Mars enchantingly visits vintage music genres
A- Bruno Mars XXIV K Magic Atlantic
Bruno Mars’ skill for manipulating the past has made him something of an outlier: a retro-minded soul singer, songwriter and producer interested not in strict nostalgia, but in illuminating old styles so they shimmer in a way that’s appealing to a listener not much interested in looking backward.
XXIV K Magic (24 karat), his first in four years, is the story of that tension. The new songs show Mars to be interested in different musical eras, different production approaches and different singing voices.
Most striking is how this album expands upon Mars’ interest in American soul music. He’s all over the map, from the 1950s to the ’90s, and sniper sharp throughout.
The title track recalls the scene around 1980, when funk and machines were doing some of their earliest dances, and when black pop was still teeming with disco exuberance. “Perm” jolts back to the ’60s, with its shout-singing and James Brown-indebted horn stabs and drums.
“Versace on the Floor” and “Finesse” are a one-two punch of midto-late ’80s R&B evolution. “Finesse,” which takes the leap from 1984 to ’88, has a crackling drum machine production similar to Bobby Brown’s “Don’t Be Cruel.”
It is as a producer — he’s credited here as Shampoo Press & Curl — that he shows off his range. His ear is often astonishing, his gift for mimicry almost without equal. Other producers are credited on certain songs, but they’re minor moons in Mars’ fully realized soul universe.
Hot tracks: “Perm,” “Versace on the Floor,” “Finesse,” “24k Magic”
B+ Loretta Lynn White Christmas Blue Legacy
Christmas holds the same space as heartache in the title tune of Loretta Lynn’s set of seasonal songs. Co-written with Shawn Camp, “White Christmas Blue” captures the bittersweet heartbreak of her best songs. She celebrates family and tradition in the joyous original “Country Christmas.”
Lynn taps several seasonal classics, including “White Christmas,” a heartfelt “Away in a Manger” and a touching “Silent Night.”
Produced by her daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell, and John Carter Cash over a period of several years, White Christmas Blue rings with Lynn’s Appalachian vocal tones and her still-potent delivery.
Hot tracks: a Western Swing-fla-
vored “Walking in a Winter Wonderland,” the honkytonk vibe of “Blue Christmas,” “White Christmas Blue” — ELLIS WIDNER
B+ Various artists
Christmas on the Lam and Other Songs From the Season Red House
Looking for Christmas music off the beaten path? Welcome to the wonderful and quirky world of Christmas on the Lam. The album embraces folk, blues, hard country and jazzy styles by a group of artists who generally below the pop music radar.
Lam has new recordings by Jorman Kaukonen, Charlie Parr, Dale Watson and others, along with previously released recordings by The Wailin’ Jennys, Suzzy Roche, John Gorka, and Robin and Linda Williams.
It gets off to a swinging Dixieland-fired start with the Elvis Presley hit “Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me)” by Davina & The Vagabonds that wouldn’t be out of place on a Bette Midler or Patty Loveless album. Bill
Kirchen and Austin de Lone bring honky tonk blues and humor to the funny/saucy “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’.”
Heather Masse, beloved by A Prairie Home Companion fans, soars on the sexy “Mittens.” Hard country singer Watson shines on “Christmas to Me,” and Kaukonen shines on the gentle, finger-picked “The Baby Boy.” Hot tracks: The Pines’ exquisite “Song for a Winter’s Night,” Roche’s folk-country “Cold Hard Wind,” “Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me),” “The Baby Boy” — ELLIS WIDNER
B Sarah McLachlan Wonderland Verve
Sarah McLachlan says she loves Christmas and it shows on her third holiday album, arriving just a year after her second. The Grammy winner’s
angelic voice is well suited to seasonal songs, and the trademark way her soprano breaks on certain high notes gives new feeling to these mostly classic carols.
Emmylou Harris, Martha Wainwright, Canada’s indie rock band Half Moon Run and the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra add depth and resonance on several of the 13 tracks.
The trick with any conventional holiday album is to sound fresh without veering too far from tradition. Here, that effort sometimes sounds forced — cue the clunky percussion arrangement on “Angels We Have Heard on High” and the thumping orchestral background on “Let It Snow.”
But standouts include a haunting version of “Huron Carol,” billed as Canada’s oldest Christmas song, and a folky, spirited rendition of “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
“O Come, All Ye Faithful,”
opening ethereally with McLachlan singing a cappella, is another highlight. Unfortunately, the orchestral arrangement that follows adds a flourish that at times sounds overwrought.
Hot tracks: “Huron Carol,” “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” “O Come, All Ye Faithful”