Grandaddy embraces acceptance

Grandaddy

“Sumday” (V2)

***

“OK with my decay” doesn’t exactly rival the lyrics of “My Generation” or “Rust Never Sleeps” as rock anthem material, but it’s a breakthrough for Jason Lytle, the leader of this Modesto band. It’s not an easily reached philosophy for him, though, and the struggle to embrace it is the essence of Grandaddy’s fourth album.

The opening “Now It’s On” has him revved with purpose, but the next song, “I’m on Standby,” is an emotional retreat. That forward-and-back dance continues through the album, right to “The Final Push to the Sum,” in which Lytle asks, “If my old life is done, then what have I become?”

Still, acceptance is the key here -- acceptance of the aging process and of life in their hometown. Much here is very much a love letter to Modesto, most explicitly “Stray Dog and the Chocolate Shake,” which is sort of “Our Town” in just under four minutes.

That relatively settled feeling is also heard in the music, which for better or worse is more straightforward than on 2000’s buoyant “The Sophtware Slump.” Surprises and invention are lacking a bit, but the direct, confident pop rush is enticing.

Steve Hochman

*

Lightening up on the mood swings

Tricky

“Vulnerable” (Brown Punk/Sanctuary)

** 1/2

Titling a song “Moody” is stating the obvious for the Bristol bad boy, a master of dark ‘n’ dense, an artist who on stage often performs in total darkness and/or facing away from the audience. The irony is that “Vulnerable” (in stores Tuesday) is among his less moody efforts, or at least less marked by mood swings than his most arresting work. Not that it’s light and fluffy, but the mix of snaky guitars and percolating electronics is not as thick a tangle here as usual.

The voice of his new partner, Italian singer Constanza Francavilla, lends itself to a more even-tempered approach, and there is a pop sense underlying many of these songs. Her accented cooing shadowed by Tricky’s gruff whisper is Jane Birkin/Serge Gainesbourgh via “Blade Runner” and lends a playful sense to even such bleak matters as “Car Crash.”

Thin versions of XTC’s “Dear God” and the Cure’s “The Love Cats” are ill-fitting. The former’s dismissal of belief in a deity, though, sets up a contradiction, as five songs later comes “Wait for God,” with Tricky sounding as if he yearns for divine intervention. More irony? He’s not called Tricky for nothing.

S.H.

*

A joyful formula for salsa magic

Eddie Palmieri

“Ritmo Caliente” (Concord Picante)

****

There’s a moment in Eddie Palmieri’s new album where the veteran pianist recaps an extended new arrangement of the La Perfecta standard “Lazaro y su Microfono” with a slightly dissonant but profoundly affecting solo. It concludes with a playful cowbell accent, after which majestic trombones burst into action, leading into an electrifying, relentlessly danceable groove.

This brief passage of pure salsa magic illustrates the savoir-faire with which Palmieri commands the principles of Afro-Caribbean instrumental combustion. His arrangements are almost perverse in their ingenuity, combining the cold eye of a calculating scientist with the visceral instinct of a self-taught prodigy.

Joined by a superlative band that includes Nuyorican sonero Herman Olivera, Palmieri looms in the current landscape of tropical music as the last of the larger-than-life giants.

The bandleader’s previous album was a somewhat hesitant affair, resurrecting his ‘60s days with La Perfecta, a group that was decades ahead of its time. But “Ritmo Caliente” is much more than an exercise in nostalgia.

From the funky Bach-meets-Africa experimentation of “Gigue” to the smoldering, bolero-con-strings lushness of “Tema Para Renee,” this is a volatile album that is firmly planted on contemporary ground while drawing from a torrid musical recipe that might never go out of style.

Ernesto Lechner

*

Quick spins

Death in Vegas

“Scorpio Rising” (Sanctuary)

*** 1/2

“Scorpio Rising” moves this British duo to the top of the electronic world by taking a step back from that scene. Techno reigns on the instrumental tracks, but the album is a complete sonic journey, stopping in the realms of ‘60s Brit rock (the title track, featuring Paul Weller) and folk (the wonderful “Killing Smile,” with Hope Sandoval). Liam Gallagher and Dot Allison also lend their vocals with equal aplomb.

-- Steve Baltin

*

O.A.R.

“In Between Now and Then” (Lava/Everfine)

**

Having built a strong, young following on the Eastern U.S. circuit before its jump to a major label, O.A.R. shadows two predecessors on that path: the Dave Matthews Band, though without the tricky rhythms and dreamlike lyrics, and Hootie & the Blowfish, though without the classic-soul grounding. O.A.R. downplays its reggae leanings after the opening “Dareh Meyod,” and singer Marc Roberge sounds very serious, but this is frat-party music at its core, light and trouble-free.

-- S.H.

*

Aphex Twin

“26 Mixes for Cash” (Warp)

*** 1/2

Richard D. James, a.k.a. Aphex Twin, is one of those artists people either get or don’t. This two-CD collection of all the remixes James has done over the years makes a case for both sides. Most of these selections are stark and minimalist, but beneath James’ seemingly antagonistic approach to music are moments of great beauty. Those moments, which are frequent on this collection, are as intelligent as electronic music gets.

S.B.

*

The Deathray Davies

“Midnight at the Black Nail Polish Factory” (Glurp)

***

The only gloss on this Dallas sextet’s peripatetic fourth album is in the title. Buoyant like a cracked, chapped Flaming Lips, “Midnight” is full of pockmarked pop and raw rock. And DRD delights in its musical zits, its sunny melodies putting a happy face on the first impression that the band’s instruments appear broken. Sound the trumpets: Imperfection rules.

Kevin Bronson

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are released unless otherwise noted.