A- Joy Williams
Venus
Columbia
Remake, remodel, reinvent. But be true.
That's what singer Joy Williams, formerly half of the duo the Civil Wars, has done with her first post-breakup solo album.
But while the synth-dominated, pop and EDM-light arrangements are light years away from the stark folk of Civil Wars, there is one constant: Williams' passionate, magnetic and often vulnerable voice.
Venus is, in many ways, Williams' response to that acrimonious breakup, as well as the death of her father and a tough period in her marriage. The instrumentation often works as a second voice, supporting and antagonistic. The album sounds at turns distant, chilly, bleak; it threatens to implode or explode. The songs reflect and contrast lyrics that mirror difficult emotions, psychological dramas rooted in the past travails. There are hints and innuendos that suggest but don't explain; there are endings, though not necessarily happy ones.
This new setting is especially effective on "Before I Sleep," as Williams deals with emotional demons. Most chilling is "Until the Levee Breaks," where the flood metaphor stands in for an impending emotional breakdown. "I'm gonna stand here in the ache ... until the levee or my heart breaks."
For Civil Wars fans, "What a Good Woman Does" will sound the most familiar; it also speaks of the group's breakup and its conflicting emotions and psychic scars. "I can't carry the weight of this war ... Everyone's wounded, and nobody's won," she sings. "I could tell the truth about you leaving" she wails, with a Kate Bush-like drama and intensity, "but that's not what a good woman does."
Hot tracks: "Until the Levee Breaks," "What a Good Woman Does," "Not Good Enough" (will have you thinking Bruno Mars), "Before I Sleep," the resignation of "Welcome Home."
A Gino Goss
Turn It Up
JammaJazz
Summer beach reads are well and good, but jazz artist and Arkansas native Gino Goss offers the perfect summer beach listen-tos -- exotic beats and dreamy tunes that cross multiple musical genres. The trumpeter, flugelhornist and Latin percussionist -- recently named the Best World Artist at the 2015 Indie Music Channel Awards for his new single, "Zoom Bye-Aye" -- offers this 11-cut compilation of songs, five of which also brought him various Indie Music Channel awards. (Previously released as singles, these are featured on YouTube complete with slide shows featuring comely young women.)
The album gets off to a hip-swaying start with "Night in Rio," which provides a mental teleportation to the Cidade Maravilhosa with its distinctive Afro-Latin bongo percussion beautifully overlaid with piano and horn. The album also includes the brisk "Black Zulu," which would be perfect for an African dance class; the retro-flavored "Funk It Up" and those unforgettably sultry vocals by Rossella Cosentino on the midtempo, '60s-cocktail-party-vibe-ish "Loosing My Way" as well as the slower "Don't Give Up," which leans more toward straightforward smooth jazz. "Just Don't Want Another Broken Heart," which has a remix as a bonus track, is one of the best showcases of Goss' skills.
Hot tracks: "Night in Rio," "Loosing My Way," "Just Don't Want Another Broken Heart," "Shake Your Boom Boom."
B+ Lil Wayne
Free Weezy Album
Tidal.com
FWA was a surprise release exclusively to Tidal during the Fourth of July weekend. "Rest in peace to Cash Money Weezy," Lil Wayne raps early into his Free Weezy Album. "Gone but not forgotten."
The rapper has yet to resolve the nasty legal battle with his longtime label, Cash Money Records, but he's continuing to sate fans awaiting his studio album by offering another project, this time a fully realized album in the form of a free mixtape.
FWA is a raw, incendiary offering of relentless rhymes, tight production and, like this year's Sorry 4 the Wait 2, features some of his best work in recent memory. Appearances from Young Jeezy, Wiz Khalifa, Cory Gunz, Bibi Bourelly and more dot the 15-track project.
As the legal battle rages, the rapper can't legally put albums up for sale but can release music free. So he became the first artist to drop an entire project on Tidal. No surprise there. Last month, Wayne announced he was joining Jay Z's fledgling streaming venture as a co-owner.
Hot tracks: The fiery "Glory."
-- GERRICK KENNEDY, Los Angeles Times (TNS)
B+ Grateful Dead
Best of the Grateful Dead
Rhino
This two-CD set is an attempt to compile a "best of" over a four-decades-plus career distinguished by long, extended songs (such as "Dark Star") savored by famously devoted fans, many of whom followed the band from show to show over its long career.
So, as with any musical act, there probably isn't a consensus "best of" of the Dead. Still, this is a coherent, well-chosen set of 32 songs. It includes some of their best-known songs and hits -- "Shakedown Street," "Touch of Gray," the single version of "Dark Star," "Ripple" and "Uncle John's Band."
At concerts, dedicated fans reveled in the group's famously long jams and the musical interactions among Jerry Garcia and company. That's why there are a gazillion live recordings available and shared by fans.
For a casual fan, though, this will satisfy.
Hot tracks: "The Golden Road," "Sugar Magnolia," "I Need a Miracle," "Ripple," "Touch of Gray."
Style on 07/21/2015