Staff Picks for January 2015
January 31, 2015
Albums released in December never get proper placement in year-end lists. They're either forgotten or ranked too high, understandable reactions when you haven't lived with an album long. I wound up squeezing Charli XCX's Sucker into the lower reaches of my Top 10 but after a full month of play, I think I might've wound up ranking it even higher. Not as arty as True Romance, Sucker gains momentum through its giddy trashiness. It's plenty fun on the first spin but repeated plays show just how smart and enduring this spangly junk is.
January 30, 2015
This budget-priced, fine-sounding set offers a stunning early portrait of Tubby Hayes as a bandleader and multi-instrumentalist—in addition to his prodigious talents on saxophones, he was an exceptional vibraphonist and pianist. Drawn from 7-inch EPs and early LPs, there are his first octet, the Tubby Hayes Jazz Orchestra, as well as dates with the Jazz Couriers (featuring Ronnie Scott) and solo offerings. His sidemen include drummer Phil Seaman and trumpeters Jimmy Deuchar and Dickie Hawdon.
January 29, 2015
Back in Capricorn Records' early-'70s heyday, Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton's country-rock outfit brought laid-back warmth to the studio and the road (touring with the Allmans), and the band's 1971 sophomore album was a subtle creative peak. Relaxed and sincere, with fine songwriting and gorgeous harmonies, it's a match for any album by the era's better-known back-to-the-land rockers. All these years later, some may hear naiveté in the record's messages; others may hear timeless wisdom. And "Please Be with Me" is the original version, with Duane.
January 28, 2015
Various Artists
Many of the 42 tracks collected here, 34 of which are being digitally re-introduced to the world, don't sound much like gospel, at least not in the modern sense of the word. Recorded between 1926 and 1936, and done for commercial labels, these are really pre-gospel pieces, religious and sacred songs done in blues, street jazz, choral and other styles, and some of them are simply passionately delivered proto-rap-like rhythmic sermons. The end result is a wonderful, and sometimes eerie, restoration of the varied buried roots of modern gospel.
January 27, 2015
Dan Kaufman's third Barbez project is his magnum opus. This conceptual work deals with the history of Rome's Jews—the city's longest residing population. Combining a dazzling array of chamber jazz, avant-rock, Jewish folk, and Italian-style soundtrack sounds, Kaufman and his players establish a unique identity separate from other Jewish European traditions. In addition, he creates an enduring yet poetic spirit of resistance in the face of atrocity. It is as musically engaging and profound as it is provocative.
January 26, 2015
The 2012 debut album from songwriter Zachary Cole Smith's Diiv helped crystalize indie's return to the beach as an all-out movement. Starting as a side project from his work with like-minded Beach Fossils, Diiv's wash of jangly guitars and vaguely melancholic tones were some of the best of Brooklyn's collective beach daydream happening at the start of the 2010's.
January 25, 2015
After relentless touring on Death is This Communion, weary fans were ready for new material from High on Fire, and fortunately Matt Pike stockpiled enough riffs and ideas in the meantime to make the next album a winner. Propelled by Des Kensel's relentless drumming and with Pike's guitar work reaching a frantic pacing he never approached in Sleep, Snakes for the Divine clicked and added a pair of tracks—"Frost Hammer" and the title track—into the band's core batch of songs.
January 24, 2015
Two discs of slightly spaced-out, reverb-slathered dancefloor R&B tracks, all birthed during the early '80s, selected by Dimitri, whose knack for finding brilliance between undeniable classics and mere curiosities is close to unmatched. The Idjuts intensify the dubbed-out delirium with the third disc by shrewdly sequencing and mixing three-fourths of their friend's picks.
January 23, 2015
The fifth solo outing (and second in three years) from the crafty pop legend with fingernails of steel, Gift of Screws finds Buckingham offering up a surprisingly fiery set that evokes vintage Rumours and Tusk-era Fleetwood Mac, with highlights arriving via the muscular "Right Place to Fade" and "Love Runs Deeper," and the gospel-tinged closer "Treason."
January 22, 2015
Alternating between reggae classics and heavyweight tunes, the Mighty Diamonds' 1976 LP is arguably flawless, up to and including the stoned immaculate face of lead vocalist Donald "Tabby" Shaw featured on the cover. A perfect album flow and the one-two punch of "Them Never Love Poor Marcus" and "I Need a Roof" seals the deal as the rootsy and crucial trio live up to their name.
January 21, 2015
Avant-prog rock can be ear-bendingly complicated at times, filled with a cornucopia of timbres and textures (it's usually not music for those who believe rock is best when stripped to a two- or three-chord essence). And then there's this catchily titled 2005 album from a Yugoslavia-born, France-based, ethnic Hungarian composer/multi-instrumentalist that's so packed with energized hyper-complexities, it makes most avant-prog seem simple and sedate. Music for those who think "relaxed" is just another word for "boring."
![Amazing Grace [RCA]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0001143501/front/400/_C8lEQ6O5SVip7NlYFY1Ht_M69_UI9rrJSVvWL2-yAg=.jpg)
January 20, 2015
Recorded in 1971 to commemorate the amalgamation of two storied military regiments, the combined bands of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards delivered the quintessential pipe and drum collection. This is the historic, tear-inducing version of "Amazing Grace" from your Scottish-American grandfather's turntable.
January 19, 2015
After close to a decade of making records that were heard and loved by only a tiny handful of fans, Scrawl signed a major label deal in 1996 and, to the pleasant surprise of many, made one of their best albums, Travel On, Rider. The spare, uncluttered production (by Steve Albini and Jeff Powell) makes the most of Marcy Mays's fiercely evocative songs of lives on the edge of collapse; Mays is the punk rock Loretta Lynn, bringing a ragged dignity to the tiny victories and abundant losses of ordinary life, and Travel On, Rider is a unvarnished and overlooked triumph.
January 18, 2015
This is the deepest of the three Richard Evans-produced albums the Detroit harpist released on Cadet from 1968-1970. It's the last in the series, but it's no less novel, with unexpected flavors added to the artist's elegant mix of originals. Recent CD reissues of Ashby's Cadet albums have appeared on different labels; it's a shame they weren't released as a box set.
January 17, 2015
The Groovie Ghoulies never let anyone down. They delivered fun and frolicsome garage-pop-punk from their early days in the late 80s until they crashed in 2007. Pick any album and you really can't lose—this is one of their best.
January 16, 2015
Few albums express the possibilities of combining jazz and Latin styles of music as well as the Brian Lynch and Eddie Palmieri Project's Simpatico. Both artists have a deep breadth of experience across both genres and bring a combined passion and sophisticated energy to these adventurous, highly-engaging arrangements.
January 15, 2015
Pioneering pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator Russell was widely recognized for his modal jazz theorizing, but his groundbreaking work had many facets, including the meld of live performance with "pan-stylistic electronic tape," as heard on this recording from Oslo in 1969, featuring the leader in a sextet with several giants of Norwegian jazz. As forward-thinking as any jazz recording of the era, although 46 years later its philosophical concept that "nature likes those who give in to her but she loves those who do not" seems open to question.
January 14, 2015
I'm not always one to rave about remasters but The Album Collection, Vol. 1 is something special. This overhaul of Bruce Springsteen's first seven records is something the Boss has desperately needed: apart from Born To Run and Darkness On The Edge Of Town, not a one has seen a remaster since their initial CD release. While it's hard to say a 30-year wait is worth it (that's too long by any measure), these don't disappoint, sounding fuller and richer without losing the character of the sprawling The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle, the messy The River or stark Nebraska.
January 13, 2015
Though constantly exploring experimental sounds in various groups, Cantu-Ledesma's ambient shoegaze explorations reached a beautiful fever dream state on 2010's crushingly beautiful Love Is A Stream. This intensely lovely album finds the textural density of My Bloody Valentine meeting the submerged sonics of Gas.
January 12, 2015
After the lighter, drum machine-heavy experimentation of Mummer, XTC fully embraced their studio-only status with the dark creative energy of The Big Express. Dialing up the creative complexity, you can almost hear Andy Partridge's sighs of relief at the prospect of not having to tour for this record.
January 11, 2015
With the news that the Haxan Cloak's Bobby Krlic will work on Björk's upcoming album (along with the equally distinctive producer Arca), it's worth revisiting his most recent album. Excavation's mood hovers between a horror film and a wake as it traces a soul's journey after death, using creepy crawly strings and massive synth drones to subtle and terrifying effect. If the music Krlic is making with Björk is even as half as intense as this, her fans are in for a wild ride.
January 10, 2015
A breakthrough album with two signature hits, this 1981 release from Rita Marley is the primary reason the reggae faithful revere the artist, an achievement well above her marrying the King of Reggae. The big numbers are "One Draw", a "Legalize It"-type hit with more bounce and mirth, plus the poignant and powerful title cut, an excellent ode to the valiant struggles of the poor.
January 9, 2015
While Freedy Johnston's 1990 debut The Trouble Tree was a delightfully quirky introduction to his singular talents, 1992's Can You Fly surpassed it beyond anyone's expectations, and confirmed he was a unique and major talent. By turns scrappy and heartfelt, full of perceptive storytelling and one-of-a-kind characters, Can You Fly ranks with the very best singer-songwriter albums of the '90s, featuring 13 songs that take listeners to fascinating and unexpected places. It's Johnston's best album and a superb introduction to a splendid, under-appreciated artist.
January 8, 2015
This welcome twofer reissue amounts to the great lost Bobby Bare album, combining 1970's The Real Thing (recorded at a time of discord between Bare and his then label, RCA Victor-Bare left the label and had signed with Mercury Records by the time the LP was released) and 1973's I Hate Goodbyes/Ride Me Down Easy, which marked his return to RCA after two years with Mercury. All of this is merely the back story. Taken together, these two albums (and the extra bonus tracks included from the same time period) show Bare arguably at his peak, passionate, poignant, at times tongue in cheek, and endearingly just slightly off-kilter, all traits Nashville was a little nervous about.
January 7, 2015
Saddled with an awful name and living in the shadow of Creation labelmates Oasis, this trio from Kent made some of the best late-90s singer/songwritery folk rock you've never heard. Check the lovely "Fishsounds" to hear them knock the soft stuffing out of Teenage Fanclub or dial up "Goodbye Grey" to hear the lads at their soft rock best. Or just find the whole record, let it spin, and (re)discover a great "lost" band.
January 6, 2015
The third album from the Criss Cross label supergroup featuring saxophonist Seamus Blake, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin showcases their sophisticated and adventurous post-bop style. Fans of '60s Horace Silver and '70s Woody Shaw will definitely want to get with all Opus 5's albums and Progression is no exception.
January 5, 2015
This French ensemble ultimately focused much of its attention on contemporary electronica, dance music, and film scores, but began life as a rather strange drummerless group combining modern classical, outré jazz, and avant-prog rock, always expertly but not necessarily with a single overarching conception. Their sprawling, ominously atmospheric, minimalistically precise fourth album from 1982 was a creative apex, with interludes of spirited energy, dark beauty, and even lyricism in a comparatively seamless meld.
January 4, 2015
2014 was one of the better years for the shoegaze sound since the glory daze of the early '90s, with tons of bands cranking out good-to-great albums full of guitar noise, dreamy vocals and the kind of songs that Chapterhouse wish they could have written. Hobbes Fanclub were one of the better of the bunch and their debut album delivers hazy punch after lazy punch right to the solar plexus.
January 3, 2015
One of the more caustic artifacts of turn of the century heavy music, the final, jarring album from Tacoma's Botch delivered short, searing bursts ("Mondrian Was a Liar") as well as sprawling marathons (the show-stopping "Man the Ramparts"), all with outstanding track titles (especially "C. Thomas Howell as the 'Soul Man'").
January 2, 2015
Various Artists
This three-disc, 70-track collection of murder ballads and disaster songs originally released on commercial 78s between 1913 and 1938 is, in spite of the archaic song structures and often crude sonic qualities on display, strangely contemporary in tone and feel. It may be dour and morbid on the surface, full of floods, shipwrecks, hurricanes, suicides, murders, and uncountable tragedies, but it is somehow redemptive, too, reminding us that we are all survivors, even as it also reminds us that when the music stops, we all have to sit down.
January 1, 2015
A collection of deconstructed mixes and vague demos from sessions from 1991's Home Is In Your Head and other releases, the more abstract versions of the band's dreamy pop songs here often rival any other versions, capturing the group's affinity for space and stillness within a pop format.