4 Music Reviews

The Charade, A Real Life Drama (Skipping Stones)

I fear my reviews of The Charade getting redundant, merely because how many different ways can I state that a group's songs are eminently melodic, that they capture a perfect sort of pop breeziness, that they blend a gorgeous hopeful mood with sad lyrics in the most enticing of ways? The Charade's music isn't getting redundant, though, so my review shouldn't be either. Their second album A Real Life Drama is even better than the first; a showcase for exquisite pop vocals – with Ingela Matsson and Magnus Karlsson singing and harmonizing perfectly, together and apart – and a collection of truly endearing songs. There's songs of heartbreak and hope, of stasis and worry, of longing and tears, wrapped up in weather and place and time. But it's not all relationship songs, either, as good as The Charade's are. The World Cup song "Dressed in Yellow & Blue" is certainly one of the most-sincere, non-macho celebrations of sport I've ever heard, with lyrics like "don't you know that a goal can change your life / and that men can be forced into tears in summertime." "Music Makes Me Sick" superbly wraps up the conflicting feelings it's easy to have about music these days, and how difficult to keep the motivation to make music. "Rain on Your Parade" is the sweetest consideration of how to react to someone making ignorant comments and expressing ideas that seem repellant. An absolutely lovely album through and through – romantic-sounding, supremely stylish music that's also about real life existence and emotions, happy and sad. – dave heaton

Lord Jamar,The 5% Album (Babygrande)

The 5% Nation – formed in the early '60s after is founders split from the Nation of Islam – has been a pivotal force in hip-hop from the start. 5% teachings have made their way into the rhymes of countless hip-hop artists, whether it's through references to numerology or more thorough recounting of teachings. Brand Nubian's Lord Jamar is passionate about being a five-percenter, so much so that his debut solo album has that as its sole topic, as the title indicates. It's a refreshing aspect to the album, as it's clear through and through how important the subject is to him, and how closely it ties into his own life. In that way the album too is autobiography, though it's strongest track, "Greatest Story Never Told," is the one when he decides to go for an absolute straight-up expression of the facts as he knows them. That bare-bones track is him telling the 5% history in a straight-ahead and forceful way, one clearly driven by passion. His straight-from-the-heart delivery makes his rhymes more powerful than elsewhere. Unfortunately, though on Brand Nubian albums I remember feeling otherwise, here he mostly has a rather plain style of rhyming…almost dull, even. This makes some of the freshest-tracks those with guest MCs – including a classic one with The RZA ("Deep Space"), and a few with the other Brand Nubian members and some Wu-Tang members and affiliates (Raekwon, Prodigal Sunn). One surprisingly good, and endlessly fascinating, track is "Young Godz", which features no adults, only the youth on the mic – Lord Jamar's son, ODB's son, and GZA's son. The three sound sharp, making you wonder about the great things ahead for hip-hop in the decades to come. Young Justice, GZA's son, is credited with production even. There's a lot of this sort of energy throughout The 5% Album, and the sincerity level is super-high. That makes the album always intriguing and worthwhile. I might not find Lord Jamar's rhymes quite as sharp as they sometimes were in the past, but it's heart is certainly in his music. – dave heaton

Lost on Purpose, Anniversary (self-released)

"My parents paid my way through school / I still don't know what I want to do," a lyric goes on the beautiful opening track, "London," of this 7-song CD from Lost on Purpose. The best songs here are in this vein: a late-night/early morning hushed mood, with piano, guitar, and toned-down but expressive vocals, and a sincere strain of undramatic melancholy. "Ohio 2" is like this, too: an emotional plea in a stark atmosphere, filled with longing and a fragile, gentle style. The melodies are catchy and the feelings shine through. As the CD proceeds, some generic elements cloud over the allure a bit, like a melody that seems uncomfortably familiar ("Thank You Music Guru") or lyrics that feel too high-school ("Ophelia"). But overall there's a lot of promise here, and pristine moments of pleasure. – dave heaton

Venice Is Sinking, Sorry About the Flowers (One Percent Press)

When the Georgia-based band Venice Is Sinking closes their album Sorry About the Flowers with a 20-minute instrumental moodpiece built by splicing together elements of the 9 songs that came before, it doesn't feel like a surprise ending, more like an explicit expression of the mood inherent in the rest of the album. That is, what lingers most about the group's orchestral pop-rock songs is a certain feeling, and the album-ending experiment showcases that clearly. It's a calm sort of moody, introspectiveness. Feel peace within it, or sadness, or disappointment, or hopefulness. It's your choice, they're all there. These feelings shine through in hazy but memorable harmonies, in strings that create a mood and then take off in flight, in layers of guitar, and in the songs themselves, which are carry a certain gentle haziness of their own. I never remember a single lyric from the album, but that's not a bad thing, as the sound itself is glorious and moving. Actually, some lyrics do carry into my memory. "Undecided" strips away some of the haze, clearly displaying twin vocalists singing of relationship confusion with words that are precise, unarmed, and striking. Truth be told, another song or two is pared-down in much the same way – those songs are haunting, but the foggiest, still awe- and sadness-filled songs on the album are too. – dave heaton