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THE
WHITE STRIPES
Get Behind Me Satan
(V2)
Who is Jack White? Is he Janis Joplin, whom he sounds like
on “My Doorbell”? Is he Robert Plant and Jimmy Page
all rolled into one, as on the Led Zeppelin-influenced “The
Denial Twist”? On their fifth album, today’s premier
interpreters of the blues-rock tradition sound like an original
outfit called The White Stripes only on the leadoff track.
Sure to be a massive hit, “Blue Orchid” has the
hypnotic, danceable beats wedded to rock “shock and awe”
that made “Seven Nation Army” a favorite of remixers
worldwide. On many of the other songs, the artful, chameleon-like
Jack and Meg can justly be accused of being derivative. But
then again, without a Chuck Berry, there wouldn’t have
been a Jimi Hendrix. DG
FEIST
Let It Die
(Polydor/Universal)
Creating so much of a buzz in its import edition that Universal
decided to release it domestically, Let It Die is the second
album by Canadian singer Leslie Feist. Covering ground between
the folk-tronica of Beth Gibbon and the retro-electro-disco
of onetime roommate Peaches, Feist has the kind of understated
voice that lulls you into a state of passive hypnosis...before
going for the jugular. “Tout Doucement” has old-fashioned
charm, “When I Was A Young Girl” is chillingly nostalgic,
and “Inside Out” gives a Bee Gees classic a contemporary
clubland touch. Recorded in Paris with Gonzales (Uber Alles)
and Renaud Letang, Feist (who also sings with recent Japan
visitors Broken Social Scene) has generated enough interest
to see the singer booked for her first Japan tour in September.
DG
FOUR TET
Everything Ecstatic
(Domino)
Few can claim to be as successful at welding live instruments
with cutting-edge electronic production as Four Tet’s
Kieran Hebden. So successful was the 25-year-old Londoner
that he virtually invented a new genre on 2003’s Rounds.
Hebden drags his latest electro-acoustic, scatty hip-hop stylings
toward the outer confines of free jazz, a direction already
hinted at in his previous three albums and his Late Night
Tales compilation. It kicks off in uncompromising fashion,
a lolloping drum roll a mere prologue before Hebden ramrods
a heavily distorted bass line down the song’s throat.
Lead single “Smile Around My Face” is more palatable,
with its playful sample makin’ out like a theremin manipulated
by a man with a wicked sense of humor. That sums up Hebden
alright, and it makes Everything Ecstatic almost as much fun
as it’s title suggests. David Hickey
REI HARAKAMI
Lust
(Sublime)
It’s a more self-confident Harakami on the 25 minutes
of rarefied electronica that make up his first album since
2001’s minor gem Red Curb. Since then, Harakami has collaborated
with veteran Akiko Yano and pop singer Ua, as well as remixing
fellow Kyotoites Quruli. Bouyed by this attention, which has
seen him dip one tentative toe into the mainstream, Harakami
even takes on vocal duties on “Owari no Kisetsu,”
revealing a plaintive, if hardly emotive voice, for a cover
of a 1973 song by Harutomi Hosono. But Harakami never gets
complacent, especially on “Joy,” which fizzes and
pops like a revved-up Royksopp doing star-jumps in the local
gym. “Grief & Loss,” meanwhile, is potted with
twists and turns, its sleek minimalist groove flexing over
austere, but playful, keyboard prods. Proof, then, that Lust
is not a sin that should be punished. DH
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