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Albums of the Week
Jay-Z
“Live in Brooklyn”
★★ 1/2
IF there’s a downside to being married to Beyoncé, it’s that her mere presence is usually enough to upstage Jay-Z, and on this eight-track EP, recorded on the final night of his multi-show opening of the Barclays Center, it’s inevitable that her guest appearances are the main focus.
Hova held down proceedings pretty well on his own, as evidenced by commanding versions of “On to the Next One” and “Public Service Announcement.” But the excitement of hearing (and if you buy the iTunes video, seeing) Bee blow it up with “Crazy in Love” is something that even the reigning King of Rap can’t quite compete with. Whoever said competition within marriage isn’t a good thing?
Brandy
“Two Eleven”
★ 1/2
EVEN after almost 20 years, there remains a strange disconnect with Brandy Norwood. It’s never been hard to appreciate her immense vocal talent, but finding any kind of emotional pull in her music remains much more difficult, and as a result, much of “Two Eleven” passes by without registering.
The Californian has made a point of revisiting her ’90s-style, R&B sound on tracks such as “So Sick,” but the bland production makes these retro moments too easy to forget. The spritely single “Put It Down” and the psychedelic, Frank Ocean-penned ballad “Scared of Beautiful” offer points of interest, but for the most part, “Two Eleven” still feels like aural wallpaper.
Downloads of the Week
Kanye West
“White Dress”
★★
RUMOR has it that wedding bells are in the air for Yeezy and Kim Kardashian, and the loved-up soul of “White Dress” (taken from the soundtrack of the forthcoming RZA-directed movie “The Man With the Iron Fists”) doesn’t suggest otherwise. Slick though the track is, it’s a little hard not to pine for the maniacal musical ambition that Kanye usually shows. Love has clearly calmed him a little.
The Rolling Stones
“Doom and Gloom”
★★ 1/2
YEP, they’re still here — and what’s even weirder is that they don’t sound half-bad. Their first new song in seven years (lifted from the forthcoming greatest hits collection, “Grrr!”) is a rock ’n’ roll stomper that sounds like a blood-relation of both “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Brown Sugar.” Definitely not a reinvention of the wheel, but you have to applaud Mick and Co. for keeping it turning.
Kelly Clarkson
“Catch My Breath”
★★★
THE original “American Idol” winner is wrapping up her first decade with an upcoming greatest-hits package (due Nov. 19), and this is the euphoric sound of her looking to the future. The Texan sounds high on life, and it makes “Catch My Breath” one of the best songs she’s recorded in years — warm, upbeat and boasting a chorus so big, you could land a plane on it.
Martha Wainwright
“Proserpina”
★★★
MATERNAL themes dominate Wainwright’s new album, “Come Home To Mama,” and nowhere more so than in this graceful piano ballad, written by the late Kate McGarrigle and reinterpreted with aching beauty by her adoring daughter. A heart-wrenching combination.
Trey Anastasio
“Clint Eastwood”
★★ 1/2
YOU have to give the Phish guitarist some credit for daring to cover Gorillaz on his latest solo album, “Traveler.” It could have been a train wreck, but instead this soulful version — which swaps Del the Funky Homosapien’s rap for a sassy vocal from Trey Anastasio Band’s Jennifer Hartswick — is surprisingly palatable. Props.
Rick Ross feat. Gunplay and Rockie Fresh
“Clique”
★★
A rare highlight from his new mixtape “The Black Bar Mitzvah,” this cut sees Ross recycling the “GOOD Music . . . Cruel Summer” instrumental and adding a largely nonsensical verse of his own. Even his mumble-mouthed lines can’t obscure the power of the original production, which remains intact despite Ross’ attempts at sabotage.
How to Destroy Angels
“Keep It Together”
★
EVERYBODY has their own ideas of domestic bliss, and for Trent Reznor, it’s obviously recording brooding electronic tracks with wife Mariqueen Maandig for this side project. But despite the dark tones and atmospherics, “Keep It Together” (from their EP “An Omen,” due Nov. 13) is massively anticlimactic.
Ben Gibbard
“Oh, Woe”
★
“IT’S been a basement of a year,” sings the Death Cab for Cutie frontman on this song from his first solo album, “Former Lives.” Sounds as if the breakup with Zooey Deschanel still hangs heavy, but his therapy (as ever) is to share it with us via some lame and languid indie rock. Just what does it take to get this guy angry?
Jason Aldean feat. Luke Bryan and Eric Church
“The Only Way I Know”
★
THERE are two things Jason Aldean shouldn’t really do: one is make out in public with women who aren’t his wife, and the other is rap. This by-the-numbers country rocker from the new album “Night Train” is broken up by the sound of Aldean laying down some laughable rhymes with all the enthusiasm of someone reading a shopping list.