Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.