REVIEW: TAYLOR SWIFT - THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT - THE ANTHOLOGY

4/5

Poetic Justice.

After midnight, Taylor Swift is in her new era. Taking a version of what she announced at the Grammy Awards before her tour stop in Tokyo to 'Anthology' levels. 'TTPD' is the perfect touchdown, mere months after Swift's beau Travis Kelce embraced her on the field after winning an epic Super Bowl with his Kansas City Chiefs. After the 'Evermore' 'Folklore' of the country/pop singer's Bon Iver like foray into the woods (with a Justin Vernon duet to match), Taylor Swift burnt the oil of a thousand 'Midnights' for her last album two years back (can you believe it?). But now a week after Maggie Rogers releases her latest album after a hard to fathom pair of calendars, don't forget about Tay. Because like a few hours after the midnight of her signature 'Style', Taylor has given us 'The Anthology' double-album of her latest classic 'The Tortured Poet's Department', saying hey to exes like Joe, or ones from 1975. Another version, like Taylor's master power move in re-recording her own records for the ownership, that shows she is the new great American songbook, page-by-page. Given to you seemingly week-by-week with the 'Fortnight' single and reputation video featuring Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles and an all singing Post Malone who shows that just like Beyoncé, he can fit in this genre like 'Levi Jeans' as stocks soar. Put this poet next to 'Cowboy Carter' and the new 'Visions' of legend Norah Jones for this year's best, regardless of gender. Like 'Deadpool & Wolverine', Blake Lively's bestie Swiftie is set to dazzle you. Especially the ex-men. Now the poets, like Dylan, have all put down their pens.

Torture motherf#####, like the Wu-Tang Clan. I'll f#####g, I'll f#####g see your Spotify streams up and keeping feeding you wonderful written songs with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner like a Disney documentary cabin in the woods. In black and white and her own embrace for the perfect portrait of album work for this new Republic, this record is all you need to make the music to your Friday feeling new. Featuring formidable collaborations with Florence + The Machine ('Florida!!!' with all the exclamation points), like the time Welch went Gaga with Lady for 'Hey Girl', and a shout-out to Charlie Puth on the titanic title track, you're glad to see Swift again, so soon. This synth-pop, self-conscious, "lifeline" of introspection is a map of the soul, but also one that puts even the most famous cities on the map, like welcoming you back to New York. 'So Long, London'...we've been waiting for you for too long. "And so I enter into evidence / My tarnished coat of arms / My muses, acquired like bruises / My talismans and charms / The tick, tick, tick of love bombs / My veins of pitch black ink / All's fair in love and poetry," Swift says as she takes her new stand in this department of justice, 'Fresh Out The Slammer'. The only question is, is this 'TTPD' and the picture-perfect logo for your next company letterhead a dig at ex Alwyn's group chat name with 'Ripley' and "Sexy Priest" Andrew Scott and 'Aftersun' actor of the moment Paul Mescal who both star alongside each other in 'All Of Us Strangers', out this weekend in Japan?

The answer is...who gives a f###?! None of this is our business, but the great music is, as Taylor drops barbs in the titles. From 'My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys' and 'But Daddy I Love Him', to 'I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)' and 'The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived' (ouch...in more ways than one). Or hidden meanings, like 'thanK you aIMee" to that high-school bully who really shan't remain nameless or the lyrical exercise of the legendary 'Clara Bow' beginning with the beautiful belle bow of, "beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours/Demanding more" (you got it!). Getting down on 'Down Bad' Taylor poses some questions like, 'Whose Afraid Of Little Old Me', wondering in this self-reflection, like one of your own, whether she's 'Guilty As Sin?' Following a 'Loml' that is anything but a LMFAO, Swift attests that she can 'Do It With A Broken Heart' and, "I can hold my breath/I've been doin' it since he left/I keep finding his things in drawers/Crucial evidence I didn't imagine the whole thing/I'm sure I can pass this test." Compelling and concerning like, "I'm so depressed, I act like it's my birthday every day/I'm so obsessed with him, but he avoids me like the plague/I cry a lot, but I am so productive, it's an art/You know you're good when you can even do it with a broken heart," in post chorus for this big like Malone. Karl, Moses or Austin.

'Chloe Or Sam Or Sophia Or Marcus'. 'Cassnadra'. 'Peter'. 'Robin'. There are outstanding odes here on a first name basis here, like 'Jolene'. You know, the one that took your man like Dolly Parton sang and Beyoncé refused in perfect tribute in this age of making 'Lemonade'. There are also new titles for this generation, like 'The Black Dog' of Led Zeppelin, or 'The Albatross' of Fleetwood Mac. Not to mention 'The Bolter', 'The Prophecy', or 'The Manuscript' of this movie making songbook that is anything but scripted from 'The Alchemy' of this alchemist like a super producer. As 'The Anthology' dives deeper, we see even more shades of Swift in subtle and not so strokes. Now you might think, especially in this modern age where we try to destroy each other like the Donald not being able to trump the political heft one Taylor made tweet produced, that 'I Hate It Here', or that this is all 'So High School'. But look deeper into 'People's Windows' like the loneliness of Leonardo DiCaprio's aviator surrounded by Pan Am hostesses in 'Catch Me If You Can' and you might be able to grab a hold of that warm Christmas family life by the eve of the fire that you've been checking twice on wish list for since you were a child. On this 31-track magnum you may wonder 'How Did It End' like, "We hereby conduct/This post-mortem/He was a hot house flower to my outdoorsmen/Our maladies were such/We could not cure them/And so a touch that was my birth right became foreign," or an Apple Music word hunt. But like Shania getting you good, 'imgonnagetyouback' with Prince punctuation for this soulchild of Musiq offers hope amongst all the petty pretensions...that comes from those stunted suggestions in reaction to this revelatory work of beautiful break-up ballads and comedy and tragedy balance. But is that hope to heal or to hurt? For better or worse, you be the judge. The jury is out. Call up the department, with this anthology, torture has never felt so good. The dopest poets society. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Fortnight (Feat. Post Malone)', 'So Long, London', 'Peter'.

REVIEW: MAGGIE ROGERS - DON'T FORGET ME

4/5

Don't You...Forget About Maggie.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but I would never cancel restaurant reservations with Maggie Rogers, especially for Knicks tickets. They weren't the only ones who lost! These days, behind Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and OG Anunoby and them, the New York Knicks aren't losers baby like Beck any more. But still, that's no excuse. Maggie Rogers is a winner too. Ever since going 'Alaska' viral at NYU with you know who. Following two independent inspirations ('The Echo' (2012) and 'Blood Ballet' (2014)), the indie-pop star's definitive debut ('Heard It In A Past Life', featuring smash singles and the still as fresh as the day I first heard her, 'Say It') was the album of 2019 as she garnered a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. Two years ago (what...already), Maggie switched it up with a 'Surrender' to the dance-floor, freedom, the beauty of a lustful love and so much more. And now, giving us an album every other year, Rogers like Hammersmith is hammering it home for her third album (already). Cementing her big-three (don't you forget about the 'Notes From The Archive' collection either) and her place in pop prominence, like taking tambourine centre stage with Springsteen. All whilst giving us one of 2024's best, alongside Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' and the 'Visions' of Norah Jones. All before the 'Tortured Poets' of the star of stars Taylor Swift enters the department next week. Now, as you can see another fresh 'do from Rogers on the soon-to-be iconic album artwork of 'Don't Forget Me', how about this version of Maggie?

Yet she is 'So Sick Of Dreaming' like the second single and third track after the incredible introduction of 'It Was Coming All Along' and the great guitars of album highlight 'Drunk' on a sobering sonnet. "So you think you're on the right track/Cruising on the bridge in your gray Cadillac/You think it's easy/Walking on the water like there's steppin' stones/But when every little thing's up for takin'/Oh, it makes me want to sing, my heart's breakin'/Oh, there ain't no diamond ring you could buy me to take me home." This instant iconic number that feels like it's been doing them for years is now one of this amazing artist's strongest singles, like the porch light leaving 'Light On' and the wild 'Horses' that couldn't drag you away from the most romantic lyric about giving head. Let's see a Rolling Stone cover for the Capitol Records star, who is skirting scalpers with the more personal ticket sales for her newly announced tour in this twofer. No one holds the stage with so much grace as one of the most electric talents like Fleetwood or Florence. A straight-forward songwriting classic recorded track-by-track for the take at New York City's Electric Lady, this half-hour, all power, "rough journal entry" kills is, like 'The Kill' can attest. This top ten of "simple baselines" is simply beautiful, like the soul of Al Green. Going down easy like the Sunday morning beauty of doing the laundry and getting your apartment together to the end of the weeks reset. Singing along to 'If Now Was Then', "Standin' on the edge of our old corner on Broadway/I passed a couple kids and, oh, it felt like yesterday/That we were holding hands and walkin' right down 15th Street/The wind was in my hair and you had that red flush in your cheek, oh."

La Blogothèque, we hope you're getting the perfect place in Paris with amazing acoustics ready for a live performance of the piano perfect outstanding ode, 'I Still Do'. The beautiful ballad next classic of the 'Back In My Body' singer, saying "'Cause love is not a debt you pay/It's not something you can give away/Love is not the final straw/But it's always a reason to risk it all/Oh, it's true/At least the way that I loved you/Oh, and I still do", in a classic chorus of quotables. A message we all need to heed in this day and dating age. For all the notes this singer has in different strokes (like the 'On & On & On' spiritual sequel), let's not forget her greatest one. 'Never Going Home', 'All The Same' as, "Walk in and the world starts turning/I can't hеlp looking for you at the bar/Catch a glimpse of someone with kind eyes, dancing/Whose jacket's the same color as the seats in your car." Motel to open road, this is the American songbook penned by the likes of Dolly and Linda, that Shania and Sheryl stirred with their writing instruments. Now, finding her place, after the pixie blonde chased, sensational sophomore set, with this pure songwriting third for her Holy Trinity that really feels like music you have heard in a past life, she ends 'Don't Forget Me' with the first single of the same name that spearheaded this project. How fitting and how could we as she takes us back to her 'Dog Days' roots with a simple and beautiful video camera rolling home movie. "So close the door and change the channel/Give me something I can handle/A good lover or someone that's nice to me/Take my money, wreck my Sundays/Love me 'til your next somebody/Oh, but promise me that whеn it's time to leave/Don't forgеt me/Don't forget me." We never could. Unforgettable. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'So Sick Of Dreaming', 'Drunk', 'I Still Do'.

REVIEW: VAMPIRE WEEKEND - ONLY GOD WAS ABOVE US

4/5

Ladies and Gentlemen...The Weekend.

Above us, only sky...and one of the best New Music Friday's in recent memory. And this is a week after 'Cowboy Carter' Beyoncé and a week before the new Maggie Rogers, 'Don't Forget'. Not to mention the 'Tortured Poets Department' of Taylor Swift in a year that's already seen so many big albums from Green Day to Norah Jones. This week, we get a new album from The Black Keys for you 'Ohio Players', partly produced by Beck, who's in town (Tokyo) this week for two acoustic sets on the same Saturday. And that's before we even unpack the new J. Cole mixtape before he deletes it later and all that beef with Kendrick Lamar cooked up. But before all that, how about one of the best modern day rock acts who brought the enthusiasm back like the final season of Curb? Pretty, pretty good, Vampire Weekend matched iconic album covers in polos with endearing earworms that stayed with you longer than that last single about sleeping around that just didn't stick or take. Now, for their first official album since the departure of keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij ('Father Of The Bride' like Steve Martin in 2019, was originally meant to be a solo), the big-three aren't claiming they're bigger than Jesus, like The Beatles...but maybe they're that little bit closer.

This Daily News love letter column to New York City and its hip-hop like graffiti subways is a beast, boy. It'll have you walking the walls like Spider-Man, or the stress of your morning commute when you just wish you could web yourself out of there. This fifth album from the indie rock and roll act is a killer, carriage to carriage. Manhattan, Los Angeles, London and here in Tokyo all played host to sensational studio sessions that stirred this new material, pressed like blue jeans. The result in this 20th century New York City aesthetic is modern art for your Guggenheim and MoMA's. 'Only God Was Above Us' is not narcissism from remaining members Ezra Koenig, bassist Chris Baio and drummer Chris Tomson, but actually the real Daily News headline from May 1st, 1988. Recounting the Aloha Airlines Flight 243 incident, that saw structural failure resulting in the aircraft's roof being torn off mid-flight. As one passenger so eloquently put it, when they should have understandably been truly terrified, "only God..." This album, debuted on vivid vocalist Koenig's 40th birthday, during the total solar eclipse (what a way to celebrate...above us only a blacked out sky), features the dual single stokes 'Gen-X Cops' and the new classic 'Capricorn' (which I'm doing everything I can to not send to the girl I'm currently talking to whose birthday is in January. Keep it cool, man. Keep it cool). And the latest 'Classical' and 'Mary Boone'. Not to mention the perfect summer smashes to come in 'Ice Cream Piano' and The Beach Boys meets Simon and Garfunkel sounding name, 'The Surfer'.

"Capricorn, the year that you were born/Finished fast and the next one wasn't yours/Too old for dyin' young, too young to live alone/Sifting through centuries, for moments of your own." See! Look! I'm doing it already! Yet you can't deny the classic music video that brings all of NYC together, even though I'll probably get rejected after this. Searching to 'Connect', like us all, the other weekend, with all the letters reference the late, great, best frontman ever Michael Hutchence and INXS as they sing, "The memories don't fade/Surprisin' fate for days/You elegantly wasted/Before you lost your spark/Took acid in the park/We're livin' in a basement." Back to life, after the Jonesin 'Mary' of sampling Soul II Soul, these 'Prep-School Gangsters' walk on a side wilder than classic NY Reeds. 'Pravda' is no knock-off Prada bag on the side walk, but instead, "the Russian word for truth", as this band have "waited through the wars of winter/I've watched the cherry blossoms bloom/I cannot wait here any longer/I'm leaving at the rising of the moon/I know what lies beneath Manhattan." Storming these drains and giving us another legacy maker in their signature, sealed and delivered. This Ariel Rechtshaid (the Rick Rubin to their Beastie Boys) produced game ends with almost eight minutes of 'Hope' and the wise words of, "The flag that flew is on the ground/The painting burned, the statue drowned/I hope you let it go/The moving train accelerates/It's always fast and always late/It never leaves the Empire State/I hope you let it go." And you should do so...because it will come back. Even in a New York minute, this is one you'll never forget, like the eclipse. We hope you've packed your glasses...and your earbuds. Above us and around us...nothing else but the grace of God. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Ice Cream Piano', 'Capricorn', 'The Surfer'.

REVIEW: J. COLE - MIGHT DELETE LATER

3.5/5

Cole As Ice.

Feel cute? Whatever your hip-hop Mount Rushmore is in this modern day (we're still waiting for one more piece of head...erm...what?! That sounds a little like Tyler The Creator), you can't deny the big-three. Unless you're Kendrick Lamar, that is. Who sees it as "just me" (not me, he) like the ominous words of Willem Dafoe's Harry Osbourne before he turned into the Green Goblin for Spider-Man with 'No Way Home'. Responses came raw, fixed and fast. Whether it was all the memes mocked up online for Drake, or J. Cole's surprise album that he 'Might Delete Later' (if you're reading this...it may already be too late). Especially as he took to the stage this week to walk back his bars and explain how corny this all was. Admittedly, that's what this writer first thought when he heard all about this. Beef?! Again?! Is this 50 Cent and Ja Rule all over again? Nas and Jay-Z? Pac and BIG? We've already got mo' problems in hip-hop right now, with some of its most famous faces turning out to be disgraces. The only stakes I want to see is a second season of the Ali Wong and Steven Yeun show on Netflix. That was what I thought...until I heard the diss track.

It really is 'Like That' as on a '7 Minute Drill', Cole gets his dentistry on, filling in with no novocaine for the soul, before he sputters out. "I came up in the 'Ville, so I'm good when it's tension/He still doin' shows, but fell off like the Simpsons/Your first s### was classic, your last s### was tragic/Your second shit put n####s to sleep, but they gassed it/Your third s### was massive and that was your prime/I was trailin' right behind and I just now hit mine/Now I'm front of the line with a comfortable lead/How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin' with me/Well, he caught me at the perfect time, jump up and see/Boy, I got here off of bars, not no controversy/Funny thing about it, b####, I don't even want the prestige/F### the Grammys 'cause them crackers ain't never done nothin' for me, h#."Apart from 'The Simpsons' triggering (last year I decided to take on the mammoth task of watching all the seasons, an episode a day), this was the moment I realized hip-hop was back, and this battle on wax was like the good old days when ladies loved Cool James. But then, when Cole walked it back, people declared hip-hop was dead like Nas. 50 Cent even urged J to call him to gas up his lyrical ether. But we understand why. This purist just wants peace. And love to inspire his industry so used to ignorant hate. Feeling like he let Nas down, even that 'Mastermind' was hurt when he had to lyrically kill Jay-Z and how whole squad. This drill felt like a Drake freestyle in a city of his choice, or the time Cam'ron went at Jigga for ten minutes with Beyoncé singing about slinging crack receipts. The Diplomat is back too, like the 'I'm Ready' sample on 'Ready '24', which shows Cam is still the man on the mic, like he is on the podcast one with Ma$e for the money like Anthony. All as the rapping ballplayer with the SLAM cover, Cole, shouts out the potential of another Cam (Lakers player Reddish) in this game.

Don't delete this, Cole. But maybe walk back those transphobic comments on the life of 'Pi'. Before 'The Fall Off', don't actually do so. Stand your ground. Your manhood and mantle was tested. Take it from this over apologizer. Don't do it! Just keep it on wax and then shake hands once the battle is done and won...which right now is by you. Even though, we'll wait to see what happens this New Music Friday. Soon this bad blood will be an afterthought when Taylor Swift comes through and rules the country again like 'Cowboy Carter' and there's nothing Kanye can do about it. It's not a man's world any more, but you still bring out the big guns and bars to warn a brother that you're 'Huntin' Wabbitz', no speech impediment. There's Ari Lennox, Young Dro and Gucci Mane on 'Pricey'. Bas and Central Cee on 'H.Y.B.' Daylyt and Ab-Soul on the track you should probably delete. Bas again going 'Stealth Mode'. And 'Trae The Truth In Ibiza'. Save the 'Crocodile Tearz'. Some of this, like that, snaps and slaps. Besides, this is just mixtape murder. Just wait until the album. Giving us Peggy Lee 'Fever' like, "Got a new deal, just ran a train on a label/They not real and so they came with some fables/Without a chain, them boys plain as a bagel/I'm from the Ville, they sellin' 'caine if they able/I play the middle, I never hustled or nothin'/But I got lit, now I got the customers jumpin'." These 'Stickz n Stonez' are capable of breaking more than bones to the '3001'. Rapping on this Alchemist produced gem, "Thеse n###s get rich and become so detached, they music start havin' that surface feel/Not a subliminal, speakin' in general, feelings get hurt when words get spilled/Sticks and stones may break your bones, but sayin' my name in a verse will kill." They say names will never hurt you, but calling them out in the most sensitive industry going will sure lead to some drama, like the late, great DJ Kay Slay. So long as you stand by what you say. We don't need the actions, but in this game, we must stay true to our word as a stronger than oak bond. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: '7 Minute Drill', 'Huntin' Wabbitz', 'Ready '24' (Feat. Cam'ron)'.

REVIEW: BECK (Acoustic) @ EX Theatre, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan (07/04/24)

4/5

Tokyo Phase.

A microphone without two turntables (although he did break into a piano perfect rendition of 'Odelay's' 'Where It's At'), Beck told the crowd for the second show of the day of his acoustic tour of Tokyo, "it's just me...and you!" As well, it should be. Beck hasn't put an album out in a half-decade (2019's 'Hyperspace' which couldn't be more Tokyo if it tried). Although acoustically, he did release 'Thinking About You' and a cover of Neil Young's 'Old Man' for Tom Brady. And he hadn't been in Japan, until last night, since six years ago. But he has more in common with the land of the rising sun than just bringing a sweet smelling Sakura tree onstage to mark the blooming of cherry blossom season here. Or the somewhat six degrees of separation that almost brought a tear to this writer's eye when he broke out a cover of Chris Bell's 'I Am The Cosmos'. One performed so poignantly by avenging actress Scarlett Johansson, making her mark with inspired singer/songwriter Pete Yorn for their 'Break Up' EP. The same way she did in the movie world with Bill Murray for Sofia Coppola's classic 'Lost In Translation'...the whole reason this writer even finds himself lucky enough to now reside here in the first place.

Turns out, Tokyo and Japan have helped shape Bek David Campbell too. Most of the stirringly sad 'Sea Change' was written here, as we were treated to moving performances of 'Guess I'm Doing Fine' (after the 'Cycle' of the intro to its sister album, 'Morning Phase'), 'Lost Cause', and then 'Lonesome Tears' and 'Round The Bend' back-to-back. While the album artwork lettering of his massive 'Mutations' (we had 'Lazy Flies' and a bottle of "blooze" (thanks for the pun, Chris), although I had two hands together for 'Nobody's Fault But My Own') was provided by PARCO. A department store that couldn't be more Beck if it tried. "Arrigato" he told the crowd seriously and endearingly as the Japanese faithful loved that he wasn't lost in translation, reading sentiments written on the set-list floor. Raw, but polished in the sound it produced, Beck admitted he didn't know how to use the effects pedal he was gifted with that offered more 808s to his string selection. Road testing some harmonicas, he went through with the kind of kindness you don't see on Bumble, he was anything but fumbling around as this artist found the best strokes to paint with. All before strapping on the instrument like braces and almost looking like Dylan (sorry, Chalamet), as the man who started out as a folk singer (touring Tokyo, no less) went to work with the Springsteens and Zimmermans of the world. Yet this is Beck. You know he has a bag like no other, when it comes to versatility. All the way to Brazil. He may have not released an album for time, although 'Colors' still paints as fresh as the day it hit your speaker's canvas, but he's produced one this weekend for the 'Ohio Players' of The Black Keys, as this hip-hop head linked up with Juicy J for a 'Paper Crown'.

You can best bet Beck brought it to Tokyo this weekend (thanks for the repost). All for the losers baby, who won on this Saturday night in the hills of Roppongi, no longer for the lonely. Shining in orange like the Tokyo Tower that watches over this part of the city, Beck came strong with a sensational set and a legendary list of hits at that. His first show also featured his 'Old Man' take (maybe he didn't want to trigger me this time) and 'Debra' made even more famous by 'Tokyo Vice' star Ansel Elgort's 'Baby Driver' singing it to Lily James' namesake. He said he'd tour the greatest hits next year. And you don't need to hold him to a promise you know he'll keep and besides, everyone from the Chilli's to Bruno Mars keep coming back here, literally year-after-year since the post pandemic borders have opened back up. But he brought them here too. 'Truck Driving Neighbors' (wait for the story behind that one), 'Unforgiven', 'Heart Is A Drum'. All to tell us, 'True Love Will Find You In The End' and the end of the night on 'One Foot' and his penultimate, iconic 'Loser' as classic 90s Americana as his "cameo" on 'The Simpsons', or the same Levis jeans whose stocks are now soaring thanks to the 'Cowboy Carter' of Beyoncé's collaboration with Post Malone. But only this rock star (and a little bit of a country one) can bend genres like this from the Billy Joel to the hip-hop, hands in the air, one mic-manship. And he's already armed with enough Grammy's that Kanye couldn't storm and the late, great Prince should have given it up more for. Because, no one, aside from the purple one himself, can reign over this much music as Beck. He's got too many hits, too, like the artist once proclaimed during his 21 night showstopper in London. This, on the other hand, may only be a one night residency, but Beck is back. And you know that's where it's at. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Set-List Picks: 'I Am The Cosmos', 'Lonesome Tears', 'Loser'.

REVIEW: THE BLACK KEYS - OHIO PLAYERS

4/5

The Big Lebowski 

Mark it as anything but zero! In their own lane, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, AKA, The Black Keys have been releasing a steady stream of albums for your Spotifys over the last half decade. Sitting right next to the 'Brothers'' best-of-the-best like 'Rubber Factory', 'Turn Blue' and 'El Camino'. There was 2019's 'Let's Rock', 'Delta Kream' (2021), 'Dropout Boogie' a year later, and now this twelfth bowl from the boys, 'Ohio Players', like the old soul group for your baker's dozen. Classic Americana beauty like the partner playing in front of you, down the waxed aisle, that leads to a set of pins and better Spotify bowling animations than the ones you used to see above you on the screen where you recorded your score. It's a perfect one for these players from Ohio, not to mention one of the greatest acts of American music and modern and all times. The Easy Eye Sound that's also candy from baby on the ears is a Nonesuch Record, proceeded perfectly by the sweet singles 'Beautiful People (Stay High)' and the latest 'This Is Nowhere'. Not to mention creative and classic collaborations with Lil' Noid ('Candy and Her Friends'), and Beck (who we are lucky enough to see perform an acoustic set in Roppongi, Tokyo tonight) and Juicy J (the anything but hollow 'Paper Crown'). And an absolutely amazing cover of William Bell's 1968 sobering soul sensation standard, 'I Forgot To Be Your Lover'.

Don't you...forget about this in beautiful black and white from a Nashville studio, a week after Beyoncé went country for 'Cowboy Carter'. These rock and roll Gods on their own hall of fame have affirmations for the game ('On The Game') like 'Only Love Matters'. The dynamic duo going 44:04 like Jay-Z with super-producer Dan The Automater next to Auerbach and Carney and album artwork the late 90s or Blink-182 would be proud of. After the opening 'Nowhere' they yearn for the blues of 'Don't Let Me Go', singing, "On a desert road, with no way home/I was lost and alone now baby/I was feelin' adrift, behind the window tint/And the pouring rain couldn't save me." Guttural guitars barrel through on 'Please Me ('Till I'm Satisfied)' ("hey now girl, I know you understand/I'm satisfied to be your loving man/Everybody said you'll bring me to my knees/But we both know that we was born to be/Please, please, please me till I'm satisfied/Some got love that creeps away in the night/Some take hold of love they know ain't right/I got loving, keeps my soul so true/You got the loving that I can't refuse") beautifully before you are. Then 'You'll Pay' does the same to the piper with promises of, "Open up your heart and let me in/I loved you from the start, my only friend, ooh lord/I know that when you look my way, there's gonna be a price to pay." Cash out.

Herringbone cold, the third act of this movie really hits. Tying it together like the room in a beautiful bow. "I wanna talk to the silver sun/Walk through the jungle with a candy gun/Write my name up on the clouds/Smoke all day, never comin' down," the automatic Dan sings on 'Live 'Till I Die', and you should take it as read that Auerbach intends to do exactly that. Drawing up a winning hand for 'Read 'Em And Weep'. Wearing his heart on his sleeve and putting all his cards on the table, dealing, "Read 'em and weep, revenge is sweet/The secrets you keep, they bury you deep/Deeper than sleep, read 'em and weep/It's only right to wonder, what sort of spell I'm under/Your cheating game is an art/You know it's true, you can't undo what's done in the dark." Growing a 'Fever Tree' with a devil's haircut in your mind, The brilliant Beck, who serves as another producer for the record, is back for background vocals like playing Japan's capital twice in a night this Saturday. Culminating in the classic closer 'Every Time You Leave', which is what happens when you forget to be a lover one too many times. Used to get it in Ohio like Cam'ron 'till they "Tried living without you, not thinking about you/Why wouldn't you want to want me to?/One day I'll be crying, till the days when I'm dying/Next time I'll be trying to look for you/Every time you leave me, I know I'm gonna lose my ways/If you don't believe me, look at how I live today." These are just songs in the keys of life that keep rolling until it all fades to black. Play on player. Not bad for just two kids from Akron. Let's get it, Ohio! TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Beautiful People (Stay High)', 'Paper Crown (Feat. Beck & Juicy J)', 'I Forgot To Be Your Lover'.

REVIEW: SHERYL CROW - EVOLUTION

3/5

A Change Will Do You Good 

A Crow left of the genre. On the same New Music Friday that sees Queen B Beyoncé drop the "R" to rule another genre like 'Texas Hold Em' with her 'Cowboy Carter' certified classic, country pop star like Shania and Swift, Sheryl Crow leaves that very genre for more rock and roll fame with her latest career 'Evolution'. After all, if it makes you happy...you know the rest. Just like all the Crow classics. This isn't the first time one of modern day America's greatest singer-songwriters Sheryl has pushed the envelope like the 'Visions' of Norah Jones earlier this month in her El Michels Affair spectacle prescription. Sheryl once shot us with a stirring Pierce Brosnan era Bond theme that shook up the world. And refusing to stay in one place, the rock goddess continues her growth and proof that tomorrow really well and truly never dies. If 2020 was the year of 'Women In Music' like Haim, or Taylor Swift heading to a 'Folklore' cabin in the woods, and great Brit Lianne La Havas giving us her self-titled, personal best lyrics lacing love. Then 2024. The year of the Girl Dad, late, great Kobe is the calendar that crafts creativity from the better half. Jones. The artist formerly known as Knowles. And now this queen. All before the new throne taker, Maggie Rogers, makes sure you don't forget about her in the April Spring showers for this Breakfast Club that's truly eating this first quarter.

The latest from Bey's hive is another almost hour and a half movie-making classic. This, on the other hand, is a half-hour of all power and a nice album that goes down easy like coffee on a Sunday morning. In promoting this piece, Crow admits that albums and their promotion are a waste of time and money. But nothing is wanted not here, showcasing her skill-set and the fact that real fans know. It's the album tracks that settle all that. Just like the concluding big-three of 'Don't Walk Away', 'Broken Record' and 'Waiting In The Wings' that make this epic 'Evolution' album what it is. This 90s megastar like the Chicago Bulls or F.R.I.E.N.D.S. was so big in the decade of 'Jurassic Park' like good old days, golden era blockbusters, she could have formed a supergroup with Shania Twain and the like, like a Travelling Wilbury. But who needs that, when Sheryl gives you everything she has each time out? This time, spearheaded by the singles 'Alarm Clock' (the opening wake up which might hit snooze), the self-titled 'Evolution', 'Do It Again' and the latest 'Digging In The Dirt' crate finding hit in this Big Machine of an Americana record. The first album since the social media ahead of its time 'Threads' in 2019 comes as a pleasant surprise in more ways than one. Sheryl said she wouldn't release another record after that because of aforementioned reasons. We're glad a change of heart here has done us all good.

The Genesis of Peter Gabriel help her dig for more than dirt in this gold album that would surely go platinum back in the day. Not just her heyday. Because Crow has still got it. Not when best, but still one of her brightest, this is a victory lap for Sheryl's inspired induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of the Fame. All in the same weekend, Beyoncé shoots for the country one with a stronghold. Armed up with her trusty guitar along for the ride in this evolution, never to leave her side, even in these times, Sheryl sings "And you could add up all the tears that fill a river/Or trace the words that break a heart/But you'd miss the blue jay and the message he delivers/Every moment has a brand-new start" on 'You Can't Change The Weather'. Perfect poetic prose, even though change sometimes can't come. No matter how much good, it would do you in the long run. Yet you've still got to 'Love Life' like the ever optimistic and outstanding songbook singer tells it in another anthem for the album we're glad she 360'd on from the pessimism like Carter's left turn. 'Where?' Right here, where you stand. In this very moment. Singing along to, "Waters rise up on the freeway/While little hands are clapping in the snow/And in the tree, there lives a blackbird/Singing songs not meant for anyone below." This is Crow's elevating 'Evolution' era. And we love Sheryl's version. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Don't Walk Away', 'Broken Record', 'Waiting In The Wings'.