Anti-Incurious

The most recent New Yorker referred to the President as incurious. It struck me that incurious is perhaps the worst adjective that can be ascribed to a person. The immediate image that comes to mind is a human sitting in front of a TV, watching a test pattern for hours. Two artists with anti-incurious careers have new albums out: Beck and Los Lobos. Beck's latest album is called The Information and it has audio and accompanying video tracks (if you buy this version). I'm not as schooled in Beck as I am in Los Lobos, having managed them for 8 years, but he seems to be reaching for new heights with each endeavor. This one seems to carry on where Guero left off. On first listen, I immediately liked the songs Elevator Music and Think I'm in Love. With titles like these: Cellphone's Dead, Strange Apparition and Nausea (Shouldn’t this song segue from Elevator Music?), it's worth checking out. Lobos Lobos' new one, The Town and the City has a more blues/soul feeling than anything they've put out in past 15 years. Two hauntingly beautiful songs are the lead off track, The Valley and If You Were Only Here Tonight. Listen for the piano on The Valley. It's subtle, but it makes the track. Eddie Gorodetsky, long time band friend and the co-executive producer and writer of Two and a Half Men, (he also has an acting credit as Bacchus in the film Maked and Anonymous), has a co-writer credit on Free Up. Don't let the much-noted comparison between Little Things and Whiter Shade of Pale fool you. This song is all about David Hidalgo's soulful vocals and the lyrics by Louie Perez.
Little Things all around me, Little things that I could never see.
Like the Heart breaking inside me, that I just threw away.
If you're looking for an in-your-face/rock it to 11 track like Mas Y Mas, Colossal Head or Viking, you won't find it on this record. Pour yourself a cocktail, sit by the fire and enjoy The Town and the City.