Staff Picks for December 2015
December 31, 2015
Rachel Grimes, the composer and pianist behind the indie rock chamber ensemble Rachel's, delivers a superb solo album that blurs the lines between classical and pop in an articulate and compelling fashion. 2015's The Clearing is a striking demonstration of how powerful quiet music can be; Grimes' music is subtle but full of drama, and the arrangements give these compositions dynamics and tonal color that make the all them more effective. An overlooked triumph from a singular artist.
December 30, 2015
Following a major tour as David Bowie's guitarist/musical director as well as a tough divorce, Adrian Belew's fifth album is one of his strongest and most accessible. Eschewing some of his more experimental tendencies, Inner Revolution is vibrant with melody and hooks, as Belew finds optimism and hope through pop catharsis.
December 29, 2015
With the recent passing of Scott Weiland, I can't help but think of other fallen heroes of 90s rock, particularly Layne Staley. On Alice in Chains' debut, his despairing howl is already fully-formed, stealing the show on the hammering "Bleed the Freak" and especially on the agonizing, menacing "Love, Hate, Love." Even the album's most lighthearted song, "Real Thing," is about a drug-induced spiral.
December 28, 2015
This solo debut of the classically trained session musician and arranger (and sister of Jon Astley, no relation to Rick) is an almost entirely instrumental work of gentle ambient pop. It conjures images of a bird- and sunshine-filled afternoon in the English countryside, as intended by its plentiful nature sound effects and structure divided into Morning and Afternoon. Recommended for a sophisticated dose of serenity now.
December 27, 2015
On her first two albums, Gillian Welch sounded like the risen ghost of the lost member of the Carter Family; on her third effort, 2001's Time (The Revelator), she took the timeworn musical simplicity of her earlier work and paired it with songs that more closely reflected the present day, and the result was a stunning stylistic breakthrough that delivered her strongest and most resonant work to date. And the splendid guitar work of David Rawlings was the icing on the cake; this is an Americana masterpiece.
December 26, 2015
Less bleak than the quartet's earlier records, but without the unfortunate candy coating of the albums that followed, these 11 songs are a creative high point, a Teutonic marriage of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Cocteau Twins.
December 25, 2015
This duo had their fingers on the pulse. A touchstone of progressive R&B and hip-hop that existed well outside the mainstream, their first album (of only two) features major contributions from an all-star cast that includes Jay Dee, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Steve Spacek, Sa-Ra, and Tiombe Lockhart.
December 24, 2015
A dark, theatrical album seething with late-night tension and menace, Gimme Fiction balanced Spoon's famous eye for detail with their biggest-sounding music yet. Even as they bolstered their sound by collaborating with the Tosca Strings, the band's clever storytelling and pop culture allusions remained as finely honed as ever. With this album, Spoon continued to build one of the most consistent, and distinctive, bodies of work in indie rock.
December 23, 2015
More acclaimed these days for his work as The Caretaker, Leyland Kirby first gained notoriety during the early '00s for his pop terrorism project V/Vm, which took Lite FM staples such as "The Lady in Red" and "Just the Way You Are" and mangled them to bloody, diseased shreds. For anyone with a downright evil sense of humor, this is simply one of the best albums ever made.
December 22, 2015
After two throbbing releases of the horniest, most sensual electronic jams, Goldfrapp dropped this gem of pastoral bliss. From the opening "Clowns" to the grand closer "Monster Love," it's the sound of your entire being basking in a field of long grass in the waning sun of an autumn afternoon. Gorgeous, uplifting, and the quietest output until Tales of Us, it'll soothe, relax, and comfort (especially "Cologne Cerrone Houdini").
December 21, 2015
There's something about a post-millennium album cover that features a giant blue-horned minion of Satan in pre-pounce with an illuminated crystal ball in its leathery hand that simply warms the soul, and the fact that it adorns a record called Master of the Moon can mean only one thing: Dio. RJD's final studio album may not be his best, but it's hardly his worst.
December 20, 2015
Texas was not an easy place to be a punk rocker in the early '80s, but as a gay Maoist with a penchant for dressing in drag, Gary Floyd learned to be fearless long before he teamed up with three musicians just as gutsy as he was. The Dicks were one of the most explosive and satisfying bands to emerge from the '80s hardcore scene, and this collection features most of their finest recorded moments, including the iconic "Hate the Police" and "I Hope You Get Drafted."
December 19, 2015
Issued in 1970, this is one of the classic big-band workouts of the jazz-funk era. It stands in the broad-shouldered company of the best recordings by Oliver Nelson, Quincy Jones, Don and Peter Herbolzheimer. The players include Chuck Rainey, Pretty Purdie, Richard Tee, Cornell Dupree, and Joe Beck, and the grooves are nonstop.
December 18, 2015
The always inventive Argentine composer's score for director Francis Ford Coppola's film scored a hit with its main title theme, but it's not the most interesting thing here. These pieces range from tangos and chacareras, to chamber jazz, cafe interludes and contemporary classical. Most cues are played by small ensembles. The finest moment is "Wake," an acapella cue with Dawn Upshaw, Cantoria Alberto Grau and Maria Guinand.
December 17, 2015
Produced by Mike Thorne for release on his own Stereo Society label, Shadows and Dust is, arguably, the album that Lovich should have made in 1980, following Flex with a set that maintained her grip on compulsive rhythms and eccentric pop, rather than swooping off into the increasingly self-conscious waters that so marred her actual career.
December 16, 2015
Arguably their worst album, this follow-up to the bloated Be Here Now isn't even as good as their b-side collection, The Masterplan. And yet, it's still Oasis. Furthermore, it includes the song, "Gas Panic," one of the weirdest, most amazing songs the Gallaghers ever put out. Meandering, sprawling, and epic, it's the deepest cut in a stacked catalog from a band that spent most of the aughts just trying to hold on to their legacy.
December 15, 2015
Primarily known as a bass player who's worked with the likes of Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Glasper, and Esperanza Spalding, Alan Hampton's singer/songwriter debut is a breezy daydream that deftly incorporates folk, jazz, and pop elements into a flowing, melodic potion that evokes names like Allen Toussaint, Randy Newman, and Paul Simon. Not surprisingly, the album's musicianship is tops, and his disarming, powdery voice is well-suited to the album's agreeable tone.
December 14, 2015
Released just as R.E.M. were evolving from college rock cult heroes into actual rock stars, Dead Letter Office is an odds and ends collection that's a marvelous reminder of the high spirits and sense of fun that marked their early work (especially on the CD, which includes the debut EP Chronic Town). Covering Aerosmith and the Velvet Underground, channelling their inner teenage metalheads, roaring through outtakes that should have made the cut, and drunkenly stumbling through "King of the Road," this is the sound of four friends from Athens before "The One I Love" changed the game.
December 13, 2015
The band's self-titled second album gives more shape to their seductive haze without sacrificing any of their delicate beauty, resulting in songs that are more cohesive and more adventurous. Though the album begs to be played by candlelight, there's a raw frankness and hunger here that adds much-needed edge to the gossamer sounds. Expansive and enveloping at the same time, it's easy to hear why Warpaint made it their namesake.
December 12, 2015
One of 2014's best albums, the debut full-length by Minneapolis-based producer Peter Runge was a caustic mutation of the U.K. grime scene's heavy bass and jagged beats, causing those elements to collapse on top of themselves. Harsh and battering, this intense, uncompromising album nevertheless had a soft heart beating underneath its armor-like layers of pulverizing distortion. Tri Angle had a pretty great 2015 with astonishing releases by Rabit and Lotic, but That's Harakiri is still a watershed moment for whatever you want to call this brand of contorted neo-grime.
December 11, 2015
The composer, arranger and producer moves beyond his reputation as the enfant terrible modern indie chanson with this beautifully imagined, impeccably arranged tribute to the iconic singer and songwriter Charles Trenet. He executes these covers with refined taste and restraint, wry humor and organic sensuality. Vanessa Paradis makes a pair of fine duet appearances on "Ja'ia Ta Main," and "La Romance de Paris."
December 10, 2015
If sexy, '60s girl group-infected indie pop tunes with tandem female lead vocals sounds appealing, definitely check out the full-length debut of Brooklyn's Lucius. It features former Rentals and San Fermin contributors Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe up front, but don't underestimate the guys' contributions; producer/drummer Danny Molad, guitarist Pete Lalish, and musical chameleon Andrew Burri all supply sass, elegance, and rich vocals to the album.
December 9, 2015
Recorded in and featuring field recordings of the north German countryside, the crispness of the producer's second solo album suggests crystalline frost patterns and bare winter trees as it touches on sounds as diverse as Detroit techno, hypnotic guitar-pop and a deadpan cover of Tina Turner's "Simply the Best."
December 8, 2015
These three fine works -- "String Quartet and Orchestra" (1973), "Oboe and Orchestra" (1976), and "Atlantis" (1959) -- reflect Feldman's ongoing evolutionary study of texture, fixed dynamics, muted colors, timbres, and elliptical tonal clusters, in a large scale context. These stand in complementary contrast to the more often recorded (and therefore more familiar) chamber and solo pieces.
December 7, 2015
Remix albums are an iffy thing, and I'd have a tough time defending this one in any snobby argument, but the Cure's Mixed Up works for me. Best of the lot has to be the dubbed out version of "Pictures of You", but the long, winding version of "Lullaby" is quite nice and the strange, twisting version of "In Between Days" is a treat as well.
December 6, 2015
Lest one thinks of an aging blues legend embarrassing himself aping the innovations of George Clinton and Sly Stone, Watson found a singular groove by slicking up his already urbane blues style with lots of tasty horn arrangements, plenty of fat basslines, and wah-wah-issue guitar licks. The latter element, of course, was to be expected from a virtuoso such as Watson.
December 5, 2015
Damon and Naomi of Galaxie 500 met up with the dual guitarists behind the great lost band Crystalized Movements for three albums worth of brilliantly done guitar pysch and dream pop that's wonderfully meandering whhile still being focused enough to deliver some truly captivating songs. This album is the most focused of the three Magic Hour releases, but you can't go wrong with any of them.
December 4, 2015
After her groundbreaking X-Dreams, Peacock constructed an album of seven extended tracks that were too rock- and pop-oriented for jazz radio programmers to handle and a rock and pop album that was farther to the left than Steely Dan's attempt at appropriating jazz. It stitches together the lounge jazz of Lower Manhattan, the Brazilian pop of Tom Jobim, Nara Leao, and Caetano Veloso, the slippery funk of War, and the shifty rock skullduggery of Joni Mitchell's LA studio period.
December 3, 2015
Joan as Police Woman's brilliant debut embraces hope and beauty in their most challenging forms.You can hear it in Wasser's voice, womanly and raspy; in the way she and the rest of the band fuse soul, post-punk, and '70s-style singer/songwriter pop into something familiar, unique, and seemingly effortless; and in the remarkable vulnerability and strength on display throughout.
December 2, 2015
Not every track on Maths and English, the third album from grime fixture Dizzee Rascal, is a home run, but its finest moments are up there with his best overall. From the hard-hitting "Sirens" to the brutal taunts of "Pussyole (Old Skool)," and especially on the U.G.K.-featuring "Where's Da G's," it may have been Dizzee's final stab at crossing over into America, but at this point, that's America's problem.
December 1, 2015
Nobody tried to combine horror rap with strip club anthems until the great Three 6 Mafia, and since those two genres were just too volatile to hang for long, the group's heyday was as fleeting as it was exciting. This is the group's highpoint, with Juicy J and DJ Paul's divergent styles finding common ground, and producing mammoth numbers like "Stay Fly", a swagger anthem that still stands tall today.