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ADULT POP
Mark Knopfler &
Emmylou Harris, "All the Road Running" (Warner Bros.) ***
Though he's never been
particularly showy about it, Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler remains one
of the coolest guitar heroes this side of Richard Thompson -- consistently
impressive but never flamboyant; fiery but melodic; inventive but with deep
roots in folk and the blues. For her part, Emmylou Harris is one of the most
empathetic duet partners any male singer could ask for, and she's recorded
with some of the best: Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and, of course,
Gram Parsons, whom she always credits with "teaching me how to sing, and
giving me a reason to."
Knopfler, 56, and
Harris, 60, first met in 1987 on a Chet Atkins TV special, and they went on
to spend a staggering seven years collaborating on this set of a dozen
duets. But it was worth the wait: Harris' angelic tones perfectly complement
Knopfler's throaty growl, an instrument as underrated as his guitar. And as
with all great partnerships, the sum is greater than the parts, especially
on atmospheric ballads such as the low-key but uplifting "Rollin' On," the
gently lilting "This Is Us" and the closing "If This Is Goodbye," one of
several tunes inspired by 9/11.
Both artists contribute
to the songwriting, and the album falls flat when the collaborators veer
away from the mid-tempo grooves where they're most comfortable to
incorporate some Cajun seasoning ("Red Staggerwing") or attempt a straight
country tune in the mode of George Jones and Tammy Wynette ("Love and
Happiness"). If Knopfler and Harris had taken just a little more time to
replace these failed experiments with some stronger originals, or if they'd
replaced those duff tunes with some well-chosen covers (I'd have loved to
hear them tackle a Johnny Cash and June Carter number), they could have had
a classic, but this disc is worth your time nonetheless.
ALT-ROCK
Secret Machines, "Ten
Silver Drops" (Reprise) ***1/2
Formed in Dallas in
2000, with time spent in Oklahoma and Chicago (where they recorded an early
EP), brothers Ben and Brandon Curtis, who play guitar and keyboards/bass,
and monstrously hard-hitting drummer Josh Garza finally settled in the
thriving Brooklyn rock scene. But the trio's first album, "Now Here Is
Nowhere" (2004), had little in common with the frenetic New Wave of New Wave
music that's been emanating from that locale in recent years, reaching
instead for a hybrid of classic psychedelic-rock sounds steeped in pre-"Dark
Side of the Moon" Pink Floyd, '70s space rock such as Hawkwind and the
English shoegazer movement of the early '90s.
As impressive as that
debut was, the self-produced follow-up "Ten Silver Drops" is a big leap
forward, with Secret Machines concentrating as much on the song craft as on
the sonic swirl. With the exception of the obviously New York-inspired "I
Hate Pretending," a propulsive story-song about a drug deal gone bad, the
words don't command much attention; the title of the opening "Alone, Jealous
and Stoned" is typical of the mindset that seems to prevail when it comes to
lyric-writing.
But this time out, the
band has crafted a surplus of melodies as powerful as Garza's rhythms, the
singing has grown much stronger and more self-assured, and it all combines
to create a fantastically trippy and otherworldly disc that nonetheless
keeps you humming along and banging your head in time.
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