Dave Matthews Band: Away From the World (RCA) The last time Dave Matthews Band made an album, 2009’s somber Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King, they paid tribute to their late saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who died the year before. On Away From the World they return to the amiable but repetitive bro-rock of their early records, even calling back producer Steve Lillywhite, who worked on their first three LPs. Songs like “Broken Things” and “Mercy” sound ripe for onstage explorations.
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The Avett Brothers: The Carpenter (Universal Republic): On their 2009 breakthrough album I and Love and You, North Carolina’s Avett Brothers abandoned their DIY roots, packed up their acoustic guitars and banjos, and headed to Rick Rubin’s Los Angeles studio, where the guru-like producer helped shape their most ambitious record. On the follow-up, the Avetts’ seventh album, they once again work with Rubin, who adds some heft to the group’s most personal set of songs. Musically, The Carpenter is a tuneful record, with Scott and Seth Avett’s tight harmonies, flickering solos, and occasional classic rock-style approach to folk music filling in the empty spaces. But on songs like “The Once and Future Carpenter,” “Live and Die” and “February Seven,” the band recalls softhearted old-timers, getting all misty-eyed and mushy as they look back on love and life. It’s a midlife collision of their heads and hearts.
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Metronomy: Late Night Tales (Late Night Tales): Mixed by Joseph Mount, frontman for the British electronic quartet Metronomy, the latest Late Night Tales compilation throws together 20 songs — ranging from Outkast to Cat Power to Kate & Anna McCarrigle — for a super-chill set that doubles as a comedown from your after-hours clubbing. Most tracks are obscure enough to blend into their surroundings; only the Alan Parsons Project’s 1982 Top 5 hit “Eye in the Sky” disrupts the flow.
This article appears in Sep 19-25, 2012.