Trax
By Bliss 02/18/2010
BEN SOLLEE & DANIEL MARTIN MOORE, Dear Companion (Sub Pop):
(3 stars out of 5)
Cellist Ben Sollee and guitarist Daniel Martin Moore keep things low-key, despite the participation and production of My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. Even Moore’s fingerpicked “Flyrock Blues” takes a kinder, gentler approach to protesting strip mining and mountaintop removal. Shades of the Louvin Brothers echo through the harmonies of “My Wealth Comes to Me,” “Try” and “Something, Somewhere, Sometime.” Tempo picks up midway through with the title track, whose driving old-time banjo reflects the threesome’s Kentucky heritage. Sales proceeds earmarked for Appalachian Voices. subpop.com, appvoices.org.
ELLIOT RANDALL & THE DEADMEN, Caffeine & Gasoline (self-released):
(3 stars out of 5)
Bay Area country-rocker Randall frontloads his newest disc with juicy melodies and packs ear-tickling hooks with relatable tales of “beatup and brokedown fools like me” who can’t stop “burning myself down, chasing my tail around.” Randall isn’t reiventing the country wheel, but it’s refreshing to hear him sidestep redneck cliches with intelligent, well-turned lyrics. Best bets: “Good Love,” “Trying Again” (“Heartbroke and bankrupt/ It feels like it sounds/ But doing nothing has done nothing for me”). At Molly Malone’s in LA Saturday. elliotrandall.com.
MY NAME IS KHAN soundtrack (Sony Music):
(3.5 stars out of 5)
Flowing with a good deal more melodicism than most Bollywood productions, SEL’s score reflects the East-meets-West theme of Karan Johar’s controversial film. Singer Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and jazz pianist Loy Mendonsa mix jazz improvisation and folky guitar strains with Sufi-style chants, cinematic strings, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s stirring qawwali singing, rock arrangements and instrumentation. Soundtrack aficionados will be more intrigued than casual listeners, although the elegant packaging and liner notes are likely to pique interest in the film itself. mynameiskhanthefilm.com.
RAZIA, Zebu Nation (Cumbancha):
(4 stars out of 5)
New York-based singer Razia Said celebrates her native Madagascar’s beauty while bearing witness to its environmental devastation. Said silkily twines rhythmic and instrumental elements of Malagasy music, West African folk and American jazz, crafting a peaceful sonic antidote to the nightmarish conflicts of which she sings. “Slash and Burn,” an urgent condemnation of Madagascar’s rapid deforestation, is sung in English, but she mostly croons in French and Malagasy. Highlights: the accordion-laced “NY Alantsika,” “Tiako Ro” and percussion-driven “Mifohaza.” myspace.com/raziasaid.
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