Staff Picks for August 2021
August 31, 2021
Butthole Surfers guitarist Paul Leary's 1991 solo debut tuned into the more apocalyptic undertones that his main band often glossed over for psychedelia and juvenile humor. The result sounds much like what could have been the heaviest Butthole Surfers record, with strange symphonic elements existing alongside metal guitar theatrics, grizzled drum machine rhythms, and Leary getting into an array of paranoid and anxiety-ridden topics. Not quite an easy listen, but definitely a must for even a casual fan of the Surfers' '80s output.
August 30, 2021
Thorn and Watt made a couple of albums with a cocktail-jazz backup and one with strings before trying a small unit for the intimate songs of their most accessible recording. The setting is perfect for such moving compositions as "Love Is Here Where I Live" and "Apron Strings." Start here, then go on to the rest of this remarkable group's catalog.
August 29, 2021
A heavily researched work that delves into historical Los Angeles and is named for the hotel where Bobby Kennedy was assassinated, this album's ten track titles each provide a corresponding street address. Offering literate wordplay alongside a diverse, theatrical chamber pop, it spans the Ellington-esque noir jazz of "Musso and Frank (6667 Hollywood Blvd.)" -- dedicated to Raymond Chandler -- and slinky '70s soft-rock on "Villains (4616 Dundee Dr.)," which perceptively asks, "Why do villains always live in houses built by modernist masters?"
August 28, 2021
Mourning the recent loss of country singer/songwriter Tom T. Hall, this definitive collection is a terrific place to linger in his everyman story-songs and laid back delivery, which always belied his sharp wit and honest sentimentality.
August 27, 2021
A powerful, optimistic, and categorically evasive sophomore set from the English singer/songwriter. Guest appearances from Nile Rogers and Wretch 32 support her remarkable art-pop amalgam which detours into classical, jazz, and R&B.
August 26, 2021
As a longtime Neko Case fan and someone who respects k.d. lang's craft, I was surprised that the Laura Veirs songs on this album were the standouts for me. Veirs' understated and intimate voice is in no way overshadowed by these other two vocal powerhouses, as is evidenced on the kind and tuneful "Best Kept Secret."
August 25, 2021
Flanked by an extended cast that included much support from Tragedy Khadafi (fka Intelligent Hoodlum), C-N-N surprisingly just missed the Top 20—during a year dominated by Puffy, Ma$e, Missy, and assorted crossover rap hits—with this, an uncompromising, lean, and stern hardcore rap classic.
August 24, 2021
This great expatriate saxophonist is primarily known for his role as a baritonist and flutist with the Clarke-Boland Big Band and sextet groups. That' said, he issued a number of fine sides under his own name including Dawn, Seeds and Companionship. This cooking live date from 1963 may just take the cake though. Playing alto and soprano as well as his other two instruments, he is featured in a kicking quintet setting that included a teenage Niels Henning Orsted Pederson on bass. Through originals and covers--including the three part-title cut suite, Shihab offers an a killer grasp of Jazz's emerging New Thing without ever forsaking an engagement with bop or hard bop. This is a cooker!
August 23, 2021
Recapturing the sound and spirit of the band's '80s peak, Mark Ronson puts his magic touch on this late-era gem in their catalog. Along with the superfan/producer, Simon and the boys return fun, groove, and sexiness back into the mix, riding endless basslines and funky rhythms fit for maximum dancefloor nostalgia. Scissor Sister Ana Matronic, Kelis, and Owen Pallet also show up to youthen these irrepressible vets. They'll return this October with album fifteen.
August 22, 2021
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, 2021
This album from 2020 passed me by but recently I've fallen in love with its stripped-down late night intimate acoustics by way of Mazzy Star and occasional elements of low-fi trip hop like Portishead or Sneaker Pimps (particularly in the standout track "The Good Ones").
August 20, 2021
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 19, 2021
In 2000, during a hot August day in London, imperfectionist Herbert mixed this set in a one-shot session at his Swingtime studio. Fourteen years old, its stream of feverishly funky house and techno -- including shrewd selections from Isolée, Theo Parrish, Dan Bell, and the early Perlon catalog -- remains fresh sounding.
August 18, 2021
Revisiting this album nearly two decades later, it is startling the parallels to some of Harry Nilsson's most elaborate and lush recordings. Big brassy band fills surrounding borderline nonsense lyrical couplets and pastry-like layers of self harmony bring to mind "Don't Forget Me" and "Spaceman" from Nilsson's biggest productions.
August 17, 2021
On her most genre-blurring set, the Latin crossover queen delivered an inventive, refreshing blend of styles, blending everything from dramatic electro-rock and reggaeton to bossa nova, folk, and synthpop. At a slim ten tracks, not a minute is wasted. As "En Tus Pupilas" and "Obtener un Si" soothe, "Escondite Ingles" and "Lo Imprescindible" rock unlike anything else in her catalog. This Grammy-winning collection is one of her best.
August 16, 2021
With the announcement of another Alison Krauss/Robert Plant album to be released later this year, it is a perfect time to revisit their original collaboration. This laid-back and vaguely spooky set of songs feel both effortless and timeless, enveloped in warbling echo and thrumming reverb, highlighted by the haunting "Please Read the Letter" and their rollicking cover of the Everly Brothers' "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)."
August 15, 2021
Various Artists
This collection is an excellent introduction into the wild sound world of West Africa in the '70s that serves up raucously exuberant melting pots of funky soul, psychedelic rock, and honey-sweet Latin horns mixed through the sensibilities of extremely talented African bands on the cusp of developing styles like soukous, mbalax, and Afro-beat
August 14, 2021
Norma Tanega scored a hit in 1966 with the cool and playful "Walkin' My Cat named Dog," and the album she made in its wake is one of the first great singer-songwriter LPs when the genre was still establishing itself. Tanega's songs are the smart, often witty observations of a proud individualist, and she gives off an easygoing boho vibe that never undercuts the strong craft of her unpretentiously literate songs.
August 13, 2021
The group's first album after the departure of lead guitarist Maurice Deebank shows they found someone just as talented to replace him in organist Martin Duffy. It's one melancholy gut punch after another, with the guitars and organ meshing together in perfect harmony and Lawrence intoning his literate and desperate lyrics like he was walking head down in the misty rain on an chilly autumn day
August 12, 2021
Airplay is the kind of pop album only the most confident, virtuosic musicians can make. These are players who've recorded on so many hits they can't help but overplay their hand as insiders who know not only how to write a perfect chorus hook (and there are several here), but also drench it in as much vocal and guitar stank as they can muster. The album is loaded front to back with stacked laser beam vocal harmonies, proto-metal guitar riffs, Chicago-style horns, and a tidal wave of keyboards.
August 11, 2021
Tommy Stinson spent most of his time in the Replacements as Paul Westerberg's goofball teenage sidekick, so it was a pleasant surprise when, after the 'Mats collapsed, he formed Bash & Pop and made an album that's arguably the best from a former member of the group. 1993's Friday Night is Killing Me rocks hard with a joyous swing, blends street smarts with a big heart, and lets some poignance show between the jokes.
August 10, 2021
A rare case in which the band is the side project of the better-known solo artist, Andy Shauf reconstituted a group of college friends to record this eponymous release following his second solo album. Sharing a certain soft-footed, pastoral indie rock sensibility with the frontman, the set carries a dreamy, gently trippy quality that persists through occasional Crosby, Stills & Nash-type vocal harmonies, jammy passages, and even distortion. While off-kilter, it's irresistibly comforting, like the feeling of the pull of sleep. When closer "Give It a Chance" adds the steady pulse of crickets to the mix, it almost seems unfair.
August 9, 2021
The group's first album was, like many debuts by hitmakers of the early 1960s, utterly dominated by the hit singles. Here, those include the title track, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Dedicated to the One I Love," and honorary hit "Boys," the B-side of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" which became a standard in its own right thanks to a cover by the Beatles. The other cuts are filler by comparison, though still offer solid, period pop-soul/early girl group production. "Unlucky" is notable for later appearing on Dionne Warwick's debut album.
August 8, 2021
Given their legendary eclecticism, it's all but impossible to pick a "best" NRBQ album, but if you're looking for one that satisfies from front to back with a minimum of outre experimentalism, 1978's At Yankee Stadium is a superb choice. The Q's definitive lineup cooks with gas, "Green Lights," "I Want You Bad," and "It Comes To Me Naturally" are true classics, and the Johnny Cash and Big Joe Turner covers are definitive.
August 7, 2021
Gene Harris never veered closer to mainstream jazz-funk than here. A slick, propulsive record, it channels contemporary influences from underground disco to Stevie Wonder. Paired with singer/keyboardist Jerry Peters, bassist Chuck Rainey, and drummer Harvey Mason, Harris' smooth, slinky Rhodes grooves are couched in lush strings and shimmering backing vocals. Though its sound is radio-friendly, the complexity of these performances is a potent reminder that this is first and foremost a quality jazz record.
![Tribalistas [2002]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0001447980/front/400/1MUD4F-4fRrGSWdD9kZ3wT6KsMttLlyBmmVTZ6_CLs0=.jpg)
August 6, 2021
The smash debut offering by this Brazilian supergroup -- Arnaldo Antunes, Marisa Monte, and Carlinhos Brown –consists of largely acoustic, pop samba tunes penned by individual band members. The sparse but elegant use of electronic beats, sampled backing tracks and special effects, adds depth and dimension to Tribalistas’ strong, hooky melodies regardless of tempo. This record topped all charts when release din Brazil and for good reason: It is an MPB masterpiece.
![The Best of Techno, Vol. 1 [Profile]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0001173735/front/400/zWVCRBCFoNGDsuiY9GOgV4Af7E_1E-2MlBBPmPAXRBU=.jpg)
August 5, 2021
Various Artists
When techno was in its infancy, the easiest way to hear the music, outside of going to raves, was through compilation CDs. Profile's Best of Techno series put out six volumes roughly once a year, and they were remarkably well-distributed; the earliest ones sold tons of copies simply because there weren't that many other techno releases available yet. While later volumes would delve into breakbeat hardcore and trance, the first one is straight-up early '90s techno, with tracks from Moby, Richie Hawtin, Speedy J, and Greater Than One (often under pseudonyms).
August 4, 2021
A forward-thinking jazz guitarist and early architect of electric fusion, Larry Coryell was perhaps less well-known for his singing. However, during the late '60s and early '70s, Coryell did just that, writing and performing a handful of inspired, if quirky jazz-meets-singer/songwriter style compositions on every album. His second solo album, 1969's Coryell, is a great example, and finds him fearlessly blurring the lines between hardcore blues-inflected jazz, pop, and rock.
August 3, 2021
2002's Don't Give Up On Me wasn't truly a comeback for Solomon Burke, who never stopped making great records. But it was the first in many years where Burke had musicians and a producer worthy of his talents, and the King of Rock & Soul delivered his A Game as he brought life and magic to a program of songs from Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, and more.
August 2, 2021
Ahead of its time and vastly underrated, the stellar debut from this new wave outfit paved the way for countless groups that also combined dynamic vocals, catchy hooks, synth sheen, and punk rock crunch. Perfect from start to finish, the set includes a trio of mainstream hits, while the rest of the batch links them to sonic progeny like No Doubt, theStart, and the Sounds. Revisit this influential album for a big dose of hindsight appreciation.
August 1, 2021
May Our Chambers Be Full sees Louisiana sludge metallers Thou and Kentucky post-rock singer/songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle team up for an evocative seven-song set that stands at the nexus of doom, gothic rock, post-grunge, and black metal.