Albums of the Week
Eric Church
“The Outsiders”
★★★½
Country music is loaded with smart singer-songwriters right now, and Church’s arena-rock-indebted fourth album, made with his crack band, is the latest example. On his last album, he wrote a perfect homage to his hero called “Springsteen,” and the smooth-riding “Roller Coaster Ride” sounds like Church’s “Dancing in the Dark.” Both “The Outsiders” and “That’s Damn Rock & Roll” are big and bombastic, but there’s a lot of depth here — not to mention a lot of twang, from the pared-down, jaunty “Broke Record” to the amazing “Cold One,” which breaks down into a double-time hoedown.
Tinariwen
“Emmaar”
★★★
Tinariwen is the biggest band in “desert rock” — the often astringent, frequently beautiful guitar music made across the plains of Africa’s Sahara Desert. Their region, in northern Mali, has seen a lot of political and social upheaval, leading to the recording of this, their seventh album, in Joshua Tree, Calif., instead. There are American guests (such as Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and Nashville fiddler Fats Kaplin), but they blend in rather than intrude. The music has a deep seriousness that’s never tedious — in fact, it adds weight to lovely tunes like “Imidiwanin Ahi Tifhamam.”
Downloads of the Week
Miguel
“Simplethings”
★★
R&B’s most exciting young star lays back and keeps things mellow on his contribution to the “Girls, Vol. 2” TV soundtrack. “I just want the simple things/Smoke with me, baby/Lay with me, baby/Laugh with me, baby,” he croons over a bass pulse. It’s nice, but it goes nowhere.
The Glitch Mob
“Can’t Kill Us”
★★
There’s something likeable about this track from the LA dubstep trio’s second album, “Love Death Immortality” — maybe how utterly shamelessly it goes for a stoner-rock vibe, with squalling synths replacing guitars. Unfortunately, though some of the more obviously electronic elements are sharp, the riffs themselves are just more smoke on the water.
Katy B
“Crying for No Reason”
★★½
The recent-Rihanna-style ballad — electro-chilly synths, updated new wave, sounding precision-tooled to break her in the US — is the model for this Brit’s first salvo from her second album, “Little Red.” Her singing, while muscular, is a shade overripe. The music’s slow burn does grow on you, though.
Far East Movement feat. Riff Raff
“The Illest”
★½
Some songs are so stupid, they break down your defenses. This stand-alone single by the hit-makers behind “Like a G6” is not one of those songs. The dubstep-inflected track’s central riff sounds like a comedy-score trombone, while the sampled chorus is pitched so high, it sounds like a balloon. Tiresome.
Hurray for the Riff Raff
“I Know It’s Wrong (But That’s Alright)”
★★½
Bronx-born Alynda Lee Segarra has a very husky voice, effective for old-timey country-music regret. This song from “Small Town Heroes” — her group’s debut on Dave Matthews’ ATO label — says it all in the title. But hearing Segarra sing it is still fetching. And the Riff Raff here has nothing to do with the rapper featured on “The Illest.”