Alex Chilton | Free Again: The ''1970'' Sessions

CD Reviews

Snow Patrol | Fallen Empires

Interscope (2011)

By MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER | January 10, 2012

2.5 Stars

Word on the street had Snow Patrol looking to change up the big anthem sound for their sixth release. To a degree it's true; the boys apparently got caught up in the recent anniversary of Achtung Baby, though they haven't quite reinvented the wheel like their fellow Irish countrymen in U2 did two decades ago. Sure, there's the steady synth-build opener "I'll Never Let Go" and the near–Junior Boys backdrop in "Called Out in the Dark." But fans of shows like Grey's Anatomy and Cold Case, which have banked on the band to soundtrack wistful moments for years, need not fret — there are actually enough "Chasing Cars" retreads left to satisfy. Singer Gary Lightbody veers back and forth from being a hopeful-romantic singer of big choruses and a whisperer of cornball lyrics. Take "Life-ning": he's happy in the moment — his soccer team doing well, his favorite band on the jukebox. But he's also got "the birds and, yes, the bees." Ugh. Lightbody shines when he's being earnest ("The Symphony"), dealing with longing ("New York"), and waxing pensive ("The Garden Rules"), like he was tryin' to throw his arms around a girl. It works, sometimes.

The articulate melodic eloquence of Bill Frisell
Many of us have embarrassing moments in our past, but when one of the hippest jazz dudes around admits to donning a leisure suit and playing in a show band, you prepare for a wince on the seismic level.
Assaf Kehati Quartet | Flowers and Other Stories
The Boston-based Israeli guitarist Assaf Kehati and his quartet know how to straddle the great divide.
Ash Borer | Ash Borer
NorCal black-metal trio Ash Borer's debut full-length is as diminutive as their namesake (limited to a 150-cassette run) but no less destructive or striking as they hurtle through three tracks in 40 minutes.
Active Child | You Are All I See
Pat Grossi used to be a choirboy, which is not surprising at all, given that his full-length debut under the Active Child moniker sounds like it was cut in some sort of dimly lit, hallowed hall under the cover of night.
Review: Glee: The 3D Concert Movie
The little TV series with the can-do pipes rolls out a concert tour that's essentially a love-in with its fan base.
Review: The Smurfs
It may be a 3D movie set in a world populated by computer-animated blue-skinned natives, but this isn't Avatar .
Review: Manhattan Short Film Festival
This selection of 10 short films from around the world runs the gamut of genres, from a brisk actioner to a political documentary to playful horror.
Review: Dream House
You'd have to be crazy to quit your job in the depths of the recession, but that's just what New York publishing exec Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) does in Dream House , planning to write that novel and spend more time with his wife (Rachel Weisz) and kids in their new house in Connecticut.
Review: Janie Jones
Borrowing the name of a Clash song with which it has nothing in common, this generic riff on the Crazy Heart template by writer/director David M. Rosenthal ( Falling Up ) also cribs from Sofia Coppola's Somewhere .
Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone
Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler's documentary details Fishbone's quarter-century journey from musically-diverse South Central middle school classmates to becoming one of the most influential Los Angeles bands of the '80s.
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ARTICLES BY MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER

INTERVIEW: MICHAEL MAYER, DIRECTOR OF THE BROADWAY TOUR OF AMERICAN IDIOT | January 12, 2012
Michael Mayer has a history of being all over the map in the choices of plays he has directed. From Chekhov's Uncle Vanya to the smash rock musical Spring Awakening , he's consistently ventured out of the comfort zone.

SNOW PATROL | FALLEN EMPIRES | January 10, 2012
Word on the street had Snow Patrol looking to change up the big anthem sound for their sixth release.

THE DØ | BOTH WAYS OPEN JAWS | December 14, 2011
For people put off by the epic grandeur of Björk's recent Biophilia multimedia spectacle and longing for the song structures of Post and Homogenic , Both Ways Open Jaws will more than suffice.

GETTING ROCKED WITH COCKED N' LOADED | December 14, 2011
Two years ago, Cocked N' Loaded opened for the rabble-rousing Upper Crust at the now-defunct Harpers Ferry in Allston.

FROM CHEERS TO CHINA WITH GREG LUTTRELL | December 06, 2011
It's a Saturday afternoon in Jamaica Plain and Greg Luttrell is sipping a house special at Canary Square.

See all articles by: MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER

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