quickcrit - music reviews

If you want to go home smelling like strawberry body lotion, sweat, and flavored vodka (even though you were drinking beer), go to a Passion Pit concert. Or at least that was my experience. The Portland ladies were out in full force on Sunday night, ready to dance. And the guys were getting down too. A dude next to me lost his glasses he was working so hard. Fan favorites like "Sleepyhead" and "Little Secrets" caused near mosh pit like dancing. You'd have to be pretty uptight not to be swept up by Passion Pit's fun and brash dance music with its big beats and equally giant hooks.

It always feels like winning the lottery when two bands I'm currently loving tour together, so I really can't complain, but in the opening slot, the Harlem Shake's lively set felt way too short. Still, it was great to hear the songs like "Strictly Game" and "Sunlight" live with just a touch of the glossy sheen rubbed off. And even though they are on tour promoting their new album, Technicolor Health, they fit "Carpetbaggers" into the set off their fabulous EP.

Do you love Motown? Because if you do, you need to pick up this album. Raphael Saadiq's traded in the processed 90's R&B of Tony! Toni! Toné! ("If I Had No Loot" is pretty rad) for straight up 60's and 70's Detroit soul. His smooth and silky voice is a perfect fit. The romantic and tender songs are mostly backed by group harmonies, lushes strings and and lots of clapping and tambourine. All but one song sounds like a B-side off a Temptations/Smokey Robinson/Four Tops album. And then there is Jay-Z. Really. It sounds totally out of place only because the rest of the album sounds 40 years old. It's as if a classic soul album sampled a rapper for a change. Preferring gritty southern soul to it's smoother more refined northern counterpart, I like the more upbeat numbers best ("Big Easy" and "Staying In Love"), but the whole album is really good, definitely worth a spin for the retro soul fan.