POP/ROCK
Big Boi, "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty" (Def Jam)
How does a record this good, made by a guy who's one-half of OutKast, wind up in the reject pile? Ask the folks at Jive Records, who allegedly thought this dazzlingly varied and impressively consistent album, completed in 2008, wasn't commercially accessible.
Two years later, Big Boi's funk de force solo debut occasionally sounds slightly dated in its lyrical allusions, with references to Ricky Bobby and some guy named Obama who was getting a lot of attention back then. But musically it doesn't miss a step, from the mighty martial groove that drives "Back Up Plan" forward to the Philly soul horns and dub bass that bubble up from under in "The Train Part II (Sir Lucious Left Foot Saves the Day)." Jive has nixed planned tracks that included Andre 3000, Big Boi's partner in OutKast; the label is holding out for a reunion. But the world can wait. Collaborating with Janelle Monae, George Clinton, Gucci Mane, T. I. and others, Big Boi has more than enough helpmates on hand, and he throws a vibrant and wildly creative house party that'll do better than fine until that next OutKast album arrives.
DAN DELUCA, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, "Dark Night of the Soul" (EMI)
A year ago, Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) and Sparklehorse (Mark Linkous) planned to release their suite of soul-searching psychedelia and nightmarish rock, with a flock of guest singers and lyricists, but a label dispute derailed it. A book of related photos by filmmaker David Lynch came out, with a blank CD-R inviting purchasers to download the leaked album. Since then, Linkous and Vic Chesnutt, one of the guests, have committed suicide.
Stately and staticky, the understated songs sound like prime Sparklehorse, though with the vocals of, among many, Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Suzanne Vega and James Mercer of the Shins and (with Burton) Broken Bells. A few heavy-handed rockers disrupt the spell, but "Dark Night" is, aptly, haunted, nuanced and phantasmagoric.
STEVE KLINGE, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
