LEONARD COHEN レコード& CD

Review: If there was ever an artist suited to a posthumous release it's Leonard Cohen. The gravel-voiced baritone never made light of situations in life, so "voice from grave" fits him down to the ground. Moreover, if there was ever an artist we needed more music from it must be Cohen, one of the most gifted songwriters of the 20th Century, poet laureate of the human condition and the good and evil men and women do. This collection of leftovers from a relentlessly incredibly career has been pieced together with a little help from friends and family still cursed to walk this troubled Earth. Son Adam Cohen led on the project, with former-collaborators such as Beck, The National's Bryce Dessner and Feist called in for services. Not that you'd tell. The finished product is timeless Cohen business - a gentile and humble powerhouse you can't help but feel profoundly moved by.

Review: This September 21st, Leonard Cohen hit 80 years of age, and what better way to enter his ninth decade on earth than with another reliably dark and insightful series of grave reflections on the human condition. And indeed, with his stark ruminations backed with skill and taste by arrangements from erstwhile Madonna collaborator Patrick Leonard, he arguably hasn't sounded better in around half that time. Popular Problems is as witty, as wry, and as eternally affecting as we've come to expect from this troubadour. Indeed, while Cohen continues to make records as fine as this one, balancing out taste and refinement with gravitas and humour, we'll be forced to agree with his assertion herein: 'The party's over, but I've landed on my feet'.