STEPHEN MALKMUS
"Groove Denied"
BOTTOM LINE: The Pavement frontman goes solo and electro.
Don't let the opening moments of "Groove Denied" (Matador) fool you. Stephen Malkmus has not gone all Yeezus on you, no matter what all the blooping synths and electronic pulses of "Belziger Faceplant" may suggest.
Sure, there's a bit of Pete Shelley drama in the gorgeous "A Bit Wilder" and the simple synthesizer melodies are a long ways away from the Pavement alt-rock classic "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain," which turned 25 in February. But there's a method to Malkmus' seeming madness.
The stark electronic backgrounds early on, crafted and produced by Malkmus himself, force a focus on his lyrics and phrasing in a way that a full-band arrangement would not. And yes, there is a groove, especially in the icy first single "Viktor Borgia" and the wild "Rushing the Acid Frat," which merges the album's electronics with Malkmus' more expected, guitar-driven side.
By the time we reach the "Ocean of Revenge," a stunning tale of a Scottish indentured servant who murders his Mississippi plantation owner, and the melancholy closer "Grown Nothing," the combination seems natural. With "Grown Nothing," Malkmus sounds ready to embrace his next chapter, with Roxy Music maturity and flair, and the acceptance of "You were the fizz" before the album fades out.
KAREN O & DANGER MOUSE
"Lux Prima"
BOTTOM LINE: A lush, gorgeous art project that rocks.
Karen O & Danger Mouse's "Lux Prima" (BMG) shows how thrilling collaborations between two formidable artists can be.
You can hear the artistic push and pull between the Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman and the producer and musician who co-founded both Gnarls Barkley with CeeLo Green and Broken Bells with James Mercer. The hushed "Ministry" feels like a continuation of Karen O's last album, the vulnerable "Crush Songs" from 2014, as does the beautiful "Reveries," where she is accompanied by only an acoustic guitar for the first half of the song. The funky, bass-driven "Leopard's Tongue" could easily been on the last Broken Bells album.
However, it's the way Karen O and Danger Mouse use their talents together to create new experiments like the catchy potential hit "Woman" that makes "Lux Prima" shine. On "Woman," which fits in with Karen O's idea to connect her music with motherhood as her first project since having her son Django in 2015, she uses her distinctive delivery to modernize the song's girl-group backing vocals and percussion. The sleek single "Turn the Light" has a pop feel, with bits of funk guitar and Karen O cooing, that sounds like a breath of fresh air compared to so many radio-friendly alt-rock hits these days. And "Redeemer" features some great Karen O lines like "I got lust and you got lost." When she sings, "You're not coming for me, I'm coming for you," it sounds like it's either a threat or a pickup line, which worked for a lot of Yeah Yeah Yeahs songs.
Because Karen O and Danger Mouse do not lack for ambition, they have used "Lux Prima" as the soundtrack for an upcoming art installation at the Marciano Art Foundation in Los Angeles. But these songs can all stand on their own as pieces of art and testaments to the power of collaboration.
