4Play

Oct. 25, 2006

The Killers - Sam’s Town - Island

At first influenced by the likes of The Smiths and Duran Duran, Las Vegas band The Killers now seem to be culling inspiration from a different source, namely that of Americana and the desert city from whence they came. Perhaps they decided to stay a little longer in the cowboy town that their video “All These Things That I’ve Done” resided in - a run-down, gritty, more guitar-friendly place with wide-stretching horizons and a bit of a seedy underbelly. These tracks, although they still have that Killers sound to a degree, are definitely a different turn for the band. Pulling in producers Flood and Alan Moulder (U2, NIN), these are super-sized songs with a stadium feel, especially on tracks like “When You Were Young,” “Bones,” and “Bling (Confession of a King).” It’s also something of a concept album - a risk for a sophomore effort, but not a bad one - with “Enterlude” and “Exitlude” tracks as buffers and an overall Old Western feel that shows that The Killers are capable of walking down many roads - although their boots might get a little dusty at first as fans adjust, chances are this one’ll be a winner.

Sting - Songs from the Labyrinth - Deutsche Grammophon

The Police’s frontman-gone-solo Gordon Sumner, aka Sting, is nothing if not full of surprises. From his forays into Renaissance-influenced pop to his jazz odysseys to his collaborations with everyone from Cheb Mami to Sean “Puffy” Combs, Sting keeps growing and changing perhaps more than any other modern rocker today. Now branching out once more into highbrow material - as inspired by receiving a lute as a gift - Sting here covers the music of John Dowland, the melancholy madrigalist, singing Dowland’s songs and accompanying himself on lute, with Edin Karamazov playing additional lute and archlute tracks. It takes guts to tackle something like this, especially when there are entire societies devoted to ancient musics who may scoff at a pop star’s foray - but Sting pulls this effort off nicely. It’s not all perfectly played, and some of the vocals are a bit thick when compiled into those 17th century harmonies, but Sting’s fascination with the instrument and Dowland’s music shows through - and perhaps that’s the true nature of “modern rock” - not being defined or limited by genres. Good show, Sting.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife - Capitol

Speaking of not being limited by genres, The Decemberists eschew the boundaries of modern music and combine their obsessions with sea chantys and traditional folk right into electric-guitar-based tracks, and somehow do it seamlessly and with compelling performance art that you can somehow hear even when you can’t see it. Charming and evocative, their tunes, which range from “normal” pop song length to complex tracks that last up to 10 minutes, showcase one of their most striking elements, namely Colin Meloy’s quirky, storytelling lyrics that sing of December-cold lovers, waves on a mission, and all the ships at sea, among other things. There are marches and ballads, thoughtful missives and rollicking songs that pirates would love, and it’s all cohesive to The Decemberists unique sound and approach to their music, which is unlike anything else out there. Now on a major label, having left their former home at Kill Rock Stars, The Decemberists’ are now poised to meet a larger audience, and hopefully the musical climate is right to give them the chance they should have had years ago.

R.E.M. - And I Feel Fine: Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987 - I.R.S./Capitol

At first a little underground experimental band out of Athens, Georgia, and now regarded as one of the biggest and best-known modern rock founders of the ‘80s and ‘90s, R.E.M. has influenced plenty of strum-rock bands out there today, and are continually being rediscovered by new listeners even as they continue to craft new songs. The songs included on this best-of effort - their second following the 1998 not-quite-complete collection Eponymous - is a more full set of R.E.M.’s best early songs, and will both delight old fans and introduce new fans in the best possible way. Included here are all the most wide-ranging R.E.M. hits from that time, from “Radio Free Europe” to “The One I Love,” plus more obscure tracks that were well-loved by college radio and that would actually stand up well beside today’s indie-rock tracks, among them “Can’t Get There From Here,” “Life and How to Live It,” “Superman,” and the singalong-if-you-can anti-hit “It’s The End of the World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine)”. Plus, if you drop the extra $2-3 for the collector’s edition, you’ll get a huge set of rarities on the second disc that are well worth it and that round out this collection perfectly.