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wed 10/10
Madonna
PHOTO BY JUSTIN BROADBENT
Metric: See Tuesday.
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Madonna burns brightest when her fearsome work ethic leads to polished, effervescent pop yet doesn't betray itself through over-production, jaded vocal delivery or self-conscious wordplay. In her latest album, MDNA, mostly succeeds, though, like the majority of her recordings, it's more a mirror than a maker of fashion. Reuniting with producer William Orbit for the first time in more than a decade (on half of MDNA) helped create Madonna's most lucid collection since 1998's Ray of Light, also largely Orbit-helmed. Madge's current show features characteristically extravagant production numbers. The ones that work best are injected with the unexpected: Basque trio Kalakan lending old-world exotica, a dig into (and/or at) Lady Gaga in "Express Yourself," a minimalist, waltzing take on breakthrough romp "Like a Virgin." Also Thursday. —Paul Rogers
thu 10/11
TROUBADOUR
Excuse the cliché, but veteran soul singer Bettye LaVette is nothing but gritty. Her just-out album, Thankful N' Thoughtful, is another stunner on her midlife comeback trail, a burning, boiling, slinking litany of trials and tribulations via well-chosen songs by the likes of Bob Dylan, the Black Keys, Sly and the Family Stone and Gnarls Barkley. LaVette doesn't just sing these songs, she wrings the juice right out of them, plumbing the depths with such brazen truth that it's damn painful to experience — and truly satisfying. If you want to know more about the wild and beautiful life of Bettye LaVette, pick up a copy of her autobiography, A Woman Like Me (see GoLA). Much like she sings, it just hurts so good. —John Payne
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