Motion City Soundtrack
My Dinosaur Life
Sony

On My Dinosaur Life, Motion City Soundtrack gives its power-pop style more of an edge but stays catchy, with hook-enriched songs such as “Worker Bee” and the bittersweet “Her Words Destroyed My Planet.”  The band again worked in the studio with Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 (who produced their terrific Commit This to Memory), as Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine, Sonic Youth) mixed.  The band goes alt-stomping in the ranting “Disappear,” while hand-claps in “Stand Too Close” are just part of what makes it irresistible…and then things go punky bounce-time for tracks like “@!#?@!” (dig them finger-snaps in the breakdown). A solid set here that surely appeals to the CW show crowd and beyond.  Smart stuff.

Duke Robillard and Sunny Crownover
Tales From The Tiki Lounge
Blue Duchess Records

It glides and swings, and also gets real slinky too. Tales From the Tiki Lounge finds stylish and Grammy-nominated for another release  guitarist Duke Robillard and often cooing vocalist Sunny Crownover paying tribute to Les Paul and Mary Ford but also going their own way, from jazzy blues like “Occidental Woman” or playful come-hithers such as “Tico Tico,” to standards that include“Besame Mucho,” “Crazy” and a two-part “Put the Blame on Mame.” What a delightful album. Not to be missed.

Arcangels
Living in a Dream

Part of the Austin music scene of the ‘90s, the all-star Arcangels reunite for Living in a Dream. Fronted by singer-guitarist Charlie Sextona and Doyle Bramhall II, with Stevie Ray Vaughan double-trouble rhythm section of Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon, the band’s heavy blues-rock sound endures on many of the tracks.   The group is quite Beatle-ish on Sexton’s “Crave and Wonder,” and turns in a nice cover of Paul McCartney’s “Too Many People.” A definite highlight is “Spanish Moon,” recorded at legendary Austin club Antone’s.  The DVD features an interesting documentary which includes Shannon noting that Underground Garage master and E Street Band guitarist Little Steven was instrumental in the band finding its style and sound.

Shannon McNally and Hot Sauce
Coldwater

In the previous decade, blues-and-soul-dipped singer-songwriter Shannon McNally released two fine albums on Capitol, Jukebox Sparrows and Geronimo. With Coldwater, her 10^th album overall, available through CD Baby, she cut tracks with her band Hot Sauce, recorded at the late Jim Dickinson’s Zebra Ranch Studio in Coldwater, Mississippi — hence the album title.  Dickinson also handled piano for the album, based on McNally’s post-Katrina experiences in the gulf as she goes mighty delta at times, which certainly suits her vocal trill on “This Ain’t My Home” and the southern rock flow of “Lonesome, Ornery and Mean.”  She’s a bit country in “Bohemian Wedding Song,” and turns in a spot-on melancholy cover of Dylan’s seething “Positively 4th Street.”

Arj Barker
LYAO
Warner Bros.

Sorry, I didn’t LMAO at all.  And those other things on the back cover?  LOL, BFF, etc?  Forget it.  There’s some okay comedy bits here, but Barker, who’s appeared in Flight of the Conchords on Comedy Central and such, just doesn’t do for me.  Listening, I didn’t really laugh. Maybe nod with a smile a few times, but that’s it.

****

I just love a live album when its a great live act/artist being captured on stage, and that’s certainly the case with these releases:

Chesterfield Kings
Live Onstage…If You Want It
Wicked Cool

Rochester, New York’s Chesterfield Kings, around since the ‘70s, have always been a live experience, and this concert set captures ‘em at their best. The guitars blast and the drums are a tsunami of beat, as the boys ram through tune after tune, which include “Up and Down,” the psychedelic rush of “Transparent Life” and country-rock “Sing Me Back Home.”  The band slays on the stalking “I Walk in Darkness” and ramshackle “Rock’n’Roll Murder.” All the way through, frontman Greg Prevost is sooo early Jagger. This is garage rock the way it’s supposed to be, baby!

Live in Europe
James McMurtry
Lightning Rod Records

An evocative storyteller in song just as his novelist father Larry is on paper (Lonesome Dove, Last Picture Show), this CD/DVD was recorded last year in Europe. James McMurtry joined for his first-ever jaunt there with a band, including legendary keyboard man Ian McLagan. Most of the songs – “Bayou Tortue,” “Hurricane Party” and “Restless” among them – are culled from concerts in Amsterdam and Geislingen, while a bonus DVD includes performances from the Amsterdam show not on the CD, such as “Choctaw Bingo” and “Laredo.”

David Bowie
A Reality Tour
Sony/BMG Legacy

While David Bowie has released several live sets over the years, A Reality Tour – at least in this new edition – could well be the best as a greatest hits in concert collection. Drawn from his 2004 tour of the same name, the two-disc set now includes three previously unreleased tracks to truly complete the concert: “China Girl,” “Breaking Glass” and much lesser-known “Fall Dog Bombs The Moon.” But you’ll find “Fame,” “All the Young Dudes” (which Bowie wrote for Mott the Hoople), “Under Pressure” (though the version with Queen still rules), and other choice nuggets like “Changes,” “Space Oddity,” and the disco-era “Golden Years.”  While each of Bowie’s live albums capture a different era, this one is likely the best career overview for those hits and more.