4Play: Natalie Merchant, The Bird & the Bee, She & Him, Goldfrapp

April 4, 2010

Natalie Merchant - Leave Your Sleep - Nonesuch
Former singer for ’80s/’90s band 10,000 Maniacs, Merchant’s first studio album in over five years finds her adapting a variety of 19th and 20th Century American and British poetry into songs of her own. Ogden Nash, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Edward Lear are among the poets represented here, in such string-bedecked, Merchant-arranged tracks as the foreign-tinged “The King of China’s Daughter,” the folky “Peppery Man,” and the more poppy “It Makes a Change.” Merchant worked with 125 musicians in a wide range of genres for this set, and her enthusiasm for the project - not to mention her distinctive vocal talent - really shows through.


The Bird and the Bee - Interpreting the Masters: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates - Blue Note
Whether or not the occasionally campy tunes of the ’80s team Hall and Oates is your thing, you’ve got to agree that the pair became deservedly well-known for their concise songwriting skills and their way around a hook. The Bird and the Bee think so, too, hence their cover album of the pair’s hits. Opening with their funky take on “Heard it on the Radio,” B and B infuse the Hall and Oates tracks with electronica tweaks and smooth vocals, with the highlights including a bright take on “She’s Gone,” and a poppy, danceable “Kiss On My List.”



She and Him - Volume Two - Merge
M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel team up for their second duet set, with Ward putting down retro-iffic foundations of guitar, strings, and backing vox while Deschanel’s vocals float on the surface. The songwriting is pleasant enough, as are the performances on songs like the country-tinged “Thieves” and “Me and You,” or their ’50s-esque cover of NRBQ’s “Ridin’ in My Car” - but the album overall is more coffeeshop-level than anything particularly memorable. And while Deschanel’s acting in films is top-notch, her vocals, unfortunately, fall short, with her uneven tone and frequent waverings out of key. It’s background listening at best.



Goldfrapp - Head First - Mute U.S.
Presenting a carefully structured follow-up to their hit Seventh Tree album, Goldfrapp melds ’80s sensibilities and Euro-dance together for a modern disco-pop album that is both cohesive and crafty. The tracks shift through a range of emotions, from the self-criticizing “Alive” to the wall-of-sound choruses of “Believer,” the skipping beats of “I Wanna Life,” and the quirky relationship-escape of “Rocket.” They showcase both the duo’s instincts for electronica as well as their ability to temper the electro-chill with emotional vocals and lyrics.