System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian’s 2007 solo debut,
Elect the Dead, was a harmless brain-dump, but the idea of
recording it live with an orchestra is another story. The Auckland
Philharmonia Orchestra gamely chase Tankian into a maze of
art-song, but where SoD might turn lyrics like “prophets all
destroying the Tao” into an apocalyptic blitz, surging symphonics
expose it as the doofy pomp it is. And asking classical musicians
to play a song called “Beethoven’s Cunt”? That’s just mean.

Rating:
1.5 Stars

Five studio albums in, California psych-garage trio Black Rebel
Motorcycle Club are still religious zealots — worshippers in
rock’s Gothic cathedral. The song titles tell the tale: “Bad
Blood,” “War Machine,” “River Styx.” In “Aya,” singer-guitarist
Peter Hayes moans, “She’s a reckless lover/With blood-stained
hands/Around the neck of her helpless man.” There was a time, circa
2001, when Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were supposed to inherit the
Earth, or at least the mantle of Rock’s Great…

Rating:
3 Stars

At its website, Montreal’s Breakglass Studios — run by
Besnard Lakes bandleader Jace Lasek — trumpets its custom
1969 Neve mixing board, used by Led Zeppelin on Physical
Graffiti. The same piece of equipment was used on “Albatross,”
a standout on the Lakes’ immersive second LP, a magnificently
oceanic meld of Beach Boys harmonies, My Bloody Valentine tidal
waves and Phil Spector girl-group siren songs shot through with
soaring guitar. It’s a producer’s wet dream, like most of
the…

Rating:
3.5 Stars

Part Kanye West, part Brian Eno, producer-musician Brian Burton
— a.k.a. Danger Mouse — has defined himself with his
excellent taste in brilliant misfits. His biggest smash was Gnarls
Barkley, with whom he turned oddball former Dirty South rapper
Cee-Lo into a falsetto swinging soulman on the sublime “Crazy,”
triggering moving karaoke performances worldwide. He’s helped
blues-rock freaks the Black Keys find their groove; helped
midcareer weirdo Beck locate his mojo on 2008’s
Modern…

Rating:
4 Stars

Shout Out Louds are proud indie-rock neocons: 2007’s Our Ill
Wills ripped a melody from the Cure, a song title from the
Smiths and vocal moves from Bright Eyes. The third album from the
Stockholm quintet brilliantly works a classic indie look: airy,
sleek, gingerly heroic guitar zone-outs about a love-starved dude’s
battle against emotional torpor. Singer-guitarist Adam Olenius
evokes suicide attempts and binge drinking, the girls he can’t win
and the family he can’t satisfy, as producer Phil Ek…

Rating:
3 Stars