4Play

Feb. 23, 2005

Cake - Pressure Chief - Sony Music

Blending alternative country with electronica influences, straight-ahead funk rock, and a tinge of spoken word (whew!), Cake have worked their way through five albums to date (including this one), and keep proving their versatility even within the square peg genre that they’ve created for themselves. Kicking off with “Wheels,” a song heavy on the drum tracks, this album showcases both the band’s playfulness and singer John McCrea’s often underutilized vocals on tunes like “Carbon Monoxide,” with it’s traffic-ready rhythm, the chilled-out character in “Tougher Than It Is,” and their unusual cover choice, ’70s band Bread’s cheese-rocker hit, “Guitar Man.” Once you take a listen to what Cake’s been up to lately, chances are you’ll wish this album was longer than its 39 minute running time.


Various Artists - The Science Fiction Collection - Silva America Records

The science fiction fan will have just one thing to say about this collection. Wow. Now, of course there are going to be films/songs missing (every single music collection that ever comes out has its share of detractors), but this set is so well-rounded you won’t miss much. The musical numbers are interspersed with appropriately spacy sound effects (“Apollo 13 Lift Off!”, “Transporter Crew!”), and the whole thing blasts off with music from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and runs the gamut through sci-fi serious and comic, including the likes of “Armageddon,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Close Encounters,” “Galaxy Quest,” “Moonraker,” “The Matrix,” “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” “War of the Worlds,” and tons more - no wonder it takes four discs to get it all in!

John Frusciante - Curtains - Record Collection

John Frusciante, perhaps best known for his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, releases this as his sixth and final album in a series of solo CDs released last year within a six-month period. This one stands as one of the most striking of the half-dozen, with its all-acoustic approach. Featuring 11 tracks recorded at Frusciante’s house on a vintage 8-track machine, the musician wrote, sang, and performed all the songs himself, with guest appearances from The Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez, Autolux’s Carla Azar, and pal Ken Wylde on upright bass. Hints of Lenny Kravitz, Living Colour, and, of course, the Chili Peppers can be heard on songs including “Control,” “Your Warning,” “Lever Pulled,” and “Leap Your Bar.”

Various Artists - Elektra: The Album - Wind-Up Records

A fairly heavy collection of songs accompanies the new comic-book movie featuring Alias star Jennifer Garner in the lead role. Opening with Strata’s “Never There,” the album seems to have been positioned to appeal as equally as possible to guys and girls, with additional tracks from Submersed (“Hollow”), Taking Back Sunday (“Your Own Disaster”), Evanescence (“Breathe No More”), The Twenty-Twos (“5 Years”), and 12 Stones (“Photograph”). It’s a pretty straightforward set of rockers and wailers, with a few standouts, among them Jet’s “Hey Kids,” The Dreaming’s “Beautiful,” The Donnas’ “Everyone Is Wrong,” and Switchfoot’s “Sooner or Later” - and it all suits the movie’s energetic fandom feel.