Staff Picks for August 2024
August 31, 2024
Wide Open Spaces unveiled the new incarnation of the Chicks, revealing an eclectic, assured group that was simultaneously rootsy and utterly modern, but if that 1998 de facto debut captured the band just leaving the ground, Fly, released 25 years ago today, finds the group in full flight, in full possession of their talents. This time around, the different sounds they draw upon are more fully integrated, which only makes them more distinctive as a group.
August 30, 2024
It could be argued that Eugenius, like their buddies Teenage Fanclub (whose Francis MacDonald plays drums on Oomalama) simply weren't angsty enough to fit in the Nirvana/Pearl Jam mold of the day. Though the album has all the noisy guitars you could want, it's got a distinctly sunny vibe that was at odds with the mopey grunge scene. You weren't going to see Alice in Chains record a song that consisted of nothing but the nonsense word "oomalama" repeated a couple of hundred times, interspersed with an equally inexplicable chorus.
August 29, 2024
Recorded four years after the pianist's death, this set, offering ten classic Mike Taylor compositions for the ages, was performed by a clutch of musicians closest to him, including Jon Hiseman, Neil Ardley, Norma Winstone Carr under the eye of producer Denis Preston.
August 28, 2024
Symphonic throughout most of the album's two parts, the highlight of Hergest Ridge (released 50 years ago today) is Oldfield's use of 90 multi-tracked guitars clustered together to create one of the most unique sounds ever to surface on his albums. The album was highly regarded in the U.K. upon its release and it continued Oldfield's creative pace, proving that the genius put forth on his claim-to-fame album would indeed have some effect on works to come.
August 27, 2024
Nearly a quarter-century after its release, Chicks on Speed's debut album feels like the missing link between post-punk, new wave, and hyperpop. Will Save Us All! still sounds remarkably fresh as it builds on the playful irony of the Normal and the B-52's and points the way to the plastic self-awareness and proudly bratty attitude of A.G. Cook and Charli XCX.
August 26, 2024
When conservative trolls started spreading false memes claiming outspoken liberal Tim Heidecker's wife left him because of his politics, Heidecker flipped the script and made an album of songs lamenting the end of his (still happy) marriage. It's a funny idea, but 2019's What The Brokenhearted Do also happens to be a brilliantly conceived and executed homage to the sad side of '70s soft rock. Come for the mean laughs, stay for the great songs.
August 25, 2024
The first EP from hemlocke springs expands on the D.I.Y. synth-pop sound of her attention-grabbing early singles, which channel a particular strain of early MTV-era quirkiness, slightly closer to Cyndi Lauper or Toni Basil than Kate Bush. Her irresistibly perky breakout viral hit "girlfriend" is present, and while it's a whole lot of fun, the EP's best song is the soaring, genuinely heartfelt "enknee1," which addresses a relatable fear of loneliness over a racing synth rhythm. The entire EP is refreshing and exciting, full of heart and creative energy.
August 24, 2024
Her eponymous debut, released 25 years ago today, remains firmly within the teen-oriented dance-pop genre, but unlike Spears' album, this is done right. The songwriting is strong -- the ballads are engaging, the dance numbers are catchy -- the production is clean and uncluttered, letting Aguilera's voice take the foreground. Most impressively, she not only has charisma, she can actually sing, bringing conviction to these love and heartbreak songs.
August 23, 2024
A slick and punchy super-pop album with shining harmonies and crunching guitars, Action Pact struts and preens like no other Sloan album. Summer's almost over, folks. Turn this one up loud.
August 22, 2024
Recorded in Japan in July 1973, this massive, three-LP live album (celebrating its 50th anniversary this year) was available outside the United States in 1974 but held back from domestic release in the U.S. It features the same "New Santana Band" that recorded Welcome, and combines that group's jazz and spiritual influences with performances of earlier Latin rock favorites like "Oye Como Va."
August 21, 2024
After 1991's rapturously received Everclear made American Music Club critic's darlings, they signed with Reprise Records, and 1993's Mercury was their major label debut. Anyone who imagined the big label suits would buff off their emotional sharp edges turned out to be spectacularly wrong – producer Mitchell Froom only magnified the edgy atmospherics of their music, and Mark Eitzel's booze-fueled tragedies were never as powerful as on "Johnny Mathis's Feet" and "I've Been A Mess."
August 20, 2024
Gil Scott-Heron was at his most righteous and provocative on this album, released 50 years ago this year. The title cut was a moving, angry summation of the social injustices Scott-Heron felt had led the nation to a particularly dangerous period, while "The Bottle" was a great treatise on the dangers of alcohol abuse.
August 19, 2024
The relationship between Harry Nilsson and John Lennon is legendary. They were notorious booze hounds and carousers, getting kicked out of clubs for misbehavior and generally terrorizing L.A. during Lennon's "lost weekend" of 1974. They wanted to make an album together -- hell, anyone working at such a peak would -- and the result was Pussy Cats, a Nilsson album produced by Lennon and released 50 years ago today.
August 18, 2024
Twenty years after its release, the Friedberger siblings' magnum opus remains a bewildering delight, filled with ambling stories, cryptic wordplay, and dazzling sonic twists delivered with equal parts majesty and mischief.
August 17, 2024
Various Artists
The compilation/book series Volume began focusing on electronic music with this near-definitive set of early '90s ambient techno, which was followed by four other editions and multiple offshoots. Touching on early trance, chillout, dub, and dark ambient, the collection includes material from the Orb, Moby, Aphex Twin, Orbital, a Throbbing Gristle cover by Spooky & Billie Ray Martin, and much more.
August 16, 2024
It's 1978, the Sex Pistols are in the news, and a cut-rate Spanish label wants to put out a punk rock album. Clearly knowing nothing about the stuff, instead of finding a Spanish punk band, they hire some second-string session musicians who cover the entirety of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. Absurdly mannered vocals, hilarious misheard lyrics, and transcendently clumsy performances make this a masterpiece in Bad Fake Punk, so awful it's a must for anyone who learned about punk from watching Quincy.
August 15, 2024
The tenth collection from the inimitable Paddy McAloon's longtime vehicle is both grand and easily accessible, featuring some of his most brilliantly constructed songs to date. A shining example of smart pop excellence.
![The Muppets [Original Soundtrack]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0003469451/front/400/wWE3shjhW-EVZz0uFXQV11WnbEN5fCjifro6xhIBuB4=.jpg)
August 14, 2024
For this 2011 film, our fine felted friends partnered with Disney, raising the hope that the collaboration might usher in a creative renaissance for the franchise. Happily, the soundtrack thoughtfully blended reimagined classics with new tunes, effectively reinvigorating the franchise for established fans and younger audiences alike. Its five new songs include four penned by Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie. Meanwhile, surprise cameos by contemporary musicians including Andrew Bird, Feist, and Joanna Newsom appear alongside performances by main actors Jason Segel, Amy Adams, and Chris Cooper. The results are satisfyingly silly, sentimental, and smart.
August 13, 2024
A mere 22 years old when he embarked on this short four-year stint with Blue Note, Brown was already a jazz titan. Technically dazzling on the trumpet and blessed with a wealth of improvisational creativity steeped in the traditions of his forebears (namely Fats Navarro and Dizzy Gillespie), Brown was a man unparalleled on the jazz scene in the 1950s. Whether playing at burning speeds, as he does on "Cherokee," or digging deep into a slow ballad like "Easy Living" (both off New Star on the Horizon), Brown could articulate his ideas with devastating clarity.
August 12, 2024
One of the box set releases that would set the bar for the format, 1985's Biograph assembled both rarities, unreleased gems, and well-loved hits to trace a timeline of Dylan's evolution up until that point. An ongoing official bootleg series of Dylan's wealth of unreleased material would follow, but this is ground zero for opening up the archives.
August 11, 2024
New Skin for the Old Ceremony, released 50 years ago today, may be Leonard Cohen's most musical album, as he is accompanied by violas, mandolins, banjos, and percussion that give his music more texture than usual. The fact that Cohen does more real singing on this album can be seen as both a blessing and a curse -- while his voice sounds more strained, the songs are delivered with more passion than usual.
August 10, 2024
Released 25 years ago today, Birds of My Neighborhood remains a starkly beautiful snapshot of introspective journal entries, highlighted by Karen Peris' sweetly haunting voice. Never dour or overly melancholy, the songs are simply orchestrated and arranged around quiet melodies and subtle instrumentation, making for a wonderful rainy morning listening experience, even a quarter-century later.
August 9, 2024
Bay Area alto saxophonist John Handy made a big impact at the 1965 Monterey Jazz Festival with this fiery, creative set which stepped well away from convention, especially with his wild violin and guitar-assisted version of "Spanish Lady."
August 8, 2024
On +'Justments, released 50 years ago today, the spine-tingling string sections for "You" and "Ruby Lee" for instance invoke the memory of Still Bill's intriguing "Who Is He and What Is He to You." The former would be released as a single and crack the Top 15 R&B chart, as would "Heartbreak Road" and "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh."
August 7, 2024
1974 was a hell of a year for George Jones creatively, with the release of one of his finest Epic records, The Grand Tour, which celebrates its 50th anniversary today. Jones' partnership with producer Billy Sherrill saw some of its finest fruit here. The Grand Tour was a watershed for Jones, boasting the title track as one of the most devastating country singles ever issued that came so close to crossing over it was being played on some adult pop stations along with Sinatra, Bennett, Dionne Warwick, and Herb Alpert.
August 6, 2024
Various Artists
On this second Salsoul compilation, Walter Gibbons mixes classic disco boogie in such a potent way it could transport you back to the '70s (whether you actually lived through it or not). Playful, sexy, and fun, tracks from Double Exposure, Carol Williams, Loleatta Holloway, Claudja Barry, and more pack this extended four-part jam, but it's undeniable gems like Salsoul Orchestra's "Nice 'n' Naasty" and Moment of Truth's incredibly catchy, aptly-titled earworm "You've Got Me Humming" that elevate this to immortality.
August 5, 2024
After forming in 1986 and then breaking up in the early '90s, this Auckland project, led by the irrepressible Dons Savage, re-emerged in the late 2010s amidst the #MeToo movement and a resurgence of appreciation for riot grrrl punk and other feminism-fueled acts. The resulting comeback album is an underappreciated indie pop gem. Throughout its exceptionally catchy, jangly track list, the lyrics are strangely ageless, with the ingenuousness of teens, wit of middle age, and poignancy of long-held regret as well as a satisfying dose of irreverence.
August 4, 2024
If Dixie Chicken represented a pinnacle of Lowell George as a songwriter and band leader, its sequel Feats Don't Fail Me Now, released 50 years ago today, is the pinnacle of Little Feat as a group, showcasing each member at their finest. Not coincidentally, it's the moment where George begins to recede from the spotlight, leaving the band as a true democracy. These observations are only clear in hindsight, since if Feats Don't Fail Me Now is just taken as a record, it's nothing more than a damn good rock & roll record. That's not meant as a dismissal, either, since it's hard to make a rock & roll record as seemingly effortless and infectious as this.
August 3, 2024
Deep breaks, jazz samples, and a tastefully minimal production style all made A Tribe Called Quest's second album a hip hop anomaly. Taking a different page than the group's other, more frenetic and jam-packed albums, The Low End Theory's upright bass loops and fluid, effervescent rhymes congealed into a masterpiece of late night atmosphere.
August 2, 2024
Various Artists
In the early-2000s, Smithsonian Folkways was in the process of digitizing its vast archive of historic recordings from throughout the 20th century. Among its long-out-of-print prizes were records by Paul Clayton & the Foc'sle Singer, the X-Seamen's Institute, and British icons A.L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl. When this vital collection was released in 2004, who could have predicted that a youthful subculture of the internet would suddenly embrace many of these traditional sea chanteys, nearly two decades later?
![Touch of Evil [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0001292322/front/400/IIGMoq0C5WpkViN9A4OqlR_TZlp6n_cq-Emr2zx15tU=.jpg)
August 1, 2024
This score to the classic 1958 Orson Welles film of scandal and intrigue along the Mexican border used a lot of appropriate Latin accents: Afro-Cuban percussion, smoky Tijuana jazz jive, and honky tonking instrumental jump blues with a strong rock & roll flavor. Both ominous and exuberant in its evocation of temptation and deceit, it attracted the specific praise of no less a critic than François Truffaut.