Trax
By Bliss 05/07/2008
TINA DICO, Count to Ten (Defend):
Danish songstress Dico, the voice of Zero 7’s “Home,” dispenses learned wisdom (“Sometimes if you want to hold on you got to let go,” “Nothing stays where nothing grows”) while recounting small moments between friends and lovers that comprise variations on the theme of living life fully while you’ve got it. She tills that well-worn ground with emotionally direct lyrics and elegant pop melodies, scoring points with subtlety and intelligence. Standouts include the title track’s rumination on sexual politics, the soulful “Cruel to the Sensitive Kind” (“I can’t compete/ When all I get points for is to smile and be sweet”) and “Sacre Coeur,” about the tug-of-war between an artist’s nomadic life and a home with true love. At Hotel Café in Hollywood on Thursday, May 15.
www.tinadico.com
JAMIE LIDELL, Jim (Warp Records):
Recorded in Berlin, LA and Paris, Super Collider alum Lidell’s lively follow-up to 2005’s “Multiply” reaffirms his affection for old-school soul and R&B. The electronic texturing is less obvious this go-round as he segues comfortably from handclapping, organ-pumping celebrations (“Another Day”) and funky workouts (“Little Bit of Feel Good,” “Out of My System”) to smooth, Al Green-style balladry (“All I Wanna Do,” “Green Light”), with support from guests including Nikka Costa, Alex Acuña and Peaches. In concert at the El Rey in LA on May 29.
www.jamielidell.com
A GUITAR AND A PEN:
STORIES BY COUNTRY MUSIC’S GREATEST SONGWRITERS (Center Street): Country radio is packed with one romantic ballad or drinking anthem after another, but what country’s historically been renowned for is story songs. Here, 25 country artists — including Kris Kristofferson, Charlie Daniels, Tom T. Hall, Janis Ian, Kevin Welch, Hal Ketchum, Gary Nicholson, Robbie Fulks, Marshall Chapman and John Hadley — stretch their creative legs with well-crafted short stories. Some engage instantly with relatable dialect and observations of small-town prejudices, like Kristofferson’s “The Rock” and Nicholson’s “Whitey Johnson”; others impress with cynical humor, such as Fulks’ “Career Day” and Hazel Smith’s recounting of Bill Monroe’s meeting with Frank Sinatra at the Clinton White House, while others surprise via subject matter, a la Hal Ketchum’s quiet sketch of a female suicide bomber. Bottom line: it’s a good read.
www.aguitarandapen.com
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