EASE DOWN THE ROAD

Go to the record store and buy some new music. Do it. It’s important. If you’re one of the few soulful people who still pay artists for their hard work, well, that’s not just good enough anymore. Make your light-fingered friends pay for their music. And I’m not talking about iTunes or Best Buy, I’m talking about real stores – the ones with history, dust and big-hearted workers who just might be a little grumpy at times. Do you want two free months of Entertainment Weekly? No. Do you want the dough you pay towards an artistic cause going to a greedy company like Apple? Hell no. Every eight weeks Ease profiles a few recent albums, hoping at least one reader heads out to the store. So here we go you tightfisted thieves, Ease’s third – and best yet – New Music installment for 2008:

The Breeders’ Mountain Battles: I never expect much out of the Deal sisters (they’re known to be drunken buffoons, don’t ya know), yet somehow they always seem to come through. This, only their fourth proper album, is a follow up to Title TK, a surprisingly good, often strange album that took the band eight years to create. Thirteen songs spread over around 35 minutes, Battles jumps around just as much as any other Breeders record, adding a few mellow, spacey stoner tunes to the band’s poppy indie-rock flexing. I never thought I’d say this, but The Breeders – with the help of Steve Albini and the benefit of those killer “stoner” tunes – have put out one of the year’s best albums. 9/10

Elvis Costello’s Momofuku: Oh man, where to begin. Fine, okay, I’ll say it: I have no use for another Elvis Costello album that sounds like this limpy Momofuku plate. I have plenty of Costello albums as is – probably too many. Yes, the songs are fine, even a bit looser and more organic than most of the man’s work (two traits Ease usually loves). That said, the 12 songs on Momo do nothing for me, nada; they sound like Elvis trying to be his late 70s self again, which I imagine is probably exciting for longtime fans. Like the songs on Neil Young’s Living With War album (which, like Momo, was quickly written, recorded and released), these no-frills tunes sound great for a while before falling flat. 5/10

Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s Lie Down in the Light: Whew. Finally, after a few years worth of sometimes amazing but mostly self-exploratory albums, Will “Bonnie” Oldham has released another solid (read: downright classic) set of songs. His best written album since Master and Everyone and his most accessible since, oh, I don’t know, Viva Lost Blues (1995), Light is a thoughtful folk record full of weird moments, beautiful singing, oddball musical turns and memorable lyrics. Oldham sounds happy, which might prove throwing to longtime fans; me, I’m happy to hear the big weirdo grinning and howling like a drunken bear. Light is the work of an artist who knows how to take the best of his abilities and turn ‘em upside down for the purpose of moving forward. “I wander and lay in whatever old bed / With good earthly music singing into my head,” sings Oldham on the album’s opener, “Easy Does It,” a song that sets the stage for the album’s title track, in which Oldham sings “Why do you frown? / Why do you try? / Why don’t you lie down in the light?” It’s an album full of heart, love, sunshine and moments of unmatched sweetness, almost as if ol’ Push has entered a second phase. 10/10

Spiritualized’s Songs in A&E: I’m sure some very deep thoughts could go into reviewing this record, but, to me at least, the Spaceman’s second band has never been nearly as groundbreaking as the music media would lead you to believe. Spiritualized’s songs are good, always, but on Songs in A&E they’re really not that different than, say, those Oasis mods. Better, easily, than the average Oasis tune, but no more inventive. In theory, these guys are one of the best of their time. In reality, they’re just another good, brainy band. A&E is probably their second best effort after the classic Ladies and Gentlemen. 7.5/10

No Age’s Nouns: This is an album that demands very few words to describe. It’s just creative enough to be called creative, just poppy enough to be called poppy and just raucous enough to be called essential. Everything sounds familiar on this proper debut album – which is a blast of loud, endlessly stylized fun – yet no one sounds like No Age. And that, friends, is why this is a special album, made especially for refined pop ears. 8/10

Portishead’s Third: It took 11 full season cycles, but against the odds these trip-hop soul experimentalists have put out their best album with Third. Every song here is worth getting to know, as each minute of each song is full of surprises that only surface after repeat listens. Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley’s arrangements are finally inventive enough to be mentioned alongside those of King Radiohead. Don’t call it a comeback. 9.5/10

Justin Townes Earle’s The Good Life: Steve Earle’s son, JT, recorded his debut album with old equipment, doing all he could to make it sound as timeless as possible. It worked. I’m not yet sure how great of a talent this young songwriter is, but The Good Life is the best debut I’ve heard in some time. JT sounds nothing like his dad, sings nothing of social concern and does everything right on this criminally overlooked record. 8.5/10

The Felice Brothers’ The Felice Brothers: Clocking in at 15 fully baked songs (many of which demand sing-along vocals from the listener), The Felice Brothers is an album almost entirely indebted to The Band’s Basement Tapes sessions with Bob Dylan. The “good ol’ boy” posturing is a bit embarrassing, but people said that same thing about another young band called Whiskeytown in 1997. Not every song hits, but the ones that do pummel with authentic lo-fi post-folk, pre-Americana fumes. 7/10

The Old 97s’ Blame it on Gravity: Not much needs to be explained here; if you’ve heard the 97s’ two classics, Fight Songs and Too Far to Care, then you’ll want to buy this Americana pop gem immediately. Gravity isn’t as good as those two lifer albums, but it’s close, and almost certainly the third best album in the band’s excellent catalog. 8.5/10