Lady Gaga | Artpop

She is a walking, talking, singing and strutting Picasso painting. Though it seems the record sales for Lady Gaga’s new release, Artpop, have not been doing well, I am convinced that it is the result of the music industry’s steady decent and not a testament to the CD itself. In fact, I think the album is brilliant.

In this album, Gaga sings for herself and even puts herself on the spot in the radio-worthy “Applause” when she sings “I stand here waiting for you to bang the gong.”

There are artists who “think out of the box,” and then there is Lady Gaga. She blatantly refuses to be closed in artistically. She isn’t afraid to push through the boundaries that modern culture attempts to place. She sings the note you don’t expect to come next, and she does what she wants. I believe it would be more accurate to describe her as a music designer, rather than simply as a singer.

Artpop is a bold offering of everything she is capable of. There are sounds of the ethereal and futuristic, disco, hip-hop, R&B, dance, rock and pop. She touches upon the taboo topics of sex and addiction and woos us playfully with songs about fashion and glam. Her powerful and versatile vocals layer over well thought out rhythms and sounds. This is not an album you can listen to if you are going in with expectations and a closed mind, but if you are willing to let it just play and be, you just might be blown away. Like any great piece of art, the more you experience it, the clearer it will become and the more you can relate to it.

For more information, visit ladygaga.com

Brick + Mortar | Bangs

Real and with plenty of street grit, Brick + Mortar’s new EP, Bangs, is a wake-up call that is sure to catch many listeners off guard. The New Jersey duo mixes the ironic hardships of coming of age with a sly underdog demeanor in this standout, seven-song collection.

From the first note, singer/guitarist Brandon Asraf and drummer John Tacon lock in a groove and never look back, creating layered peaks and valleys of tension and release that are accompanied by deeply personal lyrics. Check out the pulsating 8-bit jam of “Old Boy,” which straddles the edge but never falls off, or the tightly wound head-trip of the EP’s title song. Although the instrumentation in “Old Boy” is indeed upbeat and sounds like Mario on acid, there’s still a slight strand of venom laced in when Asraf sings, “Hi, I’m your son/You are to blame/Goodbye,” that epitomizes much of the I’m-going-to-put-you-in-your-place tone of Bangs.

Asraf and Tacon are talented songwriters in that they don’t allow the music itself to always match the mood of the lyrics; more times than not, the music will juxtapose the intention of the lyrics with a wink.

Bangs successfully blends a smooth and focused concoction of modern electronic bass and drum programming with the dirty and rustic snarl of rock’s past to create something wholly unique and original. Add in Asraf’s honest lyrics, and you have an instantly personal recording that never gets tiresome. Remember the name: Brick + Mortar.

For more, visit brmr.net

Celine Dion | Loved Me Back To Life

There’s an undeniable power that resonates with every syllable Celine Dion has ever sung, but this disjointed effort feels like she’s trying just a little too hard ~ not to sing; she can do that without question ~ but to fit into a club that’s moved on from her sound.

Loved Me Back to Life should affirm Dion’s standing atop the adult contemporary chart, but her first English language album in six years is uneven in its execution by a diva who is trying to play by a new set of rules. What we get with Loved Me Back to Life is mostly a mixed bag; the title track grows on you (its signature Dion…with a twist), and there are other quiet wonders on Life, but by trying to sound so current, so now, she sounds less like Celine Dion and more like an over-produced poplet (pop starlet) wannabe when we should be swept up in her soaring vocals. And that’s just a little sad. She still sounds gorgeous, but most of her efforts on Life seem somewhat disingenuous at best or just dated at their worst.

Reinventing oneself for a new generation of fans is a part of pop chart survival, but Dion has too many misses on this one. Some pluses include “Didn’t Know Love,” a standard-issue Celine Dion power ballad (this is a good thing!) and the would-be/could-be hit single just waiting to have its chance to explode at that dance clubs, “Breakaway.”

For all her latest, visit celinedion.com or follow her on Twitter @celinedion