Mini Reviews

A A A Comments Thursday, Jan 10 2008

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Bear in Heaven, Red Bloom of the Boom (Hometapes). Any one of these songs might've worked brilliantly on the soundtrack to the film Morvern Callar, especially between the cuts by Can and Holger Czukay. Drawing from those artists, as well as Brian Eno, Bear in Heaven creates some damn fine psych-ambient Krautrock. — Jon Solomon

Cafe Tacuba, Sino (Universal Music Latino). Known to many as "Radiohead Latino," Cafe Tacuba has done wonders for the rock en español movement. But such a simple classification disserves Mexico City's finest and most ambitious export, whose latest inspirations jump between Brian Wilson, '70s progressive rock and the group's own back catalogue. Muy bueno. — Nick Schreiber

Carbon/Silicon, The Last Post (Caroline). In 1975, before Mick Jones joined the Clash and Tony James hooked up with Generation X, they played in a band called London S.S. Three decades later, the duo have joined forces again and taken a few cues from their punk days, especially on tunes like "What the Fuck," which harks back to the Clash's "Guns on the Roof." — Solomon

Daft Punk, Alive 2007 (Virgin). Never mind that the robotic beats and bass lines from this Daft Punk performance are more European than cigarette smoke and street performers, or that they remind you of that sleazy club you went to during Spring Break. Alive 2007 will make you want to dance, dance, dance. — Schreiber

Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh, "Holdin' Our Own" (Stag Records). As the man Rob Zombie commissioned to pen tunes for The Devil's Rejects, Jesse Dayton knows his way around gags of all description — but "Holdin' Our Own" a series of old-school C&W duets with the willowy Brennen Leigh, stops well short of parody. Indeed, the likes of "We Hung the Moon" do George and Tammy proud. — Roberts

Various Artists, WWE Raw Greatest Hits: The Music (Columbia). Rick Rubin has his name on some of the most interesting and influential music recorded over the past two decades — so perhaps he should be given a pass for executive-producing this compilation of sonic chokeholds like the Rock's "If You Smell" and Shawn Michaels's "Sexy Boy." Then again, some sins are too egregious to forgive. — Roberts

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