Yes, Madonna’s “Hard Candy” comes out Tuesday.
Of course you’re excited to hear the Material Girl go hip-hop via collaborations with Timbaland, Pharrell and Justin Timberlake.
But given that Madge hasn’t released a great record for a decade (since 1998’s “Ray of Light”), don’t get your hopes up. Sure, “Hard Candy” will be silly-fun and dancey, but it’s hard to get that worked up about a new Madonna CD when so many other talented female artists are releasing records.
So you have to ask yourself: “Do I really need another Madonna album in my collection?”
That’s right. We said it.
If you must buy “Hard Candy,” go ahead. (But first, watch the odd video for the single, “4 Minutes,” displayed prominently on her My Space page, as it might change your mind.)
Either way, here are five women with new records that are definately worth your listening time.
Scarlett Johansson, “Anywhere I Lay My Head” (Rhino, out May 20)
This is the highest-profile of the Madonna alternatives, and it’s also the oddest. Johansson’s a fine actress, but who expected her to release a record of 10 Tom Waits covers? (There’s also a lone self- penned track in there.) Johan sson worked with TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek on the project, and it’s a dreamy, bizarrely mixed slog through Waits’ seedy fairy tales.
The covers themselves are completely reimagined from Waits’ original incarnations. “Fannin’ Street,” with its familiar echos (that’s David Bowie singing backup) and lazy guitars, is a psychedelic ballad that is more elegant than gritty. “Song for Jo,” her original, is an attempt at unfazed, shoegazer vocals over acoustic guitar and homemade background noises. She does that really well.
But the mix throughout the record seems heartily tilted toward the music and Sitek’s willowy atmospherics. Johan sson’s voice almost seems like it’s just another instrument. In many songs on the record, including “No One Knows I’m Gone,” good luck deciphering the actress-singer’s whispery vocals.
Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet, self-titled (Nettwerk, out May 20)We’ve never felt safer saying this: You’ve never heard anything like this before.
Abigail Washburn plays the five-string banjo and, with her three friends, writes music that bridges the Appalachian highlands and China’s lowlands.
Seriously. This group, loosely based in Nashville, got its start making trips to China, where Washburn had studied, lived and fallen in love with the language and the culture. The group was the first U.S. government-sanctioned band to tour Tibet, and it wasn’t long before the members thought to join up permanently and tour America.
“We thought it would be cool to explore the musical possibilities of the group,” Washburn told The Post last week before playing an etown show at the Boulder Theater. “All the musicians are phenomenally capable and really musical, and they, in their own right, have really cool solo careers going. We thought if we brought the full power of everyone’s musicianship together that it could be powerful.”
And it is. Rounding out the quartet is Bela Fleck, Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee — truly some heavy hitters in the bluegrass world. “The Sparrow Quartet” is a stunning collection of music that brings you to the disparate points of inspiration behind this creative team. Most songs, like “Captain” and “Great Big Wall in China,” fuse the two worlds with distinctly otherwordly chord progressions and bluegrass vox. “Banjo Pickin’ Girl” is a celebratory traveling song, and it’s the only straightforward Appalachian rager on the album.
The most striking songs on the record are the ballads featuring Washburn’s unsettlingly winning soprano. She has the voice of an angel and the stories of a well-traveled muse, as heard in the stunning “A Fuller Wine.”
The Kills, “Midnight Boom” (Rough Trade, in stores now)
When the Kills’ 2005 full- length, “No Wow,” was released, the indie music press fell all over itself praising the two-piece’s stark and dark rock ‘n’ roll. But I found it so joyless that it was hard to like, especially when the band’s performances featured them as the constipated duo: unhappy and apathetic, like their music.
Who knew Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince would follow that up with “Midnight Boom,” a jaggedly bouncy good-times record. Granted, this record’s not all pussycats and flowers, but it is joyous at times and dancey throughout.
Disclaimer: the Kills are a girl-boy duo that shares singing duties, but Mosshart seems to be the inspired one this time out. She has all the best songs, including the minimalist “Tape Song,” the post- punk “Hook and Line” and “Last Day of Magic.” Listening to Mosshart crow, “I want you to be crazy/’Cos you’re boring, baby, when you’re straight,” in “Cheap and Cheerful,” it’s easy to love her newfound attitude.
Santogold, self-titled (Downtown, in stores now)In the same way that the singer M.I.A. brilliantly merged some of the more artistically urban world music sounds with hip-hop, Santogold and her A-list team of producers are working overtime with their soldering irons, fusing together the music of various African nations with New York hip-hop and Liverpool rock ‘n’ roll.
How could such a tasty stew not be delicious? Frontwoman Santi White’s rhymes have the obvious comparisons — M.I.A. and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs — but they also recall Debbie Harry and her fearless exploration and the bold proclamations of Le Tigre’s Kathleen Hanna.
The understated, Police- style guitars that drive “L.E.S. Artistes” are almost hypnotic, especially with White’s intoxicating mezzo-soprano yelping along.
Martha Wainwright, “I Know You’re Married, But I’ve Got Feelings Too”(Zoe, out June 10)
And the winner for best album title in 2007 is . . .
The title is taken from the chorus of this CD’s first track, “Bleeding All Over You,” and both titles, record and song, can’t help but remind you that Wainwright is her father’s daughter. In the same way that you can hear the phrasing of Loudon Wainwright III in his son, Rufus’, music, you can also hear that influence in the writing of Rufus’ sister, Martha.
Martha is a great storyteller, and with “I Know You’re Married . . .” she adds some intriguing music to the mix, never settling on one style, exploring multiple pop-folk subgenres along the way.
“You Cheated Me” is a delightful nod to the spirit of girl groups, and the grandiose production is an obvious homage to Phil Spector. “Comin’ Tonight” is written like a Springsteen album track, with Wainwright’s sometimes-wispy vocals leading the charge. And “So Many Friends” shows the similarities between Wainwright and her peer Tori Amos.
The slower songs aren’t Wainwright’s forte this time around. This record would have benefited from a couple more upbeat jaunts in the place of “Jesus and Mary,” “Tower Song” and “Hearts Club Band.” But it’s still a lovely effort from a talented woman.
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com
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