Mariah Carey "E=MC2"

These days, all conversations regarding Mariah Carey can basically be broken down into two subjects: her looks (or, perhaps more specifically, her choice in attire) and her breakdown/eventual comeback blah blah blah. While the success of the 5X Platinum "Emancipation of Mimi" (2005) was certainly an inspiring tale, especially for longtime fans, people keep referring to the event as if it were an anomaly so unfathomable that it must be the only thing worth talking about when Carey's name arises. That or, in a big slap in the face to actual career relevance, the songbird's array of revealing outfits. At 38, I say she's more than earned the right to dress however she wants and saying something like "she's too old" or, worse, something thoroughly misogynistic, such as "she's a whore," does nothing but empower useless, harmful social stereotypes. What's more, Carey seems more confident and comfortable with herself than ever, so why shouldn't she celebrate her body? In fact, the singer's renewed sense of self continues to inform her music, and her strut on "E=MC2", her ninth studio disc, is equal to or greater than that displayed on immediate predecessor "Mimi" and she easily carries you through even the rockiest moments.

Now, much has been made of this new mathematic title, with "witty" blogsters making references to the obvious differences between her and Einstein, but anyone should be able to figure out that Mariah's own formula breaks down thusly: Emancipation=Mariah Carey to the second power. As in, she's even stronger after being freed from the restrictions of both bad press and her own personal demons. It's kind of clever, if you think about it. Ballsy, too, that she would name a record full of crossover radio jams and lovesick ballads after something as famously brainy as Einstein's key work. Yet this post-"exhaustion" MC is a ballsy gal in general...so it's too bad that the producers neuter that strength and wind up turning the new album into something so safe it verges on dull.

Thankfully, we do open with the strongest tracks on the record: Migrate and first single Touch My Body. The former finds the venerable songstress rubbing shoulders with the Short Circuit of modern R&B, the always electronic-sounding T-Pain, who I swear at some point in his life swallowed a vocoder and now forces all collaboraters to at least partially use one, including the girl in question. She fares better than most, however, as her distinct voice could never be gurgled into something unrecognizable. As well, le Pain infuses the song with a killer beat and showy, catchy synths that help glue the hook to your brain. And while Body, on first listen, may have sounded like a dreary retread of hits past, repeated listens have revealed the beauty of both the twinkling beat (by Tricky, a big fan of deceptive simplicity) and the more complex-than-it-seems melody. In addition, Carey's performance is relaxed, sexy and, above all, agreeably playful (see the charming video, featuring 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer, for further evidence of this).

The next handful of songs are less memorable but almost as entertaining and are probably the most likely to be chosen as future singles. Side Effects, featuring Young Jeezy, is notably bangin' while I Stay in Love and Love Story are pleasant, serviceable ballads that sadly (yes, sadly) lack the five-octave histrionics of yore, settling for mid-range prettiness. In fact, none of the slow jams (including the one just sent to radio, Bye Bye) come close to even her last big weeper, We Belong Together. Produced mostly by...sigh...Jermaine Dupri ("yeeeeeahhh...uh huh"), they feel generally unimaginative and bland, though Carey does what she can with them. Plus, who knows? They may prove to be growers over time, especially once heard over the airwaves or in a big-budget video. But for now -- and in light of all that she's done before -- they disappoint.

While the first half of "E=MC2" is quite good, something funny happens when we hit track eight: Mariah temporarily transforms into a Vietnamese hooker. On I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time, she repeats the titular phrase so many times it quickly goes from unintentionally funny to teeth-gratingly annoying -- and the ucky throwback vibe of the music doesn't help anything. And then presto, almost everything following that travesty becomes boring, as if it were signalling the end of even trying to make a great CD. We get more ballads that blend together; O.O.C., a second song (following the more tolerable Cruise Control) that finds Carey trying on a fake, silly accent, this time Hispanic (it was Jamaican for Cruise); and, worst of all, a Bible-themed piano tinkler called I Wish You Well -- a sequel in spirit and execution to "Mimi"'s Fly Like a Bird -- that sounds too much like Carole King's A Natural Woman for this reviewer's comfort.

At its best, Mariah's first post-comeback effort recalls her 90s glory days; at its worst, it's just another pop-R&B hybrid that any upstart divette could have made. Fortunately, the good outweighs the bad and this very specifically titled equation is certain to keep Carey at the top of the charts for the next few months. It's just a shame that, with all her brass and divine diva powers, she ended up delivering something that, impressive vocal abilities aside, fits in so squarely with everything else...which may ultimately mean that the only thing label heads want to see after "=" is "$". However, I can certainly respect everyone involved with the MC machine for wanting to keep it a continued success. After all, if her career were to go off the rails yet again, she'd be doomed to living out her life nowhere but in the fashion pages of gossip rags, with her clothes becoming all anyone has to talk about -- and nobody wants that.
B-



Download: Migrate, Touch My Body, Side Effects
Avoid: I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time, O.O.C., I Wish You Well

Vanilla Sky "Changes"

Vanilla Sky is an Italian band singing in the American pop punk style made famous by bands such as blink 182 and Fall Out Boy. Their songs remind me of the songs we can hear on any Cartel/All Time Low/Cute Is What We Aim For/Summer Obsession/Powerspace/(the list could go on for days) album. So why give them a listen? Our iPods are full of this kind of music already, we don't need to add more to it. F

That could be that, but like any band with the drive to succeed Vanilla Sky has worked to make a sound their own. Yellow Card has the violin, Paramore has the girl singer, and Vanilla Sky has the whole Italian thing.

Current single, Goodbye, also has an Italian version Si Vuoi Andare, which is surprisingly more engaging than the English version. Which isn't to say that the English songs aren't good, they are catchy poppy songs that you will have stuck in your head, at least for a few minutes.

The songs on "Changes" are all good songs that are perfect for summer trips in the car, or drunken sing-a-longs at parties. They just lack that something special that really makes it stay in your head for days at a time.

Unless, of course, you are referring to their cover of one of the catchiest songs ever released. Last summer Vanilla Sky, and every other person in the world, released a version of Rihanna's Umbrella. Out of all of the versions I listened to I found Vanilla Sky and Mandy Moore to have the only versions good enough to compete with the original.

Vanilla Sky then took it to the next level when they made their own version of Rihanna's video.


You know a band is good when they can take a song everyone knows and make it their own.

This is a band to keep an eye on. Already big in Europe I expect nothing but great things from these guys; because as they tell me in On and On, our relationship is never done. B

On and On we carry on
The same old story but we must go on
We're barely here and the sun is gone for now
On and On we carry on
The same old story but we must go on
We're barely here and the moon is gone for now
You and I are never done

Adele "19"

The only bad thing about fresh sounds entering the mainstream is that if they catch on, watch out -- you will soon be drowned in a sea of imitators who are either the calculated cash-in scheme of a major label or, significantly less enraging but wholly more frustrating, a viable artist who lacks the ability to better integrate her influences into her own music, coming across as a unconscious tribute act. Last year, when the U.K.'s Amy Winehouse shockingly translated her deafening buzz into actual, stateside top-10 success, her dark-lit, hard-edged jazz-pop became something new and different for people all over the world to savor...and, inevitably, kicked off a new round of wannabes and "admirers." It started, most notably, with Duffy, whose every vocal move and back-up production tweak come across as watered-down Winehouse on her smash British single Mercy, recently offered to Americans as an iTunes Single of the Week. The Winehouse adoration train continues with Adele, who had her own Single of the Week a few months back with Hometown Glory and now delivers to our shores her very first LP, "19".

Glory, in breaking with the majority of the album, sounds less Amy and more angsty, like a lost late-90s ballad, all doom-and-gloom piano and searching vocals. It's ability to draw you in and keep you listening proves Adele is a striking talent worth taking note of, a fact that comes into even greater light with the song that really put her over the top in her native land: Chasing Pavements. Pondering whether or not taking a big chance for love is worth it, Pavements is a goosebump-inducing sing-a-long that starts slowly and soon builds into a sweeping, heavily orchestrated thing of beauty, a deeply involving midtempo ballad that recalls some of the best singles of the 60s. It stands as the record's biggest highlight and, being that it's only track no. 3, does in fact mean we go downhill from there.

Though she has a much different lyrical slant than everyone's favorite beehive-sporting tabloid star, Adele's every twist and turn work like a plot that's comfortably familiar. The songs are good, sure, and different enough to be believable originals, but not amazing enough to overcome the not-totally-unfair comparisons she'll earn to the Rehab Grammy winner. One of the biggest problems is that Adele's vocal affectations are often so eerily Winheousian that's is as if she fits into that latter category of followers, those who hem too closely to their influence's blazed trails, intentionally or not. There's a chance that this is untrue, that Adele is no Winehouse fan at all and wasn't even conscious of what she was doing. However, a few good listens to "19" really make this forgiving theory doubtful, whether or not the artist in question may deny it.

Not that "19" doesn't have its own issues, similarities to Big Things or not. A cover of Bob Dylan's Make You Feel My Love is a giant misstep, especially for someone trying to establish credibility as a fresh, original voice. The song has been covered so many times already and was all but murdered by the one-two punch of Garth Brooks' and Trisha Yearwood's individual takes on the Hope Floats soundtrack. There is little Adele could add to it and, sadly, she adds nothing at all.

Promise peeks through, though, like in the twinkle of First Love, the slow burn of Hometown Glory and, of course, the endearing energy of Chasing Pavements. Her songwriting is certainly indicative of a bright future, especially when (or if) she someday strips away all the trademarked stamps of her influence(s) and lets her own personal artistic vision shine brightest of all.
B

Download: Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory, her most unique tracks.

Avoid: Right as Rain, which feels like something Winehouse left on the cutting room floor.

Be Your Own Pet "Get Awkward"

Yes, Virginia, rebel-yell punk rock can have damn good hooks. And don't tell me limp-dick bands like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan already proved that because you'll be severely lacking in proof that a) either was punk rock or b) anything they ever did was memorable. Fortunately, Be Your Own Pet come a lot closer to outsider credibility than either of those bands ever will, thanks to the blessing of avowed rock deity Thurston Moore, whose Ecstatic Peace label issued both Pet's self-titled debut and their kicking new LP, "Get Awkward".

Things jump start with Super Soaked, its toy-inspired title as indicative of the track's fun level as it is of the band's own child-like energy and enthusiasm. There's a lot of loud, raw instrumentation and yelling and yet through it all, you want to sing along as much as you're dancing. And amazingly, this spirit of buzz-inducing ra-ra bopping never fades; in fact, one full listen in a single sitting (yeah right, as if you'll be able to stay still while this record is playing) could leave one totally reeling.

However, the production is unobtrusive enough to reassure you that you are, in fact, listening to a rock record. Singer Jemina Pearl's shrieking is never fine-tuned or flat-ironed for the sake of being inoffensive (of course, no amount of vocal tinkering could take the awesome piss out of lines like "I know you're lying, that you take it in the rear"). As well, the band sounds viciously alive. The bass and guitars are bone-crunchingly satisfying and the drums are sporadic and sprightly enough to remind you, "oh yeah, there was a time when people laid down tracks without drum machines."

If I had any complaints, it would be that the songs seem to cycle through the same subjects over and over again. Pearl proclaims on at least two songs that she wants to break hearts like hers has been broken and on a few others that she really just wants to stay out all night. But I suppose that's just par for the course with actual (modern) punk music. However, it's a bit of a shame, as this flaw slightly detracts from the fact that most of "Awkward" is actually made up of very sharp, witty and lovably bratty lyrics.

For curious Top 40 fans, if you want Paramore without the pop overtures or Flyleaf without the Christ worship, I'd definitely recommend taking Be Your Own Pet for a test drive. The hard sound might scare you at first but, don't worry, soon enough they'll be destroying your car speakers with repeated spins.

On a final note, I played this CD first thing in the morning today and it jolted me so far awake I have yet to slow down...even after a mere four hours of sleep last night. So what does that mean? "Get Awkward" might just be the healthy alternative to shitty energy drinks which shall not be named. ...Or that I'm getting by on fumes. Fumes of awesomeness.
A-

Download: Food Fight, Super Soaked, Twisted Nerve, Bitches Leave

Avoid: Well, nothing...but the slower You're A Waste kind of interrupts the momentum of the thing.

Josh Gracin "We Weren't Crazy"

It seems you can't go a day without hearing or seeing some American Idol alum on MTV, the radio, the record store, or in some cases (Justin Guarini) singing for spare change on the street corner. It seems that every contestant on the show gets their one CD and then slowly fades away. It's not a common occurrence in the world today that someone from American Idol that didn't win releases a sophomore album. Josh Gracin is one of the exceptions. Yes, we had to wait four years for "We Weren't Crazy", but it was worth it.


The first single from "We Weren't Crazy", Favorite State of Mind was released last October. It's an upbeat song that makes me look for my boots and hat so that I can go to the hoe-down and line dance with the prettiest girl in all of town. The next release, I Keep Coming Back, is a ballad that does an excellent job of showcasing Josh's voice. It's a soothing voice that is excellent in the background of a movie, yet powerful enough to hold an audience at a concert captive. It's a voice that reminds me of Tim McGraw.

With the current single, We Weren't Crazy, Josh tries his hand at writing. What we get is a song everyone who has ever taken a chance can relate to; regardless of the outcome. It's a song that offers hope in spontaneity.

"We Weren't Crazy" ends with the only track penned solely by Josh; a love song to his wife. Even though it's the shortest song on the album it is one of the most beautiful. You can hear in his voice the sincerity of the song and the love in his heart.

Josh says it best himself on the track Found: "Somehow, I finally discovered that this is where I wanna stay. Baby now, I've been found." I only hope he doesn't get lost again; four years is too long to wait for quality music. A



Josh's homemade video for We Weren't Crazy. A little sappy, a little adorable.

Download: Found, We Weren't Crazy, Unbelievable (Ann Marie)
Avoid: Nothing.

Girls Aloud "Tangled Up"

They spawned from a UK reality show entitled Popstars: The Rivals, in which two pop groups -- one male, one female -- were formed by popular vote then set against each other in a sales battle royale to determine which one would get the full record contract. And yet somehow, ultimate victors Girls Aloud don't totally suck. Quite the contrary, they remain one of Britain's most consistently surprising and entertaining musical exports, even six years after their questionable formation.

However, despite all that members Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts and Sarah Harding bring to the proceedings, the real reason for the group's continued success -- both commercially and critically -- is the somewhat mysterious production house known as Xenomania. Led by Brian Higgins, Xenomania thrills in exploring new sonic avenues with every record they make, and their thorough control of the Girls' fourth studio album, "Tangled Up," lends it a subtly experimental and progressive edge that's generally very rare in straightforward pop music.

Take first single Sexy! No No No..., which opens with an oddly layered vocal echo effect and little else before launching into a pounding, frenetic beat laced with quirky sound effects and continuing the lyric with a call-and-response chorus before finally hitting the first verse. So strange was it that it left even some die-hard fans balking but is in fact the single that really put them over the top for me. Made me realize that G.A. may just be the bee's knees.

So I pre-ordered an import of "Tangled" and when I finally got the chance to slip it into my stereo, it dizzily, ecstatically delivered on the promise of that single and left me pleasantly surprised at every turn, if not dancing, in whatever weird way that presents itself through my uncoordinated body.

Opener and second single Call the Shots is a glorious mid-tempo ballad that puts a G.A. spin on a dying relationship with interesting, original lyrics and a keyboard-driven sound that's as entrancing as it is ultimately affecting. Close to Love is a killer dance joint with an even freakier beat and enough nifty sound effects to make every listen as fun as it is revelatory. And on top of all that is another fantastic hook with memorable wording: "Got so close to love, I can almost taste the kill."

And, not to take anything away from this fantastic set of songs, but the same could really said about the majority of them: they have interesting, diverse sounds and killer hooks. Xenomania draw from a wide range of influences and yet their jumble of sound never comes across as such. It's inspired and even intellectually stimulating, always holding a listener's attention without wearing their senses down.

...Until the end of the record, where good but comparably lesser songs like Damn and Crocodile Tears are buried. Even as the weaker entries, they still hold up better than the even the strongest entries on most records in this genre (I'm looking at you, Pussycat Dolls).

As for the actual Girls themselves, they are actually invaluable to the whole process, even if their input is relatively limited in a lot of ways. Whatever blenders or layering Xenomania puts their voices through, they all come through crystal clear and are beautiful instruments. In addition, these women (who currently range in age from 22-26) just get what the producers are trying to accomplish. They know how to sell everything from bitchy one-liners to glamorous posturing to heartbroken remorse. Despite the set-up of it all, they are more than just mere puppets.

In fact, Girls Aloud are the kind of group who inspire a kind of confidence in pop music's ability to still surprise and even amaze you. As well, most of their back catalogue has held up remarkably well, with too many standouts to list in this space.

"Tangled Up" was released overseas last November and more than a few savvy U.S. music connoisseurs have already caught on, with only the rest of the States left to discover the joy that lies beyond the moniker, even if it is "just" pop music...that happens to exist as the result of a reality show. Whatever. As Girls Aloud proudly state on their MySpace, " If you know someone who sounds like us, we’ll give you a tenner. If you like someone better than us, frankly, we don’t care."

Well, how can you top that for a sassy sales pitch?
A-

Download: Sexy! No No No..., Call the Shots, Close to Love...basically the first eight tracks. I mean, for real.

Avoid: Damn, Crocodile Tears

Panic at the Disco "Pretty. Odd."

Panic! at the Disco has returned! Oh I'm sorry, it's just Panic at the Disco now. It seems the band that won me over with the phenomenal single The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is the Press Coverage has matured a bit.

Up to now P!@tD was best known for their top ten single I Write Sins Not Tragedies, their biggest hit from their 2005 debut "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out". Now they return to the music scene and promise that they haven't changed. On the opening track to "Pretty. Odd.", We're So Starving, we're told that Panic is sorry that they've been gone for so long, but they were busy writing songs for...YOU! And I can't help but believe them. The song sounds like something you'd hear at the end of a movie, after the struggling band has made it through all the hardships thrown at them only to end up stronger.

Without a break in the music we're thrown right into the first single Nine In The Afternoon. It's upbeat typical Panic! song that is best described as "ear popping", or as some would say "head bopping". Regardless the song is good and leaves you wanting more.

Then you get more and you realize why they took the exclamation point out of their name: Panic at the Disco has gotten boring.

OK, boring may be a bit harsh, but they have gotten more mellow, definitely. The album is full of catchy lyrics and hooks, but it sounds like something you'd hear in Garden State or Juno. There's nothing wrong with this, but I always find it kind of upsetting when a band changes their sound so much that they no longer sound like who you feel in love with.

Instead of Panic at the Disco I feel like I'm listening to the Beatles. Which is good for P@tD - Beatles are huge. Bad for me - I don't care for the Beatles.

If people are done booing and hissing at me, I'll continue.

Done? OK. Good.

Panic plays with other kinds of music too, other than emo, rock, and Beatles-ish. One of the best songs on the album is Pas De Cheval, where they let out their inner surfers. It sounds like a leftover track from Sugar Ray's "In the Pursuit of Leisure", which is definitely a good thing; that's one of my all time favorite albums.

So Panic! is back. Only now they're just Panic. And while it isn't the music style I was expecting it still has that special something that makes P@tD who they are. Once I got past the initial let down of the musical styling I realized that I actually quite liked almost every track on "Pretty. Odd." However, I'm still hoping that next time we see more of Panic! than Panic. A-





Download: Pas De Cheval, Folkin' Around
Avoid: The Piano Knows Something I Don't Know, Behind the Sea

Leona Lewis "Spirit"

At 22 Leona Lewis has won a national television talent program, broke records with her first two singles, and had the fastest selling debut album of 2007 in both The UK and Republic of Ireland. It really makes me think about what I'm doing with my life, when at 22 I was still sleeping until noon, missing classes, drinking until 3 in the morning at parties thrown by people I'd never met before, and panicking to write an essay three hours before it's due.

Next month marks Leona's official descent on America with the release of her debut album, Spirit. While I have yet to hear the American version with new song "Forgive Me" and "Misses Glass" I have heard the UK version released last November.

I first became aware of Leona when I heard her debut single "Moment Like This" in 2006. It's a song most of us have heard before sung by Kelly Clarkson when she won American Idol season one. Leona's version is lovely but for me it doesn't live up to Kelly. It's her second single that Leona will be known for.

"Bleeding Love" is one of the best songs to be exported in a long time; a beautiful love song with a beat that only adds to it. Unfortunately it produces high expectations - higher than Spirit can reach.

There are several songs on the album that can give "Bleeding Love" a run for its' money, such as "Whatever It Takes" and "Angel". Most of Spirit, however, provides a less than moving experience. Which isn't to say that Leona doesn't have a beautiful voice - she shines on every track. Unfortunately the tracks prove to generally be forgettable at best.

This raises the question: What to do with forgettable tracks to make them unforgettable? The answer is that you make a video to highlight the vocals and give a message that will be with you for a long time. A perfect example is Leona's newest U.K. single "Footprints In The Sand".

At first listen I thought that it was a pretty song, but by the middle of the next song I couldn't remember anything about it. That all changed since I saw the video. It's a charity video, so you know it will tug at your heart.