The Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania • 48

DISC REVIEWS HEAR THEM LIVE Beck, with Spank Rock, 8 p.m. Oct 23, Tower Theater, 69th and Ludlow streets, Upper Darby, 215-627-1332, 610-352-2887, www.electricfactory.com. Elton John, 8 p.m. today, Boardwalk Hall, 2301 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, NJ 609-348-7000, www.boardwalkhall.com. Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins, Vietnam and Michael Runion, 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South Philadelphia, 215-627-1332, 215-922-1011, www.electricfactory.com. mewithoutYou, with headliner Say Anything, Piebald and Days Away, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 421 N. Seventh St, Philadelphia, 215-627-1332, 215-336-2000, www.electricfactory.com BECK "THE INFORMATION" (Interscope) ALT-ROCK Like a kid who realizes there's no Santa Claus, I've finally resigned myself to the fact that Beck will never top "Odelay," his 1996 breakout album. Back then, Beck pretty much seemed to have conquered the world, managing to hold onto the title of both Weirdest and Coolest Kid in School.

Ten years later, school is over and Beck is mucho mellow on "The Information," his ninth album. It almost seems like a career retrospective, with songs recalling Beck the Sad Troubadour, King of the Rock Mountain Beck and Beck the Musical Junkman, rock, folk and hip-hop. Yet it never seems episodic; these different sides of Beck blend together nicely from song-to-song, and even within songs. He has been more accessible in the past; this might be his most "acquired taste" album yet. But you don't get the sense that Beck is coasting, or phoning it in.

"I've got my maps all backwards and my instincts poisoned," he sings on "Nausea," the best, most catchy track here. It's as straightforward as mewithoutYou seems more about faith than creed (or, thank the Lord, Creed). The lyrics sheet uses the word "G-d" (a spelling usually associated with Judaism) and another song has lines in Arabic. But even if they are a Christian rock band, mewithoutYou at least has the decency not to trot out any "this can be taken either way" songs. We don't get any "you saved me," or "you are my resurrection" that could be either God or girlfriend.

Tom Coombe ELTON JOHN "THE CAPTAIN THE KID" (Interscope) POP-ROCK In 1975 I just about destroyed the grooves of "Captain Fantastic the Brown Dirt Cowboy," Elton John and Bernie Taupin's tale of their first two years as musical partners. I devoured the sublime melodrama of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," the middle-finger cockiness of "Better Off Dead," the whole idea of two friends as life rafts in a sea of late-'60s sharks. "The Captain the Kid" follows the pair over 30 years, from pop-chart highs to drug lows, from sunrise stagnation to sunset clarity. Far less ambitious and exciting than "Captain Fantastic," it's warmer and wiser, with Taupin's best lyrics, and John's best vocals and piano leads, in many a moon. "Postcards from Richard Nixon" is a perceptive, engagingly rambling account of their early success in America, the "promised land" of Brian Wilson and Steve McQueen.

"Just Like Noah's Ark" is a refreshing honky-tonk rocker about sham glam. John sings with broken wonder on "Blues Never Fade Away," where Taupin wonders why they survived and other "targets on the rifle range," including John Lennon, didn't, and with gutsy cheer on "Old '67," a toast to the year he and Taupin met and wrote their first hit, "Your Song." The pair fall down on And the House Fell Down," a pale boogie concerning chemical paranoia, and the title track, which suffers from a clipped countrified setting and yet another reminder of the miracle of a town mouse and a country mouse still sharing cheese after five decades. Pleasantly surprising, yes; miracle, no. Geoff Gehman Contributed photo BECK mucho mellow he gets lyrically, but fortunately, he doesn't really seem to be talking about himself. Tom Coombe JENNY LEWIS with THE WATSON TWINS "RABBIT FUR COAT' (Team Love) INDIE-POP-ROCK "Rabbit Fur Coat" was cloaked with high praise when it was released in January.

But to these ears, there was something offput-ting about the solo debut from Rilo Kiley singer Jenny Lewis. True, Lewis' alt-country-tinged 12-track collection, fleshed out by Kentucky harmony purveying duo the Watson Twins, possessed a delicate, decaying flower beauty and withering wordplay. But it also seemed rooted in a willingness to luxuriate in bitter and shabby truths about suspect lives, including her own. Ten months later, not much has changed, except when I hear Lewis' homespun cover of The Traveling Wilburys' "Handle With Care," I can more easily embrace her sometimes lilting, sometimes snappy songs about being both a trouble maker and a trouble follower prone to destructive appetites that turn love to ashes. "You are what you love, not what loves you back," Lewis sings.

Fair enough. Len Righl "The Best in the Gift Certificates we are now accepting for your Holiday mewithoutYou "BROTHER, SISTER" (Tooth Nail) ROCK The Web site All Music Guide calls mewithoutYou "Christian punk," but that may not be entirely accurate. First off, it's hard to imagine this Philadelphia band rocking the revival tent. Singer Aaron Weiss' gravelly voice is more John the Baptist than Jars of Clay. And that's not to say Weiss or his band are angry prophets so much as just angry sounding.

Secondly, BLACK ICE 'THE DEATH OF WILLIE LYNCH" (Koch) HIP-HOP Although Black Ice just released his debut disc, the worldly wordsmith already could be considered a star. He is a well-established poet, having started in 1993 as Lamar Manson working in Philadelphia's coffeehouses and more recently spitting spoken-word verses on HBO's "Def Poetry Jam" and Russell Simmons' "Def Poetry on Broadway." "The Death of Willie Lynch" shines as bright as many major rappers' ubiquitous "bling," especially on "The Ugly Show," where Black Ice takes government officials to task. Straddling a Kept Secret valley" RAY WYLIE HUBBARD "SNAKE FARM" (Sustain) ALT-COUNTRY One of the first cosmic cowboys, and the unhappy owner of a one-hit wonder, "Redneck Mother," which he never sings anymore, Ray Wylie Hubbard has overcome personal problems and re-invented himself as one of the most distinctive Texas singer-songwriters. Still, his it past several outings hav seemed disappointments," at least at first, considering 1999's "Crusades of the Restless Knights" is a classfc any genre. That said, his previ SUNSET RUBDOWN "SHUT UP I AM DREAMING" (Absolutely Kosher) INDIE-ROCK As the keyboardist-singer-songwriter for Wolf Parade, Spencer Krug tends to wrap his songs with firm beats and garage-rock aesthetics, but it's obvious that he is capable of crazier ideas, if not full-blown sonic grandiosity.

Those inclinations have found their way on to "Shut Up I Am Dreaming," the latest and Sunday ous recording, "Delirium Tremolos," a collection of covers Ray Wylie made his own, took a while to sink in. Simplicity can be deceptive. Same with his new offering, "Snake Farm," a stripped-down, rootsy exploration of Ray Wylie's obsessions: religion, sex and blues. He even quotes himself, bringing up that great line about the "day Deode and the nieht Deorile" from "Eternal and Lowdowa" No matter, because he does it 3 one of the disc's strongest cuts.fJRabbit" "Crusades" or "Delirium" might be a better introduction, But "Snake Tatar has its charms. Tim Blangger loudest effort from his side project, Sunset Rubdown.

Few songs end up where they started, and almost every one has a whiff of David Bowie's weirder works. "Snakes Got A Leg III" is probably the best compromise between Krug's inner rocker and his eccentric side, although other songs aren't so lucky. Still, even when his voice cracks or quavers, Krug seems to be jousting with true emotion, ever-conscious of the need to sound a little odd. Joe Warminsky III Night Football Available! The Vineyard Restaurant MK not street, Bethlehem -610-867-2441 Just 2 blocks South of St. Luke's Hospital The Valley's Pimler Sports, Entertainment Dining Destination mwmmmmnmmmmMifmMm -i reservations Parties frLi 1S On TJ 7 Sunday, October 8th rr in YU line between slinging sonnets and singing rap verses, "Willie Lynch" forces the listener to think and occasionally bob his or her head.

Occasionally. The major drawback here is production. Next time, tighter beats with more intricate instrumentation could be the final piece to help this shining star turn supernova. Dalondo Moultrie Joe Warminsky III is a freelance writer. mm October 7th Rockrt Blue Only for Mantes 6 Their Guests October 8th Sunday Social at 1 October 9th Monday Nwht Football $1 Pints, Food 6 Drinkl Specials Start at 8pm Kitchen Hours Fri.

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