NOVEMBER 2010 ISSUE MMUSICMAG.COM REVIEWS HOLE CNobody’sORIN TUCKER Daughter BAND [Universal] 1000 Years [] The first album released under the Hole moniker since 1998’s Celebrity Skin is Thereally solo debut from Sleater-Kinney founding member may frontwoman Courtney Love’s second solo album—co-founder,not be instantly comparable to the aggressive work of her famous riot-grrl songwriter and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson isn’t involved,band, but it doesn’t qualify as a startling departure either. Despite being nor is any other previous Hole member. So it’s Love andshort three on screams and relatively eclectic in its choice of instruments, 1000 ringers on 11 new songs—10 of which Love wroteYears with channels the do-it-yourself spirit of during every second collaborators like Billy Corgan,of its running Linda Perry time. and Alongside new the occasional cello or violin, you get a drum guitarist Micko Larkin. (Perry gets full credit on one tune, “Letter to God.”) sound that’s reminiscent of a child pounding away on Mom’s collectible tea Much of the riveting intensity of the group’s 1990s heyday appears to havetins. left Underneathalong with her theformer guest Daniel Jackson appearances by pianos and acoustic , bandmates, but there are fl ashes here of the snarling Too often, though, the slower songs trip her up. While once fury Love deployed to suchyou devastating can hear effect the back same in the echo day. thatthey wereamateur showcases musicians for harrowing capture displays when of naked they emotion, She spits out her vocals with vengeful disdain on “Skinny Little Love sounds more dispassionate these days. The production Bitch,” overdriven guitarsrecord roiling atop demos an elastic in their bassline bathroom. that doesn’t And help—the if you songs prefer have Tucker an airless, when sanded-down she’s feelas that speeds up as the song races toward a climatic pile-up at the doesn’t fi t with her visceral persona. Courtney Love’s tumultuous end. She shifts tempos andin-your-face attitude on the as more possible, contemplative she’ll rewardhistory suggests you with that hershe haswailing a compelling on “Doubt” story to and tell, and “Pacifi c Coast Highway,”preface taking stock it withas layers a noise of acoustic we’ve and all perhapscome toshe love: does. thoseIt’s just not tantalizing the one she’s few telling seconds on Nobody’s electric guitars chug along behind her. Daughter. –Eric R. Danton of buzz before a ’s cable is entirely plugged into an amplifier. –DS COURT YARD HOUNDS A side project of new offering suggested that its creator was a few strides closer to Dixie Chicks’ Martie crafting something truly monumental in both musical and social terms. Court Yard Hounds Maguire and Emily This cold and private set isn’t it, although that’s probably due more to [Columbia] Robison, Court Yard personal circumstances than anything related to talent. Wainwright Hounds delivers wrote All Days Are Nights while his mother, Kate McGarrigle, was much-anticipated dying of cancer, and there is a quiet, complex sadness even in its insight—both musical and personal—into the sisters who have less autobiographical material. There’s nothing here except piano for so long ceded center stage to Chicks singer Natalie Maines. and vocal, and Wainwright doesn’t project his words in the way Though steeped in familiar instrumentation, the album offers little we’ve come to expect from him. Instead of serenading the person of the barn-burning brashness that made the Chicks famous (save in the farthest corner of a packed theater, he’s singing to himself in perhaps the gutsy “Ain’t No Son”). Instead, its delicate folk-pop an otherwise empty room. –David Styburski prettiness perfectly suits Robison’s more-than-capable voice and the jumble of emotions, sunny and melancholy, that emerge in a song Ozomatli’s music has been called a collision cycle inspired by her 2008 divorce. Maguire’s weeping fi ddle and OZOMATLI of styles, a cultural mash-up, and a 20-car seamless harmonies are welcome as always, and her one turn on pileup of genres. It’s also some of the most lead‘1000 vocals (“Gracefully”) Years is so warmlychannels affecting that listene thers may do-it- joyfully energetic music you’ll ever hear. On wish she stepped to the mic more often. Court Yard Hounds ably its fi fth album, the L.A.-based band stirs its demonstrates that, whether with their fellow Dixie Chick or without, blend of salsa, ska, samba, funk, and hip-hop these ladies’ talent runs deep. –Katie Dodd in ways few groups could conceive. Imagine yourself spirit of punk rock Fireduring Away tossing the English Beat, Herb Alpert and the For a dozen years, the [Mercer Street/Downtown] Tijuana Brass, Caetano Veloso, and Sly and RUFUS arrangements on Rufus the Family Stone into a magical blender and Wainwright’s albums got you get some sense of Ozomatli’s eclectic approach. High points every WAINWRIGHTsecond of busierits and running his sometimes on time.’their latest, Fire Away, include “Are You Ready?,” a horn-and- All Days Are Nights: Songs naughty, occasionally percussion-driven blast of salsa-fl avored ska; “Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah,” for Lulu angry declarations of gay an exultant Latin pop anthem fi tted with shrieking sax; and “Gay Vatos [Decca] pride got louder. Each in Love,” a rockabilly-tinged tune with a soaring chorus. Even when

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