Three to-the-point reviews — a few pans and a gush — of albums that came out in the first half of 2014...Beck, Morning Phase (Capitol) Gone is the groove-vibing, cheeky-quirky Beck of yore. In his place is a moody neo-hippie who takes himself very, very seriously and is more inclined to thoughtful introspection and lush orchestrations than making the kids get down. Beck's 12th full-length is languid, swirling and trippy folk-y, full of instrumental swells, layered vocals and splashes of melody befitting the crunchy cosmic loop he's been caught in since Modern Guilt but with a more earnest Sea Change appeal – in fact, it’s sold as a companion piece to the latter, which doesn’t make for an exciting 13 tracks. There are a few worthy moments, most notably in the melodic ambling slide guitar-drenched sway of “Blackbird Chain” and the lovely Byrds-inspired “Turn Away,” but overall, Morning Phase leaves a rather dreary, underwhelming impression. Critics' Rating: 2.5 out of 5 Stars. [More reviews after the jump...]
Metronomy, Love Letters (Because Music) Was the sticky grooving synth-pop delight of 2011’s Mercury Prize-winning The English Riviera a fluke? If you take the fourth and latest from UK outfit Metronomy at face value, then yes, most definitely. Sure, first single "I'm Aquarius" has that inherent danceable quality with stripped-back production and dulcet-toned R&B-soulful backing coos balancing frontman Joe Mount’s blasé Brit intones, and “Month of Sundays” touches on intriguing dark pop moodiness. But “Boy Racers” is a brazen cop of Kraftwerk’s “We are the Robots,” its synth-line ripped directly from that track, and the rest of the album covers similar sonic territories and progressions as Riviera, with less impressive results. Critics’ Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars.
tUnE-yArDs, Nikki Nack (4AD) Merrill Garbus is still working out the finer points of catchy polyrhythmic weirdness as the pilot of tUnE-yArDs, and Nikki Nack stands as another fantastic effort. Lead-off track “Find a New Way” reflects Garbus’ strong, uniquely outrageous production techniques: a clash of multi-tracked and multi-pitched voices all chanting different variations of the chorus, off-kilter basslines and percussive flotsam, inexplicable noises and harpsichord embellishments that are likely synthesizers or some sort of programming, cleverly charming lyrical passages (“She tried to tell me that I had a right to scream just like a bird had to sing / And I believed her but in truth if you're convincing I'll believe anything"), and a quirked-out multi-layered vocal breakdown that finds Garbus spouting lines like "Oh, change-o strange-o, 'nother rearrange-o” on stuttering repeat. Critics’ Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars.