Staff Picks for August 2014
August 31, 2014
Although it was their 1987 debut Sue that garnered the most attention, Frazier Chorus's 1991 follow-up Ray is an often overlooked gem full of elegantly written, sophisticated British dance pop that unjustly slipped through the cracks.
August 30, 2014
Although Clarence Ashley enjoyed a revitalized career in the early 1960s thanks to the Folk Revival, he had been regularly active as a musician since the late 1920s, both as a solo performer and as a member of vintage string bands like the Carolina Tar Heels and the Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers. A decent guitarist, it was as a banjo player that Ashley is most remembered, and his modal clawhammer style on old mountain ballads like "Coo Coo Bird," "Naomi Wise" and "Little Sadie" (all included here in this collection of his early 78s) makes them all eerie-sounding archival gems. Oh, and he mentored Doc Watson.
August 29, 2014
Just as imposing two decades later as when it was first released, Shellac's debut album makes the most of the band's formidable rhythm section—particularly drummer Todd Trainer—on its studies in force and nuance. Steve Albini and crew explore more spacious, sculpted territory than he did with either Big Black or Rapeman, giving the album's heaviest moments that much more impact. It was an approach that shaped a certain kind of indie rock for years to come.
August 28, 2014
As a follow-up to one of the most revered debuts of the 90s, it seems impossible that Protection could have ever had a fair shake, illustrated by the higher acclaim sometimes paid to Mad Professor's remixed version than to the original document. If you can ignore the closing cover of "Light My Fire," tracks like the skittering "Better Things" and the paranoid "Spying Glass" create plenty of atmosphere without merely retreading what made the band's debut so iconic.
August 27, 2014
Jennifer Trynin was one of the many artists who got caught in a major label bidding war during the post-Nirvana alt-rock sweepstakes, but unlike many of her peers, Trynin was actually a talent worth watching rather than an easily marketable commodity. Cockamamie is a strong, confident debut driven by Trynin's smart, edgy, observational songwriting and powerful, rough hewn guitar work. Imagine an older, more guarded PJ Harvey who hails from Boston and you get a vague idea what Cockamamie was all about; 20 years on, it's well worth a second look.
August 26, 2014
Some time in the recent past, I had a conversation about what constitutes the best opening triptych in rock & roll. A friend suggested Robert Palmer's 1974 debut Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley and the more I think about it, the more I have to agree. The entire record is terrific, showcasing both the seductive funk of the Meters and the sly elegance of Palmer (not to mention the slide guitar of Lowell George), but it's hard to get past the opening sequence of "Sailin' Shoes," "Hey Julia" and "Sneakin' Sally," all segued together, all sounding perfect.
August 25, 2014
An example of ZTT Records at their most extravagant and conceptual, Slave to the Rhythm is arguably more an experiment from label head/producer Trevor Horn than it is a Grace Jones album. The title track repeats and repeats, making this a one song LP, but the remixes are drastic, and sequenced as present a musical suite celebrating the Divine Miss J. Three years later, Jones' frequent collaborator Jean Paul Gaultier would execute the same concept with his one song LP Aow Tou Dou Zat.
August 24, 2014
The biggest R&B album of 2004 was undoubtedly Usher's diamond platinum Confessions, but this stellar debut, which got only a small fraction of the promotion it deserved, is on the same creative plane. It's one the finest sets of modern pop-R&B and still delivers knockout after knockout.
August 23, 2014
In 2002 saxophonist Berne took a left turn from his working ensembles to release this album melding modern composition with improvisation and electronics, featuring the ARTE Quartett, Marc Ducret on acoustic guitar, and David Torn on electric guitars, loops, and sonic "nurturing" and "redistribution." Fans of Berne's fiery improvising get to hear him cut loose, but his composer's voice receives primary emphasis, and is as instantly identifiable as the piquant phrasing and tone of his alto.
August 22, 2014
Hailing from Niles, Michigan, this all-girl band existed for only a few years in the mid-to-late 60's, but banged out garage psych light years ahead of their time. Completely unheard in their day, this 20 song collection gathers everything the band ever put to tape and is a must-hear for any fan of Nuggets-style rock and roll.
August 21, 2014
Take two guys from the Beachwood Sparks, add half the drugs in L.A., mix it all up and spread it out thick like layers of stars and waves...that's what the only All Night Radio album is like. Featuring songs that resonate like half remembered Laurel Canyon lullabies, the record seeps into your brain right away and settles in like a calm summer twilight and sticks around. Too bad they never made another.
August 20, 2014
One of the most iconic live albums of the early 1970s, this double set certainly has at least one "song" no one needs to hear again—the tiring drum solo, "The Mule." But its stomping "Highway Star," the spiraling dynamics in the 12-plus minute "Child In Time," and nearly 20-minute off the rails jam on "Space Truckin'" showcase a real band playing with intensity and inspiration. This version of the band were never better than this, and after over four decades, this performance holds up.
August 19, 2014
Perfect listening fodder for a rainy weekend alone with your favorite RPG/dungeon crawler, the Swedish symphonic metal collective's eleventh and twelfth studio albums, issued together in 2004, are the audio equivalent of sitting through any of the extended editions of any of the Lord of the Rings films.
August 18, 2014
A collaboration between the trumpeter and Slovenian saxophonist Tone Jansa, Dr. Chi is an engaging post-bop album that grabs you with its evocative Eastern-tinged opener. The album's mix of boundary pushing improvisation and evocative, meditative sections brings to mind a combination of the Impulse "new thing" releases of the '60s and impressionist ECM albums of the '70s and '80s.
August 17, 2014
A dozen songs about the strange places love and obsession can lead you, Robbie Fulks' Couples In Trouble is a stylistic anomaly in the singer/songwriter's catalog, with practically no audible country influence and little of his trademark dark humor. But these character studies are brilliantly drawn, constructed with the skill of a good novelist, and Fulks and his colleagues have brought them to compelling, thoughtful life on these sessions. Artful and engaging, Couples in Trouble is an overlooked masterpiece from a master songwriter.
August 16, 2014
Some avant-leaning jazz listeners believe the Anthony Braxton Quartet with Marilyn Crispell, Mark Dresser, and Gerry Hemingway to be among the greatest saxophonist-led foursomes in jazz history, and there's no better evidence to support that notion than this sprawling four-disc, half-live and half-studio set recorded in 1991 as Braxton was about to draw this chapter of his musical life to a close. The telepathic interplay here is enthralling for those inclined to take a truly deep plunge into Braxtonia.
August 15, 2014
Possibly the most ambitious music of Frank Black's career with or without the Pixies, Teenager of the Year remains one of 1994's most engaging alt-rock albums. It's also one of the most elliptical: As Black sings the praises of the Three Stooges and L.A.'s municipal water system, he indulges in dub and new wave-tinged tangents, offering kaleidoscopic fun far removed from his former band's wild-eyed post-punk.
August 14, 2014
Following a recording hiatus due to contractual issues with Stiff Records and fresh off guest appearances with the Pogues, Smiths and Happy Mondays, the ever charming Kirsty MacColl resumed her solo career in 1989 with this lovely, punchy, and sharp-witted album which features some of her strongest work.
August 13, 2014
Filled with scraping guitars, cold, mechanical rhythms, and anguished vocals, few albums perfectly encapsulate the the confrontational nature of noise rock like The Jesus Lizard's stellar sophomore outing, Goat. Every element of this album feels like it's there to needle and agitate the listener, getting in their face and daring them to throw the first punch, which is actually a lot more fun than it sounds.
August 12, 2014
Aptly titled, Hot It Up finds dancehall superstar Mr. Vegas on a roll, adding "Taxi Fare", "Tek Weh Yuhself", and "Hot Wuk" to his already long list of Jamaican hits. Cool throwbacks like "You Gonna Need Me" round out an album that was supposed to be his goodbye to music before a 2008 retirement, but he was back in the game a year later, offering more "Hot Wuk" up to and including tracks with Diplo's party project Major Lazer.
August 11, 2014
The Orange County hardcore band is currently winding down its career with a final run of shows, and while the band never reached the commercial heights of fellow O.C. bands like Avenged Sevenfold, they were big players in heavy music in the early and mid 00s and served as a stepping stone for fans just beginning to explore the genre. Declaration was the band's most effective fusion of hardcore and black metal, culminating in the exhilarating "Sister Charlatan," the best song in the band's seven-album discography.
August 10, 2014
Although they were both middle America farm boys transplanted to California, Baker and Haden took vastly divergent musical paths; the former, a lyrical traditionalist and the latter, an avant-garde revolutionary. Recorded six months before Baker's death, Silence is a celebration of jazz common ground. Flowing from sprightly bop numbers ("Visa") to, elegiac, lyrical meditations ("Silence"), the album remains one of Baker's more overlooked gems and a gorgeous collaboration between two unlikely West Coast jazz soul mates.
August 9, 2014
Famous for only ever releasing one incredible single in their lifetime, this Stooges/MC5 spin off played in and around their hometown of Ann Arbor for years, amassing live tapes and a few studio outtakes. This 1999 compilation gathers together some of the best of the band's artifacts, tapping into the grit, power and introspection that made this band and their whole scene so unlike anything else.
August 8, 2014
Sparse and sporadic while still completely on point, New Moods breaks down electronic pop to its most basic elements. Far more rhythmically focused than previous efforts, Birdman's crooning vocal style intertwined with disjointed synths give you an idea of what Liquid Liquid might sound like if they were to produce a song for a John Hughes soundtrack.
August 7, 2014
The Marketts weren't a band in the standard sense, but a collection of veteran Los Angeles session players assembled by producer Joe Saraceno to capitalize on the emerging surf music scene of the early '60s. Loosely known as "the wrecking crew," and including, among others, guitarists Tommy Tedesco and Rene Hall, sax player Plas Johnson, bassist Jimmy Gordon, and drummers Earl Palmer and Ed Hall, the so-called Marketts really had more in common with 1940s jazz than they did Dick Dale. This charming collection of shuffles, stomps, and trippy lounge jazz is really a genre all its own, a gentle merging of R&B and small combo swing that—for lack of a better term—might be called "surf jazz."
August 6, 2014
A masterclass in sonic savagery, Torch Runner unleash a relentless grindcore assault with what is easily this years most explosive album, Committed to the Ground. Capriciously shifting between frenzied blast beats and doomy menace, the album directs a torrent of aggression at the listener, who must fight to hold their footing as wave after cathartic wave crashes against them.
August 5, 2014
Holland-Dozier-Holland's post-Motown labels Invictus and Hot Wax have been chronicled before but never like this. A gigantic 14-disc box containing every A and B side, including several acetates, this set is surely indulgent but it's also ridiculously entertaining and provides a good argument that this may have been HDH's most imaginative music.
August 4, 2014
Skewed classical, warm Euro-folk, and ebullient, swinging jazz were all on the agenda when Slovenian accordionist Bratko Bibi? (Begnagrad, Nimal, Accordion Tribe) assembled an 11-piece ensemble including his own Madleys to perform at the 2007 Alpentöne festival in Altdorf, Switzerland. Thankfully, the tape was rolling to capture this energetic, captivating, and heartfelt meld of forms, avant-tinged yet entirely without ironic posturing.
August 3, 2014
While the band eventually rocketed to international superstardom with their minimal retro rock, this home-recorded second album captures the weirdness and patchiness that set them apart from all their peers with sidesteps into art rock and soft-hearted songwriting that felt awkward, interesting and from a place of inspiration not yet effected by the perils of widespread popularity.
August 2, 2014
The Mekons were far too cynical a band to proclaim their love for rock & roll without milking the concept for all the ambiguity it was worth, but they sounded like they were enjoying making an amplified racket on 1989's The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll. While they were pondering the state of American culture in the form of popular music, the Mekons were also playing some of the most bracing, physical music of their career, and if they never entirely resolve the mind/body issue, the two sides manage to co-exist as long as the music lasts.
August 1, 2014
He's moved up an hour and now hosts the Tonight Show, but this hilarious set rounds up the most loved musical bits from his old show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, up to and including "Neil Young Sings 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'." "History of Rap" with Justin Timberlake is here as well along with Sir Paul McCartney and his delicious "Scrambled Eggs."