(STAR)(STAR) (STAR) 1/2
PJ HARVEY, "UH HUH HER" (ISLAND)
One eloquent Irish rock critic dubbed Polly Jean Harvey's first album in four years "a coroner's report written by a poet," and that's a hard description to top.
On her last outing, the enigmatic English rocker was uncharacteristically sunny and upbeat; she was in love, dontcha know, and writing about the joys of her coupling against the romantic backdrop of New York City. But that Manhattan and her relationship no longer exist. Though Harvey has always been adamant that fans shouldn't read her songs as autobiographical, it's clear on tunes such as "Shame," "The Pocket Knife," "The Life and Death of Mr. Badmouth" and "The Darker Days of Me and Him" that things ended badly.
Lyrically, Harvey is back in raging banshee mode, seeking bluesy catharsis from her pain as only a punk rocker scorned can at the man who did her wrong. Musically, she returns to her roots, revisiting the more stripped-down, harsh-to-abrasive sounds of "Dry" and "Rid of Me." She recorded in her home studio in rural Dorset and played almost all of the instruments --including guitar, bass, autoharp, violin and keyboards -- herself. (Rob Ellis added drums.)
The disc is not the equal of 1995's extraordinary "To Bring You My Love," which remains Harvey's masterpiece. But the songs are likely to gain an added dimension in live performance -- her material always does -- and "Uh Huh Her" maintains the artist's position as one of the most important voices of her generation, and a rocker who is simply much too powerful to ignore.
Jim DeRogatis
(STAR) 1/2
AUF DER MAUR, "AUF DER MAUR" (CAPITOL)
As a backing player, Vancouver native Melissa Auf Der Maur made a valuable musical contribution (and an eye-catching addition) to Hole and the Smashing Pumpkins. But that doesn't mean she's capable or worthy of leading a band of her own.
Drawing on the help of an impressive roster of cool rock pals -- including drummers Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) and Brant Bjork (Kyuss), guitarists James Iha (the Pumpkins, A Perfect Circle) and Erik Erlandson (Hole), singer Mark Lanegan (the Screaming Trees) and Queens of the Stone Age main men Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri -- Auf Der Maur gives us a set of songs that straddle the line between stoner rock and mainstream alternative-rock radio fare circa 1995. But the sound and fury of the big, stomping production aren't justified by her second-rate songwriting or her stilted, limited singing.
She's a laughably bad lyricist with embarrassing obsessions with Dungeons & Dragons-style fantasy and B-movie melodrama. (From the single "Followed the Waves": "He's just a drunken gambling man / I'm gonna shuffle his deck clean.") Both her bottom-heavy bass playing and her passion for gothic posing were better employed with an earlier side project, the cover band Hand of Doom, where she wisely left the songwriting to the mighty Black Sabbath. Sorry, Melissa, but you're no Tony Iommi or Geezer Butler, much less an Ozzy Osbourne.
Jim DeRogatis
(STAR)(STAR) (STAR)
PHILIPP FANKHAUSER, "TALK TO ME" (MEMPHIS INTERNATIONAL)
Those who were expecting Swiss guitarist-vocalist Philipp Fankhauser to come out with ax swinging will be surprised by the soulful sound of this CD. The disciple of Johnny Copeland covers the Bobby Bland hit "Members Only" and Solomon Burke's "Down in the Valley," which set a high bar for Fankhauser's vocals. His half- dozen originals, plus two by his mentor, aren't the easiest tunes to sing, either, and the grainy-voiced Fankhauser proves a better arranger than soul-blues belter.
Jeff Johnson
Note: Fankhauser will appear at 5 p.m. Saturday on the Best Buy Showcase stage at the 2004 Chicago Blues Festival.
(STAR) (STAR)1/2
WILSON PHILLIPS, "CALIFORNIA" (COLUMBIA)
It's conceded that Carnie and Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips can sing. It's further stipulated that the daughters of Beach Boy genius Brian Wilson and Mamas and Papas mainstays John and Michelle can round up a group of sessions pros in the studio.
That said, what exactly is the point of this record?
Wilson Phillips picked a handful of chestnuts from the pop-star contemporaries of their parents and other Cali-pop giants -- the Byrds, the Youngbloods, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne and, yes, the Beach Boys and the Mamas and the Papas among them -- and achieved one of two outcomes on each song. Where they're faithful to the original, as on "Doctor My Eyes," "Already Gone," "Turn, Turn, Turn" and Joni Mitchell's "California," they reach a sort of three- notches-up-from-the-Holiday-Inn-lounge success. The three singers do have sweet voices, the songs are great songs and, well, they don't screw them up.
But when they stray from the original formula and endeavor to put their own stamp on songs, the marks they leave are akin to skip marks. "You're No Good," performed with hip-hop beats, is a mistake. The drippy strings that lead into "Old Man" are syrupy. And when they slow down "Go Your Own Way" to a trance-inducing tempo, it's close to blasphemy.
It's a fool's chore to take on classics like this. What's the best you can hope for? Competence? Or, in the case of the covers of family heirlooms "Monday Monday" and "In My Room," a strange sort of musical family reunion?
The Beatles have no particular ties to the Golden State, but they had a song that offers sage advice to any who would consider raiding the classics: "Let It Be."
Jeff Wisser
(STAR)(STAR) (STAR) 1/2
BEBEL GILBERTO, "BEBEL GILBERTO" (SIX DEGREES/ZIRIGUIBOOM)
After the international smash of "Tanto Tempo" (2000), vocalist Bebel Gilberto returns with more samba of seductively bewitching substance. The daughter of Joao Gilberto and Miucha, stepchild of Astrud "The Girl From Ipanema" Gilberto and niece of Chico Buarque, all Brazilian icons, Bebel's a sambista to the musical manner born, as this latest disc demonstrates.
It's a totally atmospheric effort, with the message mainly conveyed by the gentle bossa nova rhythms, not the words. Working with producer Marius de Vries (Bjork, Rufus Wainwright), Gilberto creates swirling soundscapes worthy of a modern-day Circe; instead beckoning listeners to their doom, however, Gilberto draws them into a dream world of desire. The hypnotic "River Song" is this album's answer to "Sem Contencao," the breakout track of "Tanto Tempo."
Gilberto co-wrote nine of the disc's 12 tracks, with almost half in English (for maximum crossover appeal no doubt). Even though she's not the most idiomatic singer --"Jabuticaba," about a Brazilian fruit, sounds especially, well, fruity -- Gilberto offers a seductive vocal allure.
Laura Emerick
(STAR)(STAR) (STAR)
BOBBY RUSH, "FOLK-FUNK" (DEEP RUSH)
This is the traditional blues album that the reigning king of the chitlin circuit has been promising to make for years. The bawdy soul- blues showman successfully tones down his blue routine for these 11 tracks (nine of them self-penned).
While his silly stage antics sometimes obscure his talent, Rush is one of the most gifted singers of his generation, and a tasteful harpist as well. He gets a chance to show his stuff here, with a mighty assist from traditional acoustic guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart. And Rush manages to stay in his funky groove throughout.
Jeff Johnson
(STAR)(STAR) (STAR) 1/2
X-ECUTIONERS, "REVOLUTIONS" (COLUMBIA)
On their third and most fully realized disc to date, acclaimed turntablists Grandmaster Roc Raida, DJ Rob Swift and Total Eclipse craft an ode to the old school. Dipping into a classic sack of tricks -- monster beats, time-honored samples, "Raising Hell" guitar licks and party rhymes, they sculpt fully realized hip-hop/rock hybrid tracks over their acrobatic handiwork, rather than the other way around (and the MCs line up for the cause -- Black Thought, Slug, Ghostface Killah and Fat Joe all come by to pay respects).
Slug's antsy reworking of White Zombie's "More Human Than Human" proves a raucous, frenetic slab of metal glee, "Live From the PJs" finds Thought freestyling over a house party groove, and "Like This" conjures the nostalgic good-time vibe of JJ Fad and '80s-era Salt 'N Pepa. The resulting whole is more big-beat Fatboy Slim club party than the X-Men's trademark beat-juggling chaos, but your head will be nodding too much to mind.
Jeff Vrabel
Note: X-Ecutioners will perform Saturday at Metro with Northern State and Wylde Bunch. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door.
(STAR) (STAR)1/2
KATIE MELUA, "CALL OFF THE SEARCH" (DRAMATICO/UNIVERSAL)
Eighteen-year-old Katie Melua seems poised to tap into the niche that Norah Jones has carved out. And, in fact, Russian-born, Northern Ireland-raised singer does suggest a Jones -- but one with a faster pulse. She has a voice that can be puerile, but at other times she shows promise as a sultry blues/torch singer.
