelites put in place after crossing the Jordan River, and a reference to the 12 disciples of Jesus. So with that in mind, you’d be inclined to expect something along the lines of contemporary Christian music - but you’d be wrong.
Some folks call them postgrunge. Others say they’re alternative. I’d say the group’s music has a guitar-heavy ’80s heavy metal sound and McCoy’s vocals are reminiscent of Ozzy Osbourne, both of which are compliments to the guitarists and McCoy.
The five-song CD shouldbe a hit with fans who’ve been waiting for something new from the group. But the music often drowns out or muddies the vocals, so the lyrics aren’t always easy to decipher.
- ROSEMARY BOGGSThe Jackson Five Live at the ForumHip-O Select/MotownA
With the recent one-year memorial of the death of Michael Jackson, it was a supreme pleasure to see this double-disc set. The 36 songs are from two performances at the beginning of “Jacksonmania.” Disc 1 is from a June 1970 show and contains the J5’s energetic renditions of “ABC,” “Walk On” and “I Want You Back.”
The second disc is from Aug. 26, 1972, a return engagement following their recordsetting appearance two years prior. Three days from his 14th birthday, Michael, alongside Jermaine, Tito, Jackie and Marlon, gave the ecstatic crowd hit after hit, including “Rockin’ Robin” and “Never Can Say Goodbye,” as well as classics we don’t associate with the J5 like “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
Before Michael was reveled and reviled, he was responsible for some of the most awe-inspiring live performances the world had ever seen. Before he was the King of Pop, he was the crown prince of teeny-boppers. As good as the J5 were on recordings, their live performances were the stuff of lore. (Guess the stories Mom and Auntie told me were true.) - SHON MCPEACEKylie Minogue AphroditeAstralWerksB
After the disappointing response to American Life in2003, Madonna teamed with producer Stuart Price and out came Confessions on a Dance Floor. It produced “Hung Up,” one of her best singles ever, and Madonna reclaimed the dance floor.
Dance/pop star Kylie Minogue, a star in most of the world, turned to Price to help her dance to the top of the U.S. charts. It seems to be working. Aphrodite debuted in the Top 20.
Her first words? “Dance/ It’s all I wanna do,” Minogue confesses on “All the Lovers” and dance she does through most of this Euro-powered set. “Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)” evokes the sensual aura of Donna Summer; on “Cupid Boy” she sounds nasally. Derivative? Of course. Fun? For the most part.
- ELLIS WIDNERMatt Kennon Matt KennonBamaJamB-
Boy, rookie country dude Kennon comes on all growly and tough, perhaps part of a new outlaw movement that began with Jamey Johnson’s resurgence. It doesn’t take long to figure out that despite a title like “Mama Raised the Hell Outta Me,” Kennon is a general softie, just like Nashville likes.
He has already had a hit with “The Call” and there might be another one in this competent, but not especially memorable collection. In general, Kennon is trying too hard to be super tough and super tender and not hard enough to be honestly different from the multitude of young hat acts vying for attention and dollars.
- WERNER TRIESCHMANN
Style, Pages 53 on 07/25/2010