Quick and dirty CD reviews

I've been meaning to blog about music I've got recently, but as usual, I haven't. Since it's music night, I figure I could make the effort. These two albums courtesy of S.

The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
The album treads familiar ground of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty, both lyrically and musically. The lyrics are first person, and do, occasionally, offer some nice quirks and twists. The problem is the cliche's outweigh the 'oohh that's nice' moments. It doesn't help that the singers voice appears to be a copy of Springsteen. Musically, sitting somewhere between pop and indie-country, it's dusty in places, and too lush in others. It seems detached from the lyrics at times, almost as if the band were writing pop, and the lyricist wasn't entirely sure what he was writing for.
I did a bit of background reading about the band, and the general opinion is they're better than this, but on the strength of this album, I don't see it. 4/10.

Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks
Her marriage to Jack White may have overshadowed her own musical background, but on the strength of this album, it shouldn't. Drenched in 50/60s styling, this album is quite beguiling. Elson's voice is breathy, and delicate, without being too fragile. And given her lyrics, it needs to be reasonably strong. Nice and dark, I like them. There's obligatory murder ballads (well it is kinda country), love songs, and all seem good. The production screams White, it's blues, and it's generally nice sparse dirty blues. I hear strong influences of Nick Cave and the Handsome Family in places too. Sure the album has been pretty high profile (she's a model, in addition to the White reference), but I do reckon it's worth listening to. Good blues-country. 7/10.
Here's her doing Stolen Roses (which I like) acoustically:


So there we go. I may make an effort and put some more up over the next few days, while I'm procrastinating instead of writing a presentation.

Me