Jeff McCord on the month’s new releases
James McMurtry
Live in Aught-Three
Compadre
Most live albums are like enforced community service, something artists do to get out of a bad situation. But there's no contract fulfillment in mind on James McMurtry's incinerator, Live in Aught-Three (Compadre). It would be easy to dismiss the Austinite's laconic delivery, except he's a natural storyteller (like his Pulitzer prize-winning dad, Larry), and he knows how to set his narratives to music. McMurtry and his band play it lean and taut throughout. For those late to the party, this makes a nice de facto "best of," and even the initiated will find that several of these rocked-up arrangements improve on the originals.
Norah Jones
Feels Like Home
Blue Note
If, as F. Scott Fitzgerald famously claimed, American lives have no second acts, where does this leave 24-year-old Norah Jones? Sell 17 million of any record, much less a debut CD of sleepy pop ballads, and in walks the eight-hundred-pound gorilla with the "What next?" sign around his neck. Make Come Away With Me II and you're pandering; try a big production number and it's all gone to your head. So what does this gorgeous Dallas-bred singer-pianist do? Punt. Though doubtlessly fussed over, Feels Like Home (Blue Note) was recorded in weeks instead of months, and it sounds like it. Home isn't a radical departure, but it does feel different from its elegant predecessor. To Jones's credit, apart from a pointless duet with Dolly Parton, there's no overt nod to her superstar status. And a few songs, like "In the Morning" and "Above Ground," flirt promisingly with R&B and almost find some funk. Almost. But just like last time, the rest is all so damn polite—organic, keyboard-driven pop. It's nothing that a bit of energy wouldn't cure, but Jones's beguiling voice never strays from her comfort zone, and not a single tempo breaks a sweat. Rock and roll has been blamed for everything from Satanism to mass murder, but this numbing music makes you want to retire early.
