January 23, 2005

Starring Sean Penn as Bob Dylan and Beck as Himself

Matt Pond PA

"Emblems" (Attitude) is smart and wistful the same way the Shins are, but warmer. The music is lush and never gloomy, using cellos, violins and flutes to accompany the electric guitars. "New Hampshire" is a highlight, as is "Bring On the Ending," with its ability to make you feel wistful and triumphant at the same time. Mr. Pond and his band (the "PA" is for his home state) were kind enough to cover Oasis's "Champagne Supernova" for a coming "O.C." episode - a daunting task. His new version, beautiful and hopeful, sung in a voice that recalls the "Solsbury Hill"-era Peter Gabriel, honors the original and reimagines it at the same time.

Beck

What I've heard of the new album - due in March on Geffen - is unmastered, untitled, unsequenced and totally amazing. After the melancholy of "Sea Change," Beck seems older and wiser, but also more ready for fun. But this isn't a "party record" like "Midnite Vultures" either - it doesn't feel like a stunt. The song "E-Pro" announces Beck's return to the good times, and it's as cool and grooving as anything from "Odelay" (No wonder, since it samples "So What'cha Want" by the Beastie Boys). "Girl" feels like Brian Wilson, if you could do the robot to "Pet Sounds." "Guero" sounds like a Brooklyn block party, with Beck rapping in English and Spanglish (about what I have no idea, but it doesn't really matter when Beck is free-styling). He sounds inspired, reinventing himself on every track.

Sean Penn reads Bob Dylan

Volume 1 of Dylan's memoirs was pretty cool to begin with (will we really get a "Chronicles, Volume 2," or are the numbers another of Dylan's little jokes?). But to have it read by Sean Penn on audio CD (Simon & Schuster) takes it to a new level: the most talented songwriter of all time as performed by the most talented actor of his generation. Mr. Penn clearly has a blast inhabiting the role and navigating Dylan's jagged, impressionistic prose. If you live in Los Angeles, what better way to survive the 405 freeway than by sauntering down Fourth Street with these guys?

The Album Leaf

Jimmy LaValle's one-man band uses ambient noise, radio transmissions and musical complexity born out of his background as a classical pianist to create atmospheric music that can be both haunting and romantic. He has opened for Sigur Ros, and he recruited several members of that band for his latest album, "In a Safe Place" (Sub Pop). The music on tracks like "Eastern Glow" feels both timeless and modern simultaneously - there's a drum machine and a violin. "Over the Pond" sounds like a Sigur Ros song, which for my money is a compliment. This is a richly textured and powerful record, just the thing when you want to lend your scenes a sense of epic grandeur you couldn't quite deliver with your writing.

BellX1

You may have heard of this band's former lead singer, Damien Rice, who departed the group (then called Juniper) in 1999. But no matter: with "Music in Mouth" (Road Records), you can't imagine anyone but Paul Noonan, the new singer supplying the vocals. "Eve, the Apple of My Eye" is as soaring and joyful a sad song as you'll hear. "In Every Sunflower" is channeling some serious "Kid A"-era Radiohead. The album was recorded in a series of locations, and it feels that way - coherence is not its strong suit. But who needs coherence when you have "Alphabet Soup," which is alt-rock at its finest, instantly catchy and a nice use of the always underrated banjo, or "Next to You," which sounds like a song from a band that has listened to its share of Neil Finn? If you're looking to nurse a broken heart, these guys will make you feel good doing so.

Nirvana

Finally, in "With the Lights Out" (Geffen), we get the box set we've been waiting for, and we can now forget the three-ring circus of litigation that held it up and get back to the music. I was a senior in high school when Kurt Cobain shot himself, and I am the first to admit I didn't fully get the weight of what had happened. You came down in either the Pearl Jam or Nirvana camp at that time, and at 17, I was riding with Vedder. Yet in the decade since Cobain's death, this music has only grown more important, more relevant and more timeless. Some of the outtakes from "Nevermind," like "Verse Chorus Verse" and "Old Age," are almost as good as anything that made it onto the album. The acoustic version of "You Know You're Right" is a great find. And the chance to hear the band working out versions of "Rape Me" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is fascinating. Buy this one at Tower or Amoeba or your local record store; downloading it will rob you of the photos, artwork and memorabilia. No offense, Eddie, but I've switched camps.

Josh Schwartz is the creator and executive producer of the Fox television series "The O.C." The show's latest musical compilation, "Music From the O.C. Mix 4," is due in April. The first three mixes are in stores now.