Cat Power, “Jukebox” Like 2000’s “The Covers Record,” Chan Marshall’s second go at a (mostly) covers album imparts her unique, husky-voiced stamp on songs from such greats as Hank Williams, James Brown, Joni Mitchell and ... Lil Wayne and the Hot Boyz. But rather than the stripped-down, bare-bones approach employed previously, “Jukebox” follows in the vein of 2006’s “The Greatest” and goes heavy on Memphis soul and blues elements. From the sultry, minimal retooling of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” and smoke-filled blues-club vibe of Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain” to a piano and feedback-laced take on her own “Metal Heart,” Marshall’s reinterpretations reveal a welcome intimacy. Meanwhile, a new song, the Dylan-inspired “Song to Bobby,” is an assured reminder of the strength of Marshall’s original material, and hopefully a good indication of where she’ll go from here.
The Whigs, “Mission Control” The dizzying tom-tom runs and shining buzz-saw guitar blasts that launch “Mission Control” opener “Like a Vibration” demand you sit up and take notice, but it’s the track’s pop-hook heart and Parker Gispert’s guy-next-door voice that make the two-and-a-half-minute sprint stick. Therein lies the beauty of the Whigs: Not only is the band mercifully unpretentious, but its power-trio format makes the tunes refreshingly uncluttered, allowing clear-as-a-bell melodies room to breathe. Even excursions into psych-country and horn-backed roots rock never feel gimmicky. Taking pages out of some very strong playbooks (think Superchunk, Guided by Voices, early Wilco), the Whigs find a way to revive honest-to-goodness pop rock for a new generation.
Natasha Bedingfield, “Pocketful of Sunshine”Yes, some of Natasha Bedingfield’s oft-delayed sophomore effort sounds like more fresh-feeling pitch music for women’s hygiene products (“A face without freckles / Is like a sky without the stars”). But all the tinkering — the album shares a mere five songs with the U.K. version released in April 2007 — gave “Sunshine” what her 2005 debut, “Unwritten,” lacked: individuality, albeit of the programmed kind. The album has an undeniable flip-flop feel throughout. It helps that Bedingfield has one of those point-and-shoot pop voices that can do anything a producer might ask of it, from Aaliyah staccatos to Kelly Clarkson power belting to quirky Lily Allen speak-singing. But the standout here is “Piece of Your Heart,” some stop-start funk that almost makes Bedingfield sound like Chaka Khan. Seriously.
Ben Allison & Man Size Safe, “Little Things in the World” Hands down, this bassist/composer’s newest is the primo jazz release of 2008 so far and promises to stand tall as one of the year’s best. It’s lyrical, colorful, edgy and teems with inspired exuberance. Conceived with careful architectural attention and grounded in the tradition of alchemic improvisation, Ben Allison’s music has all the earmarks of jazz in motion to a higher evolutionary plateau. The CD marks the debut of his latest band, Man Size Safe, named after Dick Cheney’s White House vault. Key to the group’s sonic distinction is the interplay of trumpeter Ron Horton and electric guitarist Steve Cardenas. Highlights include Cardenas’ melodic gem “Language of Love,” Allison’s intriguing “Four Folk Songs” and a salient cover of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy.”
Super Furry Animals, “Hey Venus!”Not as aggressively experimental as 1999’s “Guerrilla” or 2005’s “Love Kraft,” the latest from this genre-bending Welsh band is largely a smoothed-out pop record, reining in some of Super Furry Animals’ more left-field tendencies and tenderly nurturing the catchy, chart-friendly hooks of Gruff Rhys and company. “Run Away” is an uptempo number about amnesia and desertion, but it’s not as representative of the record as the nuanced “The Gift That Keeps Giving,” where the group’s penchant for sonic flourishes is used to subtle effect. Elsewhere, the waltzy “Carbon Dating” and country-inflected closer “Let the Wolves Howl at the Moon” help set a mellow tone, while mildly demonic rocker “Into the Night” and the jittery “Baby Ate My Eightball” keep things interesting.
Drive-By Truckers, “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark”Drive-By Truckers’ seventh album is a sprawling scorcher, and while these guys certainly aren’t strangers to long records, “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” is one of the meanest, leanest 19-track albums you’ll ever spin. Yet where DBT usually hits the ground running, “Dark” is deliberately slower to burn, full of beautifully considered stories of soldiers and fathers and drinkers that call to mind nothing less than “The River.” A surprisingly prolific Mike Cooley turns in the countried-up “Bob,” “A Ghost to Most” and the rocker “Self-Destructive Zones,” all smooth-going-down shots of squinty-eyed, serrated humor, while Patterson Hood is in never-better form on “Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife” and “Monument Valley,” the record’s John Ford-quoting closer. “Dark” also benefits from the expanded roles given pedal-steel maestro John Neff and bassist Shonna Tucker, whose first DBT tracks channel Patty Griffin and whose harmony vocals add welcome atmosphere.
Patty Larkin, “Watch the Sky”Patty Larkin has spent part of the past 20 years honing her chops while turning out one absorbing album after another. It’s no surprise, then, that she’s reached the point where she’s truly doing the solo thing in the studio. Larkin wrote all the tunes on this disc, produced it and played all the instruments as well. The sonic multiplicity of these dozen tunes is impressive. “Hallelujah” is a rhythmic pearl that’s radio-ready, while “Hollywood” matches an opaque lyric with a masterful bit of engineering that elicits an anomalous sound worthy of Laurie Anderson. Ballad “Dear Heart” is direct and elegantly done. “Phone Message” is nearly trance music — an uncanny mix of insistent drums, ethereal voices and an instrumental arrangement that deftly suggests North Africa.