Double Six

A practicing avant-garde musician when the term was unknown to rock and roll, John Cale’s just the man to tangle up in tech and burrow his way out with songs that could’ve been written 40 years ago, but only recorded in the past ten. The medium isn’t the message, but a tool to mess with until something new under the sun appears. Why not use Danger Mouse for the shamelessly catchy pop hook of “I Wanna Talk 2 U?” The tech swipes of “Nookie Wood,” the auto-tune effect and mechanized beats of “December Rains” and the synth squawks of “Mothra” never sound gratuitous in Cale’s experienced hands. Dicking with tonalities has been his forte since the Velvet Underground. At 70, it’s too late to stop now.