Album Reviews

YOUSSOU N'DOUR
7 Seconds: The Best of Youssou N'Dour
(Columbia/Legacy)
Senegal's Youssou N'Dour owns an undeniably glorious set of pipes, and it's difficult to make anything he sings sound subpar. But too many of these songs suffer from well-meaning producers trying to shoehorn his upbeat Afropop into more conventional (i.e. Western) structures; cf. the lifeless ballad "Without a Smile," the indifferent Neneh Cherry duet "7 Seconds" and a downright embarrassing cover of the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." Cuts like "Yo Le Le," a live "Set" and "Mouvement [Dunya]" have the appropriate melody and booty-shaking groove, but overall the record has little of the no-boundaries spiritual uplift the best African music provides. Not bad, but for a talent like N'Dour, not good enough. Michael Toland [buy it]

THE KERRY STRAYER SEPTET FEATURING GARY FOSTER
Mentor
(Kerry Strayer Productions)
Saxophonist Strayer pays tribute to his mentor Foster in the best way possible. Rather than simply record Foster's compositions, he gets the guy in the studio to play. The two hornmen obviously enjoy trading lines, and the septet gives them ample, swinging support. Michael Toland [buy it]

SWIVEL CHAIRS
A Late Day For Regrets
(Paisley Pop)
New Jersey's multi-instrumentalist duo of Jason N. Brown and Jeremy S. Grites are smart and tasteful to a fault, which means that some of the tracks stick like glue and others float away in search of the hooks that would keep them anchored. But overall this is power pop that's adult without making you feel old. Michael Toland [buy it]

1090 CLUB/THE FORECAST
1090 Club/The Forecast
(Bingo Lady/Thinker Thought)
Once again, Montana psych/pop combo 1090 Club shares its space with another band, splitting this EP with the Forecast. The Club moves deeply into early 90s British territory; its tunes sound like long-lost Catherine Wheel singles. The Forecast is fairly conventional emopunk, with a vaguely AFI-ish singer and the usual merging of melody and aggression. A 1090 Club full-length would have been more welcome, at least in this house. Michael Toland

TWEAKER
2 a.m. Wakeup Call
(iMusic/Waxploitation)
Inspired by his wife's insomnia, Chris Vrenna (AKA Tweaker) has in 2 a.m. Wakeup Call an excellent late night, barely awake, watching-the-edges-of-reality-blur record. Vrenna's rocktronica puts the melodies and atmospheres on equal footing, giving his guest vocalists plenty of room to move. All do a fine job adding lyrics and vox to Vrenna's catchy compositions, but special props to David Sylvian's moody "Pure Genius" and Robert Smith's "Truth Is." Michael Toland [buy it]