Music releases

Japandroids

POST-NOTHING

Polyvinyl Records

We used to dream, the Japandroids repeatedly sing, feeling their youth slipping away in Young Hearts Spark Fire. Now we worry about dying/ I dont want to worry about dying/ I just want to worry about those sunshine girls.

So it goes on Post-Nothing, the first full-length from the Vancouver, British Columbia, duo of guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse, who specialize in droning, catchy garage-rock salvos that express the angst of early adulthood without boring us too much with the details.

They would dearly love to stay Crazy/Forever but know the chances of that are pretty slim, which makes them want to make that much bigger a noise.

Dan Deluca,

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Lou Reid & Carolina

MY OWN SET OF RULES

Rural Rhythm Records

Most musicians have a hard time working in one nationally touring bluegrass band. But Lou Reid is in three.

He plays mandolin and sings tenor in the Seldom Scene, performs with the supergroup Longview and fronts his own band, Carolina. And hes been successful with all three.

Reid was a founding member of Doyle Lawsons Quicksilver 30 years ago when he was 25. But he had already been active in bluegrass for more than six years by then.

Reid moved on to spend four years in Ricky Skaggs band during its country phase and then moved to the Seldom Scene. After six years, he moved on to work with some traditional country artists and then, in 1992, formed Carolina with Terry Baucom.

Baucom left after a couple of years and, in 1997, Reid disbanded Carolina and rejoined the Scene. But a year later, he brought it back, continuing to work in both bands.

And fans are glad he did.

My Own Set of Rules continues the bands traditional sound with new material.

The only song from the first-generation of bluegrass is Carter Stanleys Shes More To Be Pitied, which gives Christy Reid (Lous wife) a chance to showcase her own vocal prowess.

The albums first track, Amanda Lynn, is a pun about a girl named for the instrument whose sound her cry resembles.

Theres a lot of good bluegrass gospel here the a cappella Its Hard To Stumble (When Youre Down On Your Knees), Daddy Tried, John In The Jordan, Mama and Over In The Promised Land.

Beat The Train is an instrumental that lives up to its name. And A Tall Cornstalk probably the only song ever written about a stalk of corn gives the band another instrumental workout between verses.

One picky point: Shannon Slaughters Blueridge Girl is a new song. Yet it finds a man who has found wealth and fame out west riding a train back to Virginia in hopes that the girl he loves is still waiting.

This is the 21st century. Surely they have telephones in the Blue Ridge mountains these days. And planes are faster ways to travel if youre trying to connect with an old love.

Another strong album from a good band.

Keith Lawrence

Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

Bill Frisell

DISFARMER

Nonesuch Records

Country-leaning, genre-hopping jazz guitarist Bill Frisells Disfarmer project is an instrumental suite of songs inspired by the life of photographer Mike Disfarmer, a shadowy figure who specialized in portraits of the working-class citizens of Heber, Ark., in the 1940s and 50s.

The CD sleeve is filled with dignified, melancholy pictures taken by Disfarmer, who died alone in his studio his body, according to Frisells notes, covered with mice and surrounded with cans of Spam. Disfarmer aims to shine a light on the shooters work Frisell compares him to misunderstood artists who never had the recognition they deserved during their own time: Vermeer, Van Gogh, Charles Ives and Henry Darger. But it also works quite nicely as wonderfully rootsy and evocative music for listeners not clued in to its title subject.

Accompanied by the superb ensemble of violinist Jenny Scheinman, bass player Victor Krauss, and string whiz Greg Leisz, Frisell mixes a few period pieces Arthur Crudups Thats All Right, Mama, Hank Williams Lovesick Blues, and I Cant Help It (If Im Still in Love With You) and an inventive three-part rewrite of the fiddle tune Arkansas Traveler with delicate originals that are by turns haunting and sprightly. And, like Disfarmers photos, they are not the slightest bit sentimental.

Dan DeLuca,

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Modest Mouse

NO ONES FIRST, AND YOURE NEXT

Epic Records

The eight songs on Modest Mouses first release in two years are not, unfortunately, ground-breaking new material. The EP No Ones First, and Youre Next is culled primarily from outtakes from the bands last two full-length releases, 2007s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank and 2004s Good News for People Who Love Bad News, with the addition of two new tracks.

Yet, its still a surprisingly cohesive and well-structured album. It burrows deeper into the maniacally mutated Americana genre the band created with the release of Good News. There are gritty country choruses, undulating prog-influenced guitar solos, New Orleans brass, and layers of reverb and distorted instrumentals.

While Modest Mouse has lost the quirky song structure and lo-fi ethos that made their earlier albums unique and engaging, No Ones First does re-instill the fact that the group is the master of conflicting emotions, dishing out doses of melancholy, joy, inspiration, and spontaneity in every song.

Katherine Silkaitis,

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Ashley Tisdale

GUILTY PLEASURE

Warner Bros. Records

At age 24, Ashley Tisdale is the elder of the High School Musical tribe that includes Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. On her second album, Guilty Pleasure, the now-brunet wants to forge her adulthood, but what shes crafted is a glob of uninspired pop-rock that aspires to be Pink but is really something paler.

The problem might lie with Tisdales chosen path of independence; the showbiz prodigy now fancies herself a bad girl. That takes more fortitude than can be mustered by this wan batch of songs co-produced and written (with Tisdales contributions) with an all-star team that includes Kara DioGuardi and Toby Gad. They dont seem to have gifted Tisdale with their best work.

On Hot Mess, which begins with some promising Andy Summers-style guitar, Tisdale claims to have no inhibitions, but the songs self-conscious attempts to whip up a frenzy of naughtiness prove otherwise.

There are a few glimmers of hope; Tisdale has said her heroes are Pat Benatar and Kelly Clarkson. But to succeed in the crowded hallways of teen pop, shell have to be as fearless a misfit as those two bad girls and not feel guilty about it in the morning.

Margaret Wappler,

Los Angeles Times