Listen Up: Dead Can Dance, Rumer, more

This week in music

August 13, 2012

Listen Up: Dead Can Dance, Rumer, more
2 Chainz makes his major label solo debut with 'Based on a T.R.U. Story,' but his guests steal the spotlight. (Credit: By Kevin Winter,, Getty Images)
Critic's Rating:
3

  • Album: Anastasis
  • Artist: Dead Can Dance
  • Release date: Aug. 15, 2012
  • Download: Children of the Sun, Amnesia,Return of the She-King

On their first album in 16 years, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard revive the lush ambiance of their prime in a blend of global sounds, trip-hop beats, mysticism and the alternating charms of his darker vocals and her rapturous singing. The influential London duo resurfaces with an uncanny balance of grace and daring.

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Critic's Rating:
3

  • Album: Jesus at the Center
  • Artist: Israel & New Breed
  • Release date: Aug. 15, 2012
  • Download: Your Presence is Heaven, It's Not Over (When God Is in It)

This two-CD set from one of gospel's top contemporary acts includes three studio cuts, but it's mostly live stuff recorded at Houston's Lakewood Church. An impassioned worship leader with impeccable pacing, Israel Houghton also has a killer band that blends '80s synth-funk, Latin dance, even arena rock. When he sneaks in a Bob Dylan cover, it serves the*** bigger message.

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Critic's Rating:
2 1/2

  • Album: Boys Don't Cry
  • Artist: Rumer
  • Release date: Aug. 15, 2012
  • Download: Be Nice to Me, Flyin' Shoes, Travellin' Boy

British chanteuse Rumer covers '70s tunes by male singer/songwriters including Jimmy Webb, Todd Rundgren and Neil Young. Really, though, it's just as much a tribute to Karen Carpenter, whose easy-listening style Rumer appropriates. That's a sweet trick when covering Paul Williams' Travellin' Boy but less captivating doing Ronnie Lane and Isaac Hayes.

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