Staff Picks for January 2019
January 31, 2019
"World Shut Your Mouth" is the all-time modern rock jammer here, but the rest of the album is exciting, rocked out and stadium sized too. The songs are hooky, the band's on fire and Cope takes charge like he was born to do it. The end result is brilliant, shiny as glass fun.
January 30, 2019
Recorded in Italy in 1962, Chet Is Back! showcases the "cool" trumpeter cutting loose on such bop-oriented workouts as "Pent-Up House" and "Well, You Needn't." Backed skillfully by a young cadre of up-and-coming European musicians, including the stellar saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, Chet Baker may have never sounded better, including on the ballads. One listen to "Over the Rainbow" and it's clear this is an overlooked Baker classic.
January 29, 2019
Crime and punishment had been pushing back Bang 3 since late 2013, and when it finally dropped in the summer of 2015, the rapper's hologram couldn't even get through a full concert before police shut it down. Bang 3 was a serious step up from his debut; highlight "Superheroes" is filled with more gun talk, but this time it's delivered with guest A$AP Rocky and a purposeful bark from Keef when he used to wander off into a mumble. This sure and stark delivery is all over the album, and yet "Ain't Missin' You" finds Keef sincerely singing an ode to his late friend Big Glo.
January 28, 2019
Much-maligned as the death rattle of heyday-era GNR, there's still some charms to be squeezed out of this collection of cover tunes. "Ain't It Fun" lets Slash noodle (pun unintended) all over the verses until the explosive chorus, a quick take on "Big Dumb Sex" shows that the band's appreciation of Chris Cornell wasn't merely posthumous, and Duff gets a chance to go back to his roots snarling through "Attitude," which still makes the band's live set.
January 27, 2019
By the time he recorded his third album, Djavan was a superstar in Brazil, and was attracting attention in America. Though all of the players on this five-star date are Brazilian and Djavan's lyrics are entirely in Portuguese, it's hard to miss the impact of American artists. From the impressionistic "Morena de Endoidecer" and the complex, jazz-oriented "Jogral" to the enchanting "Faltando Um Pecado" and the Stevie Wonder-ish title song, Djavan keeps listeners guessing.
January 26, 2019
Formatted with three extroverted tracks on the first side and three introverted numbers on the flip, this is a remarkable debut, even if it only hints at how far Marie's ambitions and skills would take her. "I'm a Sucker for Your Love," a free-spirited slice of disco-funk, put Marie in the R&B Top Ten. The subdued but lavish "Turnin' Me On" indicated that she could seduce as easily as Chaka Khan or Patti Austin, two inspirations turned contemporaries.
January 25, 2019
The masked rapper's second album is a big and bold statement of purpose that overflows with catchy, witty, empowering tracks coated in inventive productions. As she celebrates the power that comes with forging a strong sense of self, Leikeli47 also takes on the world and its issues with a confidence that makes this her most satisfying work yet.
January 24, 2019
I could give a TED Talk on the layers of delightful ridiculousness to be found within Operation: Mindcrime, Queensrÿche's Reagan-era concept album about heroin-addicted hitmen, dead nuns, and the mysterious Dr. X. It never fails to get sillier each time I listen to it (lately I'm inspired to call people, say "mindcrime," and hang up), but bombastic songs like "Breaking the Silence," "The Mission," and its pair of radio hits still bear their original twin-guitar majesty.
January 23, 2019
Recently issued by Dark Entries, this colossal box set compiles everything Carolyn Fok released during the '80s, plus plenty of unreleased material. While Fok might be an obscure name to all but the most devoted fans of D.I.Y. cassette culture, the visionary artist's singular brand of dubby post-punk/industrial is ripe for rediscovery. Releases like her 1985 debut, Charred Blossoms, sound remarkably ahead of their time, and could have easily been released by lo-fi labels like Not Not Fun three decades later.
January 22, 2019
Various Artists
Excellent collection of synth-heavy African pop that is equally influenced by disco and boogie, while keeping a strong South African feel.
January 21, 2019
Buffy Sainte-Marie has been as much of an activist as a musician since she cut her first album in 1964, and 2017's Medicine Songs shows her music and her fervor remains strong and thoroughly up-to-date. Featuring two new songs along with revised and re-imagined salvos from her back catalog, this is the sound of a committed artist who refuses to go stale or stop fighting the good fight when it's needed.
January 19, 2019
Connie Converse spent much of the 1950s living in New York City, trying to make a career as a musician with practically no success. However, she unwittingly invented many of the tropes of confessional singer-songwriters of the '60s and '70s, though no one outside of her closest friends ever heard her work. This collection of informally recorded living room sessions documents a thoroughly unique musician and lyricist years ahead of her time.
January 18, 2019
This more confident-sounding sixth studio album was a departure from Williams' earlier folk records, one that saw her lean into folk-rock, the '70s California vibe, and contemporary adult-alternative pop. Guests include Marshall Crenshaw and Ani DiFranco as well as members of the Hooters (Rob Hyman co-wrote two of the songs).
January 17, 2019
With his eclectic self-titled sophomore set, Boston's Andy Pratt made his first major bid into the burgeoning singer/songwriter scene, introducing himself to American audiences via the ambitious and infinitely charming outlaw pop anthem, "Avenging Annie," which became a modest hit in 1973 and remains a cult classic today.
January 16, 2019
After their lovely, Jeff Buckley-worshiping debut in 2001, the Jimmy Gnecco-led band issued this full-bodied follow-up a year later. Buckley's ghost remains, but there's also a lot for fans of early Muse howlers to like. While Gnecco never reached this same production peak again, a recently released 2018 album offers hope for the future. Highlights include "In A Minute," "Chapter 2 (Money)," "If Flowers Turn," and "Red Colored Stars."
January 15, 2019
The doo wop act's only official full-length release, this elegant set includes the R&B hits "Ten Commandments of Love" and "When I'm with You," along with ten other sweetly harmonized, tightly arranged tunes spanning rhythm and blues ballads and light-handed rock & roll. With Harvey Fuqua and Bobby Lester singing lead, the legendary group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
January 14, 2019
Rumor has it that Sylvester Stallone originally wanted Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" as the Rocky III main theme. Denied, he serendipitously settled on Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," a song so full of crotch-tight, pre-game swagger it could almost be named the "Id of the Tiger." Amazingly, the rest of Survivor's third album plays like an 18-year-old's fever dream of what the '80s sounded like. These are hooky, headband-and-jean jacket anthems propelled by cocky, neon guitar licks, a steamy underlayment of synth, and Dave Bickler's nasal-flaring lead-vocals.
January 13, 2019
The first of five thematically linked albums by clarinetist John Carter in which he musically depicts African-American history. This is the only volume on Black Saint (the rest appeared on Gramavision), Carter's octet includes cornetist Bobby Bradford, and flutist James Newton. These five originals expressionistically depict life in Africa before slavery by melding folk melodies with advanced improvising.
January 12, 2019
Dark, cynical, and subversively funny, Blur's fourth LP skews more of modern life in witty fashion, while delivering some of the catchiest tunes in their catalog. From the biting "Stereotypes" to "Country House" and the yearning "Best Days" and "The Universal," there's something for every mood. Highlights on this career peak include the jaunty "Charmless Man," the wild "Mr Robinson's Quango," and one of the band's best moments of introspection, "He Thought of Cars."
January 11, 2019
Earth, Wind & Fire's self-titled 1971 debut arrived already fluent in the close harmonies of the classiest soul groups, the deep funk of James Brown, and the progressive social concerns and multiple vocal features of Sly & the Family Stone. Courtesy of auteur Maurice White, the nine-member group added a set of freewheeling arrangements that were heavy on horns, which helped to make this one of their finest albums -- the artistic, if not commercial equal of their hits.
January 10, 2019
On their first two albums, Uncle Tupelo's music was influenced as much by the Minutemen and Dinosaur Jr. as the Carter Family, but for their third full-length, they turned off their amps and dug deep into the folk sounds that inspired them. March 16-20, 1992 whispered where most of their music roared, but the covers showed their sense of class consciousness ran deep, and revealed how quickly Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy were maturing as songwriters.
January 9, 2019
A fine last hurrah from a one-of-a-kind band, Meet You in the Shadows harks back to Outrageous Cherry's early days and sums up where they landed more than 20 years later. Filled with love songs for misfits -- and plenty of eloquent guitar solos from the late Larry Ray -- the album radiates the joy and warmth that always defined the band's music.
January 8, 2019
The Watersons' 1975 masterpiece saw British folk legend Martin Carthy joining the family's ranks both as husband of Norma Waterson and vocal stand-in for John Harrison. The group's earthy a cappella folk reached its zenith in terms of performance, arrangements, and tone on this set.
January 7, 2019
With lo-fi, waterlogged production and post-Dilla beats heavy on chopped vocal samples, this brief offering from Odd Future's most lyrically astute member marks another shift in his restless creative arc. Bright, woozy textures and submerged, almost detached rhyme schemes make Some Rap Songs feel both summery and cold at the same time.
January 6, 2019
Unquestionably one of the best and most important hardcore techno albums ever, Delta 9's debut full-length brought gabber and speedcore to a wider audience (i.e. fans of death metal and industrial, as it was released by Earache). Filled with 200+ BPM distorted kicks, violent samples, and sampled metal riffs, this is a brutal, uncompromising mix of adrenaline and sheer terror. For fans of certain corners of the extreme music world, this changed everything.
January 5, 2019
One of the lesser-appreciated INXS albums from their late era, Welcome to Wherever You Are still has several worthwhile tunes. The album opens with a quasi-mystical drone but quickly shifts into the slick fashion-pop that the band was known for. "Heaven Sent," "Taste It" and the slinky "Not Enough Time" are all tailor made for an MTV House of Style runway montage, and that's not a bad thing.
January 4, 2019
As close to a pop record as they were capable of, 2006's Rather Ripped found Sonic Youth embracing compact song structures with discernible hooks. Still with plenty of the warped guitar experiments the band had made their name on, the album felt stripped down and urgently alive, with Kim Gordon penning both a majority of the tracks and most of its standouts.
January 3, 2019
Recorded live to tape at Havana's legendary Areito Studios, this cooking multi-generational big band pays homage to the mambo with passion and innovation. An homage to the great mambo music of the '40s and '50s, this 16-piece big band of seasoned Cuban musicians -- that includes lead vocalist Jose "Pepito" Gomez and pianist/arranger Michael Eckroth -- makes the dancefloor burn.
January 2, 2019
Hard bop trumpeter Lee Morgan manages to sound both elegant and down-and-dirty on this follow-up to his commercial breakthrough The Sidewinder. The title track is a boisterous slice of boogaloo soul, but the underrated highlight is the Wayne Shorter composition "Edda" which brings to mind busy urban streets and bustling city sidewalks full of cosmopolitan pedestrians shouldering their way uptown.
January 1, 2019
No collection of leftovers here, Huey "Piano" Smith's album debut featured the hits "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu," "High Blood Pressure," and "Don't You Just Know It" along with Crescent City favorites like "Little Liza Jane," "Don't You Know Yockomo," "Just A Lonely Clown," and Bobby Marchan's "Little Chickee Wah Wah." As a budget priced collection, this one's hard to turn down. An essential building block for any New Orleans collection.