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Music Reviews

James Carter's Music in the Moment

Fresh Air

Saxophonist James Carter says he titled his new album Present Tense because "it captures where I am now." The album features Victor Lewis on drums, D. D. Jackson on piano and Dwight Adams on trumpet. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead offers a review.

James Carter's Music in the Moment

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Song Of The Day

Minus the Bear Finds Humanity in 'Alien'

Minus the Bear's mystifyingly titled "I'm Totally Not Down with Rob's Alien," from the newly remastered and reissued 2004 EP They Make Beer Commercials Like This, houses a gorgeous, warmly rendered reflection on alienation and the bliss of youthful solitude.

'I'm Totally Not Down with Rob's Alien' by Minus the Bear

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Second Stage

Fields of Industry: 'Point of Contention'

You won't hear any cymbal crashes, rumbling drum fills or guitar riffs on Fields of Industry's latest CD, Two Dogs, A Television. Though a number of tracks take cues from rock (the group often sounds like The Velvet Underground), it's an almost heartbreakingly spare album, steeped as much in folk and country as in shoegaze and psychedelia. Even on the more charged songs like "I'm Not Afraid of a Fight" and "Toybox," the only percussion heard is a gently rapped tambourine.

"Point of Contention"

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Song Of The Day

Ghostly and Ethereal, Bon Iver Finds Catharsis

As dark as it gets, "Skinny Love," with its unforgettable steel-guitar hook, is too gorgeous to function as a true downer. Shout-along fodder for melancholy late-night drives, it announces Bon Iver as a budding powerhouse, not so much promising as fully formed.

Skinny Love

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Second Stage

The M's: 'Pigs Fly'

Chicago-based psych pop group The M's open their latest album, Real Close Ones with the aptly named "Big Sound," a thundering track with gritty guitars, rumbling bass, blaring horns and distorted vocals. It's an immediately catchy kick-off to a sonically ambitious collection of songs that channel classic T. Rex, with the more experimental sounds of Olivia Tremor Control or Elf Power.

"Pigs Fly"

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Song Of The Day

The Semi Colon Serves Up a 'Nigeria Special'

As The Semi Colon's "Nekwaha Semi Colon" progresses, the group's chanted, Fela Kuti-esque vocals elbow through a Cuban-tinged 4/4 Afro-pop beat, while an acid-blues guitar smacks them all with licks straight out of the Haight-Ashbury underground.

Nekwaha Semi Colon [Igbo]

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In a Soulful Return, Al Green Lays It Down

Lizzy Goodman from Blender magazine discusses the week's new album releases, including a spectacular soul record from Al Green. Also discussed: new discs from Usher, Spiritualized, Cyndi Lauper and more.

In a Soulful Return, Al Green Lays It Down

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Song Of The Day

Shearwater's 'Rooks' a Chiming Pop Charmer

The band's new album is dark and graceful, intermittently rocking, and uniformly excellent, making it an ideal showpiece for a band five albums into its career, yet still largely unknown on a grand scale. Best of all is the sort-of title track "Rooks."

Century Eyes

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Second Stage

Mt. Wilson Repeater: 'Out Country Way'

The music of Mt. Wilson repeater sounds like it's about to swerve off a cliff. The songs lurch drunkenly into the night with rambling, off-kilter rhythms, glitchy digital textures and the occasional, dizzying slide guitar. The band says it sounds like "chimps smashing laptops for birthday cake." Whatever that means, it all makes for some delicious ear-candy on the band's self-titled debut album, out now on Eastern Fiction records.

"Out Country Way"

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Song Of The Day

Nada Surf: Five Minutes of Feeling Good

Nada Surf singer Matthew Caws has one of the kindest voices in rock, but "See These Bones" finds the band opting to dispense its feel-goodery through a heart-swelling arrangement that builds power as it progresses through five glorious minutes.

See These Bones

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Second Stage

Nick Jaina: 'Bicycle'

While Nick Jaina's previous release, The 7 Stations was a jangly folk-pop record, his new album, Wool is a more foreboding collection of acoustic songs that seem to drift in on the ether. They crackle and buzz with haunting undertones made of bowed cymbals and resonating bells. It's a beautiful mix Jaina says is best listened to while drifting off to sleep. "Turn on some white noise, like a humidifier. Don't feel bad if you fall asleep before it's over."

"Bicycle"

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