Nakedself
Taking almost seven years in between albums, Matt Johnson and the latest incarnation of The The releaseNakedSelf, a recording that scales to near rock-operatic proportions.NakedSelfis an album in its purest sense; its sum is greater than its parts, with no track standing alone as a clear single. And the parts? Concept, acid rock, noise, experimentation--the core of the record builds from a largeness of sound where artificial studio trickery is sidestepped in favor of diverse instrumentation. The CD's raw, powerful energy is funneled through acidic, fuzzed-out guitars and metal-head bass, fluctuating from a drone into a pulsating rhythm or imploding into an emotive acoustic-guitar-and-barstool love song. Johnson's vocals match the music's range. He delivers a Robert Plantlike orgasmic wail as impressively as he croons like an earnest folk-rocker.  But as far as this album reaches, it's never directionless, and it spares itself from alienating a pop-minded audience. In his 20-year career leading up to this CD, Johnson has respectably put out everything fromHank Williams coversto infectious'80s power pop. His scope in talent is equal to defiance of categorization. Further, this offering, a culmination of all his musical interests,  makes evident that the wait for his albums is proportionate to the rewards reaped from them.--Beth Massa