AllMusic

Enrico Rava

The Pilgrim and the Stars

June, 1975

Avant-Garde Jazz

Enrico Rava's debut for ECM, 1975's The Pilgrim and the Stars, is a stellar progressive jazz effort from the Italian trumpeter who was then just coming into his own. Previously, Rava had spent his formative years working with such artists as saxophonist Steve Lacy, trombonist Roswell Rudd, and pianist Carla Bley, and obviously took much to heart when approaching his own music. This is cerebral, atmospheric, often groove-oriented music that rests nicely in between such touchstones as late-'60s Miles Davis and Brown Rice-era Don Cherry with some obvious nods to the melodic jazz of ex-pat Chet Baker.

- Matt Collar

British Sea Power

Do You Like Rock Music?

January 9, 2008

Alternative/Indie Rock

This wintry, nuanced, and bold collection of songs integrates the sweeping theatricality of Arcade Fire-era indie rock without the insularity. There has always been a sort of rough-hewn sepia-tone unity to British Sea Power, and that odd, inclusive wartime fervor permeates each track, from the rousing immigration anthem "Waving Flags" to the rallying, Blur-inspired "No Lucifer"

- James Christopher Monger