Christina Aguilera "Bionic"
Four years in the making, the new album from the pop diva is finally out. If nothing else, they got the title right - it definitely sounds like it was cobbled together from spare parts in a valiant attempt to resuscitate someone in serious trouble. For all her advance blather about groundbreaking collaborations, the finished album leans heavily on proven hit makers like Polow Da Don and Tricky Stewart. But her rumored hook-up with Goldfrapp is nowhere to be found. M.I.A. contributes a song about office supplies ("Elastic Love"). Opening with several dancehall and reggaeton-influenced tunes that desperately try to sound risqué (rest assured, the "woohoo" Christina and guest Nicki Minaj would like you to sample is not a chocolate-flavored soft drink) plus the "SexyBack" knock-off "Not Myself Tonight," the album then veers into a stretch of ballads (including the requisite Linda Perry offering, "Lift Me Up"), and concludes with warmed-over electroclash. The last few selections are dumb fun, particularly the Le Tigre tune "My Girls" featuring Peaches, but the record's surplus of styles and outside helpers can't disguise its paucity of solid songs.
Soundtrack "Twilight Saga:Eclipse"
Odds and ends assembled with a sense of purpose in this third soundtrack to the tenny-bopper saga. At this point, even misanthropes who have no interest in the teen vampire franchise have to concede that Alexandra Patsavas' carefully programmed albums are the most important movie tie-ins since the great John Hughes soundtracks of the '80s. Once again, she balances mall-friendly alt-rock (Muse,The Bravery) with less-familiar indie fare (Band of Horses, Vampire Weekend, Fanfarlo) and some one-of-a-kind standouts, particularly an echo chamber duet between Beck and Bat for Eyelashes on "Let's Get Lost" and Florence + the Machine's melodramatic "Heavy in Your Arms."
Soundtrack "Glee: Journey to Regionals"
To mark Glee's season finale, the producers release the fifth disc from the show. Overkill? Maybe, but considering that the last two "Glee" CDs, "The Power of Madonna" and "Showstoppers" entered the charts at No. 1, there's clearly demand. The new EP includes a new, shinier rendition of the song that started it all, Journey's, "Don't Stop Believin'," and a version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" by rivals Vocal Adrenaline that does little to dispel their reputations as "soulless automatons" (as they so aptly put it in the "Funk" episode). The standout, however, features all the members of New Directions serenading Mr. Schuester with Lulu's 1967 hit "To Sir With Love."
Dierks Bentley "Up on the Ridge"
One of the most charismatic country artists to have emerged in the 21st century, displaying a mix of grit and polish that neatly straddles the worlds of mainstream Music Row fare and underground Americana. For his new album, Bentley pushes the envelope with a bluegrass-themed set – and while that might seem gimmicky to outsiders, longtime fans should recognize it's a perfect fit. He gets plenty of help with duets from Miranda Lambert, the Del McCoury Band, the legendary Kris Kristofferson and Allison Krauss. The set mixes a generous number of originals with as well as covers of Bob Dylan, U2 and Buddy and Julie Miller.
Lil Jon "Crunk Rock"
Between his work as a producer and cameos on other artists' records, Dirty South superstar Lil' Jon is such a constant presence in the pop universe it seems impossible that "Crunk Rock" is his solo debut. But it is. After four years and a lot of hassles, Jon drops his first full-length, but notably without former partners the East Side Boyz. Not that he didn't get help on the album: when you've worked with that many artists, you can call in a lot of favors. Among the guests featured are Pitbull, R. Kelly, Ice Cube, the Game, 3OH!3, Mario, the Ying Yang Twins, Souljah Boy, and Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. Damn! Lil' Jon never had trouble getting people to pay attention to him.
Jewel "Sweet and Wild"
Several years into the country phase of a career that's also included stints in the coffeehouse and the dance club, Jewel has gotten the hang of the Nashville sound. On her second album for the Valory label, the singer loosens up her formerly clenched vocals while a cast of Music City regulars cranks out polished pop-twang arrangements. If Jewel the artist has internalized the sonic values of her adopted hometown, Jewel the songwriter has seemingly ignored its lessons on the art of storytelling; these 11 tunes aim for a kind of down-home romance but lack the lyrical specificity that builds believability. "Once upon a time, used to feel so fine," she sings at the top of the album's opener, "No Good in Goodbye," and "Sweet and Wild" rarely gets more memorable than that. "Fading," a surprisingly unsentimental song about the humiliations of old age; it takes place in a Wal-Mart bathroom and includes the word "urine." That probably makes it an unlikely candidate for country-radio success, but it's a pretty lyrically good song.
Other New Releases Worth Checking Out:
(Have not listened to, but please feel free to post a review)
- Against Me "White Crosses"
- Andy Bell "Non-Stop"
- Villagers "Becoming a Jackal"
- Crystal Castles "Crystal Castles"
- Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti "Before Today"
- Nada Surf "If I Had a Hi-Fi"
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