North Mississippi Allstars (
)
Ricky Martin (© RD / Orchon / Retna Digital)
NORTH MISSISSIPPI
ALLSTARS
“Keys to the Kingdom”
4 STARS
It would be hard to find a finer Southern roots band than the North Mississippi Allstars, whose latest collection, “Keys to the Kingdom,” is better than their highly praised 2000 debut. The trio features brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson (and Chris Chew), and much of the music on this record — which follows the 2009 passing of the brothers’ pop, famed music producer Jim Dickinson — ruminates on life and death. Despite the mourning, there is a bluesy rock playfulness here, especially on “New Orleans Walkin’ Dead,” a resurrection tune about zombies, and on “Ain’t No Grave,” featuring guitar great Ry Cooder.
THE CIVIL WARS
“Barton Hollow”
3 1/2 STARS
In a bigger-is-better world, the Civil Wars, a Nashville duo, have made a grand album with less. This indie-folk record is an acoustic study of love, with ballads in which sugar is used sparingly in the recipe for romance. On many tracks, the lyrics seem like conversations between lovers, even though the band’s two principals — Joy Williams and John Paul White — are not romantically tied. On the song “Girl With the Red Balloon,” both White and Williams are impassioned and full of yearning as they trade questions about who left whom: “Did she let him go? Or did the four winds blow him away? Does she even know?” The melodies have varying degrees of heaviness, ranging from ethereal on pieces such as the fiddle-powered “Forget Me Not” to the stomping country-blues title track.
RICKY MARTIN
“Musica + Alma + Sexo”
3 STARS
Working again with Desmond Child, his “Livin’ La Vida Loca” producer/composer, Ricky Martin is back to his Latin roots with a mostly Spanish-language album of cutting-edge dance and pop. There are arena ballads, such as the pretty love song “Tu y Yo,” but the thrill of this disc is in the bright Latin pop tunes, such as “Mas,” in which Martin tries to capture the early ’90s streets of Spanish Harlem. The other standout tune is the beautiful “Frio.” Martin, who came out as gay last year, says the lyrics are about a girl. In a unique spin, he duets with Joss Stone on “The Best Thing About Me Is You,” and sings with Natalia Jimenez on the Spanish version, “Lo Mejor De Mi Vida Eres Tu.”
BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS
“Live Forever: The Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, September 23, 1980”
4 STARS
This Saturday, Bob Marley, would have turned 66, and to celebrate, his estate is releasing “Live Forever” a two-disc live recording from Marley’s final concert, in Pittsburgh. At the time of the show, seven months before his death from cancer, Marley still had much of his strength. You hear it on this record on the reggae classics “Positive Vibration,” “Jamming” and “Is This Love.” But when Marley reprises his “Redemption Song,” his tone conveys that he recognizes and accepts his mortality. The recording is not just great music, but an important document in musical history.
ROD STEWART
“The Best of . . . the Great American Songbook”
4 STARS
Don’t want to shell out for the five CDs in Rod Stewart’s American standards series? Then go for this 14-song “Best of.” While Stewart’s raspy tenor glides across the music of Rodgers and Hart, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern and Sammy Cahn, to name a few, none of these songs seems over-orchestrated. And Stewart — once declared “the best white soul singer” by James Brown — is surprisingly subtle throughout, allowing these time-tested songs, rather than himself, to be the star. Among the great songs, clear-cut highlights include “What a Wonderful World,” on which Stewart is accompanied by Stevie Wonder on harmonica, “Beyond the Sea” which rivals Bobby Darren’s hit version, and a haunting and simply arranged “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
GEORGE MICHAEL
“Faith: Deluxe Edition”
3 STARS
If it weren’t for the fact that most of America already owns this album as a vinyl LP, or has a CD version stashed in the closet, George Michael’s Grammy-winning 1987 hit record “Faith” (in its new remastered deluxe edition) would be an essential buy. It’s a fan’s fantasy edition that, along with being Michael’s post-Wham! debut record, includes a hardcover photo book, a 90-minute DVD and a memorabilia package with a poster, tickets and even a “Faith” tour-bus pass. There’s lots of stuff to look at as you listen to Michael work chart-topping songs such as “I Want Your Sex,” “Father Figure,” “One More Try” and “Kissing a Fool.”