Death Cab for Cutie

Cover courtesy of Barsuk Records

Death Cab for Cutie has always made pretty great albums. They've tweaked their indie-rock sound and evolved a bit after each one. Then they would come back with another solid album.

When a band is constantly changing and evolving, you figure they'll make an album that is heads and shoulders above their other great albums, the best album that the band could possibly make. Like OK Computer was for Radiohead.

Transatlanticism is that album for Death Cab.

Their fourth full-length, Transatlanticism, is more rocking than previous efforts from the Seattle-based band. It incorporates what they have learned from their previous albums and from side projects like the Postal Service and All-Time Quarterback.

Ben Gibbard's words are just as moving and lyrical as his last efforts. They can be clever and funny, for example, "The glove compartment is inaccurately named/and everybody knows it" ("Title and Registration"). Or the lyrics can be somber and meaningful, to match most of the music.

"We Looked Like Giants" matches an amazing bridge with a swirling verse, then goes into two minutes of instrumentals. And the title track's understated piano and soft schizophrenic drums let Gibbard's voice shine as more and more instrumental tracks are added, building the song up to a epic climax around the seven minute mark.

With Transatlanticism, Death Cab has nailed every song and every sound.

Mary J. Blige

Cover courtesy of Geffen

Mary J. Blige does not sound like any one else in hip-hop. Since it is such a young art form, there really have not been many soul singers to come up in hip-hop like she has.

She never shed her prickly exterior either, meaning that she has never gone all Jewel on everyone. She has always somehow stayed true to what made her such a sensation back on 1992's What's The 411?

This must have been difficult as she witnessed her circle of industry friends (Puffy, Biggie, etc.) shed skins so radically through the 90s.

What really separates Blige is her depth. Her music seems like spiritual redemption for her. The lyrics have inner strength to them, and once again this album proves it.

Being that this is Blige and P. Diddy's reunion disc (they have not worked on an album together for several years) it makes this LP pretty special. Blige is lucky to be working with Diddy again, because the production is tailored for her. She ends up putting all these beats to bed.

While it's not the classic "All I Need," Method Man gets the best cameo appearance of the album (competitors included Eve, 50 Cent, Jay-Z) with first single "Love @ 1st Sight." He deadpans lines like, "Once again, it's the other M & M," and "You can't spell Mary J. Blige without a J.B."

By Kevin Smith

Chango Malo
Alas Poor Lucy
(Stunning Tonto)
Sounds like: Funky, soulful, ska-metal
See also: Fishbone
Rating: 4.0

Alas Poor Lucy is the first LP from Tucson's perpetually gigging Chango Malo. While the band has built a loyal fanbase in town through their energetic live shows, there has never been a true disc that you could play at home and burn for friends.

There were two EPs, "The Business of Fancy Dancing" and "Septic Style," but they never generated as much of a buzz in town as their used vinyl-giveaway live shows. The band is hoping that Lucy will separate "live band" from "studio band."

Although the sound is still modestly that of a local recording, they have made a bridge between what happens on a local stage and inside your car. The result is a well-done documentation of their work.

A similarity, however, is that if you are not paying attention at a live gig or on Lucy, an untrained ear will not notice that a new song has already begun. Song structure is a thing Chango flirts with.

This could be a gift and/or a curse for the band. Over here, the band keeps things free wheeling and unrestrained. Over there, the band risks song distinction that drifts over the head of the listener.

Transcendent is when one of vocalist Quin Davis' lyrics becomes audible near the end of "Dan's New Shoe": "To get out of this town." Even taken out of context, being able to appreciate that lyric combined with Chango's career juxtaposition hints at a whole other dimension to this band.

Which was, speculatively, one of the reasons Lucy was recorded in the first place.

By Kevin Smith