Public Service Broadcasting, Inform – Educate – Entertain

2013 | Label: Test Card Recordings / Believe Digital

By Victoria Segal eMusic Contributor

05.07.13 Bumping the idea of “retro” away from the over-mined ’60s and ’70s, London duo J. Willgoose Esq and Wrigglesworth, the quaintly named men behind Public Service Broadcasting, explore the time frame between the Blitz and the Coronation, evoking a world of ration books, camp coffee and black market silk stockings. Their make-do-and-mend approach to music comes from their victorious digging through the archives, salvaging scraps of public information films, news reel and propaganda and pairing them with some thoroughly modern music. There’s no smirking kitsch, here, however: These songs are… more »

Talib Kweli, Prisoner of Conscious

2013 | Label: Javotti Media

By Christina Lee eMusic Contributor

05.07.13 In 1998, Talib Kweli said, “Every day someone ask me, ‘Where all the real MCs at?’/ They underground.” He was proudly pinpointing a shift in hip-hop’s values, how mainstream rappers wanted to be Hugh Hefner while those primarily concerned with artistry were netting only cult appeal. In subsequent releases however, Kweli endured criticism as he tried catchier hooks and wove pop culture references into his lyrics. He epitomized “conscious rap,” but he also struggled to stay within its confines.

So on his fifth LP, Prisoner of Conscious, Kweli raps to music… more »

Pistol Annies, Annie Up

2013 | Label: RCA Records Label Nashville

By Stephen M. Deusner eMusic Contributor

05.07.13 In his 2012 memoir Waging Heavy Peace, Neil Young gave a rave review to the Pistol Annies, observing that the Nashville trio was “writing their asses off.” It was an unexpected shout-out, to which the women responded via tweet that they nearly peed their pants with excitement. Such praise was warranted. On their 2011 debut, the group — which consists of Miranda Lambert, Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley delivered a batch of sharply observed country tunes that ranged from hilarious to heartbreaking and that appealed even to listeners who… more »

Natalie Maines, Mother

2013 | Label: Columbia

By Stephen M. Deusner eMusic Contributor

05.07.13 Still scarred from the backlash she endured for dissing George Bush 10 years ago, Natalie Maines has jettisoned any trace of the twang that survived the Dixie Chicks’ last album, Taking the Long Way, and has made her first real rock ‘n’ roll record. Mother is not merely a shift in musical direction or a crossover attempt; instead, it’s the sound of a woman fighting defiantly to redefine herself with a harder, steelier sound. Fortunately, Maines’s commanding voice remains intact. She nimbly navigates the slow build from soft melody to… more »