CD reviews

Baby Dee
A Book of Songs for Anne Marie
(Drag City)
*7.0*
Goes well with: Lou Reed, Antony and the Johnsons, Rufus Wainwright

Baby Dee inhabits her own unique musical universe—a magical and slightly frightening place full of perplexing beauty, overwhelming sentiment and limitless expressions of love in all of its unfathomable complexity. She plays classical harp and piano and sings in a fragile, otherworldly voice that ranges between contralto and countertenor. In live performances, Dee often makes use of her remarkable range to add a bit of over-the-top drama to songs that are usually vivid expressions of unbearable feelings.

On Anne Marie, she seldom sings above a whisper, and the piano playing is subdued, leaving chords and notes hanging in the air until they dissolve back into silence, letting her expressive voice carry the emotional weight of the songs. That weight is considerable. Songs range from “Love’s Small Song”—an expression of loss and grief that packs a lifetime of yearning into its three minutes—to “As Morning Holds a Star,” a celebration of true love that builds to a conclusion that balances giddy joy with a strange underlying melancholy.

The album was produced and arranged by Maxim Moston, who also works with Antony and the Johnsons and Rufus Wainwright, and his light touch is evident throughout, contributing string and wind charts as minimal as Dee’s playing, which adds subtle splashes of color to Dee’s sparse performances.

—j. poet

The Whigs
In the Dark
(ATO)
*5.1*
Goes well with: Nirvana, Hüsker Dü, Kings of Leon

The Whigs self-released debut album, Give ’Em All a Big Fat Lip, was fantastic, an energetic throwback to the straight-ahead alternative rock that dominated the early ’90s. The follow-up, Mission Control, had a bit more polish and lacked some of the garage charm. Still, songs like “Right Hand on My Heart,” “Need You Need You” and “Production City” made the album a winner.

So, it’s difficult to decipher what makes In the Dark feel like such a dud. Maybe it’s because it relies more on pulsating dance-floor rhythms than the Southern-rock flourishes that occasionally sprang up on their first two discs. Songs such as “Black Lotus” feel like they’re trying to cop a bit of a Phoenix vibe, which isn’t a good fit. My Morning Jacket can pull off this type of experimentation, but I think The Whigs are more of a one-trick pony.

Another drainer on this disc is the abundance of generic choruses, like those found on “Kill Me Carolyne” and “Someone’s Daughter.” No matter how explosive and repetitive these choruses get, they still remain stale, and the relentlessly huge production does little to help some of the better hooks gain the traction they deserve. As a result, the songs blend together, creating one bland, loud, over-produced and under-thought album. I’m all for the rock, but this just sounds like someone trying to ram Mount Everest down my throat.

—Dryw Keltz

Adam Green
Musik for a Play
(Contraphonic)
*5.5*
Goes well with: Dosh, Robbie Basho, NES

Green’s Minor Love dropped in February, an album that balanced his penchant for potty-mouthed one-liners with his talents as a serious songwriter. So, the nine instrumental tracks on Musik for a Play—composed for a German production of Timbuktu, a play based on the tragic novella written by Brooklyn writer Paul Auster—seem like a major diversion.

The liner notes don’t tell us who played or arranged the music, but there’s a full orchestra involved, with everything from xylophones to barrelhouse piano. The pieces are short, most clocking in at two minutes, but the smooth segues present a suite of fractured, kaleidoscopic visions with a decidedly Brechtian air.

The music may work better while watching the play, but there are many standout tracks. “Ellington” lives up to its name, with a big band playing a disjointed swing tune; “Sailor Shirts” sounds like a circus fanfare for heartbroken trumpets, slipping into the bright and bouncy “Big Lips,” which bubbles like an outtake from a Broadway musical.

If this album is any indication, Green has a stockpile of ideas that he hasn’t shown us yet, and the album bodes well for his continued growth as an artist, even if the results here are less than satisfactory.

—j. poet

Adam Green plays at 6 p.m. Friday, April 9, at The Casbah.