Rehashes, Rebirths and Reinvention

This post originally appeared on my music column ‘The Crossroads’ over at Dad-Blogs.com on June 3, 2009.

Today at ‘The Crossroads’ we’re taking you on a quick trip around some new music that has recently been released.  I’m previewing five new albums (make sure you click the links) for you and offering my take on them. So, let’s get started:

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King – Dave Matthews Band

Nearly four years since their last studio album, the coolly received ‘Stand Up’, the Dave Matthews Band is back with ‘Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King‘.  The album starts off with a touching tribute to a fallen founding member of the band, saxaphonist LeRoi Moore, with a nice sax solo on the track ‘Grux’.  Throughout the whole album the powerful, yet crisp, percussion of Carter Beauford continues to prove that he is clearly on another level in the conversation about modern drummers.  Some notable tracks on this effort include ‘Shake Me Like a Monkey‘, ‘Lying in the Hands of God’ , and ‘Dive In’.

Roadsinger – Yusuf

If you like Cat Stevens, then you’ll like Yusuf, because, well, that’s been his name for the past 31 years.  On his latest release, Roadsinger, Yusuf brings his timeless style to a collection of personal and spiritual melodies for which he is best known.  The title track along with ‘Thinking ‘Bout You’ and ‘Everytime I Dream’ are wonderful examples of how a man who took leave from his career at the height of his popularity still has the ability to weave beautiful lyrics with elegant music.

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane – Elvis Costello

As an artist Elvis Costello is not afraid to buck convention and he does so yet again with his latest release ‘Secret, Profane & Sugarcane‘.  The erstwhile Declan MacManus has transformed his sound regularly from his new wave days with The Attractions to his album ‘Painted from Memory’ with Burt Bacharach.  With his latest offering he brings a percussion free bluegrass format with the requisite elements of mandolin, dobro and fiddle.  Bluegrass isn’t exactly my speed, but it is certainly an interesting listen if for nothing but to gain an appreciation of an artist at the top of his craft that isn’t afraid to switch genres as regularly as Costello.

Uplifter – 311

I’ve always dug 311‘s eclectic mix of rock, reggae, rap, ska and funk and they keep true to form with their newest album ‘Uplifter‘, which is a solid, if unspectacular, effort.  The vocal work is strong and they can still bring it after nearly 20 years together, but their sound has become a bit formulaic for my taste.  Sure there are a few good tracks on the album, but nothing that jumped out to me that made me buy it.  If you like 311 and appreciate the consistency of their sound, they you will probably like ‘Uplifter’, but I’ll stick with their earlier works like ‘Transitor’ or ‘Soundsystem’ when I need a fix.

21st Century Breakdown – Green Day

At the risk of sounding like a cranky old man, it is my opinion that this band jumped the shark a long time ago.  ’Know Your Enemy‘, the first track released from ’21st Century Breakdown’, is a decent enough song, but Green Day only seems to have two speeds – super fast and dreadfully slow.  Their debut album ‘Dookie’ was a breakthrough at the time, yet over 15 years later I don’t see any progression in their music.  All of their albums seemed to blend into an amalgam of uptempo drumming and limited cord  guitar play with the occasional ballad thrown in to allegedly balance things out.  Needless to say this disc, like their previous release ‘American Idiot’, will not be finding its way onto my iPod.

Do you have a music question for me?  Is there something you’d like me to cover?  Leave a comment or drop me an email at pj@realmendriveminivans.com so I can work on it for a future article.  Also, if you’re new here, consider joining Dad-Blogs and grab the RSS feed so you can get this and all of the other awesome columns delivered fresh directly to you.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the ride!