Trax
By Bliss 09/10/2009
IMELDA MAY, Love Tattoo (Verve Forecast):
(3 stars out of 5)
Dublinite May wears her passion for American music on the three-quarter sleeve of her retro couture, but she’s no poser. Backed by a hard-swinging band (Al Gare’s ferocious playing could single-handedly boost interest in slap bass), May slides convincingly between tough rockabilly and boogie-woogie (“Johnny Got a Boom Boom,” “Big Bad Handsome Man,” “Smotherin’ Me”) and smoky piano jazz (“Knock 123,” “Meet You at the Moon”), her bawdy snarl softening to silken caress á la reported inspiration Billie Holiday. At the Mint in LA Friday. imeldamay.com.
CHERYL WHEELER, Pointing at the Sun (Goldenrod):
(3 stars out of 5)
Wheeler’s warm alto, primarily acoustic instrumentation, insight and humor go down easy with generally upbeat melodies. Most of her lyrics offer hope and assurance (“One Step at a Time,” “Underbrush”), occasionally alluding to darkness overcome (the taut “Summer Fly”), but she takes a light-hearted turn with three songs dedicated to a beloved feline. The semi-rapped novelty “White Cat” wears out its welcome fast; more appealing are the Django-esque “Cat Accountant” and lightly salsa-flavored “My Cat’s Birthday.” At Caltech’s Beckman Institute Auditorium Saturday. cherylwheeler.com.
SONOS, SonoSings (Verve Forecast):
(4 stars out of 5)
Some unlikely material (Bjork’s “Joga,” Bon Iver’s “Stacks,” Imogen Heap’s “Come Here Boy,” Radiohead’s “Everything in Its Right Place,” Lewis Taylor’s funky “Bittersweet”) gets transformed by this a cappella sextet. Human beatbox Ben McLain’s generating the “percussion” beneath the trilling, chanting and soaring voices. The strongest tracks are those originally composed for harmonies: winning arrangements of Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal.” Release party at Hotel Café Tuesday. myspace.com/SonoSings.
JAKE LA BOTZ, I’m a Crow (Charnel Ground):
(4 stars out of 5)
The gritty blues-maker and sometime actor revives five tracks from last year’s bleak solo beauty “Sing This to Yourself” for his sixth album, a full-band foray that kicks off with the title track’s stripper beat and features soulful rock explorations (“If You Want Me,” “Take My Mind”) fans expect at his live shows, to which guitarist Tony Gilkyson and drummer Jimbo Goodall contribute mightily. “Tattoo Over You” swaggers amusingly while “Charley Boy” delivers the hair-raising blues La Botz is known for. Another keeper. At West Hollywood’s Shamrock Social Club Tuesday and Redwood Bar downtown Sept. 18. myspace.com/jakelabotz.
DIGG | del.icio.us | REDDIT