Staff Picks for April 2019
April 30, 2019
The veteran Great Lakes indie rock quartet's sophomore outing delivers an exemplary blast of melodious, garage-tooled dream pop that's as muscular as it is graceful. Pairing smart, unpredictable arrangements with earworm-ready melodies, Ultimate Oceans rolls in with admirable bluster but leaves the roof intact.
April 29, 2019
As the grandson of the late trumpeter Doc Cheatham, and former student of legendary jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, trumpeter Theo Croker is an artist steeped in jazz tradition. Well-versed in the swing, bop, and modal styles of acoustic jazz, Croker's own music reveals a love of organic funk, soul, and gooey, groove-oriented hip-hop. It's a vital amalgam that would have pleased the forward-thinking Byrd, whose own '70s funk-jazz albums are an obvious touchstone for Croker on his hypnotically enlightened 2016 effort Escape Velocity.
April 28, 2019
One of the great country duos of the '50s, Speedy West & Jimmy Bryant pretty much defined a great cult act: two blazing guitarists -- West on steel, Bryant on electric six-string -- who pushed country into the modern age with their fleet-fingered futuristic boogie. Antecedents can certainly be heard in their sound -- in particular, they're grounded in Western Swing and all of its permutations -- but that dexterous picking, when combined with their embrace of all manner of electric effects, turned their music into something head-spinningly now.
April 27, 2019
Sourced from a series of pioneering radio broadcasts and remote concert simulcasts, all made possible by high-speed ISDN lines, FSOL's third album was a technological breakthrough. It's also some of the weirdest music they've ever made, ranging from warped acid jazz to druggy, ultra-sinister trip-hop (the way the genre was meant to sound). This was the first electronic album I ever heard, and it singlehandedly changed my life.
April 26, 2019
On Oranges & Lemons, XTC's follow-up to their 1986 masterpiece, Skylarking, the trio wove sunny psychedelic tones and slick West Coast vibes into their distinctive brand of English pop, yielded melodic gems like "Mayor of Simpleton" and "King For a Day."
April 25, 2019
The kind of album you don't so much listen to as live inside while it's playing, Kill for Love's atmospheric, deeply stylish aural landscapes and darkly glistening electronic pop like the quintessential expression of Chromatics' aesthetic. Starkly beautiful in its simplicity, this is torpid, achingly gradual music that requires time and patience to achieve its fullest impact.
April 24, 2019
Taking another step away from Radiohead with sights set on Queen, the sci-fi/conspiracy-obsessed trio issued an ideal pairing to 2006's Black Holes & Revelations with this follow-up. Packed with a bombastic blend of rock, electronic, and classical, The Resistance is all over the place and yet remains totally within the Muse wheelhouse. Ten years later, it still holds up, especially considering the albums that followed. Come for the singles, stay for the three-part symphony.
April 23, 2019
A great album from one-half of Drexciya, this sits comfortably between the Detroit and Dusseldorf sections of anyone's record crate. Few of the tracks ever resemble Drexciya's harsh, foreboding mixture of hypnotic pulses spewed from blown circuits. It's built instead on throbbing and quick bass beats of electro with smooth techno rhythms, hinging real-life body experience with futuristic man-machine interaction.
April 22, 2019
Arguably Ut's best, this double-EP is easily their most coherent record, tighter and more in control. The songs here sound as though more attention was paid to their construction and writing, making this is a more polished record in many ways. But not every edge is sanded smooth; there's plenty of bark and bite here.
April 21, 2019
In the short time between forming in 1998 and the release of their first proper album four years later, Black Dice had transformed from a violent hardcore band into an experimental noise act and then into something gentler and more psychedelic. This trippy double album channeled synth exploration, drum circles, circuit bending electronics and cathartic noise energy, and set the pace for entire sects of indie rock for years to come.
April 20, 2019
Various Artists
This LP was the very first release by the Stash label and, as with its first dozen or so collections, it features vintage material that deals with illicit subject matter. Many of the best marijuana and drug-based recordings are on this set, which includes performances by Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman, Sidney Bechet, and Chick Webb.
April 19, 2019
Sounding re-energized on this ninth studio album, the London post-punk legends offered up one their most beguiling club hits in the warped "Peek-A-Boo," which resulted in a rare appearance on the U.S. Hot 100. Produced by the band and the venerable Mike Hedges, its other singles included "The Killing Jar" and "The Last Beat of My Heart."
April 18, 2019
20 years ago, Aphex Twin's Rephlex label released the first 3 albums by Polish eccentric Bogdan Raczynski, as well as this manic 5-song EP. The title fooled some unsuspecting DJs expecting epic trance, but the blistering noise attacks and chipmunk-on-acid screeching of tracks like "Trance and Burn" and "Death to the Natives" promptly scared them away.
April 17, 2019
With their eponymous second album, Portishead made it clear they weren't interested in the crossover success of such fellow travelers as Sneaker Pimps. Darker and more adventurous than their debut, Portishead's claustrophobic menace and impeccable modern-day torch songs becomes more captivating and haunting each time it's played.
April 16, 2019
Mahanthappa exchanges his sax quartet for the hybrid American jazz/South Indian classical Dakshina Ensemble, co-led by Carnatic saxophone legend Kadri Gopalnath. Guitar, bass, and drum kit are joined by violin and mridangam and the leaders' two saxophones; meeting squarely between the two traditions. Melodies are Indian inspired but this is a jazz album that swings mightily through most of the program.
April 15, 2019
DJ Krush lets his abilities at both musical creation and turntablism work together for great results. No notable change in his sound is apparent form earlier outings, but he always seems to find new ways to combine strange, vaguely uneasy samples, dark, rough beats, hints of smoky late-night jazz, and film noir in new and thrilling ways.
April 14, 2019
The first-ever compilation of the Rockpile guitarist's solo work, featuring demos and early singles when he performed as Billy Murray, Singled Out makes a case for Billy Bremner as being an unheralded true rock & roll believer whose commitment to three chords and clever quips never wavered.
April 13, 2019
It's hard to decide which record by this New Zealand group is their best. Most days, this is the clear winner as it perfectly balances fragile melodies, brain scraping noise and poignantly flat vocals in perfect fashion.
April 12, 2019
With the band having announced plans to record their 11th album this year, it's a fine time for fans of their hit '80s material to catch up on or revisit interim releases, especially this 2008 gem. Written almost entirely by Hynde, it finds the group veering into rockabilly and country-rock on an emotionally charged set.
April 11, 2019
Both the cover and the music within lean heavily to the dramatic -- Nomi's delivery is all in a very operatic falsetto, though most of the music itself is more of the early-'80s European dance school. Nomi gets down to work as an interpreter, turning in suitably skewed versions of "Lightning Strikes" and Chubby Checker's "The Twist." Fans of off-kilter pop music will certainly find a lot to love.
April 10, 2019
Whether she cares to distance herself from her famous father or not, Eliot Sumner sounds so uncannily like Sting that it's difficult to squelch the comparisons. Her full-bodied and smoky voice is striking and undeniably similar, and yet she manages to elevate herself beyond easy comparisons with quite a debut album. Information is the sound of a young, Krautrock-loving artist finding an identity and distilling the essence of her own artistic voice.
April 9, 2019
Formerly making music as Un Blonde, Montreal musician Jean-Sebastian Audet plays changed his name and downshifted his approach a little bit for this sophomore album. Instead of the colorful instrumentals and sunny sonics of his previous album, this collection of home-recorded fragments is a distant but intimate collection of different impulses, heavy on tape delay and Audet's impressionistic, homespun production. Songs shift quickly from minimal R&B to pastoral ambiance, sometimes evaporating in under a minute, other times lingering.
April 8, 2019
Odyssey is best remembered for its 1977 disco smash "Native New Yorker," an exuberant gem that brilliantly captures the love/hate feelings New Yorkers have for their city. But those who heard that single on the radio and acquired Odyssey's self-titled debut album in the hope of hearing a lot of similar songs received a major surprise -- "Native New Yorker" isn't typical of the LP on the whole. For the most part, Odyssey favors laid-back, gentle soul-pop with a subtle Caribbean flavor and occasional hints of jazz.
April 7, 2019
Anyone mourning the loss of Talk Talk's Mark Hollis needs to hear the second album from his former bandmates Paul Webb and Lee Harris. As Rustin Man, they continue Talk Talk's tradition of combining folk, jazz and pop into sophisticated yet profoundly human songs.
April 6, 2019
Various Artists
Despite jungle's reggae roots and adventurous sonics, there's been surprisingly little crossover between jungle and dub over the years. This too-little-known collaboration between dub innovator Mad Professor and unknown junglists Douggie Digital and Juggler appeared in 1995, and remains one of the best albums of either genre that barely anyone has heard. Lee Perry makes a cameo, and the trio also released a jungle album with him around the same time, but this one is worth checking out first.
April 5, 2019
1967's Younger Than Yesterday came at a time when rock was beginning to catch up to the prescient proto-psychedelia of the Byrds' jangly early classics. But it also showed the band at the peak of their abilities with the propulsive rock of "So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star," the blissful country-rock of "Time Between," and the jazzy introspection of "Everybody's Been Burned." Arguably, this is the best album of the Byrds' first era.
April 4, 2019
Bob Marley has been so overplayed in dorm rooms and hacky sack circles, it is easy to forget (or never be exposed to) his early R&B-influenced bluebeat and rocksteady recordings from the late '60s. This extensive box set details the Wailers' early tracks including many recorded by legendary producer Leslie Kong. Of note is the Wailers' rendition of the Archies' pop staple "Sugar, Sugar" which is transformed from a bubblegum love letter into a slinky late night plea.
April 3, 2019
A mix of traditional Scandinavian folk and artfully-rendered world music with jazzy affectations, Nordan represented the zenith of several fine collaborations between Swedish singer/fiddler Lena Willemark and multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller.
April 2, 2019
For her first album as a solo artist, Susanna Wallumrod expands on the warm yet unearthly beauty of her work with Susanna & the Magical Orchestra, evoking luminaries ranging from Nina Simone and Talk Talk on a set of well-chosen covers and originals.
April 1, 2019
Without question, Rose Royce suffered a major loss when lead vocalist Gwen "Rose" Dickey left the band in 1979. But as memorable as her contributions were -- as much as fans adored her -- 1980's Golden Touch proved that she wasn't indispensable. Rose Royce still had a gem of a lead singer in falsetto Kenny Copeland and Dickey's female replacement Richee Benson proved that she was no slouch either. Benson doesn't sound anything like her predecessor, as Dickey's vocals had a girlish sweetness and that isn't the case with the husky-voiced Benson.