Mikovision

Edan - Echo Party

2009-11-19T13:10:00.000-08:00

As a producer, emcee and turntablist, Boston's Edan sits in the detailed-obsessive corners of hip-hop's grand world. The quirky nerd who knows rap's history better than most spotlighted superstars, Edan Portnoy has built his reputation around crafting beats that pay ode to the boom-bap sound of vintage hip-hop and an oddball eccentric persona that resembles the lampooning nature of early De La Soul. On Echo Party, the request was simply. Take the back catalog of dissolved 80's disco and rap label's like Magic and P&P and create something new. Rather than fashion a generic mix, Edan turns every track inside out, utilizing turntables, tape echo, guitar, moog and kazoos to manipulate every sound into a serious thirty-minute playlist of continuous old-school bliss. Whether playing tracks backwards or filtering them through panning delays, Echo Party is a b-boy's daydreamed soundtrack come alive. And keeping his neurotic front alive, Edan line-lists every knob turning and segue-way in the liner notes, down to the second. For listeners and beat-heads alike.

Fire In My Bones: Raw + Rare + Other-Worldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007)

2009-11-19T13:09:00.001-08:00

Parting the water between the beautiful harmonies of black gospel music, where astounding quartet and solo vocalist plead their message of the "good news", Mike McGonigal curates a spectacular collection showcasing the other side of gospel: the rough, fiery and rousing sermons and "sanctified blues" that howled from the pews to the pulpits. Stretching across three discs and organized thematically (“The Wicked Shall Cease From Troubling,” “God’s Mighty Hand,” “All God Power Store”), Fire In My Bones is a tremendous testament to black gospel much as Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music was a bible to '50s folk scene. The arc of 63 years moves beyond easy categorizing: from the living room a cappella of Laura Rivers' "That's Alright", the tribal raucous of a fife and drum band pounding out "Why Sorow Done Passed Me Around, or the guitar evangelist tradition which captures Rev. Charles White accompanying James Butler on water bucket and tin funnel, here is a unique focus on an authentically American tradition that deserves wider appeal.

Little Walter - The Complete Chess Masters (1950-1967)

2009-11-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Expanding the vocabulary and sonic innovation of the toy-like harmonica, Little Walter stands next to Jimi Hendrix in changing the prevailing attitudes of what their chosen instrument could attain. Running his mouth harp through cheap microphones and over-stressed amplifiers, Little Walter blew and improvised like a jazz player; his phrasing swooped around the beat and anticipated the guitar melody with incisive, electrified shrieks and elongated wails. Eventually he landed not only the role as Muddy Waters' sideman, but also became the house harpist for Chess Records recordings and launched himself into his fronting his own band. Though the five-disc Complete Chess Masters lists itself as a near two decade collection, the heart of Little Walters repertoire is captured during his early to mid-'50s, where his kinetic harp racked up a string of R&B hits, often backed by his own lissome vocals. Packaged in a six-paneled foldout, this is a beautiful tribute to one of the underackngowledged heroes of Chess Records.

Mulatu Astatke - From New York City to Addis Ababa: The Best of Mulatu Astatke

2009-11-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

Every few years, interest flourishes for an artists who international-recognition only dented American consciousness. It was the re-issued catalogs of Fela Kuti and Serge Gainsbourg which ignited curiosity and culminated in new appreciation. Now, we see Ethiopian bandleader, arranger, keyboard and vibraphonist Mulatu Astatke obtaining the career retrospective he deserves. From New York To Addis Ababa showcases Astatke development as he melded Ethiopian traditional melodies to Western jazz orchestration, and the unique sound he pioneered. Really, where else do you hear such an astonishing and unique range of sound from one individual? The steel drum on "Asiyo Belema" recalls the latin-jazz of Tito Puente, while the sentimental saxophone on ballad "Tezeta" would bring a tear to Ben Webster's eye. "Ebo Lala" returns you to Addis Ababa with scintillating poly-rhythms and African vocals. Consider "Yegelle Tezeta" his hit: punctuated with a steamy sax runs, an exotica-grooved organ and tight, crisp drum beat, its the amalgamation of all his influences tuned perfectly.

Breakestra - Dusk Till Dawn

2009-11-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

After a four-year recess, Los Angeles' Breakestra returns with the authentic party-funk that cultivated their fabled Rootdown club nights into a center-point for rare-groove and soul connoisseurs worldwide. Using the influence of the Meters and the J.B.'s as their launching point, Dusk Till Dawn continues to push them beyond their origins as a cover band of funk's greatest sampled breaks and riffs. In fact, with the addition of new female vocalist Afrodyete, tracks like "Come On Over" revisits the terrain of funky divas like Marva Whitney and Lyn Collins. But Breakestra is still the one-man show of Miles "Music Man" Tackett, as he provides not only the vision but bass, drum, guitar, keyboard and vocals for the majority of the album, gaining assistance from a strong personnel of studio musicians when needed. He controls everything but the horns of New Orleans funk instrumental "Back At The Boathouse" and gives Mixmaster Wolf husky voice open space to preach over his acid-funk display on "Show You The Way." Not visionary in anyway, but authentically perfect for getting up on your good foot.

The Heliocentrics - Fallen Angels: The Singles Collection

2009-11-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

Built around the tireless energy of drummer Malcolm Catto, The Heliocentrics dabble on the outer orbits of soul-jazz with a gravitational pull that fuses the noisy, extraterrestrial vision of Sun Ra and the boom-bap funk of producers like DJ Shadow. On Fallen Angels, The Heliocentrics collect onto CD some of their previously LP-only releases, thus filling out a discography of one of jazz's newest inventors of deranged, wobbly eccentricities. Supplied with a sitar, saz, Turkish vocalist and intricate polyrhythms, "Distant Star" opens the album with a decidedly Middle-Eastern bent, only to get updated a track later with the sharp lyrics by Percee P and MF Doom stream of conscious flow. 'The Gorn" pushes a dissonances at every turn and break, but stays with the lines of its raw, funky flute soul, while "Vibrations Of The Fallen Angels" seems to stuff numerous genres into a whirling blender (psych, sitar-funk, avant-garde and piano jazz), yet inexplicable remains a listenable head trip. Not for the unadventurous, but if you can imagine the noir of Portishead shaken up slightly with free-form jazz, then consider this your new elixir.

Girls - Album

2009-10-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

Restructuring the catchy melodies and stripped-bare musical architecture of the Ramones for a west coast beach house garage party, the San Francisco-based two-man duo Girls (Christopher Owens and Chet "JR" White ) have crafted a infectious and charming debut album of California sunshine pop and fuzz-out surf guitar haziness. With a backstory that includes childhood cult indoctrination, a millionaire surrogate and prescription drug addictions, it all synthesizes down into their psychological-evaluation opening track "Lust For Life", as Owens line-lists aspirations for normalcy: boyfriend, father, suntan, pizza, beach house. "Ghost Mouth" slows down the signature 'boom ba-boom kssh' beat of the Ronettes to deliver an ode of dejected isolation and AM gold. Elsewhere, they unleash huge waves of sound as on "Summertime" which drops into hypnotic, wavering sonics of being lost in the curl, or "Big Bad Mean Motherfucker" which revs up and lets loose with an over-charged greasy guitar solo, with background harmonies wooing the whole affair in loving Beach Boy tribute. A deceptively simple record but executed perfectly.

Mr. Thing - Strange Breaks & Mr. Things II

2009-10-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

Taking the DJ skills he's honed at DMC battles worldwide and digging deep into his treasured vinyl collection, Mr. Things of the Scratch Perverts releases his second set of rare and sought after breaks. Planned as a five-part series, Strange Breaks & Mr. Things revives the conceived beat mix-tapes from hip-hop golden era: scouring through bins of obscure 60s and 70s for the undiscovered, nasty break that can turn a thousand producers on and turn a party out. Starting with the funk-lite sitcom-jazz of "Sally", Mr. Thing re-arranges the eerie organ and drum backbeat on Dick Walter's "Spooky Doo" before scratching up the raw Michigan funk of Jake Wade and The Soul Searchers. Yes, anonymous names fill the roster here, with only one or two being familiar to only the most devote record collector. But whether its the disco-groove of Johnny Griffith, the sunny xylophone schmaltz of Jerzy Milian Orkiestra or the marching band cover of the Jackson 5's ABC by Hot Butter & Soul, Mr. Thing scoops out unexpected nuggets of funky delicacies from these underackngowledged sources, providing further stimulus for beat heads everywhere.

Frank Fairfield - Frank Fairfield

2009-10-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

From the black and white album cover to the tinny, hollow recording process, everything on Frank Fairfield debut screams authentic. Or mimicry. For eleven songs, you can't find fault with the pure talent Fairfield shows. His voice creaks and tremors like the venerable Appalachian country music he admires. With a blazing hand, he works the banjo, guitar and fiddle as you'd picture the sun-dried fingers of Dock Boggs or Elizabeth Cotten doing, and his song selection is just as scholarly. From the mid-19th century post-civil war minstrel "To The Sweet Sunny South" or his quick playing opening arrangement of the John Henry's steel driving song "Nine Pound Hammer", Fairfield has steeped long and hard on a tradition he is respectfully keeping alive. But unlike the equally studied hand of Gillian Welch, Fairfield replicates instead of innovates, which boxes his album as an excellent academic survey. But what a terrific foreshadowing of possible future greatness.

Dead Man's Bones - Dead Man's Bones (Featuring the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children's Choir)

2009-10-20T13:21:00.000-07:00

Cringing at actor side-projects has become a natural reaction given the bevy of sour outcomes. But award Ryan Gosling a chance, for his partnership with fellow horror fan Zach Shields has yielded a first-rate macabre soundtrack for the Halloween season. Originally envisioned as stage production, Dead Man's Bones has the heft of grandeur, yet a number of rules kept it from over-inflating. Besides eliminating electric guitars and click tracks and including a kid's choir, they constrained themselves further with allowing only three takes for any performance. With such self-imposed amateurism, it's a wonder how they've accomplished such a realized spectral musical. Howling ghouls accents "Dead Hearts" as shattering glass confuses the cymbals and the thudding bass drum recalls Poe's beating heart beneath the floorboard. A greasy Cramps-like bashing romp stains "In The Room Where You Sleep", while "My Body's A Zombie For You" starts as a 50's line stroll, ending with a fully exuberant choir hand-clapping and cheerleading in unison: "I'm a Z-O-M / B-I-E. Zombie!" A bewildering surprise from an unlikely source, Dead Man's Bones is magical listen.

Karen O And The Kids - Where The Wild Things Are OST

2009-10-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

Creating the soundtrack to the widely anticipated movie, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O gathers up the key instruments that are universal amongst children playtime -- handclaps, shouting, percussive shakers and sugar-spiked exuberance. With the help of a kids' choir and a few fellow indie rockers (Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, Greg Kurstin of the Bird And The Bee, her fellow bandmates), Karen O And The Kids assemble ramshackled, punky-folk anthems that can inflate to cinematic, screen-filling proportions ("All Is Love") or collapse to dispirited, heartfelt ballads ("Worried Shoes"). Being a construct for a soundtrack, instrumental scores exist next to full-fledged songs, thus every track won't have the Karen O's gleeful, crackling vocals floating through it. But tracks like the hyperactive "Capsize" with its screeching guitar and its woozy center, or the downcast ache of "Hidaway" feel like excerpts from a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, and make this soundtrack a "worth-wild" ride.

Black Heart Procession - 6

2009-10-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

San Diego's Black Heart Procession prefer the shadowy corners, as its name may suggest, but their sound skips over the industrial aggressiveness of black-clad goth entirely. Instead, their mood and lyrical moroseness centers on the religious metaphors and bleak self-destruction that haunts the works of Johnny Cash and Nick Cave. On 6, Black Heart Procession took their time creating these depressed vignettes, executing them simultaneously as they recorded a new Three Mile Pilot album, their legendary secondary outfit. Opening with "When You Finish Me", its Cave-like delivery and melancholy piano begins shuddering out of daylight as this album sinks into the roots of Americana gloom. "Heaven And Hell" stirs with an Wurlitzer gospel organ and somber marching line, as a perceived saviour is instead the punishing finisher, while "All My Steps" is a junkyard tango with its percussion instruments resembling clattering hubcap and oil barrel, as a Spanish guitar begins the affair. Black Heart Procession move exceptionally between the cheerless emotions of Leonard Cohen to the rickety dramatics of Tom Waits, showcasing the demons on their back.

The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

2009-10-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Avett Brothers have gotten shoulder-tapped to join the big leagues. Leaving their tireless promoter Ramseur Records for the major-label calling of American Recordings, this North Carolina trio continues to expertly marry the ramshackle acoustic sweetness of The Band with the tender, pensive lyricism of Townes Van Zandt. With production assistance from grizzled vet Rick Rubin, The Avett Brothers sound tuned to perfection: a cello embedded in vocal harmonies, string sections swelling to grandiose elegance, with all the acoustics sounding hearth-warmed. But equally, their songs carry an introspective and softhearted appeal. "January Wedding" captures the adoring excitement of a fiancé's crush: "She knows which birds are singing/and the names of the trees where they're performing/ in the morning." The emotional gravity pull of "The Perfect Space" has the rumpled feeling of an older man in reflection. But just a quickly, they can kick in the beat, and return to revved-up rock and roll as on the amped-up piano pop of "Kick Drum Heart" and the hand-clap bop of "Slight Figure Of Speech". A well-excuted album from start to finish.

You've seen the movie, now read the book.

2009-07-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Before switching to Stephen King book in grammar school, I purely read movie books: Goonies, Disney's 1981 Condorman, and C.H.O.M.P.S., the 1979 classic about a robot dog. Wish these were around.

http://spacesickart.com/books.html

Micachu - Jewellery

2009-05-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and being commissioned to write an orchestral piece for the London Philharmonic, twenty-one year-old Mica Levi off-sets the rigors of academic training with her left-field alter-ego Micachu. Lifting inspiration for the UK's thriving grime and garage scenes, she as comfortable looping beats and releasing her own grime mixtape as with the down-tuning of a viola. On her debut full-length, Jewellery, she reveals a dizzying set of hyperactive songs that fringe on noisy chaotic fun yet retain a remarkably listenable heart. "Lips" plunder a Bhangra guitar lick for its opening before its garage rock meets circuit board freakout chorus. The minute and a half "Floor" shows Micachu at her most reserved- her guitar and electronic, blip-filled backdrop that resembles her producers Matthew Herbert's own work. If you can joyfully recall the sonic whimsy of the Fiery Furnances or the sneering jangle of The Fall, you may have a new friend in Micachu.

Crocodiles - Summer Of Hate

2009-05-14T14:32:00.001-07:00

Yanking the title of Echo & The Bunnymen's debut album as their moniker, Crocodiles floor their Delorean to 88 miles per hour, and land into the heart of eighties revivalism with plenty of lo-fi grit. Filled with echoing reverb, sheets of white noise and the underlying bubblegum pop that fueled Jesus and Mary Chain albums, Crocodiles may have a strike against them from Reagan babies hesitant over mimicry. But out the gate, Summer Of Hate nails it with their first two songs, "I Wanna Kill" & "Soft Skull (In My Room)", a delicious bubble of pop swaddled in sonic gauze followed by a rocker woven from a ravel of pealing guitar. On "Here Comes The Sky", they soften their edges for a moment, offering a dreamy sleepwalking ballad. But they return with the stalking beat of "Flash Of Light" which refuses to die; it ends in a near two-minute long feedback loop, challenging even the diehard lover noise. A solid debut!

El Michels Affair - Enter The 37th Chamber

2009-05-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

Consider this a reclamation of all that hip-hop looted from funk's greatest beats. Organist and drummer Leon Michels has slowly worked his way from being a member of the Meter-inspired outfit, The Mighty Imperials, to taking over wayward Brooklyn funk label Soul Fire, and reviving into its current dynamite status as Truth & Soul Records. Building his original band from session musicians moonlighting from the Dap-Kings, Budos Band and Antibalas, El Michels Affair's reputation eventually lead to an invitation to accompany Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon for a promotional concert. Every fire needs a spark, and that collaboration has spawned Enter The 37th Chamber- an instrumental soul examination of the RZA's gritty production. As moodily ominous as it is skillfully funky, El Michels Affair shade the strings and keys of "Duel Of The Iron Mic" in minor notes, the drums on "Cherchez La Ghost" crisply replicate the sampled original, and the blaring horns and children choral singing on "Shimmy Shimmy" is pure genius. A must for any respectable, true Wu fan. Throw up your double-Us.

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us

2009-05-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

Previously a jumble of lo-fi wiring and bedroom electronics rolled in a shaggy rug of kaleidoscopic pop, Black Moth Super Rainbow may be in the act of growing up. Entering a modern recording studio for the first time, they are now under the wing of star indie-producer Dave Fridmann, who combed out the Flaming Lips' acid frizz for Soft Bulletin and unearthed the textual beauty on Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs.

On Eating Us, sharp edges have been polished down to reveal chrome smooth harmonies and melodies gentle enough to rock baby androids to sleep. On first listen, you may wonder if you've mistakenly put in Air's Moon Safari accidently, as you're flooded with gorgeous, hypnotic ambient pop; BMSR have never sounded so restrained. But soak in its headphone delight - the twinkling vocoder daydream of "Twin Of Myself" and the exploding symphonic neon of "Dark Bubbles"- and its the same old BMSR, but just in a better tailored suit. A complete aural thrill!

Pink Mountaintops - Outside Love

2009-05-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

Stephen McBean's Pink Mountaintops musically counterweights the prog/Sabbath riff-rich rock of his other band, Black Mountain. Originally the sexier of the two franchises (you get the anatomical allusion, right), Pink Mountaintops dirty blues rock has slowly ingested a wider range of influences, toning down its previous testosterone posturing for a gentler combination of ramshackle folk and ethereal psychedelia. The title track "Outside Love" slinks by with the sex melancholy and fuzzed out guitars of a Mazzy Star ballad, only to be followed by "And I Thank You", a lo-fi alt-country slow swagger that hints at Gram Parson and Emmy Lou Harris, with their final track "Closer To Heaven" resembling a dusty serenade by the Psychedelic Furs. The only suggestion of Pink Mountaintops previous muscle is the uptempo, noisy boogie of "The Gayest Of Sunbeams", which may cause a sigh of nostalgia for their first album. Either way, Stephen McBean's rich voice is remarkably flexible for any number of musical settings. A good listen from start to finish.

Various Artists - Local Customs: Downriver Revival

2009-05-01T17:56:00.000-07:00

Numero Group, once again, delves into the recesses of uncelebrated American small time recording studios, this time spotlighting Ecorse, Michigan -several miles down river from Detriot- and the basement of Felton Williams, an electrician at the Ford Motor Company by day. From 1967 to 1981, Felton's Double U Sound recorded whoever came knocking on his door. So while he longed for a national hit, this DIY electrical marvel unintentionally chronicled a local musical history. While he capture to tape the sounds of Appalachian folk (Coleman Family), garage Mod (Young Generation), and instrumental funk and soul (The Organics and Bobby Cook & The Explosions), the star of this collection is the raw gospel recordings, especially the work of Shirley Ann Lee, a contemporary of Candi Stanton. Opening the album with her spiritual stomper "There's A Light", Downriver Revival is an aural discovery of poking through antiquated platters, only to realize they haven't lost a gleam of their luster. Exceptional!

Parenthetical Girls - Entanglements

2008-08-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Experimental popsters with panache toward the hurly burly musical production of show tunes and Broadway, the Parenthetical Girls offer up the majestic pomp of classic pop twisted to a modern aesthetics. Here, instruments are returned to their emotional capabilities. Just listen to the track “Unmentionables”. From the heavenly lushness of a violin’s vibrato, to the street carnival bounce of tuba and trombone's fat sliding voice or the dream-like wonderment caused by the glockenspiel's endless twinkling, all this noise is laced up within this one song to dramatic and invigorating effect. This is the baroque-pop of Andrew Bird, and though it tends to lean more toward Cabaret zaniness than MGM sophistication, its grandeur can never be questioned. And when the song writing carries the poetic literary heft of “The Former” as its twist with sexual tension accented by angelic choral harmonies and a rising unison of strings, it’s as cinematic as any stage production.

Koushik - Out My Window

2008-08-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

For a producer, Koushik must have one of the most serene views in the country. As his second release for Stones Throw record, he balances oft-kiltering, cavernous beats with light-as-air harmonies, and with the album opener "Morning Comes", he'll coax the sun out of hiding and make your waking yawn a delightful experience. Its all about mood, with conventional song structure taking a back seat to textual ambience and soundscape. Part eclectic beat tape in the tradition of Madlib and J Dilla, Koushik adds large measures of pop melodies that swirl around his mist-thin falsetto and dramatically build to a glorious apex. And before you know it, the track ends as gently as it began, each track taking up on enough time to create an impression, then moving on. This is a masterful opus of organic chillout jazz, with the production clarity and inventiveness of legendary producer David Axelrod's best work.

Karl Hector + The Malcouns—Sahara Swing

2008-08-11T13:25:00.002-07:00

Record label Now-Again has emerged as a funk aficionado’s dream, time and time again. As a side label to the forward thinking hip-hop label Stones Throw, it’s been the outlet for the upper management’s collection of obscure funk 7-inches, preserving rare soul gems from the dustbin of obscurity. With such sophisticated and honed tastes, it’s no surprise that when they discover a new artist, it’s like entering a time machine. Karl Hector’s full length debut merges the backbeat and horn ensembles of the rawest funk, with the poly-rhythmic complexity and found sound of Pan-African ethnomusicology. If you remember Mulatu Astatke’s Ethiopian jazz featured prominently in Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers, then consider this your new tonic. With contributions from Poets Of Rhythm’s Jay Whitefield and his European soul brethren, this instrumental jazz-funk owes as much to the progressive exploratory vision of Funkadelic and Sun Ra as it does to the pure smoking grooves of Africa’s most dynamite soul ensemble.

One Day As A Lion—One Day As A Lion

2008-08-11T13:25:00.001-07:00

Merging the intense velocity of punk and thrash with the biting lyrical commentary of hip-hop, Rage Against The Machine erupted in the ‘90s with its fiery, passionate frontman Zach de la Rocha as its figurehead. When the band folded, the rest of the group recruited Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell and formed Audioslave; everyone else eagerly anticipated Zach’s next move, a wait that lasted nearly a decade. Well, the return is here, but now as a duet, and with an equally polemic moniker taken from George Rodriguez 1970s photo of a wall scrawled with this defiant message: “It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.” As politically instigating and musically volatile as his previous band, it’s an excellent, kinetically charged return, all stuffed into a five-track EP. Heavy on Rage-like riffs built from skronky explosions of Zach’s overly amplified keyboard and the sizzling, bombastic drumming of Jon Theodore (ex- Mars Volta), it’s as explosive as anything Rage put out yet doesn’t sound like a mediocre re-hashing. A welcome return to a political voice that been sorely missed.

Abe Vigoda – Skeleton

2008-08-11T13:23:00.001-07:00

Give the kids a place to play, and eventually the noise will be heard. In Los Angeles, it’s the Smell, a club that’s been the outlet for bands such as No Age, HEALTH, and Mika Miko to pound delirious sounds out to young, hungry ears. Taken full, capable advantage of their scenes newfound limelight is Abe Vigoda, a four man crew whose tumultuous drumming is underscored with equal measures tropical influenced guitar melodies as well feedback drenched noise. Instant comparison will be made to the other current Afro-pop/ indie-rock purveyors, Vampire Weekend. But instead of their Ivy League pop sentiments, Abe Vigoda turns up the mix until everything bleeds together in a wash of energetic, lo-fi hurly burly no wave. It can all be quite exhausting, even at thirty minutes, so the few investigation into sound- the subdued, shimmering reverb of “Visi Rings” or the hollow feedback of “Whatever Forever”- act as perfect palate cleanse before the percussion pummeling returns. Like Campari, this will be invigorating for some, bitter to others.

Rodriguez – Cold Fact

2008-08-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Opening his 1970 debut, Cold Fact, with the deeply seductive lure of “Sugar Man”, a tripped-out blues ode to his drug dealer, Sixtoo Rodriguez illustrates the working class, counter-culture of late 60’s with a tongue that was dipped in Dylan lyricism. With heavyweight fuzzed out guitar work provided by Dennis Coffey (that’s him on the Temptation’s “Cloud Nine”), and catchy psych-folk songs that stick to the inside of your brain after a single listen, this album, unfortunately, tittered on lip of the obscurity, despite being a sensation in foreign countries. In 2002, producer David Holmes re-introduced Rodriguez’s gem “Sugar Man” with its inclusion on his curated compilation “Come Get It, I Got It” and caught the attention of listeners world wide, which finally culminates in this re-issue. Rodriguez shuffles personal alienation with societal critiques as Marvin Gaye did on What’s Goin’ On, and like that classic, it still is refreshing enjoyable, and unfortunately, quite topical.

Prints – Just Thoughts EP

2008-08-11T13:18:00.001-07:00

The beauty of the under-celebrated EP format is that when done right, you’re sparred any exhausting filler and your attention is kept from the opening to the closing song, usually with a finger poised to repeat the whole affair. Just Thoughts EP by Prints started as developing b-sides to accompany the single “Too Much Water” (included here as a music video), but luckily they’ve allowed to these tracks to shine in their own light. Crafted at home by multi-instrumentalist Zac Nelson and Kenseth Thibideau, the four tracks here bubble with laptop pop, suggesting a middle point between the emotional heft of the Postal Service and playfulness of Hot Chip. “Me and Mrs. Archer” bounces to synthesized beat and frolicsome flute, as “Fire” is pulled along gently with a slow stepping computerized snare, moody keyboard and serene lyrics that suggests early morning coddling with windows dappled with morning drizzle. The album ends with an electro-disco remix by Hercules and the Love Affair producer Tim Goldsworthy; a strong punctuation on this perfect constructed statement.

Bronx River Parkway & Candela All Stars – San Sebastian 152

2008-08-04T13:21:00.001-07:00

Coming out of the Brooklyn boroughs (already home to the revivalist soul sounds of Daptone Records’s Sharon Jones & The Budos Band), up-and-coming record label Truth & Soul has slowly birthed a marvelous resurrections of funk, latin soul and Afro-funk that, until now, usually resided on white-jacketed 45’s. As their second full-length release, they’ve nailed the sound of 1970’s New York, where black and Latin styles merged to create a free-spirited exchange of salsa, funk and fusion. With a name that salutes the salsa heritage of Eddie Palmieri’s super group Harlem River Drive, Bronx River Parkway have issued a spectacular debut, full of tight horn arrangements that seem to slip and slide within each other, and a rhythm section that suggest the flair and heartbeat of Cuba’s finest. Teaming up with legendary Puerto Rican salsa musicians in San Juan, San Sebastian 152 is as top notch as an undiscovered Buena Vista Social Club recording, as impressive of a release you’ll find all year. Highly recommended.

MK Larada – Break In Two: Music For B-People

2008-08-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

For young boys who learned to moonwalk and were mesmerized by the breakdancing acrobatics in movies like Beat Street, Breakin’ and even Flashdance, you couldn’t help but also be entranced by the distinctively, funky breaks the DJ spun flawless together that seemed to propel the dancers into a frenzy. Deejay MK Larada was a similar youth (just witness his 1985 cover shot), who now has tailored his own mix for keeping the B-boys popping and locking until the break of dawn. Melding familiar classics like Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust” and Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit” with known jams like Shannon’s “Let The Music Play” makes this an easy floor-filler. But the cleverness shines through when brief bars of the Muppet Show intro coalesce into Rob Base’s “It Takes Two” or when Lamar, the sole black outcast from Revenge Of The Nerd’s, lets loose his party rhyme, but now backed with a muscular booming beat. You’ll already be dancing, but now you’ll just be smiling much more.

Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun

2008-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Vision Creation Newsun is the aural equivalent of stepping inside a sweat lodge and getting out of your mind. But instead of the required perspiring cleanse, The Boredoms infiltrate your cerebrum with their lengthy, frenzied jams balanced between free form, experimental wig-outs, and hypnotizing pulsing rhythms. Mixed as one long continuous piece, with symbols replacing track names, The Boredoms have refined their previous noise-fest EPs into something more palatable. Built upon the motorik, propulsion of “Kraut-rock” drumming, it’s easy to mesmerize yourself into a daze, especially when it’s fronted by undulating synthesized tones and trance-inducing drone. But it’s this driving beat that keeps your attention in gear, never slipping into a neutral meditation, or a dumbing stupor. There’s still avant-garde grit and an abrasive edge meshed into the compositions, enough to challenge but never isolate the listener. It’s a trip best enjoyed within the confines of a moving vehicle or ear-closing headphones. Just let go.

Bobby Womack - The Best Of

2008-07-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

Bobby Womack is bigger than we know. Yes, “Across 110th Street” provided the hue of blaxploitation to several films, but that only scratches the surface. A prot»g» of Sam Cooke, a songwriter for Wilson Pickett and Janis Joplin, and a session guitarist for the likes of Aretha Franklin and Sly Stone, Womack is a triple-threat, especially when factoring in his scorching, raspy baritone. As comfortable with fiery, raw southern soul (“I’m A Midnight Mover”) as with tender, sweet soul ballads (“That’s The Way I Feel About Cha”), Womack’s only real trouble was saying no to soulful renditions of pop classics (“California Dreamin’” and “Fire and Rain” fare surprisingly well, whereas “Fly Me To The Moon” is lackluster ho-hum). But these missteps are rare. Instead, you’ll be entranced by how well he translates his heroes: The hip funkiness he learned from Sly while contributing to his There’s A Riot Going On album permeates the track “Communication,” while the secular sermonizing that builds to rapturous intensity on “The Preacher (Part Two)” is a righteous tribute to Sam Cooke’s life extraordinaire.

Nomo - Ghost Rock

2008-07-07T16:36:00.001-07:00

As an instrumental octet, NOMO have been absorbing some wilder influences than the terrific combination of Afro-funk and spiritual jazz that colored their previous album New Tones. Not that there's a dynamic shift in sound, as if abandoning their merging of world music with jazz arrangements. "All The Stars" percolates with Gamelan tones and rhythms, as an over-amplified kalimba saturates the beginning in waves of textual, metallic noise. "Round The Way" is a downtempo Afrobeat shuffle, giving the tenor saxophone plenty of freedom to wail and open up. But its the album opener, "Brainwave" -where an actual brainwave monitor is looped to contagious effect- where you see NOMO expanding its creativity. Taking in the early electronic manipulations of Morton Subotnic, the theoretical notions ambience penned by Brian Eno and the driving propulsion of Can as influences, Ghost Rock blends them naturally into the layout of their existing music blueprint, dazzling you with the structures they construct. A remarkable push forward!

NOMO - All The Stars

Jackson Conti - Sujinho

2008-06-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

A working name assembled from the surnames of its two man team, Jackson Conti hurdles generations and genres as it swings like a summer cocktail - sweetly simple with intoxicating fun. Ivan "Mamao" Conti is an Brazilian percussionist extraordinaire, fueling the rhythms of Brazil's most famous artist(Milton Nasimento, Gal Costa, Jorge Benjor). But its was his early 80's group, Azymuth, that filtered into the record crates of left-field producer Madlib (aka Otis Jackson Jr.), who eventually crafted his own renditions of Azymuth's classic songs. After an encouraged encounter between the two, Madlib left Brazil with an hour and a half of Conti's solo rhythms. In a similar nature to his jazzy Yesterday's New Quintet outfit, Madlib constructs an ode to jazz samba and bossa nova from Conti drumming. Flip flopping between seductively soothing jazz ("São Paulo Nights" and "Papaia") to up-tempo festival shakers ("Nao Tem Nada Nao"), Sujinho is the sound of fluttering summer high life. Drink umbrella not included.

Sigur Rós - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

2008-06-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

As the album cover suggests, Sigur Rós have discarded everything to run amok. And running wild means they've escaped the confines of their usual Icelandic recording studio for New York, London and Havana, Cuba, and they've stepped away from the somber, transcendental epics of previous albums for songs that are direct and vibrant. "Gobbledigook" kick starts the album (translated as With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly) with flailing tribal drums and its invented frivolous lyrics at happy play. "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur" is Sigur Rós buoyant celebration minus their typical four minute build up. But for fans of their monumental bravado, look no further than nine minute "Ára Bátur". With voice and piano opening the track, it slowly builds to glacial heights with the help of the 90 members within London Sinfonietta and London Oratory Boy's Choir. As arresting as it is inspiring, Sigur Rós continues to astound. Now if someone can only get them out of the offices more often.

Damon & Naomi – More Sad Hits

2008-06-11T13:29:00.000-07:00

As the forefathers of the eventually shoegazer and slowcore nation that arose in the 1990’s, Galaxie 500 released three perfect albums of beautiful, atmospheric pop songs that turned down the avalanches of feedback and distortion used by My Bloody Valentine, yet still had as much emphasis on textual effects and dreamy melody. When the vocalist/guitarist Dean Wareham left the trio to form Luna, the two remaining members, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang banded together and continued on with some coaxing by ubiquitous indie musician/producer Mark Kramer. Originally released in 1992, Damon & Naomi’s debut More Sad Hits now gets remastered and repacked masterfully with linear notes written by the pair themselves, as they take a walk back into their past memories. Ghostly pretty, there are hints of the Cocteau Twins haunting ethereal, yet with less gloom, all softed by Naomi’s gentle voice. While not as glorious and balanced as Galaxie 500’s output, this is a great soundtrack to your next rainy day, giving your Mazzy Star albums a deserved break.

The Dirtbombs – We Have You Surrounded

2008-05-11T13:32:00.001-07:00

Ever since the dual bombastic sonic explosion of the MC5 and the Stooges, the raunchy and overblown amplification of garage rock always seems a little more authentic arriving from Michigan than elsewhere. The late 80’s saw a revival of Detroit rock, and the arrival of the Gories, who pounded out a combustible concoction of garage punk and Motor City soul with two guitars, one drummer and no bassist. Upon their demise, Mick Collins reformulated the equation – now doubling up on the drums and bass, keeping his lone fingers on the guitar –birthing the Dirtbombs. We Have You Surrounded works most of the time. By turning every volume knob completely clockwise, they put thunderous intensity to their familiar influences (lo-fi garage rock, frantic punk, skronky rhythm & blues) into surprising diverse yet thunderous creations. Despite some minor mis-steps (the frustrating noise of “Race To The Bottom” and generic melodies and lyrics of “Pretty Princess Day”), We Have You Surrounded is a salute to Iggy Pop’s brand of rock and roll.

Beach House – Devotion

2008-05-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

If only Beach House’s sophomore album, Devotion, arrived a month earlier, when the grey moodiness of constant rain and cold evenings could have used a little mellow warmth. Recalling the slow burning dreaminess of Mazzy Star, but haunted with the more plaintive wispy voice of Victoria Legrand, Beach House is built around an atmospheric density thickened with slow clopping beats from a drum machines, the wavering of a pedal steel and organ melodies that sway gently like innocent ghosts. Filled with waltzes and torch songs, Beach House is engaging as much as it is hypnotic. With elegant instrumentation, Alex Scally weaves the Baroque implications of harpsichord within “Auburn And Ivory” to balance the crying slide of pedal steel. It implies a Gothic turn without feeling the slightest shiver of fright. Barely crossing the half hour mark, Devotion seems to vaporize away just as you were still receiving its welcome. Hit play again, sit back and enjoy its serene dark comfort.

Del The Funky Homosapien – Eleventh Hour

2008-03-29T18:32:00.000-07:00

Coming out of Oakland, Del and his Hieroglyphics posse altered the art of rhyme in the early 90’s, earning respectability from a hip-hop culture so closely associated with the east coast. Though not at first. Del’s humorous and bouncy rhyming meter resembled nothing of his cousin Ice Cube’s gangsterism, instead suggesting a nineteen-year old with a skewed take on day-to-day living. Fast-forward to the modern day, and Del is an indie-rap superstar, earning much of his reputation with the left-field conceptual album Deltron 3030 and as a rapping cartoon character courtesy of the Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz. With his latest record, Eleventh Hour, Del pulls his head out on the clouds, and offers a release more in-tuned to his early records: heavy on the bottom-thick funk and over-fascinated with braggadocio. It’s still a thrill to hear his rubbery cadence paint absurd vision of being Del, and while not as intriguing as previous albums, a B grade from Del still sets the curve everyone strives to attain.

Funky Nassau – The Compass Point Story: 1980-1986

2008-03-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

Within the mix of rock and roll lore and history, the impact of the recording studio should reside within its own chapter. As cherished as the Beatles’ Abbey Road recording facility or as identifiable as Funk Brother James Jamersons’ bass lines recorded in Motown’s Studio A, the room, itself, has an often under-acknowledged hand in defining the recordings we hear. In the late 70’s, Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Music, decided to create his own idyllic recording institution, Compass Point, on a Bahaman island. On Funky Nassau, laid out over thirteen tracks, is a glimpse at a stunning, fun-filled discography that sythesized meticulous engineering and artistic spontaneity. With an available house band that included reggae legends Sly & Robbie, the studio popped-out worldly amalgamation of funk, disco, reggae and no/new wave for dancefloor diva Grace Jones, crafted Tom Tom Club’s “Genius Of Love” as well as provide the influence for two significant Talking Heads albums and Ian Dury’s notorious “Spasticus Autisticus”. A great compilation and fascinating bit of history.

She & Him – Volume One

2008-03-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

After helping hoist up Jenny Lewis’s solo album, a sunny AM sounding escape from the indie pop of her band Rilo Kiley, it seems M. Ward has wanted a second run. This time he (the Him) teams up with actress Zooey Deschanel (the She), and surprising any initial suspicions, what pours out of your speaker is a goldenly sentimental and sweetly reminiscent of 60’s and 70’s pop. With songs built around wistful remembrances (“I Thought I Saw Your Face Today”), crying heartbreak (“Sentimental Heart”) and the occasional cover (“You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me, “I Should Have Known Better”), she inflates them with bubblegum playfulness (“Why Do You Let Me Stay Here”) or dusts them with a bit of country twang (“Change Is Hard”). Just from the song titles, you’ll notice a blues ache, and if Zooey had the pipes, this could have been the second coming of Dusty Springfield. Instead, she belts out croons that charm and sound quite assured. And with the M. Ward’s ear for antiquated American songs, it’s a quite impressive and endearing little record.

Human Bell – Human Bell

2008-03-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Rarely does Human Bell exert its instrumental muscle immediately. Constructed with snaking guitar duos, a bowed banjo, drums, an amplified kalimba and other singing equipment, Dave Heumann and Nathan Bell build an album would sit well on a desert drive, lulling you with tender dreamlike melodies, only to erupt into powerful visions then fade away. Coming out on the Thrill Jockey label, the home to other post-jazz, instrumental rock outfits like Tortoise and the Chicago Underground Duo, the basis for enjoyment is whether you willing to let your mind wander, and appreciate the free-form spontaneity that somehow synthesizes when you pull back from the canvas. Etched with blues chords and Middle Eastern melodies, you could get lost within the steady plodding, where most track refuse to let up until after six-plus minutes.

Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)

2008-03-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

Within the constellation of independent, sassy female singers (think Billie Holiday, Chaka Khan), Ms. Badu has a way of combining universally righteous lyrics with her Southern everyday-people roots (Remember: she likes her tofu fried). Her new album, New Amerykah, is an examination of societal ills and day-to-day existence drapped with a rich musical backdrop. Like Curtis Mayfield, Badu vividly explores the squalor of inner city blues (“The Cell”), confident inner-vision (“Master Teacher” and “Me”), and the afterlife (“Telephone”, recorded after hip-hop producer J.Dilla’s funeral); she’s never preachy, and always supplies you with a thick groove to ride upon. Opening the album with a faux-Parliament/George Clinton style sermonizing, it’s the little snippets and interludes of the album that seem forced and dated. But the tracks themselves shine amazingly well, featuring the post-modern experimental left-field soul-inspired production of Madlib, the Roots’ Questlove, Sa-Ra, Soulquarium, 9th Wonder, and more. In election year, this is a fiercely strong woman, calling it as she sees it.

Cat Power – Jukebox

2008-01-29T20:40:00.000-08:00

Eight years after the release of her previous homage, The Covers Record, Cat Power (nee Chan Marshall) returns, this time with a fuller band and her own smoky and emotional vision of the vocalist who’ve influenced her. The names you’ll mostly recognize: Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Hank Williams, and Joni Mitchell. But her selection raises the profile of previous under acknowledge gems: the love and pain of Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain”, the open sky freedom of The Highwaymen’s “Silver Stallion” and the gospel blues redemption of Jessie Mae Hemphill “Lord, Help The Poor And Needy”, all of which she embeds with breathy phrasing nuanced with emotion (from chocked-up heartache to vampy eroticism) than power. With a backing band that bridges from her indie roots (Dirty Three drummer Jim White played on Moon Pix) to the Memphis soul of her last album The Greatest (Al Green’s guitarist Teenie Hodges guests), Chan Marshall puts her beautiful hazy take on some timeless classics.

Various Artists – The Roots Of Chicha

2007-12-14T16:24:00.001-08:00

Various Artists – The Roots Of Chicha (Barbès Records)

The British Invasion didn’t limit its dominating influence just to the states. Worldwide, in various ethnic locales, musicians reconfigured their bands to the format of drums, electric bass and guitar, emulating the sound transmitting from pocket radios and television broadcasts, and out popped such genres as Cambodian rock, Mexican garage rock, and Malaysian pop. Similarly, Peruvians translated the cumbias they’d imported from Columbia, but dropped the featured accordion for a steel twine of the electric guitar. Now outfitted with a surf twang and the modern sound of the Moog synthesizers and Farfisa organs, this new sound -titled Chicha after their native corn drink- was distilled for the working class dance floors in Lima. Recorded between 1968 and 1978, this compilation triumphantly recovers this instantly danceable merging of Afro-Cuban rhythms, Andean melodies and western psychedelia from overlooked, discarded international record bins. Recommended for salsa dancers, fans of underground garage, and discriminating lovers of artistic international hybridization. A true knockout.

Pedro

2007-12-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

Pedro – You, Me & Everyone (Mush)

As the alias of James Rutledge, Pedro could easily be the name taped across his computer monitor. With bedroom technicians, who shuffles around programmed beats with odd snatches of instrumental sounds lifted from vinyl records, the art is in the execution. On You, Me & Everyone, the final assembled output combines the looped steady rhythms of hip-hop with the wild frantic energy of free jazz, a musical structure that rapidly pivots between head-nodding pulses to mind-freeing combustion. Rarely does the drumming seem complacently looped. On “I’m Keeping Up” and “Spools”, the percussive barrage can shift time-signatures instantly, and with the wild saxophone riffs blasting out, you’re likely to think of John Coltrane accompanying Elvin Jones as opposed to an electronic creation. With a continuous propulsive drive, squiggles of synthesized keys, xylophone melodies and found sounds all compositional arranged to magical seem organic than crafted, Pedro is a master hand in the confines of the “cut and paste” electronic field.

Grizzly Bear

2007-12-14T16:21:00.002-08:00

Grizzly Bear – Friend EP

Swirling with layers of delicate acoustic instrumentation and voices layered until they can harness the power and beauty of an operatic choir, Grizzly Bear opened up ears with the psychedelic-drenched folk sounds on their sophomore album, Yellow House. Returning with a bulging EP that offers eleven tracks of re-assembled songs as well as covers of their material by close associates (Band Of Horses, CSS, and Atlas Sound), the Friend EP shouldn’t be view as an emptying of the closet. Receiving help from Beirut’s Zach Condon and Dirty Projector’s Dave Longstreth, “Alligator”, a track from their debut Horn Of Plenty, is expanded from a quick, loose keyboard tinkering into a expanded avalanche of bristling noise-pop. Brazilian art-punk band CSS transforms “Knife” into a giddy new-wave synth track, while Band of Horse takes “Plans” to the back porch with their banjo picking, erupting with a bluegrass sing-a-long. For newbies and fans alike, the Friend EP offers Grizzly Bear a unique chance to re-fashion their tunes with tremendous results.

Scout Niblett

2007-12-14T16:21:00.001-08:00

Scout Niblett – This Fool Can Die Now

Existing somewhere between the plaintively-voiced catharsis of Cat Power and the raw emotionally power of PJ Harvey, Scout Niblett has made an album that can lull your child to sleep one minute, and shake a filling loose the next. Counting the four wonderful slices of precious folk duets with Will Oldham (aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy / Palace Music) along with a few others, Scout Niblett’s minimal-arranged compositions can dazzle you with merely a drum kit and a voice (“Moon Lake”) or the soft-rock aesthetics of her Van Morrison cover “Comfort You“ (and Will Oldham has never sounded more delightful in-key and warbleless). But when the ferocious pounding opens on “Let Thine Heart Be Warned”, Scout Niblett matches the bruising heavy blues energy with full-throated vocals that can curl your fingers into devil horn. Recorded by the exacting hands of Steve Albini (who also produced PJ Harvey’s early albums), This Fool Can Die Now captures Scout’s spunky roar with precision and clarity. Recommended.

Sigur Rós

2007-12-14T16:20:00.001-08:00

Sigur Rós – Hvarf / Heim

Comprised of two separate EP’s, Iceland’s Sigur Rós highlights the two distinct aspects of their recorded sound: their expansive, monumental compositions that climb to massive codas versus meticulously arranged, lullaby-like songs whose very fragility underscore it with attentive power. Hvarf captures the dramatic grandeur of Sigur Rós with five older titles, three of which having never been captured to disc. “Hafsol” from the group’s debut Von, is recaptured, rising from a its opening subtle drone to an apex of bombastic drums, strings played with blurring hands, and a full harmonic range emitting from your speaker. Heim or “home” is Sigur Rós re-imagined as a chamber orchestra. Recorded live within odd venues across Iceland (darkened caves, deserted fish factories), many of which lacked electrical power, there is pure beauty in translating their monolithic sound into the natural world. With assistance from string quartet Amiina, Sigur Rós accents the gentle beauty of their songs that become as tranquil as snowfall, as intimate as a whisper. Recommended.

Dynamics – Version Excursion

2007-12-14T16:19:00.000-08:00

Dynamics – Version Excursion

Cover bands, though often viewed as a step-child when compared to the innovative sibling they imitate, can easily provoke a smile of acknowledgment when done right. Forming its multi-national act within the confines of France, The Dynamics select a variety of tunes from several different canons – rock, jazz, and soul – and filters them with a reggae-inspired soul that harnesses the thick, relaxed groove of Thievery Corporation’s best downtempo beats. Whether they’re covering Curtis Mayfield (“Move On Up”) or Cymande’s rare groove classic (“Brother On The Side) with smooth high falsetto perfection, or crafting rock-steady versions of the Rolling Stones (“Miss You”) and Led Zeppelin (Whole Lotta Love”) with sublime seduction, there’s a lot here to appreciate. Despite the small missteps of their lover-rock version of Dylan “Lay Lady Lay” and a less than electrifying cover of “Land Of A 1,000 Dances”, the Dynamics rebound with a disco-reggae renditions of Madonna’s “Music” and a version of D’Angelo’s “Feel Like Making Love” that could possibly increase the world’s population.

Low – Christmas

2007-11-16T19:43:00.003-08:00

Low – Christmas

One of the few bands where the tonal quality is perfectly foreshadowed by their working title, Low’s Christmas album is an indie-lovers holiday dream come true. Featuring their glacially paced song-crafting, their covers of “Blue Christmas” and “Silent Night” accentuate the lyrical melancholy and tenderness, respectively. Their self-penned opening track, “Just Like Christmas”, is sonically rich with a trotting drum beat, sleigh bells, and layered backing harmonies that recall Phil Spector’s own yuletide recordings (which are currently, tragically out of print). Granted, this album isn’t new. Supposedly, their version of “Little Drummer Boy” was once featured in a Gap ad. But listening to its ethereal angelically-voiced chorus and a snare that’s avalanched with so much distortion, you’d swear the drummer was “rata-tat-tating” sheets of aluminum foil, you’ll acknowledge its cinematic appeal instantly. Housed in a paper slipcase illustrated with snowflakes drifting down on a wide open field, Low’s “Christmas” is a welcome moment of solitude.

Various Artists – Where Will You Be Christmas Day?

2007-11-16T19:43:00.001-08:00

Various Artists – Where Will You Be Christmas Day?

As if the Ghost Of Christmas Past is suddenly haunting your speakers, Where Will You Be Christmas Day saves twenty-four dusty and ancient devotional hymns from the inescapable coffin of oblivion. Time traveling between the periods 1917 to 1959, musical genres hopscotch from the Alabama Sacred Harp sung hymnals “Sherburne” (1957), the New Orleans hot jazz swing of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers version of “Gee, Ain’t I Good To You?”(1929), to prison chain gang acappella harmonization on “Holy Babe” (1939). Curated by musicologist and programmer of the Obsolete Music Hour on Washington D.C. radio station WAMU, selections range from the secular wishing for Santa Claus to the religious praising of Jesus Christ. The commercial rush of modern Christmas can often bury the holiday cheer under mounds of commerce-related receipts. Hearing this, you step back into a simpler world where jam, butter and fresh baked bread are acknowledged as esteemed gifts.

Jonathan Kane - The Little Drummer Boy

2007-11-16T19:40:00.000-08:00

Jonathan Kane - The Little Drummer Boy

If any Christmas song allows for a percussive-lengthened exploration, the marching beat of “Little Drummer Boy” certainly would be the first to stand at attention. Former Swans drummer and downtown New York avant-garde musical player, Jonathan Kane, handles all the duties on his 15-minute version of this single holiday standard. Recorded for the ultra-experimental (or pretentiously high brow, depending on your artistic discern) recording label, Table Of The Elements, you’d expect a thunderous, unapologetic cutting edge performance. Instead, he slow-burns out a Mississippi electric blues instrumental scorcher. Outfitted with a Civil War marching drum cadence, a thick, reverberating bass line, and squalling guitar riffs, you may wonder what Southern juke joint this was recorded in. Intensity starts to build at the eight minute mark, with the muscling of the drums and a few wilder slashes on the electric axe, but everything is reigned in by its 12-bar finish.

Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra - A Very Ping Pong Christmas: Funky Treats From Santa's Bag

2007-11-16T19:39:00.001-08:00

Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra - A Very Ping Pong Christmas: Funky Treats From Santa's Bag

As a musician who builds his compositions by using his MPC sampler as opposed to a conductor’s wand, Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra mimics the “sound libraries” that television producers hunted through, desperate to find the perfect funky getaway theme for their Starskey & Hutch chase scenes. Varying stylistically from Bollywood soundtracks, druggy psychedelic rock, and finger-popping, high-strutting funk, Shawn Lee takes advantage of the open space behind the memorable melodies of Christmas classics. Caroler’s dreariest selection, “O Little Town Of Bethlehem” gets updated with a James Brown beat, a chicken scratching guitar rhythm, and an acid-drenched lead guitar. “O Come All Ye Faithful” opens with a drum break that seems stolen from Otis Redding's classic "Tramp", while the Memphis-sounding horns blare out the tune “Do You Hear What I Hear” that has to be from a lost Al Green B-side. Look out! Grandpa’s got a brand new hip.

Various Artists – Best Of Christmas Cocktails

2007-11-16T19:38:00.001-08:00

Various Artists – Best Of Christmas Cocktails

For some, the holidays are the welcome arrival of a whole new slew of alcoholic drinks. Mulled wine, stiffly prepared eggnog, and coffee heated with various blended concoctions of spirits and liqueurs. For those types of gatherings, why look past the honored background music that have been swinging bachelor pads since the Rat Pack? The Best Of Christmas Cocktails combines into one album, the best of a three volume series that focused on 1950’s popular vocalist and bandleaders. For guests who consider these songs too kitschy to be entertaining, show those squares the door. From Dean Martin’s warm croon “Winter Wonderland” to the cute bubblegum pop of Ray Anthony’s “Christmas Kisses”, everything seems brightened with blasting brass ensembles or prettied with soaring string arrangements. And when the exotic slack key guitar on Bob Atcher “Christmas Island” has you dreaming of the Maui break, you’ll want to dust out your Tiki glasses for a round of toasts and shots

Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas

2007-11-16T19:37:00.001-08:00

Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas

Can Christmas really exist without the memories of Charlie Brown and his wilting baby pine tree, and the remarkable orchestrated soundtrack Vince Guaraldi crafted for it? As a kid, Christmas television so often repeated the same holiday classics, that getting tikes to fall asleep seemed its crooked purpose. But the Peanut’s score rendered perfectly the humorous, tender and innocent nature of the animated special, keeping you focused the whole time. Vince Guaraldi envisions the delightful sprinkling of snowfall on “Skating” with an ostinato run along the piano’s upper register. And memories of a hind-leg stepping Snoopy are permenantly stamped to “Linus and Lucy”’s toe-tapping riff. Admittedly, I’m tempted to bump pass the pubescent voices that creak on “Hark, The Hearald Angels Sing”, but they dissipate after a single refrain and the upbeat snap of “Christmas Is Coming” arrives before you can lift yourself from your futon. This is the timeless essential.

John Fahey – The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Solo Christmas Album

2007-11-16T19:36:00.000-08:00

John Fahey – The New Possibility: John Fahey’s Guitar Solo Christmas Album

As a wizard of technique, John Fahey transcended what was originally thought impossible to accomplish on an acoustic guitar. His recordings could summon up the deepest of Mississippi blues, jump across the globe to investigate the meditative possibilities of Indian ragas or unnerve his audience with pure avant-garde dissonance. Incredibly, it was his Christmas albums that captured the lion’s share of the attention from his immense catalog. With straightforward appeal, Fahey plucks out resounding versions of holiday classics, rich in acoustics and sounding perfectly conceived for snow-covered cottages warmed with wood-burning stoves. Giving each tune just over two minutes of time, he sparks the melodies to life with inspired soloing that highlights rather than steals the spotlight. As a bonus, this re-issue is coupled with a second album “Christmas With John Fahey Vol II,” which adds the accompaniment of guitarist Richard Ruskin for splendid, lengthier arrangements. A true classic.

Pylon - Gyrate

2007-11-16T19:24:00.001-08:00

Pylon – Gyrate

Arriving, surprisingly, out of the Athens, Georgia college scene that fostered the careers of R.E.M. and B-52’s, Pylon coupled their dub bass lines to the motorik-drumming techniques of krautrock, all colored with ripping, angular shards of lead guitar and a mouthful of direct, punchy lyrics vocalized by front woman and registered nurse Vanessa Briscoe Hay. With a sound that could imitate the dance-punk bop of Gang Of Four to a more controlled version of female avant-punk of LiLiPut, the arrival of this long-undiscovered gem re-asserts the Pylon’s influence into a region that has rarely been connected with the associated “art-cool” of post-punk. Though all sixteen tracks can eventually wear thin when consumed in one sitting, the passionate and of-kilter arrangement of their songs (the Talking Heads subtle rhythm on “Gravity” and percolating guitar tones on “Cool”) fashion this as the perfect companion for bopping in your art studio. "In my top 100 of all time, this record falls very near the top", says R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe. You can believe him, right?

LCD Soundsystem - 45:33

2007-11-16T19:23:00.002-08:00

LCD Soundsystem – 45:33

Commissioned by Nike as part of their Original Run series, James Murphey’s LCD Soundsystem has the baton smacked in their palm after previous outings by Aesop Rock and Crystal Method. The rules are easy: build a continuous cycle of music paced to an tailored arc for running or exercising – a stretching, slow intro, a hyper-kinetic center, and a relaxed ending. LCD Soundsystem delivers in spades a mix branded with their own space-disco, electroclash sound. The workout begins with a simple synth riff (Headband, check. Laces tighten) that flutters into a soulful disco bounce (Warm-up walk started). The momentum increases gradually; a funky tech-house track merges straight into the electro-disco shimmering (Jogging with long strides) that’s often favored by the nightlife remixes James Murphey produces under his DFA-label moniker. By its peak (Heartbeat pounding) and eventual warm down (Gatorade please), the headspace you’ve cursed in, is a welcome relief from the usual metronome of deep breathing and a bursting heart.

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup

2007-11-16T19:23:00.001-08:00

Beirut – The Flying Club Cup

After dining and digesting on a folk feast throughout Eastern Europe, 19 year-old Zach Condon released his debut album, Gulag Orkestar, under the name Beirut. Filled with rousing majestic brass and lush tones of accordion and strings, it instantly brought a softer, wistful acknowledgement of increasingly inspiring sound of Balkan folk as opposed to the gypsy punk exuberance of Eugene Hutz’s band, Gogol Bordello. Now on his sophomore album, Condon soaks up the French cities and countryside, producing an album that relishes waltzes and French chanson with the dynamics of a large ensemble. Gaining access to the rich treasure of instruments of Arcade Fire’s church studio as well as the expertise of former Neutral Milk Hotel member Jeremy Barnes, Condon unleashes an orchestrated eruption more sophisticated, yet equally as charming as his debut. His deep croon still pins an antique mood to the lyrics, but tracks like “In The Mausoluem” will have you stunned at their intricate arrangements.

Orlando Julius - Super Afro Soul

2007-11-16T19:22:00.002-08:00

Orlando Julius – Super Afro Soul

Before the invention of Nigeria’s Afrobeat (courtesy of Fela Kuti), it was the sound of Western African high life that filled the local clubs and juke joints with its infectious bright, bubbly sound. As outside influences began to roll into the British liberated colony, it was saxophonist Orlando Julius who merged the sound of 1960’s American soul – Motown, Stax and Atlantic – with his native high life and his obsession with jazz legends Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Released in 1966, Super Afro Soul captured a new amalgamation of styles. A cover of the Temptations “My Girl” is now embedded with the African percussive additions of high treble wood clacks and the rapid thumps of the conga. “Ijo Soul” comes across as an Africanized version “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”. The period from 1969-1972 is compiled on the second disc, as Orlando stretches out his Afro-pop into Afrobeat: a deeper and funkier fusion of funk, high life and psychedelic rock. A terrific re-issue from revivalist label Vampi Soul.

DJ Shadow - Funky Skunk

2007-11-16T19:22:00.001-08:00

DJ Shadow – Funky Skunk

Though many of his earlier albums featured a flawless blending of instrumental breakbeats from numerous sources of inspiration – rock, funk, hip-hop – into one fantastic journey, Shadow’s last album, Outsider, left a few people cold as his focus seemed bent away from the experimental sound palette and more toward a straight forward commercial beat-making production. On Funky Skunk, a pure mix-tape, fans can have the best of both worlds. Filled with the Bay Area sounds of Hyphy, his catacomb deep selection of funk and rare grooves, numerous bits of odd ball novelty recordings, and various styles of regional hip-hop (grime, crunk, Miami bass, gangsta), DJ Shadow offers up a CD that is the equivalent of diplomat hip-hop fashion, taking variant gems and constructing them into a brilliant new ostentatious piece of bling. The album never lets up, and since it’s recorded as one long track, you can feel exhausted by its 66 minute length. But you’ll definitely get your moneys worth.

Little Wings - Soft Pow'r

2007-11-16T19:21:00.000-08:00

Little Wings – Soft Pow’r

Though very much a collaborative effort, its Kyle Field’s tender lo-fi strumming, sentimental wailing and dreamy, poetic musings that captures the magic of the Pacific Northwest as well as wonder of the Malibu and Big Sur coastline that continual stamp Little Wings with its unique warm glow. With his first recording for his new label RAD, the sound still holds much of the meandering, hypnotic song structure of his earlier K Records releases. From the first track, a mood flashes through immediately. With the changing of the seasons, the early arrival of sunset, Soft Pow’r reflects the waning of summer and hints at a continual longing for a departed friend. “Gone Again” yearns for the memories of a summer beach and missing mate, as “Saturday” seems to murmur a day of the week into longing (sadder day). Kyle, I’m missing the hard sun of summer too.

I'm Not There - OST

2007-11-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

I’m Not There – Original Soundtrack

With his self-penned biography, and a PBS-aired Martin Scorsese documentary, Bob Dylan is experiencing the attention rarely given to a icon whose heart is still beating. Now, with the arrival of Todd Haynes’ loosely based biopic movie, I’m Not There, Dylan chameleon persona gets conceptualized with a multitude of voices, and six separate faces. To accompany the film, Haynes has gathered over three-dozen musicians, stretched over two CD’s - from indie acts like Yo La Tengo, The Black Keys, Sufjan Stevens to more recognizable names like Richie Haven, Los Lobos and Jack Johnson - to twist their own version of Dylan classics and lesser known works. For the most part it works wonderfully. Hearing My Morning Jacket’s Jim James crooning “Goin’ To Acapulco” instantly recalls the Band’s assistance on the Basement Tapes, while Los Lobos take on “Billy 1” adds the Tex Mex flavor, perfectly suited for this Pat Garret & Billy The Kid selection. Fans, and non-fans who’ve traditionally been turned-off by Dylan’s warbled voice, both have something to celebrate.

José González

2007-10-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

José González – In Our Nature

Television commercials have outpaced music television with introducing new act. Familiarity with Swedish singer/song writer José González can be credited to the slow motion, cinematic unleashing of a billion bouncing colorful rubber balls upon the streets on San Francisco, with his tender version of the Knife’s “Heartbeat” lilting in the background. Upon his sophomore release, In Our Nature, he continues to mesmerizing us with repetitive finger plucking and the soft delicate vocals that bring to mind the acoustic haunting of Nick Drake or Red House Painters. However, lyrically, José González looks outward rather than mining internal dilemmas as fodder. “How Low” aims biting words at modern leaders and the turmoil they reap: "Invasion after invasion/This means war/Someday you'll be up to your knees/in the shit you seek" With songs that call out our sleepwalking disillusionment and our “killing for love”, it’s a bitter medicine that swallows so much easier with his lush melodies, weighted with simplicity and restraint.

After Dark

2007-10-15T15:40:00.000-07:00

Various Artists - After Dark

Disco can be blamed for killing the poly-rhythmic sounds of funk and instigating a whole subculture of youth, now ironically joining their parents, to have disdain for modern music. But disco, like the thumping sounds of House, were never really meant to be removed from the club, where sexiness and outlandish costuming flaunted easily together. Arriving from the noise and indie-rock record label Troubleman Unlimited, comes an off-shot outfit that lays their laurels at the feet of esteemed disco producer Giorgio Moroder. Italians Do It Better is the umbrella collective for a stream of dark, synthy retro-futuristic Italian-disco that will sound oh-so-much better with your gold Versace on. Featuring several tracks from Glass Candy, Chromatic, Farah, Professor Genius and Mirage, the whole albums pulses with deep noir bass lines that thump alongside synthesized atmospheric harmonies and Casio hammered keys. With even hip-hop’s Lil’ Jon layering thick washes of synthesized throbs amongst his most popular production, the steamy amorousness of disco is back, and these kids want you hit the town smoking.

Marissa Nadler

2007-10-15T15:39:00.002-07:00

Marissa Nadler – Songs III: Bird On The Water

With a ghostly mezzo-soprano voice and a notebook bleeding out sorrowful songs, Marissa Nadler offers up a Gothic concoction that immediately envisions Mazzy Star reading the haunting tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Assisted and recorded by Greg Weeks and his Philadelphian allies who combine to form the neo pysch-folk outfit Espers, these songs are strengthen by their extra studio touches, though not to say her two previous self recorded albums are any less engaging. But when Greg Weeks opens up his acid drenched guitar leads on both “Bird On Your Grave” and “Rachel”, he emotes the same crying aches as Nadler’s sung lyrics, like two tears longitudinal falling together. But from start to finish, this is still the delightful workings of a single gifted talent. With her John Fahey style guitar leanings and a voice that recalls the melancholy of wistful recollection, this aches with same tragic beauty as a slo-motion, cinematic death scene. You just can’t turn away.

Budos Band

2007-10-15T15:39:00.001-07:00

The Budos Band – Budos Band II

Erupting from the boroughs of Brooklyn and housed on Daptone Records (the fabulous independent funk label who also launched the careers of Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse’s backing band the Dap-Kings), The Budos Band is the tightest afro-funk instrumental band in existence today. In the similar fashion of James Brown’s working band, the JB’s, who often operated freely without his lordship at center stage, the Budos Band can equally capture your attention sans showboating frontman. Fattening a stage with an eleven member ensemble, you’ll find a trio of horns as well a percussive section equipped with enough rattlers, thumpers and shakers to gain the approval of a small African tribe. Originating out of an after school jazz ensemble, you’ll hear their precision in their complex Afrobeat arrangements and stellar musicianship tinted with afro-latin horns and the most psychedelic soulful organ play. Plus the whole soundscape has been captured with analog warmness. Look no further for your perfect summertime barbeque / party music.

M.I.A.

2007-10-15T15:38:00.004-07:00

M.I.A. – Kala

Consider Maya Arulpragasam, aka M.I.A., as a human radio antenna: intercepting and re-broadcasting over the still populous airwaves, a sound saturated with dense rhythms, scattered noise and the street tough images of a non-Western landscape. Her latest album, Kala (named after her mother), projects much of the world by way of its multitude of aural color: the percussive heavy beats and patois vocals of Jamaican dancehall, the theatrical disco pop of Bollywood film music, the cut and paste dynamics of Brazilian baile funk, all mashed together to form a concoction with the bite and pleasure of a strong poured Mojito. But buried within these dance floor driven tracks, lurks the visuals of a third world status people. Opening track “Bamboo Banger” interpolates the Modern Lover’s “Road Runner” with new visuals of hungry arms “knocking on the doors of your Hummer Hummer” as “Bird Flu” references the new scrutiny applied to foreign passports. And with the Clash sampled-driven “Paper Planes”, a respect is paid to the egalitarian rockers who used the weapon of music to thumb their noise at rigid authority. Long live M.I.A.

Cave Singers

2007-10-15T15:38:00.003-07:00

Cave Singers – Invitation Songs

If this was a simple record, the Cave Singers could have become revivalists: something akin to Old Crow Medicine Show hay-kicking, barn-storming razzle dazzle or the tender, intelligent Appalachian-folk of Gillian Welch. The songs are constructed from similar bare bone instrumentation- the finger-picked melodies of an acoustic guitar, the precision of a brushed slapped snare- and can often reflect a back-wood folk influence. “New Mounuments” has the Gothic hypnotic pull of 16 Horsepower most emotional preaching, and “Called” is ominous dirge, haunted by a darkly blown Melodica. But somewhere along the line, it sounds as if their Fleetwood Mac records got inserted into the cardboard jackets of the Violent Femmes. “Helen” repetitive melody has the warm, easy swallow of Tusk-era Mac, while singer Pete Quirk vocals often carry Lindsey Buckingham’s best nasally inflection. But don’t toss this off as updated soft-rock Rumours. There’s an energy that bristles within each song, as if beneath the layers of any fine suits, still exists the sweaty t-shirts that have rocked hundreds of house garage dance parties.

Extra Golden

2007-10-15T15:38:00.001-07:00

Extra Golden – Hera Ma Nono

A sophomore release was an unlikely development for Extra Golden. Traveling to Kenya and Nairobi in 2000 for documentation on Benga music for his doctoral thesis, Ian Eagleson formed a collaboration with noted Kenyan musician Otieno Jagwasi and his drummer Onyango Wuod Omari of Orchestra Extra Solar Africa. It was with the arrival of Eagleson’s Washington D.C. bandmate, Alex Minoff (of Golden) that spawned the rudimentary recorded album Ok-Oyot System. Merging American rock and boogie with Benga’s guitar-heavy finger picking and bubbling percussions, Extra Golden has a true cross cultural pollination. An invitation to play the Chicago World Music Festival offered them their US concert debut, and the visa clearing hand of Senator Barak Obama (who is honored, as is Benga custome, with the song “Obama”) brought Extra Golden to the states, with a new singer in tow (Opiyo Bilongo replacing the void left by Jagwasi 2005 death). Recorded in actual studio, Hera Ma Nono (“Love In Vain”) sounds fuller in instrumentation and development, with the lightness and jovial spirit making this a perfect Sunday canopy retreat.

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators

2007-10-15T15:36:00.003-07:00

Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators – Keep Reachin’ Up

With the recent release of Amy Winhouse’s Motown influenced bad girl album and the upcoming arrival from deep-funk sensation Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, the sound of retro-soul is finally percolating up into the American spotlight. Funk and soul acts like the Bamboos (Australia) and the Poets Of Rhythm (Germany) have been captivating the attentive ears of an international audience with their brand of old school soul, with little appreciation of our mainstream airwaves. You may never have consider Finland the next location of soul superstardom, but one listen to the Soul Investigators, and you’ll accept the fact that this Finnish outfit is sitting on loads of classic Motown and mid-70’s soul cassette tapes. Fronted by New Yorker Nicole Willis, who occupied the ranks of the Brand New Heavies and Dee-Lite, the bite of Keep Reachin’ Up is immediate. Opening with a disco-tinged groover “Feeling Free”, the Soul Investigators continue forth with orchestra arrangements reminiscent of Curtis Mayfield’s middle period. A perfect soul revivalism album.

Tiny Vipers

2007-10-15T15:36:00.001-07:00

Tiny Vipers – Hands Across The Void

An acoustical project of Seattle singer/songwriter Jesy Fortino, Hands Across The Void collects seven songs of acoustically quiet and darkly dreamy songs crafted with the simplest tools. With very little besides the strum of a guitar and the occasional addition of atmospheric texture, Tiny Vipers is built for campfire surroundings. With a voice that hesitates with the singing enunciation Joanna Newsom, Fortino powers her records with raw vocalized harmonies that are as sparsely haunting as a walk through an abandoned house that been re-occupied by nature. A sense of edge arrives half way through the album with “Forest On Fire”, as it crescendos from a few lazily plucked guitar notes into a wash of brash reverb distortion, that ends just before your nerves are wrecked. But pass this, everything is sparse in arrangements and easy to sink into. If you prefer your folk music with a slight darker edge, this is an adventure waiting for you.

Animal Collective

2007-10-15T15:35:00.003-07:00

Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam

With the release of the Beatles Sgt. Pepper, the rules defining what pop music could sound like were expanded. Beneath innovative arrangements and the synthesizing several musical genres into a new sound, one could still bite into sweet melodicism and feel comfort. Animal Collective seems set to a similar trajectory as the Flaming Lips: a backlog of weird captivating early albums that have slowly evolved the aesthetics of pop into a palatable art the masses can finally consume. On Strawberry Jam, Panda Bear (Noah Lennox) and Avey Tare (Dave Portner) still push the boundaries of exploration with their trance-inducing repetitiveness and their fondness for noise-rock, but a balance is struck with their gorgeous Brian Wilson style harmonics and exuberant happy energy. Opening their album with a thick tangle of electronic mishmash that slowly unravels into a propulsive beat, “Peacebone” is a guiding indicator of the absurd delight that waits for you through is marvelous recording.

Young Marble Giants

2007-10-15T15:35:00.001-07:00

Young Marble Giants – Colossal Youth And The Collected Works

Young Marble Giants could easily have slipped off the radar, only to be heard in the closeted circles of extreme music hounds and the occasional college radio play. But our luck has changed. With a complete clearing of the vaults, we are now offered three discs of Young Marble Giants: a five-song BBC session for John Peel, an out-of-print collection of demos and rehearsal tapes, and their brilliant debut Colossal Youth. Arriving out of the UK in the early 80’s as English post-punk act like Gang Of Four and Joy Division sparked alive, YMG pushed their own D.I.Y. spirit by rejecting amplified power for an investigation of sparse, minimal production built around the trio’s voice, guitar, bass and often drum machine. Alison Statton’s monotone vocals are plainly understated, but in a similar manner to Miles Davis muted trumpet, the effect adds muscle by way of the lean backing arrangements. Simplistic in approach, YMG never-the-less introduced a new vernacular to modern rock and roll.

Joe Henry

2007-10-15T15:34:00.003-07:00

Joe Henry – Civilians

As a producer, Joe Henry has polished some of the finest albums from the likes of soul legend Solomon Burke, Elvis Costello companion recording with New Orleans treasure Allen Toussaint, and singer/songwriter Aimee Mann. Now Joe Henry has put his ear to heart of the American saga. With a backing ensemble featuring Loudon Wainwright, pianist/songwriter Van Dyke Parks, jazz guitarist Bill Frisell and the touring band for Frisell’s album Good Dog, Happy Man, musically you’re unlikely to hear another album so tightly executed as well as well as unpretentiously straight forward. On Civilians, Henry constructs songs that are welded with the histrionics of America’s history: be it the bruised nature of “Our Song” which imagines Willie Mays within the aisles of a Home Depot reflecting on his tangled tenure within our twisted country, or the stoic isolation and rallying point that occurs in the tragedy of a civil war. An amazing accomplishment; Joe Henry may have just knocked one out of the park.

Heliocentrics

2007-10-15T15:34:00.001-07:00

Heliocentrics – Out There

James Brown said it: Play every instrument as if it was a drum. Malcolm Catto, a UK drummer whose obsession for soul 7-inches provided the basis for three funk compilations (Midwest Funk, Texas Funk and Florida Funk), has turned his dusty fingered hobby and vast knowledgeable repertoire into a full length study of spaced out funk. With his relentless drumming, The Heliocentrics resemble the coming together of several ideas – the sparse, heady funk of No Wave artists ESG, the spatial and cutting-edge recording arrangements of David Axelrod, and the experimental and celestial jazz devotion of Sun Ra - all orbiting and influencing each others gravitational pull. “Distant Star” grabs your attention instantly with its crisp snare and hard bass thumps that decorated with a robotic-tinted organ and sound collages, revolving around sci-fi space exploration to the blipping sound of Sputnik. As kooky as this can all sound, at its core is the eternal beating rhythm of the best James Brown instrumental outfit in the universe.

Stereo Total

2007-10-15T15:33:00.002-07:00

Stereo Total – Paris-Berlin

Operating within the lo-fi corners of rambunctious garage rock, synth-new wave and 1960’s influenced French pop, Stereo Total merge their international flair and multilingual lyrics into an album of quirky indie-pop appeal. Bouncing fluently between German, French and English, Stereo Total equally bop around between a variety of musical influences without losing cohesiveness due to their diverse sound. “Mehr Licht” sounds like the center of the dance floor; it’s built around a driving tech-beat flourished with chorus of Casio keyboard tones. The stripped down rock and roller “Plus Minus Null” shows the punchier aspects of the bands love of the raw edges of 50’s rhythm and blues. Think Bo Diddley guitar work combined with a drum machine freakout. With a graphical look of Russian Constructivism embedded within its cover arts as well as linear notes, Stereo Total use their art to push a subtle sexual revolution- a theme running in the background of this très chic party record.

Oh No

2007-10-15T15:33:00.001-07:00

Oh No – Dr. No’s Oxperiment

Originally, a beat album was a compilation of instrumental tracks a hip-hop producer would gather onto a single disc, and showcase to interested lyricists. Like a buffet line, a rapper would peruse the selection, checking off the tracks he wanted and a deal would be struck. Beat records mainly existed in the background of hip-hop, but credit innovative producers like Dan the Automator, Jay Dee and Madlib for incorporating goofy over-looked kitsch and mining a wide array of odd ball samples to create instrumental albums that could capture a listeners attention without the hyperbole of an animated rapper. On the instrumental affair of Dr. No’s Oxperiment, Oxnard-born producer Oh No relies solely on a staple of folk and psychedelic albums from the Middle Eastern and Southern European as his source of inspiration. Awashed in Arabic vocals, crisp drum claps and fuzzed out melodic tones more intoned for a Turkish opium den, Oh No taps into an over-looked musical avenue to inject hip-hop with a future of new sounds.

Re:Sounds Volume One

2007-10-15T15:32:00.001-07:00

Now-Again – Re:Sounds Volume One

Besides being the general manager of hip-hop indie label Stones Throw, Egon (Eothen Alapatt) also runs a side label entitled Now-Again. Its focus is on the forgotten gems of funk and soul that have often been sampled by DJ’s but overlooked by the general public. It was only a matter of time before these two interests converged, like chocolate discovering peanut butter, to deliver a special treat. On Re:Sounds, Egon has collects a slew of funk remixes culled from Now-Again’s back catalog of vinyl-only 7-inches and 12-inch releases, along with a few exclusive tracks to fill out this impressive release. Featuring the nimble hands of J.Rocc, Kenny Dope and Cut Chemist, they re-edit old tracks into new DJ friendly affairs. Aloe Blacc and Guilty Simpson both ride the funky instrumental and gift them with new vocals. But really, the spotlight is on the old masters, whose sound is just as contemporary today, as it was three decades back. An instant classic.

Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra

2007-10-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra – Space & Time

With a lip snarl that could rival a young Joan Jett, Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra spit out pure garage rock & roll fuzz. Everything is recorded to the bone: no lavish production values and an album that just barely breaks the thirty-minute mark. Instantly it is something you’d hear on Little Steven Underground Garage, and reckon it was a misplaced 7 inch from the 60’s. Nope. Miss Alex White has been resurrecting the sounds of Velvet Underground, Modern Lovers and hints of the MC5 for some time now, and her new album Space & Time is an equally impressive artifact. From the reverb drenched bubblegum pop of “She Wanna” to the hefty guitar fuzz and drum blitzkrieg of the opening track “In The Snow”, everything has been recorded in the red, and is spiked with enough brash attitude to make you question authority.

Ezra Furman

2007-10-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Ezra Furman & The Harpoons – Banging Down The Doors

“Hello. This song is called Mother’s Day. It’s about a whore that I knew in Chicago.” And thus sparks the vibrant debut and twisted wit of Ezra Furman, a Chicago native who’s been building a repertoire of playfully confrontation songwriting built around an acoustically tough rock and roll style of à la Violent Femmes. With a voice that warbles with the awkwardness of Femmes’ Gordon Gano or yelps in a similar manner of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah frontman Alec Ounsworth, Ezra’s snide tales burst forth with the brashness that emphasis the tongue-in-cheek angst he often sings in machine gun type delivery. The slow shuffle opening of “God Is A Middle-Aged Woman”, an introspective tale of a relationship in question, ends with Ezra exploding with full vocal emotion that would probably have left the microphone dripping in spittle. With production by Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Califone, Modest Mouse), the urgency is rendered perfectly in acoustic sharpness.

MF Doom

2007-08-02T15:09:00.001-07:00

MF Doom – MM…Food

After a self imposed retirement, Daniel Dumile (aka Zev Love X from 90’s hip hop group KMD) re-surfaced with the vigor of a villain who’d been scarred by the evils of the record industry. Masked with metal face mask of Marvel comic book character, Dr. Doom, he equipped himself with numerous personas, though mainly operating under the moniker, MF Doom. On MM…Food, Doom continues to dish up rugged self- produced beats and a butter smooth flow that is riddled with nutty non-sequiturs and deliciously acute metaphors, earning him the adulation of underground hip hop fans. “You telling me/ I try to act broke/ Jealousy the number killer of black folk” Doom quips on "Deep Fried Frenz" a update on Whodini’s infamous tale of backstabbing associates. Stuffed with numerous odd children read-along samples and kooky movie dialogue, Doom’s wild vision flaunts numerous savory bites; don’t expect to pick up on all the different tastes on your first sitting.

Spoon

2007-08-02T15:08:00.004-07:00

Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Indie rock partially came about as a response to the overly pompous sound and vision of commercial rock: super sized arena pyrotechnics and albums stuffed with layers upon layers of excessive radio friendly overdubbing. Not to say that Spoon exhibits the lo-fi antithesis of production. In fact, they’ve dappled with far more studio refinement now than previous albums, even calling in the talents of producer and film scorer Jon Brion. However, every song is sprite and lean, like a middleweight fighter, brandishing muscle but only in the right places. In fact, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga will knock you out with the first four songs: the typical Spoon piano pounder “Don’t Make Me A Target, the hollow echoey dub of “The Ghost Of You Lingers”, the northern soul chimes and horns of “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”, and “Don’t You Evah” whose bass line recalls Prince’s Erotic City. Easily one the better albums of the year.

Yesterdays New Quintet

2007-08-02T15:08:00.003-07:00

Yesterday’s New Quintet – Yesterday’s Universe

Aliases have grown to be a large part of hip hop culture. Everyone works more often behind a moniker than his own birth right name. Producer extraordinaire Madlib, whose created wonderful musical worlds under the names of Quasimoto, Jaylib and Madvillian, has once again stepped into the his finest tailored duds, and revived his self-created jazz band, Yesterday’s New Quintet. Surrounding himself with an arsenal of instruments and the influence of several decades of jazz, Madlib (Otis
Jackson Jr.) –with special guests including drummer Karriem Riggins and Azymuth precussionist Mamao – connects the dots between the groove oriented fusion of soul-jazz and the headier moments of 70’s avante-garde jazz movement. “Slave Riot” is muscled with an explosion of percussive soloing and a synthesizer meltdown that resembles the wilder compositions of Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi years, and funky drumming of “Street Talkin’” may be a the best Bernard Purdie track the Beastie Boys never stole. If you covet your Impusle and Strata East re-issues, Madlib offers you some additional astral traveling.

M Ward

2007-08-02T15:08:00.001-07:00

M. Ward – Duet For Guitars #2

Every town has its musical favorite sons. Imagine the delight of the cluster of REM fans who witness them in beer drenched bars of Athens, Georgia, suddenly see them comet into the international skyline. Similarly, before Matt Ward shared a touring bill with Norah Jones, years back, he played his oversized guitar in local indie-rock trio Rodriguez. With quite a few home recording taking place within backyard chicken sized shacks, it was only a matter of time before he delivered his first album Duet For Guitars # 2, now re-released by his current record label, Merge. The Americana tint and John Fahey-styled rags his future albums now carry is present here, with his breathy, graveled croon embedding warmth in these dreamy narrations of teenage reflections (“Beautiful Car”) lonesome heartache (“Good News”) and emotional redemption (“It Won’t Happen Twice”). A very welcomed re-issue that points to the artistic fullness his currents albums swell with.

St. Vincent

2007-08-02T15:07:00.004-07:00

St. Vincent – Marry Me

Besides lending her robed frame and skilled guitar hands to the Polyphonic Spree’s oversized ensemble, Annie Clark more resembles her other touring mate, Sujan Stevens, with her richly orchestrated debut album, recorded under her moniker, St. Vincent. A multi-instrumentalist and equipped with a voice that can sound as warm as Feist or as dangerous as Tori Amos, what she captures on record shifts continually. The French horns on “Human Racing” seduces with AM pop luster, where the brilliant indie-pop opener “Now Now” eventually explodes into a full noise collision of guitar shreds, an orchestration build-up and a kid-like chorus. But this says nothing of her lyrical talent for composing brief poetic visuals that bite with humor or lilt with cryptic sincerity. “With a heart like a socket/that I can plug into at will./And will you guess, when I’ll come around next/I hope your open sign is blinking still,” she flirts on Marry Me, continuing slyly with “let’s do what Mary and Joseph did, without the kid.”

Justice

2007-08-02T15:07:00.003-07:00

Justice - † (Cross)

Justice wants to make you dance. These French boys, Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé, owe as much allegiance to the dark, sexy synth sounds of Italian disco as they do to the robotic electro drums of Afrika Bambaataa’s “Planet Rock” or Cybotron’s “Clear”. But the accomplishment only arrives with the brazen attitude that surrounds the whole affair: the exercise of dicing a track apart, and applying snarling static and overblown guitar distortions as a fixing adhesive, without ever loosing eye contact of what keeps the dance floor flooded. The big beat of “New Jack” is interrupted by a transformer with loose wiring, yet the repairing hand wiggles the defect perfectly in time to the beat. “Genesis” opens with the heavy thud of ominous bass drum, as a warning to villainously fun that lies ahead. The charmer is kid’s choired sing-a-long “D.A.N.C.E.”, friendly enough for grandma, but still enough kick to get tired feet hustling to the middle of the floor.

Von Südenfed

2007-08-02T15:07:00.001-07:00

Von Südenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions

With the Fall’s Mark E. Smith incomprehensible talking bark over wild electronic menageries created by Mouse On Mar’s Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner, this side-project may become your atypical dance anthem for the summer. Equally filled with tracks that could easily swell the dance floors at clubs, as well as part them, Von Südenfed is as dynamic in its compositional range as it is jarring to clubbers seeking redundant four-to-the-floor house rhythmic fodder. The album opens impressively with “Fledermaus Can’t Get Enough” that flashes the ID of LCD Soundsystem to get past the velvet ropes, and then follows up two songs later with the UK two-step sound of “Flooded” as Mark E. Smith peppers the track with his atonal delivery of “being the DJ.” Not until the end do they leave the Teutonic techno sound for African influence: “Chicken Yiamas” outfits a Mali blues acoustic guitar with glitchy back beats and “Dearest Friend” will have you thirsting for palm-wine its straightforward Afro-pop a la King Sunny Ade.

Roots Man Dub

2007-08-02T15:06:00.003-07:00

Various Artists – Roots Man Dub

Once the foundation of a native music scene began to flourish on Jamaica’s jukeboxes and massive outdoor party sound systems, the knob twisting engineers introduced another element to the B-sides of their vinyl 45’s: dub versions. Originally, these B-sides were just the instrumental tracks of the A-side single, allowing partygoers the chance to lyrically participate as well as DJ’s to improvise with their native patois raps. Studio sharp engineers eventually began experimenting with the different layers of an instrumental track, emphasizing the rhythm and dropping out vocals or adding thick reverb or echo effects to the selected passages then extending the whole mix. Beneath the superstardom of King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry, the two discs of Roots Man Dub (originally released in 1978) focus solely on the accomplishments of Alvin Ranglin and his G.G. Records Hits label. With a backing of infamous Jamaican musicians like Sly & Robbie, Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, Ansel Collins, this will soften the blows of the working week and allow mental escape.

Sea And Cake

2007-08-02T15:06:00.001-07:00

Sea And Cake – Everybody

If ever indie rock made it into the yoga class, it may very well be Sam Prekop’s relaxed and breezy Sea And Cake outfit that demonstrates the first downward dog. With their recent album, Everybody, this Chicago supergroup – also featuring ex-Coctails Archer Prewitt and Tortoises’s John McEntire – continues to record albums that bubble open with spatial arrangements, and the airy light vocals of Sam Prekop’s wordplay. It’s difficult to pinpoint the source of their easily appealing sonics; its the fusion of pop, jazz, krautrock rhythms with hints of funk, all centrifuged together, and removing any of the jarring seeds. Think of this as homemade ice cream, organically pure and free of mass produced filler, but still a front porch treat.

Nouvelle Vauge Presents New Wave

2007-08-02T15:05:00.004-07:00

Nouvelle Vague Presents – New Wave

With a curator’s eye, Nouvelle Vague view the songbook of 80’s post-punk and new wave as Ella Fitzgerald would her Cole Porter musical sheets: as a source of inspiration and as a vehicle for re-interpretation. With two previous albums offering cocktail/bossa nova treatment to such classics as Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, Nouvelle Vague's Marc Collin and DJ Gilles LeGuen now re-position their spotlight onto the bands they love, and select a two disc set of tracks as their new wave heroes delivery their own cover versions, thick in synth pop. Mixing the popular with the head scratching obscure, Devo’s instantly recognizable “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” offsets The Comateens take on “Summer In The City.” With any various artists collection, a few tracks do fall short, and are enjoyable sheerly for their kitsch factor. But those are few amongst the 24 tracks here, and to have the Slit’s bouncy take on Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and The Original Mirrors new romantic on the Supreme’s “Reflection”, there is enough fun here for past and future generations of youth.

Sir Richard Bishop

2007-08-02T15:05:00.003-07:00

Sir Richard Bishop – While My Guitar Violently Bleeds

The investigation of folk music in all its worldly forms didn’t begin with John Fahey, but his guitar workings – rampant with un-Western like chord structures and his intense aural survey of a guitar’s acoustical limits - still find new devotees today. Existing between this departed wizard and the recently emerged freak-folk scene is an equally vivid crew of elder guitar dazzlers: Jack Rose, Stephen Basho-Junghans, and Sir Richard Bishop. As the shortest piece (just under seven minutes) of the trio of tracks, “Zurvan” is a Flamenco influenced by the cinematic theatrics of a spaghetti Western; full of flashy runs and precise fingerpicking, like a skilled gunslinger’s showboating his hip cannons. “Smashana” is vigorously avant-garde. If ever the world heard the recorded exorcism of a be-deviled instrument, here lies its evidence: a darkly arranged composition haunted with stabs of feedback and ghoulish tonal moans. The record closes with a 22 minute Middle Eastern raga, as trance inducing as turkey on a Sunday.

White Stripes

2007-08-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

The White Stripes – Icky Thump

After briefly side projecting with Brendan Benson and cohorts in the Raconteurs, Jack White re-unites with his sisterly other-half, Meg White, to outfit themselves in their red, white and black costumery and return to their drum-guitar garage aesthetics. While there is still the blues swagger that enriched much of their early albums, now their sound has become so ferociously thick, Jack’s guitar so dense with distortion, that the pop garage-rock gets swallowed by metal riffs and the enormous cymbal crashes. Not that you’ll ever hear a whole album of redundancy. “Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn” merges a Scottish bagpipes and mandolin with sharp angular guitar shredding as if Riverdance was co-opted by punk rockers. Some tracks are instantly recognizably White Stripes: the Jack’s Thor hammer punch on “Little Cream Soda”, Meg’s tribal drum beat opening “Rag And Bone”. Never as straightforward as their dogmatic approach would imply, the White Stripes continue to have fun with the simplest of tools, to our benefit.

Bonde Do Role

2007-06-12T19:06:00.000-07:00

Bonde Do Rolê – With Lasers

DJ’s who crisscross the globe, inevitably open their ears and wallets to the local flavors. On a trip to Brazil, American DJ and producer, Diplo, witnessed and soon championed Brazil’s baile funk scene, which harness its energy as much from Miami bass and funk as its own musical heritage. With backing of his own label, Mad Decent, Diplo has brought teenage youngsters Bonde Do Rolê to a world stage. Delivering a sound that owes as much to early electro Hip Hop as well as hair metal, it’s a weird amalgamation that seems unlikely to be entertaining. But remember the fierceness of early Run DMC? This too is built upon playful rhymes (though mainly undecipherable if English is your only language) about sex, partying, and boredom that builds on call and response lyrics either sung or rapped. The beats that pound out are bass heavy and charged for the dance floor. Every summer needs a dance anthem, and this is primed with club-inducing fun.

Feist

2007-06-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

Feist – The Remainder

With inclusion in the art-rock collective Broken Social Scene, and residing and touring with foul-mouth electro-vixen Peaches, you’d imagine Leslie Feist’s recording output to favor the outside boundaries of acceptability. Instead, she aims and hits the bull’s-eye center of elegant pop sentiment. With a rich tenor that can switch from charmingly playful to heart achingly emotive, it’s the slow burning jazz underpinned numbers, where feeling, not power, puts her voice on clear display. “The Water” saunters with brushed drums, soft piano and the deep thump of a slow walking bass line, all minimally arranged so the singing can capture all the attention. But before such mellowness can induce a yawn, out burst numbers like “1234” and “My Man My Moon”, alive with pomp and toe tapping bop. Feist fits somewhere on a line connecting the kooky pop embellishments of Bjork to the sultry jazz vocals of Norah Jones. Not a bad place to be at all.

Elliott Smith

2007-06-12T00:40:00.000-07:00

Elliott Smith – New Moon
Post-humous releases always get eyed fishily, as if monied interests rather than artistic gold weight the hook of the vault clearing. Besides, Elliot Smith recorded six gorgeously melancholy albums, withholding from his perfect canon anything resembling second rate. But distrust not, what has been bound together on the two disc of New Moon is twenty four tracks from Elliot’s golden era: the acoustically rich period between 1994-97, before he nervously set foot upon an Academy Award show stage, a time which saw the release of his self-titled album and Either/Or. With little more than a guitar, an 8 track recorder miked closely, and his layered double lead vocals, Elliott composes waltzes (“Going Nowhere”), accusatory admonishments (“Georgia, Georgia”), and a tender re-interpretation of Alex Chilton’s “Thirteen”. There's a torture in New Moon, like the remembrance of your inability to assist a now-deceased friend, a dark brood where the night seems ironically too dark and too short. The beauty is in its sadness, and how much it can sound like yours.

Arthur & Yu

2007-06-12T00:36:00.000-07:00

Arthur & Yu - In Camera

So much is owed to the Velvet Underground. In this instance, Arthur & Yu, a boy-girl duo, re-produce the hazy dream pop effort of VU’s “Sunday Morning” across ten tracks. With vocals washed in reverb, as if you’re hearing them by way of a glass positioned to the wall, their sonic arrangement lick the softer side of folk-tinged psychedelia. The weaving of their voices - the hearty, anchoring masculine and wispy, dainty feminine - recalls the efforts of Serge Gainsbourg and Bridgette Bardot, or stateside, Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra, where the interaction hinted at more than the lipped lyrics. However, the sexiness of Arthur (Grant Olsen) & Yu (Sonya Westcott) is limited to mostly charm though the reckless hearts in “Lion’s Mouth” do become flirtatiously naughty: "My fingers in your buttons/are like/ kissing cousins/making fabrics come undone." Signed to Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman new Hardly Art label, Arthur & Yu have released a gem of a debut.

Aa

2007-05-22T14:38:00.001-07:00

Aa – Gaame

Every genre is an opening for exploration, and if you’ve previously turned your nose at the slightest whiff of a drum circle, consider taking a second sniff. New York’s percussive noise rock quartet Aa (pronounced “Big A Little a”) reformat the wild clamoring of percussive tribalism into an avenue for further experimentation by folding its hypnotic rhythms around an dizzying array of tape loops, synthesizers, and manipulated and modulated vocals. But don’t consider this album a cerebral endeavor; there are enough rhythmic explosions to second as an external defibrillator. Each track quickly bursts out bright and intensely, rarely stumbling out of a three minute range, except for the goliath seven minute closer, “Horse Steak”, where all their knob twisting and voice-as-sound investigations are allowed to run amok. Volitale? Yes. But perfect for dousing your Burning Man float in flames, then stomping it out to the beat. Weak of heart need not apply.

Electrelane

2007-05-15T16:05:00.001-07:00

Electrelane – No Shouts No Calls

With their last album, Axes, the female UK quartet Electrelane stepped away from the charming pop of its astonishing second album, Power Out, by revealing and reveling the dissonance that was always just a finger scratch beneath the surface. Their love of angular British post-rock where extended into feisty Krautrock jams, and smothered with skronky saxophone and piano-down-a-staircase pounding: a recipe any Sonic Youth fan could admire. Now, returning with their fourth album, No Shouts No Calls, they’ve once again shown restraint, yet still pursue all their compositional chamber rock influences. The surging pulse of lock-grooved drumming still prevails as much as their layered harmonizing, power guitar outbursts, and the noodling on vintage Farfisa keyboards, all of which shines within the gorgeous clamor of “Between The Wolf And The Dog”. If you still prize your old Can and Neu albums, you’ll be doing yourself a big favor in discovering these English ladies.

Pink Martini

2007-05-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

Pink Martini – Hey Eugene!

The early 60’s snapshot of a cigarette-flicking, freshly made-up and party-outfitted redhead should clue you into the mind frame of the Pink Martini’s new album, Hey Eugene, and their signature sound: an orchestrated prelude to a night out culled from yesterday’s jukebox. The dreamy, string-glistening and soft vocal opening track “Everywhere” recalls MGM’s golden era with its rich melody, something Dorthey would have cooed to distraught Toto. The upbeat starts with Carmen Miranda’s 1934 rumba “Tempo Perdido”, then continues to hopscotch across the globe for its playlist. “Taya Tan” is a sultry Japanese nugget that envisions James Bond at play in the Orient and with a twenty-five member choir, Pink Martini translates the Arabic number “Bukra Wba’do” into a Rodgers & Hammerstein show tune, without the slightest hint of schmaltz. Billy Holiday’s favorite vocalist, Jimmy Scott, close the night with his baby soft whispering soprano that practical seduces those high heels off for you.