By The Writers of Last Word Features

OK Go: ‘Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky’
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OK Go made its name with highly catchy guitar pop songs like “Here We Go Again” (made famous by the famous dancing-on-a-treadmill video) and “Get Over It.” So, “Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky” is bound to come as a bit of a shock to people who thought they had OK Go pegged.

The new CD still packs plenty of melodic punch, as songs like “White Knuckles,” “This Too Shall Pass” and “WTF?” deliver stick-in-your-head hooks. But much of the CD shifts away from guitars and toward synthesizers and electronics as primary instrumentation. And the band frequently gets its groove on when it comes to the rhythms.

For instance, the songs “White Knuckles” and “I Want You So Bad I Can’t Breathe” are danceable tracks that have a bit of a Prince-like feel. Songs like “WTF?” and “Before The Earth Was Round” puts more of an electronic sheen on the melodies.

The band further diversifies “Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky” by injecting a bit of grand pop into the mix on “This Too Shall Pass”; stark acoustic pop into “Last Leaf”; and dreamy soundscape-ish pop into “While You Were Asleep.”

OK Go deserves credit for being brave enough to reinvent its sound, and if fans can adjust to sonic shift, the group just might avoid commercial consequences for its creativity.
— Alan Sculley
Buy if you like: Prince, Weezer

Freedy Johnston: ‘Rain on the City’
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After a series of impressive ‘90s releases, Freedy Johnston took eight years to get around to recording another album of originals. In the interim, he has acquired more than a few battle scars — the kind that a lesser songwriter might manifest as a disc full of moroseness and angst.

Thankfully, Johnston’s negative experiences, as relayed in cautionary tales like “Don’t Fall in Love with a Lonely Girl,”  “The Devil Raises His Own,” and the modified doo-wop tune, “From the Other Side of Love,” are couched in hummable, almost spritely melodies. Moodier tunes, like the title song, are more atmospheric; they may suggest despair, but don’t evoke it.

That’s a good thing. With its pop-jazz leanings and occasionally twangy tangents (“Livin’ Too Close to the Rio Grande”), “Rain on the City” is a pleasing collection from a master songsmith. It’s good to hear that high tenor back where it belongs: wrapped around his own great tunes. — Lynne Margolis
Buy if you like: the Jayhawks, Marshall Crenshaw

Vampire Weekend: ‘Contra’
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Vampire Weekend was 2008’s indie rock “it” band: a bunch of Columbia University grads who did the Paul Simon “Graceland” thing, as if they’d discovered fire, on a debut album that was more than a little Ivy League pretentious and less than original.
That makes “Contra” a true surprise. It’s freer and more enjoyable than its predecessor, avoiding the sophomore slump by loosening up and adding some depth. Sure, the Afro-pop meets indie-rock formula still is there. And singer Ezra Koenig’s lyrics still depend too much on clever, look-at-my-thesaurus wordplay. But there’s some heart in the songs that wasn’t around the first time, some inventiveness in the music — such as the use of the M.I.A. sample in “Diplomat’s Son” and some flat-out great tunes, like the very Simonesque “White Sky,” the bouncy “Holiday,” and the pulsing pondering of “Taxi Cab.”
There also are missteps here and there on “Contra”: the auto-tuned vocals of “California English” pop immediately to mind. But, by and large, “Contra” connects on multiple levels and holds up to repeat listens. — L. Kent Wolgamott
Buy if you like: Paul Simon, the English Beat

Ray Wylie Hubbard: ‘A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment’
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Hubbard, who’s best known for writing the Jerry Jeff Walker’s hit “Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother,” is back with another fine record of stories and observations, largely set in spare Texas blues.
Hubbard’s not a classically great singer. He’s got a deep, gravelly voice that certainly wouldn’t be suited to much material. But it’s perfect for his dark tales and invocations of, for example, a “Drunken Poet’s Dream,” filled with alcohol and alluring women and a battle with wasps and their hellfire stings. Hubbard writes knowingly of tornados and of music, tells the story of a woman who “took to an old profession as a source of revenue” in “Loose,” visits the whispers of smoke in “Opium,” and closes things out with a banjo-rooted invocation of “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”
The music, played by some of Texas’s best, including guitarist Gurf Morlix, keyboardist Bukka Allen and bassist/co-producer George Rieff, has just the right tone for Hubbard’s voice, kinda dark, kinda spooky and kinda cool. — L. Kent Wolgamott
Buy if you like: Jerry Jeff Walker, James McMurtry

Various Artists: ‘Nine’ Soundtrack
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If the decidedly unflattering reviews of the movie “Nine” are any indication, this star-studded film looks to be one of the season’s biggest flops. Many of the A-list stars of the film are included in the soundtrack to “Nine.” And fortunately, their singing appears to be better than the film itself.
Kate Hudson is surprisingly throaty and seductive sounding on “Cinema Italiano,” while Dame Judi Dench deserves applause for her cabaret-ish turn on “Folies Bergere.” Plus, Penelope Cruz delivers an entertainingly breathy performance on “A Call From The Vatican.”
Not everyone fares as well, however. Sophia Loren won’t be remembered for her pedestrian singing on “Guarda La Luna.” And while Daniel Day-Lewis has a credible singing voice, his accent is another matter (is it Italian or Greek?). As for Nicole Kidman, she sounds unsure about whether she is supposed to sing with an accent on “Unusual Way.”  She probably should leave the singing to Keith Urban. As for the music itself, there are some entertaining songs, but much of the soundtrack isn’t that memorable. Instead of a nine, this soundtrack rates something more like a 4 ½. – Alan Sculley
Buy if you like: Moulin Rouge, La Cage Aux Folles soundtracks

Jason Castro: “The Love Uncompromised EP”
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Castro is one of the growing legion of “American Idol” finalists bidding to show that he has the goods to sustain a real music career outside of the lavish production of the “Idol” soundstage. If this five-song EP – an appetizer to a full-length debut due out this spring — is an indication, Castro has a shot.
His songs aren’t deep and don’t demand much from the listener, but they have a breezy quality that could play well on radio and attract fans of singer/songwriters like Jason Mraz or John Mayer. The EP’s title cut is especially Mayer-esque, with its easy-going melody and romantic sentiment. Castro’s acoustic-centric duet with Serena Ryder on “You Can Always Come Home” is more of a Mraz-like song. It’s pleasing despite being a bit derivative. And the playful feel of the acoustic version of “Let’s Just Fall In Love” and “If I Were You” provides acceptable light entertainment.
Castro saves the best for last, with “Sweet Medicine,” a more ambitious, darkly hued ballad that hints that Castro might be capable of bringing more artistic weight to his music. He’ll need to find some of that musical and emotional heft to be more than one of the growing list of here-today, gone-tomorrow “Idol” alums. – Alan Sculley (EP available through digital retailers.)
Buy if you like: Jazon Mraz, John Mayer