Opinz

Karen O and the Kids – Where the Wild Things Are: Motion Picture Soundtrack

What’s surprising about the soundtrack for Spike Jonze’ highly anticipated “Where the Wild Things Are” adaptation is just how cohesive it sounds as an album, without the context of the film (one could easily mistake it for a Karen O solo debut): brimming with an undeniably sweet and appropriately child-like energy, sing/shout-along sugar rushes like “All is Love” and “Rumpus” are well tempered by lovely instrumentals and ballads, the delicate “Hidaway” and Karen O’s beautiful rendition of Daniel Johnston’s “Worried Shoes” being big highlights.

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The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely

One of the more perfect homages to classic rock created recently, Consolers of the Lonely channels the ghosts of Led Zeppelin and The Who without sounding like they’re ripping them off or trying to cannibalize their legacies while at the same time building off the back-to-basics-but-carefully-experimental vein of The White Stripes’ Icky Thump of last year; there’s plenty of pumping guitar rock (“Salute Your Solution”, “Hold Up”), soaring horns (“Many Shades of Black”), and frantic traditional-ly tales (“Carolina Drama”) – the whole thing is rough and ragged and the more bombast they try to cram into the songs the better they sound. More »