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Jim James – “Regions of Light and Sound of God”ATO Records-out tomorrow4 / 5 Perhaps Jim James is aiming a little too high when naming his solo album “Sound of God.” But honestly, he’s the frontman for My Morning Jacket, a band we think is going to be the next U2. Just take one charcoal whiff of “State of the Art (A E I O U),” and you can’t help but be impressed with all that beautiful slow-burn rock: it just smolders exactly where it should. And none too soon. Considering MMJ’s rather unfocused Circuital from 2011, we’re hopping onto the James bandwagon once moreRead More →

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Ulrich Schnauss – “A Long Way to Fall”Domino Records– out Feb. 123 / 5 We’re not often to come upon electronic artists, but Berlin’s Ulrich Schnauss has a few things going for him that we do appreciate: a sprawling sense of musical arch, the development of his sonic concepts, musical depth. Schnauss takes care that his songs arrive at a completed moment, aren’t just silly snippets; but, of course, this is expected when the tracks are 6 min on average. We should say the whole excursion of A Long Way to Fall clocks in half a moment over an hour, so at the very leastRead More →

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Unknown Mortal Orchestra – “II”Jagjaguwar-out Feb. 5 3 / 5 There’s a subdued simplicity about II, the second full-length from New Zealand trio Unknown Mortal Orchestra. A simple backbeat, half-hushed vocals, one guitar hook and a chorus; somehow all this suffices for “So Good at Being in Trouble,” a crazily simple track that can easily fly under the radar the first few listens. The chaps stamp this almost shy approach on each track, sort of an unconscious decision to hold back, ultra lo-fi, and this is their greatest asset as well as hindrance. It gives II the distinction of not trying to try, almost toRead More →

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Adam Green and Binki Shapiro – Self-TitledRounder Records-out Jan. 292 / 5 The Civil Wars. Slow Club. The White Stripes (though they’re related). There are certain dynamics that come out in a guy-girl duo, whether you’re singing ballads or slashing rock, and on Mr. Green’s and Ms. Shapiro’s debut here, we’re just not getting that. We’re not saying they have to kiss or anything crazy like that, but there’s such tepid chemistry in their music together that we wonder if we’re missing something big here. We’re also going to fault Adam with some of that in particular: his unemotive baritone is frustratingly bland. Binki isn’tRead More →