Album Reviews

EARTH, WIND & FIRE
Illumination
(Sanctuary)
Illumination is the first EWF album masterminded by singer Philip Bailey, rather than singer/drummer/producer Maurice White. Bailey brought in several contemporary R&B producers and guests, including Raphael Saadiq, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Will.i.am, Brian McKnight and more. I was fully prepared to turn up my nose at this record, given that not a single track had Bailey or White's production or writing input. But lo and behold, it turns out that an EWF album is an EWF album is an EWF album. The band's distinctive vocal blend and classic sense of melody stay perfectly intact, no matter who's in charge. Only on "Elevated," featuring Floetry, and "The Way You Move," with the odious Kenny G, do the masters sound like guests on their own album. Illumination isn't up to the level of That's the Way of the World or All 'N All, but it's a damn sight better than some of the early 80s records recorded by the original lineup. Michael Toland [buy it]

MARK EITZEL
Candy Ass
(Cooking Vinyl)
After a successful past couple of years in the revived American Music Club, singer/songwriter Mark Eitzel returns to his solo career with Candy Ass. Eitzel re-embraces the electronics from his acclaimed album The Invisible Man, not only with digitally enhanced tunes like "Green Eyes" (which samples Calexico), "I am Fassbinder" and "Make Sure They Hear," but also quirky instrumentals "COBH," "Cotton Candy Tenth Power" and "A Loving Tribute to My City." But there's plenty of old-fashioned Eitzel on display as well, such as the lovely "Sleeping Beauty" and the haunted "Roll Away My Stone." Like most Eitzel works, Candy Ass takes some active listening to appreciate, but, as usual, that leads to greater rewards. Michael Toland [buy it]

JACK ENDINO
Permanent Fatal Error
(Wondertaker)
Endino is best known as a producer and co-architect of the Seattle grunge sound, but he's made a handful of records over the years with Skin Yard and on his own. Permanent Fatal Error is his first in well over a decade, and it pretty much rocks. Taking in both the psychedelic grunge and the fuzzed-out garage rock with which he's become associated, the record shivers with ecstatic layers of electric guitar, and his gritty singing and strong songwriting tops it off. No errors here, permanent, fatal or otherwise. Michael Toland [buy it]

FRIENDS OF DEAN MARTINEZ
Live at Club 2
(Aero)
Presented live on the radio in Germany, pedal steel maestro Bill Elm leads his trio through a batch of the Friends' patented languid, atmospheric instrumentals. Elm and company's originals capture moods more than melodies, as guitarist Mike Semple's feedback lazily duets with Elm's mournful tones. Your mileage may vary here, as the tunes' backbones can be elusive, but when Elm wraps his effects-laden steel around a melody as timeless as Gershwin's "Summertime" or drummer Dave LaChance kicks out the jams on the Calexico-composed "Chunder," the results are truly magical. (Live at Club 2 also comes with a bonus live disk from a Berlin club date.) Michael Toland [buy it]

GAS MONEY
22 Dollars
(Gas Money)
Philadelphia ain't exactly a Mecca for country music—at least not the way Nashville defines the term these days. But you want the real thing—cornfed and beer-drenched, rough and tumble and bullshit-free—Gas Money has the market cornered in the City of Brotherly Love. Playing unrefined, rocking honky-tonk with the Stones' looseness and Hank Williams' sincerity, the trio (plus guests) bangs out tunes like "Nashville Hotel," "Ballad of Tom Smith" and "All Alone (In My Honky Tonk World)" like last call has passed and the dawn is creeping in. The band can rock, too, as on "Dixie Girl." Waylon Jennings would've been proud. Michael Toland [buy it]

DAVID GRAY
Life in Slow Motion
(ATO/RCA)
Singer/songwriter Gray dropped off the radar pretty quickly once his hit "Babylon" had its run, but that doesn't mean he retired. Life in Slow Motion puts his lovelorn tunes and cracked croon into expansive arrangements that take in strings and horns as well as the usual rock accouterments. You'd think blowing his intimate creations up to skyscraper size would be damaging, but the opposite is true: given widescreen treatment, his heartfelt melodies are even more effective. Wonders never cease. Michael Toland [buy it]

H.I.M.
Dark Light
(Sire)
After trickling in on vanity label reissues and metal pundits' tattoos, Finnish Goth-metal titan H.I.M. finally makes its major assault on America with Dark Light. The band's hyper-stylized Gothic romanticism is so cheesy it should be surrounded by mousetraps, but leader Valo's amazing ability to sound like Dracula with his feelings hurt is usually enough to avert disaster. Not this time, alas. The quintet's move away from metal and into the realm of radio-ready power balladry adds a layer of maudlin syrup so thick no amount of light can penetrate it. Hence the title, I suppose. Michael Toland [buy it]

ERIK LARSON
Faith, Hope, Love
(Small Stone)
The follow-up to Alabama Thunderpussy engine Larson's The Resounding, Faith, Hope, Love roars where its predecessor crooned. The multi-instrumentalist scales back the varied textures of the debut and re-ups the heavy metal crunch found at Larson's day job, though the introspective lyrics linger. While The Resounding was Larson stretching his wings, FHL sounds more like extra ATP tunes the main band hasn't gotten around to yet. Being prolific is no crime, though, and "By My Hands," "Chinvat Bridge" and the thrashing "Smile" kick as much ass any ATP cut. Larson doesn't completely forgo experimentation, though, as the tabla-driven "My Inner Injustice," the spooky "You & Me" and the semi-acoustic "The Bar Song" and "Bleeding Fire" attest. Plus he closes the record with a slamming take on Elliott Smith's hopeful ballad "Say Yes." Michael Toland [buy it]

BETTYE LAVETTE
I've Got My Own Hell to Raise
(Anti-)
Journeyperson soul singer Bettye LaVette has been making old-fashioned R&B singles and records for a good 40 years, to great acclaim but little notice. I don't know if she'll get any more popular attention than before with I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, but, by god, she should. LaVette and producer Joe Henry have chosen an eclectic batch of tunes, all penned by women, none from the R&B field. As interpreted by the gritty diva and a bare-bones band, Aimee Mann's "How Am I Different," Dolly Parton's "Little Sparrow" and even Fiona Apple's "Sleep to Dream" become down-and-dirty soul tunes, stripped of sentimentality or slickness. Lucinda Williams' "Joy" takes on new depths of rage, while Rosanne Cash's "On the Surface" rides a funky groove its writer probably never considered. LaVette also shines on "The High Road," a stately ballad written specifically for her by Leonard Cohen collaborator Sharon Robinson. The heart of the album is obscure country singer Bobbie Cryner's "Just Say So;" accompanied only by acoustic guitar, LaVette reaches deep inside the song, plumbing the depths of emotion without ever crossing over into histrionics. On I've Got My Own Hell to Raise, Bettye LaVette doesn't need to belt to be felt. Michael Toland [buy it]