Staff Picks for April 2015
April 30, 2015
A mostly instrumental folk group specializing in traditional marches and English dance songs, Brass Monkey created a pair of wonderfully vibrant releases in the mid-80's before taking a thirteen year hiatus. Led by bonafide U.K. folk music heroes Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick, this 1993 anthology includes each of their first two albums.
April 29, 2015
With every passing year, the number of Ben Folds songs I enjoy diminishes, but Rockin' the Suburbs has remained unscathed, due to being perhaps his most sincere collection of songs, almost to a fault, with only one outright goofy track. Layered songs like "Gone," "Fred Jones, Pt. 2" and "Not the Same" show what Folds is capable of when he drops the smartass facade and lets the melodies do the charming.
April 28, 2015
Vancouver artist Andy Dixon has been quietly releasing well thought out glitch records over the past decade. On Very Rec, Dixon samples and constructs songs around various leisure sounds from things such as tennis courts, day care centers, and yoga studios into sketchy yet fluid compositions.
April 27, 2015
No matter what anyone says this collection of Bay Area garage folk is way above average. Picking from the vast songbook of their friend Ron Elliott of the Beau Brummels, the band invested loads ot teenage angst, tightly wound emotion and good old frustration and pain into the songs. Sounding like an American Zombies, tougher and more disillusioned, the band only released a few singles, which are collected here, The rest of the set is made up of unreleased tracks and demos, and is well worth owning if you are a garage rock fan.
April 26, 2015
Cosmic prankster Daevid Allen made his final departure from Earth last month, following a poignant message of acceptance and thanks to his fans. The Divided Alien piloted various incarnations of whimsical space rockers Gong, whose "classic lineup" is immersively captured on this 1974 album, the last installment of the band's Radio Gnome Trilogy. Truth be told, this LP is less Allen-centric than previous Gong outings, but his loopy tunefulness is present, and the group's jazzy, raga-esque, synth-fueled drones and jams were never more accomplished.
April 25, 2015
Following his award-winning collaboration with Jim Jarmusch on the music for Only Lovers Left Alive, composer/lutenist Josef Van Wissem worked largely by himself on this set of songs inspired by Emanuel Swedenborg and Saint John of the Cross. It's a perfect fit for his spacious, darkly mystical style, which resonates with a beauty that feels ancient and immediate. As with his other work, to hear this album is to be captivated by it.
April 24, 2015
As Dwight Yoakam's four thousanth album was released this month, I've been excitedly revisiting this 2012 rocker. Soaring harmonies and raw guitars ring out much louder than any pedal steel or fiddle that might be expected in this genre. Any fans of earnest pop music who might shy away from the hat and twang are doing a disservice to themselves—3 Pears offers much beyond boot-scootin' boogie and songs about trucks.
April 23, 2015
Generally, I'm in a Bob Weir phase these days—a raritiy for me, I will admit—but as we're gearing up for the Fare Thee Well tour, the Dead album I'm spinning most is the one I first loved: Workingman's Dead, the first where they went all-in on country-rock. I'll admit I sometimes skip "Uncle John's Band," but the rest of the blues and bluegrass on the first side always plays for me and sometimes I'll close by playing "Casey Jones" twice.
April 22, 2015
While Aimee Mann is best known for songs that are deeply personal (or at least sound that way), with The Forgotten Arm she pushed herself in a new direction, penning a concept album about one woman's tumultuous romance with a drug addicted boxer. Mann writes eloquently about the tricky nature of love, addiction, and co-dependence, and producer Joe Henry and the studio band help make this some of the richest, most effective music of Mann's career—if this isn't her masterpiece, it comes admirably close.
April 21, 2015
San Francisco guitarist Matt Baldwin's third album is a warmly hypnotic set of Krautrock-leaning, psychedelic improvisations that reveal his deft touch as both an instrumentalist and a composer. The inspired opening track "Lindsay and Her Duplicates" nimbly bounces across the stereo field in an array of melodic loops and eerie synths.
April 20, 2015
Just before embarking on a ten year Christian-rock odyssey in 1979, Dion recorded two superb, swaggering, funky, blue-eyed-soul albums. Both albums found Dion updating his '70s singer-songwriter folk style with more aggressive, piano-based sound that matched the Disco-era R&B of his younger contemporaries Billy Joel and Boz Scaggs. While Return of the Wanderer remains a fan favorite, unbelievably, 1979's Fire in the Night went unreleased until Ace packaged both albums together in the '90s.
April 19, 2015
The saxophonist's final studio album for Kudu/Motown is a great mix of grooved out funky jazz--"Do Dat" and "Step 'N' Thru"—as well as cooled out melodic groovers—Billy Joel's "Just The Way You Are," and the mesmerizing triple saxophone treat, "Loran's Dance."
April 18, 2015
After playing a week's worth of shows with Orange Juice in late 1980, the Undertones were profoundly altered. Out went the poppy punk, in came more sophisticated, more complicated pop. John Peel famously blamed OJ for ruining his favorite band, but it's more like the experience opened the group's eyes to possibilities and 1981's album Positive Touch takes their template and expands it, making way for different kinds of songs—from tricky ballads to Northern Soul rave ups—but never leaving behind their trademark hooky songs and impassioned performances.
April 17, 2015
It's interesting to go back and listen to the early Danzig records and note how much space there is in the songs. For all the bluster and hooplah applied to the character of Glenn Danzig himself, the music is far from cluttered, the songs are all given room to breathe, and the album benefits greatly from this care. "Devil's Plaything" currently reigns as my shower song of 2015.
April 16, 2015
French for "end of the century," 1998's Fin de Siècle scored Neil Hannon and crew two of their biggest hits in the bawdy "Generation Sex" and the psychiatric disorder/railway anthem "National Express," and Jobi Talbot's inventive arrangements, especially on the satirical, Kurt Weill-esque "Sweden" and the gloriously melodramatic closer "Sunrise," help make it one of the band's most essential outings.
April 15, 2015
Released in 1982, the guitarist's all-star lineup laid down such a genre-blurring set of tunes, his label had to come up with a marketing term, thus "new acoustic music" was born. Using a string band approach, this group explored modal gypsy jazz readings on standards such as "My Favorite Things," and "On Green Dolphin Street" as well as delivered startling originals including the swinging "Mobius Mambo" and stomping newgrass in "Common Ground."
April 14, 2015
Distinctly '90s but still energizing and infectious today, this early techno-inspired release focuses on craft and balance more than your typical club work. Led by the elegant vocals of Lucia Holm, the album's biggest hit, the soaring, romantic (and occasionally graphic) "Love U More," cracked the top 40 in the U.S. and U.K., but its continuous presentation with no dead weight makes O3 best played through. Included is a cover of Marianne Faithfull's "Broken English."
April 13, 2015
Best remembered for her starring role in the videos based around Meat Loaf's Bat of Hell (where she lip syncing to Ellen Foley's vocals) Karla Devito also released two solo albums, the obscure Wake 'Em Up In Tokyo and this awesomely titled effort. Besides the giddy title track check the covers of the Grass Roots' "Midnight Confessions," and John Fogerty's "Almost Saturday Night" for more highlights.
April 12, 2015
To listen to Speak English or Die is to suddenly feel the overwhelming desire to purchase a Jackson guitar and stomp around your living room while wearing camo shorts that appeared out of nowhere, because you certainly don't own any, no sir. It's an album of boneheaded delights, highlighted by the iconic "March of the S.O.D.," the breathlessly fast "Chromatic Death" and the two-second, spit-take "cover" of "Diamonds and Rust."
April 11, 2015
The keyboard-playing young buck of the early-'80s Jamaica Queens scene hangs at the arcade, changes his name to Donkey Kong, falls for Ms. Pac-Man, modernizes mentor Weldon Irvine's "Mr. Clean," and lays down one of the era's baddest sweet-soul ballads, "Won't You Let Me Love You," as Dave Grusin rocks the bells. Right on, 'Nard.
April 10, 2015
An inauspicious but sweet debut, Weathervanes is twee and precious but the soundscapes under the lyrics help to set it apart from its peers. Chiming bells and droning electronics fade into street sounds and humming voices, moving from electronic to organic often within the same verse. Perfect for spring mornings when the windows can finally be opened.
April 9, 2015
Released two years after Ward had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, Sometime Next Year is an emotive collection of what are largely demo recordings. Synth and drum machine heavy, the album is more in line with '80s adult contemporary than Ward's '70s organic, baroque singer-songwriter sound. Nonetheless, there are great songs here, and cuts like "Prams," "Stains," and "Today in Parliament," are melancholy epics that retain all of Ward's earnest, poetic eye for the poignant details of everyday life.
April 8, 2015
So far, Young Guv's Ripe 4 Love is the best power pop album of 2015. Chances are, once December comes around, it'll still be the best power pop album of 2015 because it not only has hooks and songs but it has a feel that uncannily recalls the skinny-tie peak of 1980.
April 7, 2015
Former skateboarder and Bones Brigade legend Tommy Guerrero teams up with Beastie Boys' keyboardist Money Mark for voyage bridging 70s funk with exotica and spaghetti western soundtracks.
April 6, 2015
Singer, songwriter, frontman, sideman, and producer extraordinaire Ken Stringfellow's third solo outing delivers some of his craftiest work from the snaky chord progressions of the Beach Boys-inspired "When U Find Someone" to the romantic, Gustav Holst-referencing "Any Love (Cassandra et Lune)." One of the hardest working men in rock, Soft Commands is one of his best.
April 5, 2015
Guitarist Kim Simmonds has guided blues-rockers Savoy Brown for an astounding 50 continuous years, but circa 1967-1970 frontman Chris Youlden's signature vocals provided much of the band's unique personality. Youlden last appeared on this 1970 album, one of Savoy Brown's strongest and most diverse outings, before departing for a solo career that proved to be a "Train to Nowhere." Some strong Savoy Brown albums with Simmonds and ever-changing lineups followed, but to many fans, the Youlden-fronted band heard here would never be topped.
April 4, 2015
Mike Watt gets taken to the hospital, and checks out with a concept album: in 2001, the punk icon was hit with a near-fatal internal infection, and he used the experience as the basis for this song cycle informed by Dante's Divine Comedy, wading through the hell of illness, the purgatory of treatment, and the heaven of a new lease on life. Quirky in true Watt fashion, The Secondman's Middle Stand finds him in eloquent form on bass and lyrics, and his interplay with Pete Mazich on organ and Jerry Trebotic on drums is inspired.
April 3, 2015
Wedged between Sonic Youth and pals' pseudonymous laff riots in tribute to (and/or at the expense of) Madonna, Robert Palmer, John Cage, disco, and hip-hop are some of the band's most brilliant instrumentals, such as "Macbeth" (all churning/careening guitars and pounding/shape-shifting drums) and "Children of Satan/Third Fig" (which evokes an instrumental remix of "Halloween" for booming systems).
April 2, 2015
The 1983 solo debut from the diminutive (in physical stature only) heavy metal icon, Holy Diver was a blast furnace of molten hard rock goodness and a master class in vocal might. The Rainbow, Elf, and Black Sabbath vet would flirt with greatness again, especially on the following year's excellent Last In Line, but Holy Diver, with its triple threat of "Stand Up And Shout," "Rainbow in the Dark," and the menacing title cut, is truly a horned hand of plenty.
April 1, 2015
The sole album released by this hard-to-classify jazz trio features Zac Colwell (saxophone), Neal Persiani aka Cole Whittle (electric bass), and Mark Guiliana (drums). Quirky, melodic, grooving, and addictively syncopated, it showcases musicians who have moved on to multiple Brooklyn indie rock and jazz projects, with Guiliana notably playing on his wife Gretchen Parlato's Grammy-nominated Live in NYC and David Bowie's 2014 single, "Sue (Or in a Season of Crime)." Don't miss the typewriter!