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Albums of the Week
Kenny Chesney
“Life on a Rock”
★
THIS country superstar likes the Caribbean islands so much, he’s dedicated his latest album to them. These margarine-smooth songs, and their equally slick singer, are irritatingly simple-minded even when they’re thoughtful or heartfelt. Only “There Must Be Something I Missed” has any teeth. “Coconut Tree,” about monkeys living in the trees — yes, really — is enlivened by a cameo from Willie Nelson, who provides the best singing on the album by far.
The lyrics never leave the gate, whether Chesney is pondering beach bums (“Lindy”) or dead musicians (“Marley”). And “Spread the Love,” his reggae song featuring the Wailers, is unlistenable.
Iggy & the Stooges
“Ready To Die”
★ 1/2
NO one in their right mind expects men in their 60s to make music as taut and feral as the first three Stooges albums. Their second comeback album — the first was 2007’s kind-of-OK “The Weirdness” — brings back guitarist-turned-electronics expert James Williamson, who still can kick up a filthy ruckus, particularly on the riff of “Ready To Die.” The songs, though, are mostly forgettable, when not outright dumb, as when Iggy Pop sings, “I’m on my knees for those DD’s” over swinging horns.
It’s pleasant, which is sort of beside the point with the Stooges, or should be.
Downloads of the Week
Kelis
“Jerk Ribs”
★★ 1/2
THE R&B star tries on some laid-back blaxploitation funk, from her upcoming sixth album, produced by TV on the Radio’s David Sitek. It sounds good — big, roiling horns, thick rhythm buttressed with congas, airy strings — but it’s not very memorable. And Kelis’ purr, so fetching elsewhere, is lost in the busy arrangement.
Annie
“Tube Stops and Lonely Hearts”
★★★
THE Norwegian pop singer-songwriter blew up in 2004 by singing about dancing on the gorgeous “Heartbeat,” and now she turns her pixieish voice to memories of early-’90s raves. She does so with a vocal melody that starts off anxious before it begins hopping joyfully around, over beats doing the same.
L.L. Cool J feat. Joe
“Take It”
★ 1/2
YAWN — hip-hop’s longest-running lover man makes another slow jam full of braggadocio and invites another veteran along to sing the hook. If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a hundred times, but at least — you knew this was coming — it isn’t “Accidental Racist.”
Janelle Monáe feat. Erykah Badu
“Q.U.E.E.N.”
★★★
THE I’m-a-badass lyrics can be a little much (“We eat wangs and throw them bones on the ground” — really?), but this very Prince-synth funk track from Monáe’s upcoming second album has more groove and presence than anything on her overrated 2010 debut. Even Monáe’s preaching rap at the end fits.
Ciara
“Body Party”
★★
THIS aquatic-sounding slow jam from the Atlanta R&B siren’s upcoming fifth album is a decent-enough ode to grinding in the dark (“Your body’s my party/Let’s get it started,” etc.). There are a lot of Auto-tune effects on the vocal, but they accent things rather than turning them to glop.