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Norah Jones, John Mayer, 50 Cent and more
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Listen to Leona Lewis, Norah Jones and
more great music in the Listening Booth
Nov. 17-23, 2009
By Kurt B. Reighley
Special to MSN Music
Kudos to Norah Jones. She could have coasted on the sound of
her 2002 Grammy Award-sweeping "Come Away With Me" indefinitely. But she didn't.
Growing pains colored 2007's inconsistent "Not Too Late," but on "The Fall" she
eschews the slow-dances-and-love-scenes café jazz that made her a star, and
really experiments. Quite successfully, too. The choice of producer Jacquire
King (Modest Mouse, Kings of Leon), who Jones discovered
via his engineering for Tom Waits, seems inspired, as is the emphasis on
up-front rhythms -- check out shuffling opener "Chasing Pirates" -- and guitar
over piano. "Light As a Feather," a collaboration with Ryan Adams, nails the sweet spot between blues, torch
song, and raw country with one of Jones' finest vocals. Additional musicians and
co-writers of note include Marc Ribot, Smokey Hormel, Joey Waronker, and Will
Sheff of Okkervil River.
Alas, the only surprise about 50 Cent's "Before I Self Destruct" is that, four
albums in, he's still able to get so much mileage out of the same formulae:
rhymes about firearms, premium spirits, attitudes toward women that make cavemen
seem like radical feminists (the raps on "Baby By Me" could've sprung from
Penthouse Forum), all the accoutrements of the gangsta lifestyle are still
here. So are Curtis' formidable swagger and braggadocio, pop-leaning cuts with
sledgehammer hooks, and production from heavyweights like Dr. Dre and Polow Da Don. Eminem drops by, making loco
fingers around his ears on the wheezing "Psycho." In other words, 50 fans will
love it.
The latest from guitarist John Mayer is called "Battle Studies," but those
struggles seem more internal than 50 Cent's street warfare. Recorded primarily
in a private California home where he lived and worked simultaneously, the
45-minute set features a pairing with Taylor Swift ("Half of My Heart"), his
own variation on Robert Johnson's "Crossroads" (famously overhauled by Eric Clapton and Cream in 1968), and the recent singles
"Who Says" and "Heartbreak Warfare." Mayer's verdict on the final outcome? For
those of you who don't follow the relentless Twitter feed of @johncmayer, here's a soul-baring tweet from Nov. 10:
"It's been extremely uncomfortable at times to stay open and honest, but I feel
like 'Battle Studies' may be proof it was worth it."
I hope U.K. singer Leona Lewis practices yoga, meditation or some other
discipline that helps her tune out the outside world periodically. Because after
the global success of "Spirit," and its best-selling single "Bleeding Love," the
pressure to solidify her status as the Universe's Next Top Diva with "Echo" must
be intense. Despite its title, Lewis' sophomore set isn't a rerun of her first,
although ballads like "Don't Let Me Down" (co-written by Justin Timberlake) won't shed those pesky
Mariah/Whitney comparisons. Dance floor banger "Outta My Head" comes courtesy of
Swedish pop wunderkind Max Martin, while "Love Letter" shoehorns Lewis into a
Kelly Clarkson-style rocker with mixed results. And
the seductive "Brave," with its subtle Middle Eastern flourishes, displays the
nuanced drama of a classic James Bond theme song.
Amidst all this week's top-10 favorites, it seems important to shine a light
on an underground artist who's become synonymous with contemporary pop at its
finest, even if she's hardly a household name. Hip kids on both sides of the
Atlantic have embraced Norwegian electro-pop artist Annie since her 2004 breakthrough singles "Heartbeat"
and "Chewing Gum." After numerous delays, her inventive yet accessible second
album, "Don't Stop," finally arrives, spanning a gamut from the mysterious
"Marie Cherie" to the drill team stomp of "Hey Annie." In a perfect world, "My
Love Is Better," featuring guitar by Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand and giddy production by Xenomania (Girls Aloud), would flood the nation's
ears as quickly as Britney's mind-numbing "3" did.
It's been a fine year for supergroups, from the Dead Weather to Monsters of Folk. Now add Them Crooked
Vultures to that list. The self-titled debut from the kick-ass triumvirate of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and Led Zeppelin vet John Paul Jones packs a heavy wallop,
yet also incorporates plenty of eyebrow-raising weirdness. Hints of glam creep
into "Reptiles"; "Caligulove" dives into gut-bucket soul-rock a la Black Keys; and "New Fang" throws down the sort of
hard-driving boogie Aerosmith or ZZ Top might've conjured up after
ingesting peyote. The all-star trio starts a short West Coast tour at the
Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles on Nov. 17. Fly, Vultures, fly!
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