Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Suma

Even when he worked on arguably Talking Heads’ three greatest albums, Brian Eno fashioned himself more of an auxiliary ‘Head’ than a traditional producer. So it’s a bit surprising that Everything That Happens feels more like an Eno-produced David Byrne project than an equal collaboration. Though the old friends crafted their songs together and Eno’s trademarks are all there—the lush soundscapes, noise collages and ambient weirdness—Everything That Happens owes much more to Byrne’s vocal-heavy, baroque, classical/rock hybrid Grown Backwards than either Talking Heads’ jittery Eno-period or the pair’s previous album, 1981’s experimental My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. Not that there’s anything wrong with that: Eno has spent the past three decades producing some of rock’s most polished singers, just as Byrne has spent the past three decades trying to convince the world he’s voice is better suited for Carnegie Hall than CBGB.

Only by the Night
RCA

Not only have Kings of Leon been able to do what such city cousins as The Strokes did not—that is, get better with every album—the Tennessee family band has helped show that Southern rock need not be rebel yells and boogie cliché. Caleb Followill may drawl his words, but the band’s sound is post-CBGB perfection: tight, smart and sexy, full of inventive cross-rhythms and irresistible tunes. The 43-minute Only by the Night—the band’s fourth album and first without Ethan Johns behind the board—boasts new textural touches, such as the hard electronic throb behind the biblebelt apocalypse of “Crawl.” Mostly, though, the album enthralls through inspired songcraft, from the combustible single “Sex on Fire” and tense, neon-lit “Closer” to the lighters-aloft ballad “Revelry.”

Loyalty to Loyalty

Downtown Records

In 2006, Cold War Kids became one of the blog era’s biggest success stories by marrying dark themes with catchy hooks. But two years and countless hype hasn’t changed Cold War Kids’ tune, or even its brooding tone, and Loyalty to Loyalty is in many ways the stereotypical sophomore album by a popular rock band: a shade darker, not quite as fresh and often times more artistically adventurous. Though the album’s first single, “Something Is Not Right With Me,” isn’t as immediately inviting as Robbers & Cowards’ “Hospital Beds” it’s built from the same mixture of infectious indie rock and edgy wartime insecurities. Likewise, standout tracks such as “Every Man I Fall For” find comfort on familiar ground, from Nathan Willett’s jarring piano and tortured voice to the band’s surprising flair for Billie Holiday jazz. Indeed, Loyalty to Loyalty isn’t the album that will change the face of indie-rock, but it does prove that Cold War Kids have more staying power than the rest of their BrooklynVegan class.

Maestro
Heads Up

If Maestro is intended to present a microcosmic view of where Taj Mahal has been during his 40 years as a recording artist, it succeeds unequivocally. On his first album in five years, Mahal revisits favorite places: the blues in its various guises, foreign ports from the Caribbean to Africa, and points beyond. He’s got help: The New Orleans Social Club (with Ivan Neville) kick Mahal’s