ROCK
“Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not”
Arctic Monkeys
Domino
The hype machine behind the Arctic Monkeys is louder than the British band itself. While not even the reincarnation of John Lennon is worth that kind of praise, the Monkeys still made a great rock record with “Whatever People Say I Am.”
At times, the four-piece sounds like a six-piece band version of LCD Soundsystem. Alex Turner’s obvious accent is the only thing that sets apart his incredibly self-aware half-spoken ramblings from those of LCD’s James Murphy in tracks like “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” or “Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong but … .”
But at the end of the 13 songs, you simply have a great rock record and a challenging debut. The rock is brassy and loud, like a truer, more legit Louis XIV. But the rock ‘n’ roll second coming it’s not.
– Ricardo Baca
POP
“Comfort of Strangers”
Beth Orton
Astralwerks
Like Oasis, Beth Orton is a U.K. import who never really lived up to the stateside hype of her first few albums. On “Comfort of Strangers” the sultry-voiced songwriter has found the ideal collaborator in producer-musician Jim O’Rourke.
Orton’s first full-length album since 2002’s somber “Daybreaker,” “Comfort” unfolds at a leisurely pace thanks to its sunny, road-trip-friendly disposition. Chicago underground icon O’Rourke produces and plays on much of the disc, and his signature touches (muted, trebly production, sprightly acoustic lines) work unexpectedly well with Orton’s supple melodies.
Standouts “Worms” and “Conceived” touch upon soft ’70s ballads while the thrashing drums on “Shopping Trolley” nod toward arena rock in miniature. After a decade experimenting with electronica and trip-hop, Orton’s slippery style has finally found a proper home.
– John Wenzel
ROCK
“Eye to the Telescope”
KT Tunstall
Virgin/Relentless/EMI
This Scottish-born singer-songwriter is already a star in the United Kingdom, and for good reason.
Tunstall has a knack for writing songs that play like sunny- day soundtracks – music you know even before you’ve heard it. Inventive arrangements paired with Tunstall’s broad vocal range and whimsical lyrics produce an infectious quality on this debut, most notably during the bluesy pop radio fave “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree.”
Tunstall is not quite a music perfectionist like Norah Jones, but she is deeper and more artistic than Joss Stone. The adopted daughter of a college science professor, this musician took a shine to songwriting after hearing her brother’s heavy metal albums as a kid. Tunstall learned to sing by studying classic jazz vocalists, then fashioned her rock sensibility after PJ Harvey. All of those influences show.
While “Under the Weather” and “Stoppin’ the Love” are just saccharine enough to reveal Tunstall’s immaturity, more often than not, her jazzy pop folk strikes the right chord.
– Elana Ashanti Jefferson
