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Quartetti Italiani, by Quartetto di Venezia
 
This 10 disc boxed set is a survey of string quartet music from Italy. The works of seven composers are represented, the earliest of whom is Boccherini (b. 1743) and the most recent, Gian Francesco Malipiero (b.1882). It is on the works of the latter that I would like to focus. My appetite for Malipiero was whetted when I encountered his 1st Symphony via the Naxos Music Library streaming audio service (Click here). This invaluable resource is made available for free to Greenwich Library cardholders. Having very much enjoyed my initial exposure to the composer's work, I borrowed Quartetti Italiani from the Library's collection. Malipiero's entire output for this configuration of players, comprising eight quartets in all, is present on discs 9 and 10 of this set. A harmonically adventurous spirit is evident on all these works, which, in conjunction with rhythmic vitality, creates a distinctive sense of forward narrative motion. Formal development is not emphasized, which may disappoint devotees of the Classical verities, yet these works cohere well, exhibiting a Faure-like logic as they unfold. I must admit, the Quartetto di Venezia does not exhibit the last degree of refinement and polish in their performances, but their playing projects enough excitement and commitment to put these pieces across and prompted repeated listenings on my part to all eight quartets; although I still haven't warmed up too much to #8. Predominantly tonal, these works, while frequently challenging, will reward those at ease with 20th Century idioms and iconoclastic compositional voices.
-David

Beatles albums (remastered), by The Beatles
 
Who isn't a Beatles fan? Even the outspokenly anti-rock 'n roll Frank Sinatra recorded a couple of their songs (Something and Yesterday). Now, the Fab Four were a major part of the soundtrack to my adolescence and over the years, I have subjected all of their albums (excluding Let it Be, which I never cared for*) to aural exegesis. I have spent hours trying to decipher who is playing which guitar part** or even distinguish between guitar parts on a track; a task made more difficult by the original mixes which were great at conveying excitement, but not so great when it came to sonic subtleties. Not surprisingly, this was particularly true of the earlier albums. Consequently, I was pretty excited when I learned the entire Beatles catalog had been remastered and was due to be released. The advance reviews I read whetted my appetite further, with accounts of astonishing detail, clarity and presence. I have now listened to the entire batch (excluding Let it Be) and can affirm the raves. If you think you know this music well, you will be startled by what you have been missing. To my ears the major beneficiary of the new mixes is Sir Paul, whose bass playing throughout is even more of a wonder than heretofore. His 16th note repetitive pattern on The Word (Rubber Soul) for instance, had me laughing out loud at its sheer funkiness. Ringo's playing on the other hand, while still amazingly propulsive on the earlier cuts like Can't Buy Me Love (Hard Day's Night), seems to have been demoted in the new versions from idiosyncratic to sloppy in places. I doubt this will detract from your enjoyment, however. Of course, the truly important artifacts, the songs themselves, remain icons of popular music in the 20th Century. Revisiting this body of work, pretty much in its entirety, brought home to me, yet again, the caliber of songwriting inspiration and craft that set a standard of consistency unmatched since.

* Thanks, for the treacly string arrangements, Mr. Spector.

**Chances are, if you find a Beatle guitar part particularly interesting, it's not George Harrison. For example, the solo on Taxman (Revolver) was played by Paul and the cool rhythm guitar triplet figure running through All My Loving (With the Beatles) is John Lennon. That said, what would life be like without chiming Rickenbacker 12 strings?
-David

The Who Sell Out, by The Who

Previously reissued in 1995 as a single CD, this classic 1967 concept album by The Who has now gotten a massive upgrade with a new 2-disc Deluxe Edition. Listeners now get to hear the stereo AND mono versions of the album's original tracks as well as numerous extras. The original album was a take off on British pirate radio stations operating in the mid-60s. Various announcements, jingles and commercials are interspersed throughout the album, making it sound like an actual underground radio broadcast. The songs themselves mostly focus on relationships and growing up, with humor and sensitivity which would later be dispensed with in future albums. And unlike previous and future Who works, lead vocalist Roger Daltrey is not the dominant singer here; guitarist Pete Townshend does most of the vocals on four songs (including the sublime "Our Love Was" and "I Can't Reach You"), and duets with Daltrey on two more. Daltrey gets to shine vocally on the band's classic single "I Can See For Miles" (still one of the coolest and most exciting rock songs ever recorded, with drummer Keith Moon at his most ferocious), "Tattoo" and the pre -Tommy mini-opera "Rael", however while bassist John Entwistle provides his usual black-humored side with "Medac" and "Silas Stingy". Even more remarkable, the psychedelic-sounding opening track, "Armenia, City in the Sky" is sung by Thunderclap Newman's Speedy Keen. Yet the album, and it's various extras (about which, more below) remains cohesive throughout. The different shifts in musical material (which includes instrumentals) actually cohere together, creating for the listener a sense of how unpredictable, yet exciting, non- BBC British radio must have sounded like. The faux commercials are a riot too, with the aforementioned "Medac" a particular stand out. (Oddly enough, during this period, The Who actually did real radio commercials, including ones for the US Military!) The extras: Well, most of them are remixes of the songs from the album, along with some previously unreleased gems, including a version of "Our Love Was" (mono mix) with a killer guitar solo by Townshend not previously heard before, jaunty versions of "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hands" and a technically tighter version of "Rael". The mono version of the original album really rocks, with a lot more vitality and energy sound-wise. Oddly, two extras from the 1995 reissue, "Glow Girl" and "Melancholia", aren't included in this new edition. But there's such a wealth of material here (over 50 numbers!) that you won't really notice. The Who Sell Out still delivers!
-Ed

The Basement Tapes, by Bob Dylan with The Band

Every fan knows about the period in 1966-67, after the infamous motorcycle accident, when Bob Dylan retreated to upstate New York and recorded a number of songs with his backing band The Hawks (later The Band) in his home studio. Through several of the songs were subsequently covered by other artists like Manfred Mann and The Byrds, the demo tapes of these sessions were constantly being bootlegged throughout the rest of the 60s and into the 70s. Pressure from the critics and fans finally resulted in a collection of some (not all) of these sessions released as a double album, The Basement Tapes (the name given to these sessions), in 1975. Now Columbia, after a previously released compressed CD edition in the 80s, has reissued the album digitally remastered on compact disc, with the original photo layout/artwork and liner notes/booklet by rock critic Greil Marcus. This new release doesn't have any extras like more songs, outtakes or updated program notes, but the sound is much better than the previous 80s version and the music, which combines country, blues, folk and even garage rock genres, still sounds fresh and exciting. Dylan himself sounds more loose and witty than he had on his previous releases at the time. (One quibble which I've had since the original vinyl release: WHY did The Band's Robbie Robertson, who put together this collection, insist on redoing his group's contributions? The Band's solo work on the album, while sounding great, seem more slickly produced -several of their demos from the original sessions were actually re-recorded for this album- and sound more like selections from another, later period.) Highlights from the album include (by Dylan) "Odds and Ends", "Goin' to Acapulco", "Tears of Rage", "Too Much of Nothing", "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere"; and from The Band, "Yazoo Street Scandal" and "Katie's Been Gone". You won't find any duds in this collection. Now let's hope all the other sessions not yet released from this period make it out to the public soon.
-Ed

Downtown, by Marshall Crenshaw

While it does not enjoy the eminence in the canon of Crenshaw's debut album, Downtown is another fine example of what MC does best, to wit: gorgeous melodies, concise yet polished wordplay mostly focusing on affairs of the heart, and a pre-Beatles rock 'n roll sensibility in both sound and spirit. The level of craftsmanship brought to these songs' composition and performance is reflected in a notable absence of the extraneous and gratuitous. Among many highlights, romantic obsession is conveyed with scary intensity on "Little Wild One (No.5)"; a lover's kiss off to his mate is given a humorous treatment on "I'm Sorry (But So Is Brenda Lee)" and the depths of remorse are explored on "Lesson Number One". As always, Crenshaw's guitar playing is a model of elegant soulfulness. Simpatico instrumental assistance is provided by notables such as Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, G.E. Smith, Mitch Froom and T-Bone Burnett.
-David

Double concerto for harpsichord & piano with two chamber orchestras, by Elliott Carter

One of the most esteemed American composers of the last half of the 20th Century, Elliott Carter is still plying his trade in his hundredth year. This piece was completed in 1961, and reflects the maturation of Carter's theories on "metrical modulation", where rhythmic continuity is maintained despite the cumulative change in tempo imparted by altering the note values played by individual instruments. I'm not sure this particular innovation had much bearing on my appreciation for the composition, which was visceral rather than analytical. What struck me repeatedly was the sheer beauty of texture and line; reminiscent, to my mind, of Edgar Varese's Arcana, although on a smaller scale. Indeed, this recording was recommended by a friend familiar with my enthusiasm for the Varese.
The disc also comprises Carter's Sonata for flute, oboe, cello & harpsichord (1948) and Sonata for cello and piano (1952). The former rivals the Double concerto for my affections for the same reasons cited above. The latter was a little more astringent; not surprising, given its sparser instrumentation, but still arresting. All told, this CD represents an investment of time I'm very glad I made.
-David

Third/Sister Lovers, Big Star

After releasing two commercially ignored but amazing power pop records in the early 1970's Alex Chilton returned to the studio in 1974 with drummer Jody Stephens and Memphis producer Jim Dickinson, to record a more quiet and personal record. This record, Big Star's 3rd, was deemed too uncommercial for release at the time. It finally saw the light of day in 1978 and proved to be influential to a host of bands that followed in it's wake, most notably REM.
It's a dark and brooding record that barely hints at the buoyant pop sounds of the bands past. Eschewing the pop sound, Sister Lovers features such somber classics as "Kanga Roo" and "Holocaust." These grand and twisted pop experiments take some time to digest and their beauty grows with extended listens. It is one of those rare records that successfully utilize the recording studio as an extended member of the band. Strings and synthesizers abound and the songs, at times, sound distant and lonely. It is a perfect soundtrack to the crisp autumn evenings that will soon be upon us.
-Stephen

The Slip, Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor surprised a lot of people earlier this year when he released four volumes of new instrumental music by Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts I-IV, online in multiple formats with some of those formats available for free. On May 5th he one-upped himself by releasing his new full-length album The Slip online, again in muliple file formats, but this time they were all for free, accompanied by a message to his fans: "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me".
Radiohead, eat your heart out.
The album itself feels almost like a summary of the previous two decades of Nine Inch Nails' music, even while sounding fresh. Discipline and Echoplex are two of the more obvious "catchy, radio-friendly" tracks, the lyrics of which could be about music and then the music industry, respectively. The album actually starts off with the instrumental 999,999, building from a pensive mood with shades of Help Me I Am In Hell (from the Broken EP) working in the background until launching into the ferocious 1,000,000, kick-started with the awesome Josh Freese's roiling drumwork. While I admit I'm still not entirely sold on Letting You (the chorus is too cacophonic for me, and that's saying a lot), I happen to think the chorus of Head Down is pure gold from my own existential angst point-of-view. Lights In The Sky (for which the current tour is named, by the way) is a beautifully subdued piano-and-vocal melody. Following are the two moody instrumentals Corona Radiata and The Four Of Us Are Dying, leading in nicely to the final track Demon Seed, which escalates upon layers of menace and barely-restrained power toward the promise of more to come. Which is plenty fine by me.
The Slip is a solid album in its own right, and therefore truly a gift to the fans (even for those like me who still insist on purchasing and owning a physical copy), and having seen Nine Inch Nails in concert over the summer, I can absolutely verify that the new material translates from disc to stage with no loss and all gain. If you've never heard Nine Inch Nails before, or just not in a very long time, do yourself a favor and give this album a listen--chances are good that you might like what you hear.
-Will

Get Away From Me, Nellie McKay

Since Nellie McKay will be performing at Greenwich Library in October, I thought I'd take the opportunity to write about her fledgling release, 2004's two-disc set, Get Away From Me. The title is a somewhat snide takeoff on Come Away With Me, Norah Jones's mega-hit, which predated Nellie's debut by two years. As such, it reflects Ms. McKay's jaundiced view of things in general and relations between the sexes in particular. Nellie does not mince her words, which, given the acuity and tartness of her perceptions of the (female) human condition, results in some devastating social commentary. Not infrequently, she is the object of her own barbs. But the real story of this recording is the seeming grab bag of styles contained therein; representing a kind of unhinged eclecticism. Think of a genre of popular music and it is likely to be present on GAFM. The fact that none of these styles are performed exactly idiomatically, doesn't for me, detract from the enjoyment of the disc. This is a tribute to the sheer personality Nellie puts across in her songs as well as the production acumen supplied by former Beatles engineer, Geoff Emerick. This utterly distinctive release put Nellie McKay on a lot of people's radar screens.
-David

Paradise and Lunch, Ry Cooder

Ry Cooder was on a roll throughout the Seventies; releasing critically acclaimed albums such as Into the Purple Valley, Boomer's Story, Chicken Skin Music and the very first digitally recorded LP, 1979's Bop Till You Drop. My favorite record of this fertile period, however, is Paradise and Lunch, which appeared in 1974. Cooder's choice of material at this stage of his career was already quite eclectic, but perhaps not so exotic sounding to his primary audience as the Norteno, Hawaiian slack-keyed guitar, or Bix Beiderbecke selections which would characterize later works. With the exception of "Tattler", a gem, co-authored by Cooder, all songs on PaL are covers and all are redolent of an imaginary American past where R&B, Pop, Jazz, Blues, Gospel and Traditional styles had coalesced into a single quirky idiom. Throughout the disc, the utterly distinctive drumming of "Snakey" Jim Keltner is a constant and is the perfect compliment to Cooder's scraggly vocals. As always, RC's guitar playing is a miracle of concise soulfulness.
-David

10,000 Days, Tool

Two years old now but no less impressive than when it first appeared, Tool's most recent masterpiece remains one of my favorite albums of all time. The name, according to lead singer Maynard James Keenan, is a reference to the length of time that his mother spent paralyzed in a wheelchair after she suffered a stroke (27 years). The two centerpieces of the album in my opinion are "Wings for Marie (Part 1)" and "10,000 Days (Wings Part 2)", which are both named for her and flow together as one song (though the first track, "Vicarious", received the most airplay and the best reviews). The album features the "usual" Tool stylings which include scorching and lightning-fast guitar harmonies, high precision drumming by drummer Danny Carey (who also triggered all the sound effects on the album using a drum machine called a Mandala), and Maynard's poignant and often scathing lyrics. During their 2002 tour the band premiered "Wings for Marie (Part 1)" instrumentally and as a sort of funeral rite and honorarium for the singer's dying mother, ending the song with the sound of a coffin closing. For those unfamiliar with Tool, this may seem a bit morbid. However, for those that know and love the band (and in my experience fans are rabid, no lukewarm feelings there), the various allusions to family bonds and spiritual, shamanic and archetypal themes are many and varied. Truly, the album hearkens back to the earlier Undertow (mixed by the same sound engineer) in its tone, though not in its depth; 10,000 Days is the more spiritually developed and adult version. The second track, "Jambi", includes references to the province in Sumatra that was once part of Melayu Kingdom - which was led by a powerful and opulent sultan - and offers a colorful criticism of power and wealth in past and modern cultures. The song "Lipan Conjuring" references the Lipan Apache tribe and showcases the band members singing and chanting in haunting, indigenous tones that they make all their own. "Rosetta Stoned" is a play on the famous tablet that allowed Egyptologists to first decipher hieroglyphs, and "Intension" is a further play on words alluding to "intention," a foundational concept to Shamanic and spiritual work in general, "intension" in evolution which can refer to interbreeding, or simply the idea of "intensification." The last track, "Vigniti Tres", is Latin for the number 23, traditionally a mystical prime number and the source of much rumination in the recent (and not very impressive) Jim Carrey movie. You can see where I'm going with this: Tool offers listeners mysterious lyrics that reference ancient cultures and ancient concepts while offering a possible re-mystifyication of our modern, left-brained culture in a hard-rock, artistic way. And now for the best part - the album artwork, which received a Grammy Award. Alex Grey of Chapel of Sacred Mirrors fame was brought back for the bulk of the design work (he designed the majority of the earlier Lateralus) and the album features an interactive jacket which comes complete with stereoscopic lenses and about 20 individual pieces of art that can be viewed so as to appear three-dimensional. Novel in concept, masterful in exhibition and rife with symbolic meaning, the cover of 10,000 Days' can provide many hours of entertainment. The actual face of the jacket is decorated with a face that logarithmically spirals in on itself, taken from Grey's earlier painting titled "Collective Vision". The band has always been one to tease its listeners with half-hidden meanings and shaded references and this is certainly true here. Portraits of the band members holding sacred objects and surrounded by animals, birds and other artifacts are interwoven with Alex Grey's visionary and beautiful paintings, creating a mysterious counterpoint to the music itself. A complete work of art, and in my opinion a masterpiece.
-Barbu

Saturdays=Youth, M83

Like their contemporaries Air and Daft Punk, French trio M83 are not shy about mining the recent past for musical inspiration. Their third proper album, Saturdays=Youth wears it's love of late 80's UK postpunk on it's sleeve and is all the better for it. The group had already developed a solid retro-dreampop/shoegazer sound on their previous outings using layered washes of synthesizers and vintage electronics tapered by masses of guitar effects. With Saturdays=Youth they have managed to balance a newfound level of songcraft with this soundscape work. Tracks like the Cocteau Twins-aping "Kim & Jessie" and tongue-in-cheek Cure tribute "Graveyard Girl" both beg to be singles, while "Up!" name checks Kate Bush's classic "Hounds Of Love" within it's lyrics and vocal work. Yet, M83 have not abandoned their hazy and opaque dreampop roots, and the final quartet of tracks on the disc provides a welcome aural overload. Those with a dislike of noise and volume may want to shy away at this point as M83 do their best to put every input on their mixing board into the red. In particular, finale "Midnight Souls" ends the disc on a high point with twelve minutes of escalating ebb and flow that will ring in your ears long after the music is over. By striking out into newer, unfamiliar territory on Saturdays=Youth, M83 have managed to avoid becoming pigeonholed as shoegaze-revivalists and move forward with relative ease.
-Everett

Dig Lazarus, Dig!!!, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

After several years on hiatus Nick Cave has once again assembled his stellar backing band, the Bad Seeds and it's a beautiful thing. Cave, who recently turned 50, proves that one doesn't necessarily mellow with age. He's managed to navigate currents that have done so many aging rockers in. This is the Bad Seed's most frantic and aggressive record in quite some time. The guitars sound fuller, and genius Bad Seed Warren Ellis is all over these songs, filling them out with screeching violas and something listed in the credits as a Fender Mandocaster. The subject matter of the songs is classic Nick Cave. "We Call Upon the Author" pokes fun at second-rate writers, God and, just maybe, himself. The title track updates the story of Lazarus by making the story contemporary, renaming Lazarus "Larry" and sticking him in New York City. In interviews, Cave has described this record as "a hemorrhaging of words and ideas," All of Cave's albums aim to unsettle, but rarely have he and the Bad Seeds managed to do it so efficiently, so gracefully, or so forcefully.
-Stephen

Piano Works, Beata Moon

I have played this recording, by Korean/American composer Beata Moon, more than any other in recent weeks. Ms. Moon has crafted several engaging pieces for solo piano which sound thoroughly modern, yet accessible; each of which exhibit her own consistently distinctive compositional voice. This voice comprises very occasional touches of pop music juxtaposed with a more astringent harmonic palate and some outright gorgeous Ned Rorem-like passages, plus a whole passel of less easily identified influences. Debussy for the 21st Century? For some interesting biographical information, click here.
-David

Oh, My Girl, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter

In this earlier album, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter hit the musical nail on the head, perhaps for the first time in their burgeoning career. Languorous, sensual, lovelorn and beautiful are four adjectives that struck me upon first hearing this wonder of a disc; with each successive listening the breadth and depth of Sykes' lyrics, composition and delivery amazed me more and more. And now, after over 100 auscultations, I've decided to promote it to one of the top ten albums in my music library, right up there with the more recent Like, Love, Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul. There is something mysterious, sad, yet incredibly hopeful in Jesse Sykes' music: it is this strange something that does not disappoint the listener, this something that keeps one glued to the stereo track by track, wondering what's next. Sykes has an almost Beatles-esque ability to build a theme and a mood throughout the entire album and end it on a high note. This is a blue mood, from the gorgeous opening title track to the grand finale, "Grow a New Heart." She and the band take us on a tour of the secret, tender and bruised spots of the heart while illuminating the dark corners that all lovers share. Simple but poignant lyrics, amazing backing by the Sweet Hereafter and straightforward sound production result in a true gem, but be forewarned: this is love music. Sharing this CD with a member of the opposite sex may result in amorous entanglements.
-Barbu

12 Crass Songs, Jeffrey Lewis

Crass were a politically strident anarchist punk band. Active in the late '70's until the mid 1980's, the band popularized the seminal peace punk movement and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism. The band's message was accompanied by loud, poorly recorded guitar, bass and drums. They were one of punk rock's forebears. Jeffrey Lewis is a folk singer and songwriter (film buffs will recognize his voice from his work with the band The Moldy Peaches, who are featured prominently on the soundtrack to the movie Juno.) Lewis has taken 12 songs written by and originally performed by Crass and re-worked them in a way that allows the listener to hear those angry and incendiary lyrics in an entirely different context. What's striking is how the messages contained in many of these songs are still pertinent in today's political climate. Just replace Crass's targets, Margaret Thatcher and the Falklands War with George Bush and Iraq War and the songs retain certain pertinence. One listen to the song "Securicor", which was released over twenty years ago, makes you conjure up images of Blackwater and the rest of the hired armies in Iraq. Where Crass delivered these songs with angst ridden earnestness, Lewis takes the band's message and offers it up with a voice full of mild-mannered wit as his acoustic guitar, toy piano; cello and accordion carry the rage in a different musical tone.
-Stephen

Don't Press Your Luck! The In Sounds of 60's Connecticut, Various Artists

In the mid-1960s, the state of Connecticut actually did have popular garage rock bands on the radio. Local groups influenced by such bands as The Beatles, The Byrds, The Rascals, Them and others, ruled, for a brief time, the Connecticut airwaves. Now, Sundazed Music has put together a nice CD collection of these bands, Don't Press Your Luck! The In Sounds of 60's Connecticut. The album features choice cuts from 1966-68 of such bands as The Shags, the Bram Rigg Set, the Wildweeds (who formed the foundation for the later NRBQ) and the Lively Ones. All these groups' singles were local hits heard between New Haven and Hartford, and beyond. Despite some rough production, the CD provides a good showcase for these bands that never were able to break through nationally but became, for a brief time, local heroes to the kids. The performers themselves were mostly high school and college kids, whose bands broke up due to outside realities, like school/college graduation and the draft, among other factors. But the sense of fun and enthusiasm these guys had in their prime becomes totally infectious with each listen.
-Ed

Ghosts I-IV, Nine Inch Nails

Like other die-hard fans of Nine Inch Nails, I was both surprised and delighted when Trent Reznor recently announced the release of his newest, and hitherto unannounced work, Ghosts I-IV. Ghosts is something of a departure from the "usual" Nine Inch Nails catalog, relying less on structured hooks, beats and lyrics, and instead drawing its brilliance from a more improvisational format. Trent describes it thusly: "Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I-IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I-IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain. I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts." It's worth noting that until recently Nine Inch Nails had been, like most other commercial bands, beholden to its record label. But no longer. And now Mr. Reznor, et al, are free from constraint to offer up whatever music they believe their fans might want to hear without having a middleman second-guess the "commercial viability" of such new offerings, and to do so in whatever venues and formats they choose (i.e. direct download). After listening to these first four volumes of Ghosts (more volumes are expected), I'm sure you'll agree that less middleman interference is a good thing.
-Will

Like, Love, Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul, Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter

This is easily my favorite album of 2007, indeed one of the top ten of the last decade. Jesse's haunting, beautiful, incredibly variable voice takes us through an ecstatic journey on her latest album, expressing a style that has been described as religious grunge, spirituo-country-grunge-folk, and other names which don't quite capture the true essence of this amazing phenomenon. The band has been praised from coast to coast and indeed, they sound as if they are (rightly) enraptured with their lead singer, providing perfect harmonies, slashing guitar solos and crescendos that take seven minutes or more to build and peak, culminating in something that is as moving as it is intellectually and emotionally engaging. When I first bought this album, I listened to it over fifty times in the first month. I simply couldn't believe that someone could sing the way Jesse Sykes does, that anyone could have this kind of inflection, passion, and depth to her voice and lyrics. And with each listening, I became more and more amazed by the backup band's perfect job of bolstering her and truly lifting her up with their own vocal and instrumental perfection. A must have for anyone that claims to really like pared-down, genuine music that has not been over-produced or pop-culture-sylized.
-Barbu

Ethiopiques. 22: more vintage, featuring Alemayehu Eshete

MORE VINTAGE!, volume 22 in the brilliant ETHIOPIQUES series, collects recordings from Ethiopian pop superstar Alemayehu Eshete made during the early 1970s. Eshete has earned many nicknames based on his funky ethnic R&B over the years. These included "the Ethiopian James Brown" and the "Abyssinian Elvis" The pompadour he's sporting on the cover of this CD certainly helps him earn those monikers. It's his rhythmic distinctive voice however, that brought him his notoriety. In addition to showcasing Alemayehu, this set shines a light on one of the key behind-the-scenes figures in Ethiopian pop, organist and arranger Girma Beyene. Something of Booker T. to Alemayehu's Otis Redding, it's Girma who provides the tight-as-a-drum funk and jazz grooves over which Alemayehu lets his stunning vocals glide. Although this is text-book Ethiopian pop from the golden era, listeners will hear the obvious influences of American soul and R&B.
-Stephen

Comicopera, Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt, formerly of the influential British art rock band The Soft Machine, has spent his career on the margins. While he has a devoted (if somewhat small) following, his music has been too esoteric to make much of a dent in the mainstream. His most recent record, Comicopera, which features such stellar friends as Brian Eno on keyboards and guitarists Paul Weller and Phil Manzanera, won't do much to change that. It is a strange, stylistically diverse and beautiful record. Wyatt sings in a gentle, melancholy voice. The music that begins Comicopera is, lush and warm, like his duet with Monica Vasconcelos on "Just as you are," or the stunning "Stay tuned" and the striking chamber pop of "You You." As the record progresses this beauty is met with discord and things get both lyrically and sonically darker. The final third of this record moves as far from that pop sound as possible, with two tracks in Spanish, another in Italian, and a solo improvisation from jazz vibraphonist Orphy Robinson. This is heady stuff that one needs to sit with for a while to fully appreciate. The great achievement of this record is that its complexity doesn't overwhelm its overarching beauty.
-Stephen

Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, Original Soundtrack by Mogwai

Scottish "post-rock" quartet Mogwai may not be the most obvious choice when it comes to scoring a documentary about the renowned and controversial soccer star, Zinedine Zidane. But it makes perfect sense when considering that the film went well beyond the cliché of rehashing career highlights, opting instead to show an entire game from Zidane's perspective. No stranger to such arthouse film scoring, Mogwai make a conscientious effort to keep the bombastic quiet/loud dynamics they showcase on their studio albums in check. The bulk of Zidane is a hushed and somber affair, filled with minimal guitar and piano work that sets a slowly evolving mournful and reflective tone. Its cohesiveness is provided by a repeating keyboard/guitar motif that subtly alters from track to track, not unlike the soundtrack work of minimalist composer, Philip Glass. "Half Time" is particularly striking, solemn piano work laced with a brooding underbed of squalling feedback that never quite rises to the fore. The true highlight of the disc is the nearly half-hour dirge of a hidden track at the end of "Black Spider 2." This unnamed improvisation counters all that went before in a fury of low-end bass, droning feedback and broken amp hum. Though such cacophony will send many listeners rushing to stop the disc, it acts as a strong climax to the soundtrack's lulling tempo. As a whole, Zidane's extreme sparseness may turn many listeners off, but those willing to give into it's slowly weaving textures will find it incredibly rewarding.
-Everett

Okkervil River, The Stage Names

While steeped in the tradition of the FM rock record of the 1970's, there is an air of beautiful mystery to this record. At the core of that feeling are Will Sheff's lyrics, which hint at a feeling of despair but do so in a very literary way that most indie rock lyricists (and vocalists) could never muster. The subject terrain varies, but often touches upon the intersection of art and life. Take "Plus Ones," where Sheff takes titles of popular songs with numbers in the lyrics (adds one number to the original) and molds a story. The opener, "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" is a modern day Netflix hipster anthem - one of everyday life not living up to that of the big screen.
While the music is grounded by the usual guitar, bass and drums, one hears banjos, violins and pedal steel guitars throughout the record. In its quieter moments piano and organ find their way into the songs, to great effect. The record is abetted by thoughtful production and excellent use of the studio. It has the warm feeling of an analog recording.
-Stephen

Sky Blue Sky, Wilco

Halfway through "Either Way", the first song on Wilco's most recent release, Sky Blue Sky, new guitar slinger (ringer?) Nels Cline, unleashes a delicate, lyrical, yet technically impressive solo. The effect was to keep my attention focused for the balance of the recording as I marveled at Cline's imaginative and tasteful contributions throughout. Given my familiarity with some of his other work, I confess to being somewhat bemused when I heard he had joined Wilco. His trademark skronk seemed like a strange choice to complement the kind of song-craft deployed by leader, Jeff Tweedy. But here we have a different Cline; chameleon-like in his ability to provide varied and arresting accompaniment to Tweedy's idiosyncratic musings. Had I been familiar with Wilco's live CD from 2005, Kicking Television: Live in Chicago, on which Cline also plays before I heard SBS, I probably would have known what to expect. But Cline's guitar artistry is not the only attraction on Wilco's newest. The entire band and especially drummer Glen Kotche, play as though they have a personal investment in setting the appropriate tone for the somewhat obliquely expressed sentiments of the lyrics. Tweedy's singing remains an acquired taste, as he sounds like Jerry Garcia with (slightly) better pitch. But the songs cohere. For the most part, they seem to obey an internal logic in which the disparate ingredients combine to impart heft. One caveat: The album seems front loaded, with the final four songs falling a little short of the mark set by the earlier tunes.
-David

Black Snake Dîamond Röle, by Robyn Hitchcock

I am going through a period of musical nostalgia, revisiting some of the records that were influential and important to me in my younger years. For the most part I come away underwhelmed. Records that seemed brilliant when I was 18 haven't aged very well. One glaring exception is Robyn Hitchcock's first solo record.
After his band, the Soft Boys, disbanded in 1980 Hitch set off alone, recording this record with a few of his former band mates but this time, the songs and vision put forth are his alone. This is where he introduced his brand of twisted psychedelic pop; an amalgam of Syd Barrett, John Lennon and the Byrds, filtered through a post-punk sensibility. The beautiful 12 string guitar chime of "Acid Bird" shows one side of Hitchcock's song-writing prowess, the flipside being the thunderous rancor of "Brenda's Iron Sledge." It is a decidedly British record both thematically and aurally. Hitchcock delivers his lyrics with a fantastic accent that adds much to these songs.
This record was the beginning of a prolific career; Hitchcock is still releasing great records; check out his record "Spooked" from a few years back to see what I mean.
-Stephen

Year Zero, by Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor's vision of America and the world fifteen years from now is a nightmare. Los Angeles is in ruins after terrorists detonate a nuclear bomb, America is invading other countries (surprise surprise), and the government has been usurped from within by right-wing religious fanatics who keep the citizenry cowed by propaganda, drugging the water supply, and silencing opposition via the "Bureau of Morality" (not unlike 1984's "Ministry of Love"). Meanwhile, the environment continues on its own downward spiral (think: plenty of new waterfront property), and amid all the violence, paranoia and hysteria, thousands of people world-wide witness a gigantic ethereal hand reaching down from the sky...
The first of a 2-part concept album (the second is expected to be released early next year), Year Zero's dystopian themes should be familiar by now to all of us. But what really sets this album apart, aside from Trent Reznor's as-always amazing musical stylings, is the back-story, which has complemented the album as an alternate reality game of clues, hidden messages and Web sites that has kept fans busy since even before the album's official release in April.
Whether you're already a Nine Inch Nails fan, or a critic of America's current administration, or simply curious to hear what Trent Reznor sounds like after he's been reading Noam Chomsky, you'll want to give this one a listen.
-Will

Yours Truly, Angry Mob, by Kaiser Chiefs

Yours Truly, Angry Mob, by the UK's Kaiser Chiefs is an exhilarating album of British power-pop/garage band fusion. Amusing, ironic lyrics mixed with up-tempo and bouncy hooks make this collection fun to play. Best numbers: "Ruby", "The Angry Mob" and the defiant "I Can Do It Without You".
-Ed

Just Like That, by Toots and the Maytals

The Library recently added this 1980 release to its CD collection.  Toots Hibbert and Co. are in absolutely top form throughout, with the leader proffering some of the most soulful vocals you're ever likely to hear in Reggae or any other genre; particularly on the title cut.  On this song, the influence of the singer's idol, Otis Redding, is clearly discernible as Toots whimpers, groans, babbles and generally crashes and burns at the departure of a lover.  Whew! On more upbeat selections, the groove's the thing, as on two instrumentals: Turn it Up and the Dub-style Turn it Over.Throughout, the band is tight and the Maytals' sweet harmony vocals are used judiciously to spice up the proceedings.But the star of the show is the boss, a Reggae icon, who takes the listener through the extremes of joy and sorrow.  The passage of more than twenty-five years has not diminished my affection for this album.
-David

Memories of T, by Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet

If you have ever fallen prey to the angular charms of Thelonious Monk's supremely idiosyncratic body of work, I suspect you will enjoy this CD for similar reasons. For one thing, the disc comprises many of the more familiar tunes from the Monk canon; such as Rhythm-a-ning, Pannonica, Straight-No Chaser, Epistrophy and Bemsha Swing. But many contemporary jazz releases feature Monk cuts, which don't capture any of the Klee-like appeal of the originals. Where this release excels is in the arrangements, by trumpeter Dan Sickler, which mimic Monk's comping and soloing, even though there is no piano present. Individual lines, often recognizable quotes from the great man's own recordings, will be divided up between, say, saxophone, guitar and trumpet, with each instrument playing in sequence. The fact that this difficult feat is accomplished with such complete rhythmic assurance by the players reinforces the sense that Monk's spirit is being channeled. Finally, drummer, Ben Riley, a Monk cohort from four decades back, imparts his particularly kinetic time-keeping, so that the proceedings swing as hard as 1965's Live at the It Club (COMP DISC 781.65 MONK); which is saying something.
-David

The Phantom of the Opera, by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Did you ever get so mad that you wanted to drop a chandelier on someone's head? Then Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is the musical for you. Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman lend their outstanding voices to the main characters in this darkly haunting, yet strangely beautiful original cast recording. The Phantom, a horribly disfigured musical genius who lives beneath a Paris Opera House, terrorizes all of its above ground inhabitants when he falls in love with Christine, a beautiful chorus girl with hidden potential.
-Rick

The Studio Albums 1967-1968, by The Bee Gees

Long before the Bee Gees became Lords of Disco in the late '70's they made delightful psychedelic pop albums. The smart folks at Reprise Records have collected their first three records and packaged them, along with a fact-filled book, into this fine box set.
This six-CD set of the Gibbs' first three international albums in stereo and mono mixes, non-LP singles, alternate versions and copious outtakes may seem like overkill for a band remembered for its AM-radio anthems, but Bee Gees 1st, Horizontal and Idea are startlingly filler-free. The excellence of these songs match their inspired titles; on the first record alone they give us such gems as "Cucumber Castle" and "Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts" One of the standouts of "Horizontal, the bands second record is "Lemons Never Forge."
The first reaction of the uninitiated is to comment on how much these songs sound like the Beatles. This is only partially true. While there is plenty of classic '60's pop on these records they also (and this is especially true for disc 3, which contains the "Idea" LP) mined a territory that was much more orchestral and baroque than their predecessors.
-Stephen

Street Noise, by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & the Trinity

This album, originally released as a double-LP in 1969, brought about my abiding love for the Hammond organ. It also introduced me to one of the most thrilling vocalists of the 60's: Julie ("Jools", or "The Face") Driscoll. Stylistically, Street Noise is an amalgam of rock, jazz, folk blues and gospel, which maintains continuity from track to track, despite its eclecticism. Comprising equal parts original songs and cover versions, the album is that rarest, for me, of commodities--a record where I like every song. And it's a double album, no less. Furthermore, I had disdained some of the original versions of the covers chosen as either un-hip ("Flesh Failures: Let the Sunshine in" and "I've Got Life" from Hair), or just plain annoying ("Light My Fire"). But not so on Street Noise. In fact, here you'll find the only version of the oft recorded LMF that doesn't make me cringe, thanks to Jools's goose bump-inducing vocal and Brian Auger's subtle and atmospheric organ embellishments. Elsewhere, the band absolutely burns on original instrumentals such as "Ellis Island" and "Tropic of Capricorn", prominently featuring their co-leader's keyboard virtuosity. On Richie Haven's "Indian Rope Man", Jools and Brian vie for the spotlight; each outdoing the other on this incendiary track. Throughout the album, wherever Driscoll sings, she will compel your attention; whether on up tempo numbers or the gentle "Vauxhall to Lambeth Bridge" or her dramatic rendition of the traditional song, "When I was a Young Girl". My only caveat concerning the album is an occasional shrillness on her part, but this shouldn't deter you from checking out this remarkable but relatively unknown release.
-David

Tropicalia: e' proibida proibir, (Soul Jazz Records)

Tropicalia was a musical and cultural movement in Brazil that lasted a little more than a year (1968), and ended primarily due to the imprisonment and subsequent deportation to England two its main protaganists, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.
Tropicalia mixed American and British psychedelic rock and pop with Brazilian roots and European avant-garde and experimental music to create a new sound that was both distinctly Brazilian and truly international. Ideologically they mixed high art with mass culture and mocked the military dictatorship under which they were living at the time.
This disc is a great introduction to the movement's music. Every track is a winner and my guess this will leave you wanting to hear more from the artists featured here, which include the fantastic Os Mutantes and Tom Ze.
-Stephen

People Gonna Talk, by James Hunter

When I first heard "No Smoke Without Fire", from People Gonna Talk, I was turning up the volume trying to figure out who I was listening to...was it Sam Cooke? The sax and guitar sound said classic 50's/ 60's soul to me. By the time I got to "Talking 'Bout My Love" ---I was a fan. This is the 2006 release from British R&B soul artist James Hunter. People Gonna Talk earned a 2006 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year. But I know I'm not the only one loving this sound. Van Morrison says "James is one of the best voices...in British R'n'B and Soul. Check him out."
-Deirdre

Beside You In Time, by Nine Inch Nails

Filmed during the winter 2005/2006 tour in support of their 2005 album With Teeth, Beside You In Time features a 19-song set-list shot in high definition video with Dolby 5.1 & DTS surround-sound and plenty of extras. The performances are tight and energetic, suitably representative of the tour (and the band's modus operandi) as a whole, and the main set-list offers a satisfactory balance between old favorites and new material. In addition to the main performance, extras include 5 additional songs shot during the 2006 summer amphitheater leg of the tour, rehearsal footage, music videos for "The Hand That Feeds" and "Only", a tour image gallery, and a discography of the band's entire catalog.
Having had the privilege of attending five shows from this tour, I can say with confidence that this DVD captures the essence of a Nine Inch Nails live performance very well; it may not be quite as good as actually being there, but if you were unable to get tickets (or you are a new fan) then this really is the next best thing.
-Will

Anthology: The Essential Crossexion, by Ronnie Wood

Anthology: The Essential Crossexion is a nice double CD set of the Rolling Stone guitar player Ronnie Wood's work over the past four decades, from his work with 60s groups the Birds, the Creation (these two bands, with their raw R'n'B, Who-like electric sound, both deserved better success than they ultimately got) and the Jeff Beck Group to later stuff with Rod Stewart, the Faces and of course the Rolling Stones, the latter represented by only two cuts. There's also a lot of Wood's solo stuff, including the promising new single "You Strum And I'll Sing", reuniting the guitarist with Stewart (who sounds better here than he has in years, including the recent blah release "Still The Same"). Thirty-seven great, if slightly rough around the edges, selections in all. Check it out.
-Ed

Boys and Girls in America, by The Hold Steady

There's nothing complicated about this record: catchy songs, power chords and insightful lyrics. At times reminiscent of Springsteen Born to Run era (especially when the keyboards take over) at other moments I hear the Replacements. It's an honest, down to earth rock and roll record and I didn't think they made those anymore.
Singer and guitarist Craig Finn lyrics touches upon the dreariness and the small moments of excitement of growing up in a suburban wasteland; the parties in the woods, the burnouts from your school, the mall rats. He gets it just right.
The band has managed to tread a fine line; they are a bar band that even the hipsters like. They are just so uncool enough to be cool.
-Stephen

Endless Wire, by The Who

Twenty-four years after their last studio album, the surviving members of the Who release their newest work, "Endless Wire". Although the manic quality of the band's rhythm section (represented here mainly by bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Zak Starkey, plus various guest musicians and Pete Townshend himself) is much missed, and Townshend's lyrics pontificate a bit too much, the music, anchored by vocalist Roger Daltrey, still delivers the oomph that bands half their age still can't muster. Daltrey finally gets, after failing to in previous albums, the nuance and tone of Townshend's music, giving excellent vocal performances (alternating with Townshend on some cuts) throughout the CD. (And is Pete doing a Tom Waits vocal riff on "In The Ether"?) Plus, just like 60s albums "A Quick One" and "The Who Sell Out", the band performs a ten song mini-opera, "Wire and Glass", whose plot about an aging rocker serves both as a metaphor for the group and a showcase for some of their most impassioned work. (There's also a DVD enclosed featuring the band performing live in Lyon, France last summer. Not one of their good nights.) Choice cuts: "It's Not Enough"; "Endless Wire"; "Mike Post Theme".
-Ed

Give, by The Bad Plus

I've never really been all that into Jazz, but something about this band really intrigues me. Maybe it's the way this Jazz trio (piano, bass, drums) compliments each other so well, or maybe it's the fact that they do a really killer cover of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" that peaked my interest. Either way, this is my favorite CD to listen to right now. The other two titles of theirs in our collection are very good as well.
-Rick

Enroute: Live, by John Scofield Trio

Enroute: Live documents performances recorded in December 2003 at New York's Blue Note. The band comprises Scofield, on guitar; drummer Bill Stewart and the venerable electric bassist, Steve Swallow. I have been returning to this CD for the better part of two years and have been consistently rewarded as new insights emerge with each subsequent listening. "Astonishing" is the word that comes to mind regarding the collective level of musicianship. Any album featuring either Sco or Stewart is something I will automatically want to check out and longtime collaborator Steve Swallow's steady presence seems to be the perfect catalyst to elevate the proceedings to the sublime. I have noted Swallow's similar effect on other groups; notably that of his own trio featuring saxophonist Chris Potter and drummer Adam Nussbaum. This feat is not accomplished via blazing technique, but rather, by unerring instinct for the right note, gorgeous timbre and a sense of swing that anchors the rhythm unambiguously. In short, this is the perfect platform for both Scofield's and Stewart's flights of fancy. The former deploys his usual pungent tone in the service of solos that are never predictable, frequently startling, and yet, paradoxically, seem almost preordained in their "rightness". Similarly, when Sco shreds (infrequently), the display of sheer chops does not seem gratuitous, which is unusual if not unprecedented in these days of dime a dozen guitar virtuosi. Stewart, for some time now has been my favorite drummer, bar none. His contributions to this album reinforce that assessment. Yikes!
In sum, three topflight musicians in absolutely transcendent form: Did I say "Yikes!" ?
-David

Son, by Juana Molina

After doing a bit of research I discovered that in her native Argentina Ms. Molina is a popular comedienne. That's ironic because her fourth record "son" is a thing of quiet, unsettling beauty; it sounds nothing like you would expect from someone whose main job is to make people laugh. Instead we get a strummed acoustic guitar backed by bubbling electronic noises, found sounds and percussion, all topped off by Ms. Molina's beautiful vocals. It's an ambient-folk experience like nothing you may have heard. You might want to pull out the headphones.
-Stephen

Game Theory, by The Roots

After what some might call a slight mis-step (2004's The Tipping Point) The Roots are back with a record that is just as brilliant as their magnum opus, 2002's Phrenology.
The energy on this record is palpable as the band hustles its way through a stylistically diverse set of songs. Unlike most hip-hop acts, the Roots play their own instruments. The songs are anchored by Ahmir Thompson's tight funky drumming. On Game Theory his snare drum snaps so loudly (how tight is that snare head anyway?), especially on the elbow-throwing "Here I Come", that it nearly overshadows everything else.
This is one heavy album which features more guitar than we've heard from the band before and, it's heavy in a figurative way as well: the hangman on the cover, the anger and paranoia that rapper Black Thought puts forth. And don't forget that beautiful, ultra low end bass. You can feel it.
I think the record reflects perfectly the tailspin that this country finds itself in. My guess is that if Bill Clinton was still in charge, (remember diplomacy? remember $2.00 a gallon gas? remember the good times?) the band may not have as much urgency and fire. But fire and urgency they have to spare and, I guess that is the only thing I can thank the current administration for.
-Stephen

The Drift, by Scott Walker

Trying to figure out singer Scott Walker's latest CD, The Drift is an exercise in of itself. The performer's first album in nearly a decade, Walker sings (in alternating styles) of 9/11, the execution of Benito Mussolini and other cheery subjects in a grim, almost fatalistic tone, with a stripped-to-the-bone production to match. Not for the faint hearted. (Walker's 1960s output with the faux-British Invasion band the Walker Brothers, who had a big hit here in the states with The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore can be heard on the CD After The Lights Go Out: Best of 1965-67, which also has its grim moments amidst the pop frivolity.)
-Ed

Return to Cookie Mountain, by TV on the Radio

This long, ambitious album takes a few listens to entirely digest. What one hears one the surface is just part of the story. What's striking at first is the soulful and often unsettling vocals of Tunde Adempimbe. His voice is the driving force of these songs. It rarely sounds the same and, throughout the course of the album channels both Peter Gabriel and Gavin Friday. He delivers his lyrics with an earnestness one doesn't often hear.
But, the more you listen the more you discover all that the band is up to behind Mr. Adempimbe. Great walls of distant sounding guitars, fractured horns, haunting organs and, wait a second...is that a cello? Great welling masses of sound.
The band has staked out a sonic territory that is theirs alone. It seems to be a complicated and, at times, beautiful place. TV on the Radio have crafted a work of immense, cataclysmic, almost overwhelming power and righteous fire.
-Stephen

Modern Times, by Bob Dylan

Well folks, a new Bob Dylan album has been released and you know what that means: Music critics are cranking up the hyperbole machinery in order to reassure us that a venerable cultural icon has still got it. This usually takes the form of sentiments like "his best work since X", or similar invocations of his storied catalog. Where Modern Times will ultimately end up in the pantheon of Dylan's oeuvre is anybody's guess, but I am tempted to consign it to the mid-to-lower echelon at this point. Especially when compared to its immediate predecessor, 2001's Love and Theft. For a start, the latter had more compelling and varied grooves played by a tighter, more musically adventurous band and more committed (albeit more ragged) vocals by the Man. Lyrically, Bob's as opaque as ever, but his ideas seemed more portentous on "Love and Theft" by virtue of his startling vocal presence on that earlier release. And Modern Times is a L-O-N-G album comprising L-O-N-G songs, that frequently flirt with tedium. On the other hand, lest I seem too negative about the new arrival, I do like several of the album's tunes quite a lot including "Spirit on the Water" which has an interesting chord progression that doesn't wear out its welcome over the song's 7:42 length and Dylan's reinvention of the 19th Century folksong "Nettie Moore", where his singing is drenched in regret. And finally, the album convinces you there is valid reason for its existence and what it has to say, in contrast to most of the self-indulgent, cookie-cutter, singer-songwriter musings of recent memory.
-David

10,000 Days, by Tool

I haven't been able to put down the newest release from Tool since I got it. The opening track, "Vicarious" has an odd time signature - 10 beats per measure instead of the expected 8. The resulting feeling is one of incompleteness, as every measure seems to end with the beginning of another, unfinished one. I can't think of a cooler way to start out your album - and it just gets better from there. There's also a really neat pair of stereoscopic goggles built right in to the CD case, which you can use to view the outstanding original artwork included in this release.
-Rick

Under the Covers Vol. 1, by Sid n Susie

A great collection of covers of late 60's pop songs by Matthew Sweet and former Bangle Susanna Hoffs. I admit, I was not a huge Bangles fan, as I considered myself more of a Go-Go's type. But how could you not love a CD that includes a cover of a Left Banke song? And they didn't pick the obvious "Walk Away Renee," though after hearing this CD, I'd love to hear their take on it. Both Sweet and Hoffs, performing as Sid and Susie, have perfect voices for this type of music. They cover such a wide range of what could be filed under "pop", from The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" (my favorite Who song,) to Love's masterpiece "Alone Again Or." This CD is simply brilliant. I hope the fact that they called it Volume 1 means that there really will be another one.
-Annie

Campfire Headphase, by Boards of Canada

I don't stay up late much anymore but, when I do, I am usually listening to this CD. It's electronic music... but with a heart.In place of the usual digital coldness and frantic beats that plague most electronic music, the Boards of Canada gives us more ambiance with an obsessive attention to detail. Listen closely and you'll hear all sorts of sounds and instruments bubbling just under the mix. At times it sounds like transmissions from a distant planet, coming through on a staticky radio station. At other times the productions evoke the image of a reel-to-reel machine's 1/4 inch magnetic tape steadily disintegrating as it plays for the last time...but in a good way. And finally, there are moments of pure transcendence and joy. Just listen to the album's closer "farewell Fire" to see what I mean. Even if I can't make it until dawn, the beauty of that songs distant synthesizer melody makes me feel like I made it anyway.
-Stephen

You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R. D. Burman's Bollywood, by Kronos Quartet

I know, the whole Bollywood thing is so over now, but I couldn't resist this one. I love the Kronos Quartet's take on pop music, so I was really looking forward to this disc. They have taken the music of Bollywood films, sung by Asha Bosle herself, and put their own spin on it. For those who need an introduction, Asha Bosle is the actual female singer in most Bollywood musicals. She was also immortalized in song by the Anglo-Indian band Cornershop with the song "Brimful of Asha (on the 45.)" Though known as a classical group, this disc isn't what most people would think of as classical music. It's got more of a dance beat to it. I found it thoroughly enjoyable.
-Annie

Seven Steps to Mercy, by Iarla O'Lionaird

In Seven Steps to Mercy, Irish singer Iarla O'Lionaird's haunting voice and traditional sean-nos singing style are set off by atmospheric (but not obtrusive) background samples or instrumentals. The music is straightforward, heartfelt and beautiful. Just try listening to the song "Lament at Calvary", and you'll be hooked. O'Lionaird also has become noted for his collaboration in the "Afro-Celt Sound System", blending African and Celtic music to great effect, but this remains his most spectacular album.
-Richard

 The Way Home by Kevin Braheny

Musician Braheny made the transition years ago from jazz and rock to electronic music. In the 1970s he worked on designing and playing improved models of synthesizers; one of his specialties is the Steiner electronic woodwind, featured on this album. It consists of two pieces, "The Way Home" and "Perelandra", the latter inspired by the C.S. Lewis novel.Both are examples of space music at its best: haunting tapestries of tone and melody which can be enjoyed whether you want to watch the patterns or simply float with the music.
-Richard

Kicking Television, by Wilco

Wilco's first record "A.M" was a run of the mill, overly earnest attempt at straight-up alt-country. Fortunately, after that, head honcho Jeff Tweedy began taking the band into more adventurous territory. But, it wasn't until 2002's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" that the band entered the realm of greatness; jettisoning their traditional rock stylings and making an amazing record of head music. Since that time, Tweedy and the band have been on a roll. I am usually no fan of live records but this one, recorded in Chicago last spring, finds the band at the top of their game. Focusing on the band's later, more complex material it offers the first recorded document of Wilco's new (and best) line-up. While many of the songs featured here sounded cool and mannered in the studio, here they gain new muscle and force. Guitarist Nels Cline complements Tweedy's songs perfectly and this record puts their songs in a new perspective. It also shows that this already great band is just getting better.
-Stephen

11 Tracks of Whack, by Walter Becker

Walter Becker's 1994 release, 11 Tracks of Whack, never managed to attract as much popularity or critical acclaim as The Nightfly, by Becker's Steely Dan co-conspirator, Donald Fagen. Nevertheless, I prefer the former and listen to it more often than the Fagen solo album, partly because The Nightyfly's production is ultra-clean, almost to the point of sterility. Not so, 11 Tracks of Whack (henceforth ETOW). ETOW also seems more human in its lyrical concerns, which may reflect a particularly harrowing time for Becker, following the breakup of Steely Dan, struggles with chemical overindulgence and his removal to Hawaii. I hasten to point out this is only conjecture on my part; deriving from vague hints in interviews with the reunited Dan principals. The album is also a departure from The Nightfly and most Steely Dan records in that, with the exception of Dean Parks on guitar, studio musician A-Team players are absent. The result: an idiosyncratic blend of musical styles (rock, fusion, country, jazz, some cheesy drum machine tracks) with an oddball charm, consistently fascinating lyrics and more heart than the entire Steely Dan oeuvre, and I'm a huge SD fan. One listen to "Little Kawai", ETOW's final song, takes you to a warm fuzzy (though not saccharine) place, not encountered in any song by Becker's regular band. Caveat: Becker's singing may take some getting used to.
-David

Untold Things, by Jocelyn Pook

Pook has written music for films, TV, dance, and theatre in an eclectic and evocative style of which this CD gives a good sampling. She draws from many cultures and periods to produce music which is sometimes like Enya, but often with a darker tone; the mix of classical instruments and modes, and multi-cultural effects, is fascinating. Try the piece "The Last Day", and you'll be hooked. The bad news: she doesn't seem to have done any other CDs like this, although some of her film music is available.
-Richard

Waiting for the Siren's Call, by New Order

I have been disappointed in New Order's more recent releases, so when I placed this in the CD player, I was not expecting much. However, instead of being disappointed, I was very pleasantly surprised. This is probably one of the best albums I've heard so far this year. The sound is full, lush beautiful - and danceable. There is even some references to their earlier work as part of Joy Division in the more out and out "rock" tracks. I'll even go out on a limb and say that overall, this is up there with Low Life, perhaps even better.
-Annie

Early Piano Works, by Gabriel Fauré

These typically elegant pieces, many of them achingly beautiful, are interpreted in a thoughtful manner by Ms. Röling, which emphasizes their inherently graceful structure. In these recordings, she does not display the technical polish Jean-Philippe Collard brings to bear on his complete traversal of the Faure barcarolles (also part of the Library's collection). But to my mind, the music does not suffer as a result of her more deliberate approach. Given a chance to really breathe, these pieces simply display different facets of their characters. An especially intriguing inclusion is Impromptu no. 1 in E flat major, op. 25, which hints at the more adventurous harmonic palette Faure would explore in later years.
-David

I ♥ Huckabees Soundtrack, by Jon Brion

Film soundtracks can be pretty dicey as a rule. More often than not they are just a series of songs that have little in common with each other and even less in common with the film they are supposedly enhancing. If you've seen this movie, you probably couldn't help not to notice the music, which matches the film's mood perfectly. A good portion of the music on Brion's soundtrack is incidental music, used solely as a background for the scene. These pieces have more charm than most and stand out on their own but, the real attraction here are the four or five breathtaking pop songs Brion includes. Imaginatively produced and almost perfectly rendered, they make one wish that Brion would take some time off from his soundtrack work (he's also responsible for the soundtracks to Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) to release a proper album of his songs.
-Stephen

Retrospective, by Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith didn't invent jazz organ but his name has become synonymous with it. This four disc set is a great place for those of you who haven't heard his organ playing to get caught up. Spanning 30 years of his music, it touches upon most of the highlights of his career, some of it funky, some of it sultry, but all of it worth hearing. Surrounded by musicians of staggering talent including Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson and Stanley Turrentine among others, these recordings spawned a whole legion of jazz organists and created a cult of Hammond B3 enthusiasts. Sadly, he died this past February at the age of 76.
-Stephen

Street Legal, by Bob Dylan

In 1978, at an emotional and artistic crossroad, Bob Dylan released his Street Legal album, which was attacked by critics for meandering lyrics and amazingly bad sound (the lp I owned sounded like it had been recorded during a rainstorm). The latter problem has been resolved via the SACD remixed edition, released a year and a half ago. Dylan's backing band and choral singers play as if their lives depended on it. No more muddy mixes here.

As for the so-called "meandering" lyrics, well, "Changing Of The Guards" & (especially) "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)", to name but two songs, ominously hint at both a coming Armageddon and the "born-again" path Dylan would take in his next album, the much more sanctimonious SLOW TRAIN COMING. It's hard not to be shaken (or shudder) with lyrics like "But Eden is burning/Either brace yourself for elimination/Or else your hearts must have the courage/For the changing of the guards". You want to think Dylan's just having a bad day, but maybe he also knows something we don't. Not easily accessible (or even comforting) at first listen (what Dylan album is?), but stick with it.
-Ed

Five Guys Walk Into a Bar, by The Faces

The Faces' long-overdue four-disc collection Five Guys Walk Into a Bar from Rhino is a terrific compilation of this unsung band's singles, b-sides, live takes and rehearsals spotlighting their feel for R 'n' B, Soul, power pop (their version of that tired warhorse "Maggie May" is particularly strong) and solid rock and roll! Led by vocalist Rod Stewart, the band included former Small Faces members Ronnie Lane (bass), Kenney Jones (drums) and Ian McLagen (keyboards), accompanied by future Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood on guitar, all tanked up by their love for the music (and the half-pint of ale or two). Featuring "Maybe I'm Amazed", "The Stealer", "Cindy, Incidentally" and of course their one US hit, "Stay With Me" - the ultimate "see ya later" song ("What was your name again?"). Sixty seven tracks and not a dog among them. So relive a time (1970-75, actually) when Rod Stewart actually was cool (and had cool material & bandmates to boot!). Includes a terrific booklet that chronicles the band's history and pays tribute to the late Ronnie Lane (d.1997).
-Ed

Tenacious D, by Tenacious D

Tenacious D's self-titled 2001 album is in a category all by itself. Jack Black's sense of humor comes thru loud and clear, as he and guitarist Kyle Gass host an ensemble of guest musicians thru such hilarious songs as "Wonderboy", "Explosivo" and "Tribute". Those of you who enjoyed Black's family-friendly rocking in School of Rock might want to wait until the grand-parents have gone to bed before listening to Jack' musings.
-Rick

You Are The Quarry, by Morrissey

Morrissey's You Are The Quarry is the long-overdue return of the former lead singer of the Smiths. Backed by a terrific bunch of musicians and featuring some of Morrissey's most stinging lyrics, this is a top-notch return to form. Welcome back dude!
-Ed

God Bless the Go-Go's, by The Go Go's

Maybe I'm dealing with getting older by rediscovering some of the favorite bands of my youth. At any rate, this is a surprisingly good album by one of my favorite 80's bands. I'm usually wary of reunion albums - with good reason- but this is California-style pop at its best, bringing to mind bands like the Descendents. As usual with the Go-Go's, the slower songs are a bit weak, so stick to the more upbeat tracks, particularly "Unforgiven."
-Annie

Franz Ferdinand, by Franz Ferdinand

For those who like cutting edge power pop/rock, the group Franz Ferdinand delivers the goods on their self-titled first album. Similar in style to the Strokes, this Scottish band highlights punchy playing with sharp lyrics.
-Ed

...and this is our Music, by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

A bit of a throwback, this one is. Not so much musically (but there is a bit of the past that surfaces there as well) but rather, conceptually. "...and this is our music" sounds like it was envisioned and written with a certain "wholeness" in mind, the same way bands used to put out "albums" instead of singles or videos. While all the tracks are strong, none stand out. The songs are played and arranged with assured confidence. Sixteen musicians overall are credited in the liner notes (including the Holy Spirit for "just kicking back and doing his thing"). It takes a close listening to discern just how much is going on. An organ drones, casually anchoring the songs. Horns appear frequently, meshing with the fabric of each tune.
BJM's leader and brainchild Anton Newcombe (one of the most intriguing narcissist timebombs in the history of rock) has toned down the bands sound, which in the past veered more into the retro garage territory. This time around, he still hearkens back to the 60's for his musical inspiration but adds his own, more contemporary touches. While the music may be more subdued, the song titles and subject matter still touch upon the classic rock and roll cliché of drugs ("Prozac vs. Heroin" and "A New Low in Getting High"). This time, however, the songs are put forth with an air of melancholy and resignation. It's almost as if Newcombe and his band mates feel as if they no longer have to try to impress people. With quiet resolve the band appears to be looking backwards and realizing how lucky they are to have come out of their hedonistic rock and roll past relatively unscarred. It's that resolve that is in evidence in these songs. Life isn't easy for hell-bent artists who live past their point of departure. While there's only one Keith Richards, there are thousands who've wrecked themselves the same way, and in Newcombe's defense, he realizes he's getting off light.
-Stephen

Drums and Wires

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Black Sea

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English Settlement, by XTC

Back in the late 70's and early 80's it seems that there were thousands of bands in England making pop records. Of those bands, XTC rose to the top on the strength of their quirky songs and cerebral lyrics. For the band, the period between 1979 and 1982 is truly their high water period. Starting with their record Drums and Wires, the band began to further hone their pop sensibilities. So much so that, on the three records released during this time, there is hardly a lame song in the bunch. In 1980, the band released Black Sea. Lyrically their finest hour, the songs are more poignantly political and satirical. Vocalist Andy Partridge's voice also reaches a new dimension; previously it was frantic and breathless, trying to keep up with the pace of the music. On Black Sea, the more complex and thoughtful songs allow him to catch his breath and deliver the lyrics with more assurance. The record also features such XTC landmarks as "Tower of London", which features Dave Gregory's soaring guitar break and "Respectable Street", which captures the essence of English family life perfectly in a mere 3 minutes and 37 seconds.
As the band's confidence grew, so did their output. In 1982 they released a sprawling two- record set called English Settlement. Stylistically all over the map, this record amazed me when it came out. Twenty-two (!) years later, it holds up amazingly well. Around the time of "English Settlement", constant touring got the best of Andy Partridge, causing a nervous breakdown and the band ceased playing live; they continued to record though. The bands recorded output from the rest of the 80's and beyond fluctuated between further brilliance, moribund three chord pop and downright strangeness. But, for a brief moment in rock history, XTC were the pop band all others aspired to be.
-Stephen

2 Many DJs Mix Album, by 2 Many DJs

Impossible to find in record stores, I can't believe the library managed to get this one.One of the most disparate mixes of songs I've ever heard. If you have never made a connection between Royksopp and Dolly Parton, you'll hear one now.
-Annie

Three Symphonies, by Ned Rorem

Ned Rorem is perhaps better known for his Paris and New York Diaries, which scandalized the music world, than he is for his musical compositions. This is a shame because he is one of America's most gifted composers of the past 60 years. His symphonies, here performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jose Serebrier, exhibit gorgeous orchestration, like the large-scale works of Ravel, who had a profound influence on Rorem. While generally more harmonically sophisticated, they are lyrical enough to put you in mind of Aaron Copland occasionally.
-David

Live 1964, by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan's legendary (and much bootlegged) performance at New York's Philharmonic Hall on October 31, 1964 has finally been released to the public after nearly forty years on the two-disc Live 1964 from Columbia Records. Features the then-23 -year-old singer/songwriter playing such now-classic numbers as "The Times They Are A-Changin'", "To Ramona", "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" and (with Joan Baez on a few cuts) "With God On Our Side" and "It Ain't Me Babe". Recaptures the excitement and power of the phenomenon named Dylan, whose songs mix social comment, humor and an underlying concern for the oppressed and who would continue to influence his generation and the ones to follow. See also: The Essential Bob Dylan, a two-disc overview of the performer's amazing career.
-Ed

Dead Can Dance, 1981-1998, by Dead Can Dance

A retrospective collection covering the entire recording history of this extraordinary group, which created a unique and often mesmerizing music from many sources: Medieval and Renaissance music, folk, and World music from many countries are prominent in the mix. Dead Can Dance was a pioneer in the use of unusual instruments, sampling, and fusion to create an alternative rock music. The compositions, while varying greatly in style and structure, are immediately recognizable as theirs.
-Richard

Paranoid, by Black Sabbath

The album Paranoid by Black Sabbath is one of my favorites. Originally released in 1970, this legendary effort from the godfathers of metal shows just how far ahead of their time Ozzy & company were. Starting off with the all too poignant song "War Pigs", this CD packs in mega-hits such as "Iron Man" and "Rat Salad" while still saving room for electronic flights of mind-expanding fancy like "Planet Caravan". All in all, it is still a thoroughly enjoyable album.
-Rick