Suzanne Vega Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles (Cooking Vinyl) ⋆⋆⋆ ⋆⋆⋆
The appealing sliver of ice in Suzanne Vega's voice has long distinguished her among alternative-folk singers, so it's perhaps unsurprising that her 1987 hit Tom's Diner has been sampled ad infinitum by the hip-hop fraternity. Now, finally, comes the switcheroo. On Don't Cork What You Can't Contain – a gripping, eastern strings-infused meditation on Pandora and other receptacle openers – Vega samples 50 Cent's Candy Shop. Listening to her first LP in seven years is a bit like twiddling the tuning dial on an old radio. There's gritty garage-pop, some lush orchestral moments and more of the highly literate folk for which Vega is best known. The album's esoteric-sounding title is not be feared. Turns out it's just a frame for story songs and parables, hence the rolling-folk opener Crack in the Wall warns against blind materialism and the raucous I Never Wear White finds Vega explaining why this is so. With a slew of heavyweight friends helping out (David Bowie's current rhythm section, Gail Ann Dorsey and Zachary Alford) the arrangements are as reliable as Vega's lyrics, but the album lacks a killer tune or two.