Word: sound
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...Americana, complete with rowdy railroad men, brassy broads, dirt roads, and plenty of cigarette smoke. Atypically relinquishing song-writing duties on “Christmas in the Heart,” Dylan refrains from dramatically reworking the classics, instead blending his unique brand of gravelly gravitas with the schmaltzy sound of sleigh bells to surprisingly pleasant effect. Hilariously backed by a perfectly earnest bunch of session singers, Dylan’s rough-hewn voice crackles over their happy harmonizing like an old uncle with a bit too much bourbon in him. Whether he’s gleefully awaiting Saint Nick?...
...hear what isn’t there. “Christmas in the Heart,” with few original lyrical or arrangement contributions to Dylan’s credit, is an ideal album to take at face value. With chuckle-inducing songs, jovial back-up singers, and heartwarming sound effects, Dylan’s ruggedly whimsical compilation achieves just the right amount of warmth and fuzziness that a Christmas album should—nothing more and nothing less...
...Earthly Delights,” the duo’s fifth LP, reflects the completion of Lightning Bolt’s transition from grasping at their elusive live sound to crafting a full-fledged studio album. The differences from 2005’s “Hypermagic Mountain” are small but significant, taking the band beyond mere reproduction of a live show. The wider sonic range afforded by proper mic placement and high-end recording equipment gives bassist Brian Gibson’s densely layered effects a bit of breathing room, revealing a textural intricacy that is lost...
...drums. “Rain on Lake I’m Swimming In” is a wash of echoed, harmonized bass melody underneath whimsical, indecipherable processed vocals. Both of these tracks show a marked deviation from the duo’s relentless riffage without sacrificing their signature sound...
Like the Grateful Dead, that other storied American collective, the Flaming Lips are the residue of a revolutionary and long-outmoded turning point in popular music: the Dead had the psychedelic era; the Lips had punk rock. Both bands derive their sound from a host of intersecting genres and traditions: the Dead had blues, country, and folk; the Lips have punk, pop, and space rock. But unlike the Dead, or any other group of comparable longevity, the Flaming Lips have fashioned a legacy through constant rejuvenation. Their greatest albums—1993’s “Transmissions from...