The best album this week is definitely the White Stripes’ Icky Thump. I’m one of those people who thinks everything Jack White does is genius, so I’ve been anxiously awaiting this one. Would it sound like the old White Stripes albums? Or more like The Raconteurs (who I love even more)? The answer is: more of the former and less of the later, but the White Stripes’ sound has evolved. The songs are generally more bluesy and the production values are cleaner, as if they were recorded in a proper production studio instead of a garage. And like their previous album Get Behind Me Satan, there’s a country and folk influence woven in to the punk, rock, blues tapestry. “You Don’t Know What Love Is” sounds like it could have been written for Loretta Lynn. (Jack White produced and arranged her last album.)

• White Stripes: Icky Thump

Other New and Notable This Week

• Maps: We Can Create
  Mellow electro-pop: think Postal Service, Pet Shop Boys, Spiritualized, Sigur Ros, My Bloody Valentine (on Valium), Low, Travis or maybe even a down-tempo Charlatans or Happy Mondays
• The Polyphonic Spree: The Fragile Army
  I grew up in Dallas, so to me they sound like a matured Tripping Daisy plus a symphony. But if you don’t know them from their previous albums, the best comparisons would be Arcade Fire, Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. Section 22: Running Away is the best track to give you a taste.
• Stateless: Stateless
  Sounds like DJ Shadow, Tricky, Radiohead, or Faithless
• Frank Black: 93-03 (Greatest Hits)
  He’s talented, but nothing he did after The Pixies measured up.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.