Albums of the Week
ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ROOTS
“Wise Up Ghost” ★★★½
Usually, team-ups like this (Big Name A meets Band B!) end up being trivial, but this is the most full-blooded Costello has sounded in years. The operative word is “sound” — the Roots’ engaged backing, evoking mid-’70s soundtrack R&B without merely being a “Super Fly” throwback, gives Elvis’ voice room to roam comfortably, as on the sly, taut “Sugar Won’t Work.”
Some old Costello fans have cried foul that songs like “Stick Out Your Tongue” rewrite his earlier work (in particular, 1983’s “Pills and Soap”). But it’s apt: The Roots are a hip-hop band, and Costello is sampling himself — and, frequently, making improvements.
AVICII
“True” ★★
The dance-music producer from Sweden’s queasy country-trance hybrid “Wake Me Up” is one of the year’s fastest-selling songs — Top 10 here, No. 1 in dozens of other countries — and this debut album is machine-tooled to follow suit. It’s also so utterly silly, it’s likable in spite of itself.
It’s the equivalent of a well-made, if insipid, boy-band record, with all-star collaborators (Adam Lambert and Imagine Dragons are among the vocalists) in place of spotlight vocals for the lesser members. The widespread rumor is that Avicii barely did anything himself. Considering how lousy his music before “True” was, that’s a blessing.
Downloads of the Week
Britney Spears
“Work Bitch” ★★★
This leak from Britney’s upcoming eighth album (no title yet) was co-produced by Will.i.am, and Lord knows it stomps harder and sharper than anything on his last solo album.
Britney sounds like a robot (again) over a beeping house track (yet again), and sounds great doing it (once again).
Wale (feat. Rick Ross & Lupe Fiasco)
“Poor Decisions” ★★
From the Rick Ross-led MMG crew’s new compilation, “Self Made, Vol. 3,” comes this admonition about “rich [N-word] making poor decisions.”
Too bad it’s too mild to keep your attention once past Ross’ opening verse: “He has a thrill as he raise his voice/When he really needs to raise his boys.”
Future
“Honest” ★★
The title track from critically acclaimed Auto-Tune-heavy rapper-singer Future’s upcoming second album — due in November — features who-cares lyrics (whether boasting about himself or being shady toward you, he’s “just being honest” — yawn) and airy, low-impact music. Unless you’re presold on this stuff, its appeal is easy to miss.
Jack Johnson
“Radiate” ★½
This single from Johnson’s sixth album, “From Here to Now to You,” evokes a lovely summer in laid-back, empty-headed terms: “These rocks, they hold heat/Pools of water cool your feet/As you walk, you believe/Every part of the dream.” When is he going to collaborate with Avicii, anyway?
MGMT
“Your Life Is a Lie” ★
With 2008’s “Oracular Spectacular,” this Brooklyn duo was arch, but still had feeling. This single from their self-titled third album ups the coyness and scatters any feeling to the wind. With its clonking cowbell and plodding refrain, “Your Life Is a Lie” is the aural equivalent of an unearned smirk.