Staff Picks for December 2014
December 31, 2014
Bobby Keys, who passed away on December 2 at the age of 70, played with the Rolling Stones for over four decades. He was Keith's guy—rumor has it Mick used to feud with Bobby back in the '70s—so it makes sense that Keys figures heavily on Exile On Main St., the classic that is often seen as fueled by Keith (and is often spoken of with polite disdain by Mick). Bobby shines here, particularly on "Rip This Joint" and "Sweet Virginia," two tracks that illustrate just how much he meant to the Stones.
December 30, 2014
One of 1994's lesser-known classics, Geek the Girl finds Lisa Germano at the peak of her powers, delivering songs that reveal their strength in their fragility. In classic Germano fashion, she bookends devastating emotional truths with wry humor, removing any trace of pretension or self-importance from her confessions. Musically delicate and emotionally brutal, this is a brave and unforgettable album.
December 29, 2014
Shakey Graves is the stage name of Austin, TX-based singer, songwriter and musician Alejandro Rose-Garcia, who is probably better known under his real name as an actor, having appeared in several movies and who has had a recurring role in the television series Friday Night Lights. As a musician, however, he's his own species, really, having developed a kind of one-man-band "hobo folk" approach to songwriting and performance. His sound is kind of alt-country, but only sort of, and yeah, he's folky, too, but what really makes his songs something different is his innate pop sense. His melodies rise and ebb and crest like waves, gentle and forever flowing forward, and the best of his songs are simply beautiful and haunting. This is his second album.
December 28, 2014
Amsterdam-based avant jazz and Carnatic music-inspired collective Spinifex weren't particularly subdued as a nonet on the 2008 album Triodia, but this 2013 outing, featuring a five-piece lineup of trumpet, alto sax, guitar, bass, and drums, is something else again. The band charges through ultra-tight punchy arrangements in crazed time signatures, throws in bursts of metal and noise, and even abandons any semblance of solidity with woozy slide bass. A few saner moments notwithstanding, the album's title is absolutely perfect.
December 27, 2014
The hits all speak for themselves, especially the hard-edged "Judas," but there are some deeper cuts on Born This Way worthy of revisiting with a few years between us and the album's release, like the overdriven, pulsing "Heavy Metal Lover," the dark "Electric Chapel" and the alternately ludicrous and triumphant "Sheiße."
December 26, 2014
In 2008, a year after his band The Slip fell into semi-retirement, Boston singer/songwriter Brad Barr delivered this beautifully understated solo record of acoustic guitar instrumentals. Lyrical, nuanced, complex, and totally captivating, The Fall Apartment was a quiet artistic triumph and remains his lone solo release.
December 25, 2014
Sometimes referred to as "The Om Record", this self-titled masterpiece is split into a side of low-key acid folk and one of droning sitar ragas. While both have their merrit, the more pop-structured songs are some of the best psychedelic folk tunes the fertile 70's prouduced.
December 24, 2014
There is no better interpreter of the yuletide standard than the great Bing Crosby, and this nineteen track compilation of his many holiday hits will show you why. Warm, wise, and always a pro (in 1977 he publicly invited noted vampire David Bowie into his cardigan-strewn Christmas lair for figgy pudding and caroling), let Crosby's perfect elocution and warm baritone guide you through the season in style.
December 23, 2014
Recorded on the cusp of 1970, this is the guitarist's fifth album and showcases the beginning of a transition in his style. Based more loosely on astrological concepts than its title might suggest, this date is more spacious and modal than earlier albums and displays more of his discoveries in flamenco and raga techniques than firepower. That said, it endures with his very best work.
December 22, 2014
Nico was drummed out of the Velvet Underground in 1967, but with the album Chelsea Girl, she was given a lovely going-away present. Featuring contributions from Lou Reed, John Cale, and Sterling Morrison, "It Was a Pleasure Then" and the title cut in many respects integrate Nico into the VU's aesthetic much better than her performances on The Velvet Underground & Nico, and her interpretations of three early Jackson Browne compositions are surprisingly effective and thoughtful. Easily the warmest and most approachable album of Nico's solo career, even if that only says so much.
December 21, 2014
This early Philly soul classic, almost all of which was written by the group's William Hart—either with or without Thom Bell—contains four hit singles, including the chart-topping "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)." The other six songs could have been A-sides, too. Leader William Hart has been going especially strong lately with an album driven by Adrian Younge, as well as appearances on the recent Younge-produced Souls of Mischief release.
December 20, 2014
When it comes to learning about reggae, it's a crying shame that Cocoa Tea isn't an entry level name, because the singer and DJ has offered many massive tunes over the years, and even if his heyday has past, his recent material is still strong. This set is as good an introduction as any, and with Henry "Junjo" Lawes, King Jammy, and Bobby "Digital-B" Dixon all on board, it proves reggae's most elite producers see Cocoa as crucial, so enjoy all the sweet proof.
December 19, 2014
Snotty, stupid, annoying, hilarious and under-produced, listening to the Dickies's debut album is like watching crummy Saturday morning cartoons on a loop while slamming bowl after bowl of Sugar Smacks. Punk with no rebellion and a healthy dose of bubblegum may not be for everyone, but it's fun. Besides, sometimes laughing at everything is the most punk thing you can do.
December 18, 2014
At a time when standing up for meat and potatoes hard rock was practically heresy, the Pontiac Brothers sounded like a fusion of the goofy but heartfelt stumble of the Replacements and the rootsy swagger of the Rolling Stones, and they're one of the most unjustly overlooked rock & roll bands of the '80s. This two-fer features two of their best albums, 1985's Doll Hut and 1986's Fiesta en la Biblioteca, and this music has it all—humor, smarts, big guitars, loud drums, and wailing statements of purpose like "Keep The Promise," "She Knows It," and "Don't Have To Die."
December 17, 2014
Dare is certainly the Human League album to gush over, and I certainly do, but this instrumental dub mix of that LP, courtesy of producer Martin Rushent, comes in a close second for me. Only the funky bits get dubbed, as "I Am the Law" and other nimbly-bimbly bits of Dare are skipped, plus there's the new track"Hard Times", an almost instrumental but key cut in the band's repertoire.
December 16, 2014
Following the band's fallout with David Byrne and before their unfortunate comeback album with producer Don Was, Whammy marked the end of The B-52s original line up before Ricky Wilson's death. The songs still have a more minimal feel than the incredibly polished Cosmic Thing that followed, allowing the band to present a sound closer to their self titled album and Wild Planet one last time.
![The Killing Fields [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0004022939/front/400/oOscoOx45yukmEBU1V_1xwSijaXJlYnq0St31qpAJWo=.jpg)
December 15, 2014
Mike Oldfield catapulted to fame when an excerpt from his debut opus Tubular Bells gained iconic status on the soundtrack to William Friedkin's ultra-scary The Exorcist in 1973, but Oldfield didn't compose an entire film score until Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields in 1984. Although Oldfield's music proved to be effectively tense and evocative accompanying the harrowing tale of very real horrors visited upon Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge in the '70s, it would remain his only full score, a remarkable outlier in a lengthy, multifaceted career.
December 14, 2014
With Steve Lillywhite again behind the board, Joan Armatrading delved even deeper into the beat-driven new wave style that characterized her early-80's output. Her seventh LP Walk Under Ladders yielded the mysterious, dark-toned synthpop classic "I'm Lucky" along with a number of other strong efforts that reinforced her image as a songwriting heavyweight with an unpredictable, quirky pop sense.
December 13, 2014
After Penetration's split, Pauline Murray and Robert Blamire created this magnificent set of slightly warped post-punk pop with support from a stellar cast that included Martin Hannnett and the Durutti Column's Vini Reilly. From Peter Saville's cover to the content, recorded at Stockport's Strawberry Studios, this is might as well be a Factory release. Taken out of circulation nearly two decades ago, it's in print once more, remastered and expanded for multiple formats.
December 12, 2014
More muscular and bar/band ready than the ornate, oversized custom Gramophone speaker-generated folk-pop that's come to define Andrew Bird over the years, his last outing with the aptly-named Bowl of Fire found the ace violinist and chronic whistler at his least subdued, offering up a hot dish of feisty chamber pop with a cool alt-rock center.
December 11, 2014
Ian McLagan curated this loving four-disc tribute to what was perhaps his best band, the Faces. As great as they were, the Faces never made a great record—A Nod Is As Good As A Wink came close, though—which is why this box set was so necessary. McLagan embraced the messiness that made the Faces so thrilling, throwing chronology by the wayside and relying on repetition, which was all the better to show just how good the group was on stage. As this box plays, it seems like there never was a better band the Faces...and there never seems to be a reason to stop playing this magnificent set. RIP Mac, you shall be missed.
December 10, 2014
Multi-disc anthologies are seldom complete accurate representations of an artist's recording history for all sorts of reasons, from vanity to economics. This set, however, stands apart. It captures "The Wanderer" in virtually every phase of his career, from doo wop innovator to roots rocker to bluesman to folksinger to CCM star and back again. Sure the hit are all here, but in order to truly appreciate how iconic the artist is in the evolution of pop, the story his voice tells is not only warranted, but necessary.
December 9, 2014
Gravenhurst's Nick Talbot died in early December at the much-too-young age of 37. While all of his albums deserve a listen, The Western Lands remains unique in his body of work by showing just how majestic his music could be. Talbot usually let Gravenhurst's shoegaze influences smolder in the background of his songs, but here he cranks up their volume, resulting in a storming, contemplative album that serves as a poignant reminder to what a loss his untimely passing is.
December 8, 2014
Twenty-one albums is a lot of Ronnie Milsap and, unsurprisingly, not every one of the records featured in The RCA Albums Collection is terrific. What is surprising is how enjoyable so many of the records are. Milsap never strayed from his template much—Nashville country crossed with southern soul and gospel—but he slyly adapted it to suit changing fashions. This means the records always feel like Ronnie but always sound slightly different, a subtle and satisfying distinction over the course of 21 CDs.
December 7, 2014
The Australian singer/songwriter who'd made a splash first with the Moles then as half of the chamber pop duo (with Eric Matthews) Cardinal reached a critical peak on his superb second solo album. Aided by former Flaming Lips guitarist Ronald Jones, Telegraph was a richly envisioned triumph of clever guitar-oriented pop songcraft laced with subtle details and hints of desert psychedelia.
December 6, 2014
This high-energy live 1966 date featured one the more unusual Jazz Messengers line-up with pianist Keith Jarrett and trumpeter Chuck Mangione. Though Jarrett and Mangione would both move in stylistically varied directions, here they display a fiery, hard bop intensity equal to that of the best of Blakey's sidemen.
December 5, 2014
This set of Alan Lomax field recordings makes an in-depth introduction to the poise and balance of Bessie Jones, and to the treasure that is Georgia Sea Island folk music. The music, a mix of traditional call-and-response work songs, hymns, ring songs, rope-skipping rhymes and other cultural flotsam drawn from a blended trio of folk traditions that was part African, part Bahamian, and part southern gospel, is sparse, joyous and vital, often accompanied by just hand claps, foot stomps and the occasional cane fife. Lomax recorded Jones both solo and with her group the Georgia Sea Island Singers. A beautiful two-disc set.
December 4, 2014
The South African drummer and composer's deep spiritual jazz suite is performed by his sextet and a quartet of opera singers. Inspired by John Coltrane's A Love Supreme, the freer music of his countrymen The Blue Notes and drummer Brian Blade's gospelized postbop, this set is strikingly modern in conception and execution. The arrangements for ensemble play and soloing are soulful, sophisticated and absent of artifice.
December 2, 2014
Garage punk bands are a dime-a-dozen at best these days. Everyone with a sneer, a fuzzbox and a crappy rec room to record in has made an album in the last couple of years and it's kind of overwhelming if you're a fan of the basic GP template. That's what's so great about White Reaper. They cut through all the crap and blast out six simple, super hooky songs on their debut EP that pretty much make the rest of their ilk look like sorry seconds. Good luck to any bands unlucky enough to follow them on a four band bill at some lousy dive bar somewhere in Kentucky.
December 1, 2014
Crowbar is not ashamed to be Crowbar, as 10 albums and 25 years have proven. Their latest, from this past May, comes after frontman Kirk Windstein's departure from his other band, Down, and the increased focus led to one of the band's best. His voice has found its own unique balance between melody and ferocity ("The Taste of Dying") and the guitar riffs are deliciously chunky ("Walk With Knowledge Wisely"). Air-guitaring while scowling is not optional.