James Blake, Pusha T, Grave Babies, Jim James, Darkstar, Lee Bannon, and more w/the Quickness

A group of quick, cursory reviews of albums, tracks, and other musical events that occurred this past week that I wanted to talk about a bit, which includes new stuff from James Blake, Pusha T, Grave Babies, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, and more.

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My Morning Jacket- Circuital

My Morning Jacket's latest album was a two-part surprise for me. First, I was happy to hear how alive and ambitious the first half of this album was. Not only are the hooks and instrumentation strong, but the band seems equally comfortable saying something beautiful or funny with their lyrics. But the second shocker was when the latter half of this record pulled the rug out from under me with some pretty underwhelming songwriting and vocal deliveries. While it's nice to have some familiar reference points on this album--which show up in some tried and true chord progressions and melodies--My Morning Jacket doesn't exactly refurbish these ideas in a very exciting way.

I am literally split on this album. Some points really seduce me, but others make me feel like the steam just ran out halfway through. Dang!

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