4Play

Dec. 13, 2006

The Beatles - Love

Put together by anyone else, an album of this nature could have been a near-travesty - to take classic Beatles songs, revered by millions, and remix them years after the beloved band’s demise? Hmm. But as helmed by legendary Beatles producer George Martin - perhaps the man who knew the Beatles’ way of crafting music better than anyone - it has turned into a delightful and respectful tribute to the band that continually pushed the boundaries of experimental music-making. Working with his son, Giles, Martin has delved into The Beatles’ extensive backlog of original tapes and has cut-and-pasted like no one else, making the songs into stunning audio collages - for example, John Lennon’s original demo of “Strawberry Fields” blended into an early mix of the song and frosted with the piano from “In My Life,” among other bits - and it makes for a marvel of a listen as you try to sort which parts came from which songs, and how all of this creativity could possibly have come from just one band.

Graham Coxon - Love Travels at Illegal Speeds - Parlophone

Serving as the Blur guitarist’s latest solo effort (his most recent since his successful 2004 disc, Happiness in Magazines), this set, according to Coxon, is a “concept album about love,” showing Coxon’s viewpoint through these heartfelt, storytelling songs. Bittersweet enough to stand alone, the songs here showcase Coxon’s obvious guitar skills, previously only seen... er, heard... within the songs of Blur, as well as his confident vocal stylings, as he melds punk-pop sounds into tracks like the bright “Gimme Some Love,” the more complex “You and I,” the contradictory “I Don’t Wanna Go Out,” and the disappointed - but not disappointing - “You Always Let Me Down.” Coxon writes somewhat more simply than his Blur bandmates, but sometimes the most genuine sentiments are those posed in the most basic terminology, and Coxon has put forth a lot of his personal sentiment into what is an impressively personal album.


U2 - U218 Singles - Interscope

Other than that U2 duet with Green Day (“The Saints Are Coming”), what exactly, you ask, is there to be gained by purchasing yet another U2 singles collection? The answer is, quite a bit, if you check out the tracklisting here. First of all, U218 is the first of U2’s collection discs to dip into every corner of the band’s near 30-year run, which means you’ll hear songs from 1980 all the way up to songs from their How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb album. Included are such timeless U2 tracks as “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “New Year’s Day,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” and “One,” and you’ll also, of course, get that U2/Green Day collaboration, plus a new song the band recorded with producer Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers) called “Window in the Skies.” But wait, there’s more - if you spring for the CD/DVD combo, you also get a DVD featuring performance footage from U2’s recent Vertigo tour, bringing things right up to date for one of the biggest bands in the world.


Faithless - To All New Arrivals - Sony/BMG

Serving as the follow-up to their hit greatest hits album (Forever Faithless), the UK multicultural trip-hop band drops To All New Arrivals as both a disc that will be snapped up by loyal fans and as an album that would serve as a great intro to Faithless for any new listeners. Never afraid of stepping outside of the box, Faithless has done it again with this expansive, experimental set of songs, on which they also collaborate with some standout guest stars, among them Dido and One Eskimo. Band member Maxi does a great job of inhabiting the wide range of characters that he raps through, and the whole set overall is alive and large in sound, with real-life lyrics and sonically lush instrumentations. Standouts include the opener, “Bombs” (which also features Harry Collier), “I Hope,” the title track, and the Dido-sung “Last This Day.” Surprisingly spiritual for a band that calls themselves Faithless, this album is chock-full of thoughtful, inspired tracks that will make you both tap your feet and use your brain.