By Evan Kessler

Back in 2005, three veterans of the Austin, Texas music scene, bassist Steve Terebecki, drummer Josh Block and singer-guitarist James Petralli, joined forces for what would become White Denim. The band debuted with their 2008 release, Workout Holiday, and the single, “Let’s Talk About It” garnered them a healthy following in the UK. But it’s their latest album, Fits, that they hope will give them some due attention back home. (more…)

Little Miss Taylor Swift.  We see her face everywhere these days. In fact, it wasn’t all that long ago that I saw the blonde country sensation hosting the VMA pre-show. I was actually beginning to wonder if she was just going to surrender her music career or not…

Turns out she didn’t.  Even if pop country singers are a dime a dozen, she’s cuter than most and actually plays guitar (that means she gets props). Her newest album, “Fearless“, dropped today.  While it’s not my thing, I have to admit, the songstress has got some melodically educated people behind her. The songs are catchy and sweet and seem to fit her pretty perfectly. (more…)

Lenny Kravitz – It Is Time for a Love Revolution (2008)

EZ-livin’ faceless rock for dads under 40, courtesy of Lenny Kravitz, eternal favorite of the boxed-wine and Cracker Barrel circuit. I can’t seem to pinpoint the exact hatred I have for It Is Time for a Love Revolution – maybe it’s the bland title, or the brain-on-autopilot feeling I get when the horrendous ballads come marching in – but that feeling is the album’s only constant, unfortunately.

Playing Spot the Influence when listening to an album may be fun sometimes, but Kravitz makes the game tedious, calling forth the same basic elements to represent his ruff and tuff image. He’s a rockstar, decked out in the most obvious and recognized 70’s regalia (leather jacket, shades, sh*t eating grin) – until you lift the curtain. All you’re left with is an adult alternative hack over Pro-Tools approved rock and roll.

Love Revolution is so far off the mark you wonder where Kravitz was aiming in the first place.

Key tracks: NONE

Download It Is Time for a Love Revolution now.

Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War (2008)

Badu rises from the nu-Soul wreckage as a nu-Funkateer, complete with blowout cover, jive spelling and “up with people” vibes. If the terms “retro” and “vintage” inspire you to burn down the closest Urban Outfitters in a storm of Nag Champa-fueled anger, this exploitation of an exploitation isn’t for you.

When Badu drops the soul sister shtick and gets really real, even the sleepier tracks get shaken awake. Production from 9th Wonder follows the J-Dilla blueprint of smooth soul and hard bop, but the end product is dangerously close to mimicry.

Badu’s heart is in the right place, I’m sure, but she tries too hard to impress, and pilfers too much from a bygone era when a modern take would suffice. Surprisingly sterile for an R&B/Soul album, New Amerykah is simply too retro and retrograde.

Key tracks: “Master Teacher,” “Twinkle”

Download New Amerykah now.

Lupe Fiasco’s debut album Food and Liquor showcased the quick-witted rapper’s penchant for good vibes and G.O.O.D. beats, following in the footsteps of Chicago’s pride and joy, Common and Kanye West. His ambitious coupling of diverse subjects and long narratives (summarized with his heartfelt paean to skateboarding, “Kick, Push”) made for a well-rounded but exhausting listen (the nine-minute “Outro” was a miscalculation).

Being too eager to please all audiences may have stunted Food and Liquor ever so slightly, but not enough to consider it anything less than a good album by a promising artist. Now in 2007, The Cool is upon us.

After a poetry-slam intro and a forgettable, minute-long Akon-esque dirge The Cool picks up where Food and Liquor left off, with Fiasco’s witty wordplay and ever-changing flow dominating “Go Go Gadget Flow,” while “The Coolest” echoes latter-day Jay-Z over brooding synth-work. So far, so-so. (more…)

Ever since Jay-Z made his not-much-of-a-comeback with Kingdom Come naysayers have lashed out on his depleted skills and tired subject matter. More than a dozen albums deep Jay has yet to return to the level of street-smarts and high-life elegance of his debut, Reasonable Doubt – then again not many have.

Unfairly written off as a Biggie clone, J-Hova’s endless output has marked him a quantity artist rather than quality. Inspiration in hip-hop today is thin on the ground; for that reason Jay has turned to film for inspiration – a Denzel Washington-starring mafia film based on a true story.

Art imitates life this time around.

With his catalog previously ending on an awkward, lopsided note Jay-Z delivers a quality, low-key release with American Gangster, an album that may end up being shoulder-to-shoulder with The Black Album as latter-day Jay’s finest. (more…)