Timbaland. Shock Value 2. Blackground/Interscope.
2 stars (out of 5)
Timbaland, formerly one of the world's most innovative producers, sees his stock continue to plummet with Shock Value 2.
This sixth solo effort seems little more than a platform for Timbo to show off his well-stocked little black book.
A ragtag assemblage of guests (J. T., Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus - even his brother Sebastian) highlights the paucity of imagination, with the glossy yet vacuous Lose Control and We Belong to the Music merely resembling bad ringtones.
Kudos, though, for unleashing Chad Kroger's inner crooner on Tomorrow in the Bottle.
Single download: Tomorrow in the Bottle
For those who like: Top 40 radio (Nelly Furtado, OneRepublic, Justin, et al.)
- John Hayden
2 stars (out of 5)
Does the guy who wrote the liner notes for this disc really believe the Wellington stalwarts are "one of the most intriguing and original bands I've heard in ages"?
Really?
Sure, the Strugglers render their folk-blues tastefully enough, and Rick Bryant's certainly got the pipes to give things a soulful edge, but the band's insistence on imbuing its songs with a distinctly New Zealand flavour - whence the "original" claim, perhaps - too often results in lyrics that are weak or contrived, and hardly intriguing.
Maybe they're brilliant live.
Single download: I Wanna Be With You
For those who like: Rick Bryant, Bill Lake
- Paul Mooney
4 stars (out of 5)
One of America's more prolific musicians, Timothy B. Schmit has played bass with The Eagles since the mid-'70s, appeared on recordings by Steely Dan and Crosby Stills & Nash and released four solo albums.
For his latest, the Californian recruits the slide dobro skills of Keb Mo', the vocal talents of The Blind Boys of Alabama and other notables, including Van Dyke Parks and The Band's Garth Hudson.
Hence a collection that ranges from soft rock to acoustic folk-blues benefits from some outstanding execution.
But it is also Schmit's ability to sing about life's small details that elevates this material above the pack.
Single download: Secular Praise
For those who like: The Eagles, Jackson Browne
- Shane Gilchrist
3 stars (out of 5)
The third album from Midlake suggests this is not a quintet from Denton, Texas, but a group of star-gazers from south England, near Stonehenge perhaps.
Chamber chants, backed by wide-panned backing vocals and further enhanced by keyboard or woodwind lines set at appropriate harmonic intervals, begin softly before being elevated by fuzzed-out lead breaks and cascades of acoustic guitar.
Warm, eery and, yes, cheesy at times, The Courage of Others revisits some of the sounds of early-'70s soft-rock: regurgitated in loving fashion are soft flutes, warbly organ tones and deep snares almost buried in the mix.
Single download: Winter Dies
For those who like: Wishbone Ash
- Shane Gilchrist
5 stars (out of 5)
With a shorter name but a bigger sound than that which earned them a Mercury Prize nomination for 2007 album The Bairns, sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank return with another gritty collection of Northern England folk songs.
This time the offering is "a slightly warmer shade of sad".
Named after the track Here's The Tender Coming, which documents the type of boat in which men were press-ganged into war, the words also reveal the soft, reflective mood the sisters bring to bear.
Despite the addition of drums, bass and fuller arrangements, the Unthanks' ability to still a room with haunting melodies remains undiminished.
Single download: Betsy Bell
For those who like: The Pogues, traditionals with a twist
- Shane Gilchrist
