Staff Picks for July 2012
July 31, 2012
As part of the Specialty Profiles series, New Orleans R&B belter Lloyd Price is spotlighted on several tracks he recorded for the Los Angeles-based label between 1952 and 1959. This is raucous R&B, not to be confused with Lloyd's pop hits recorded for ABC-Paramount in the early '60s.
July 30, 2012
Various Artists
Admirers of Luciano Berio’s Sequenzas have long wished for an affordable, high-quality, and complete collection of these masterpieces for solo instruments, considered by some to be the core works in the composer’s oeuvre. This is it.
July 29, 2012
Taking its title from the Canadian town where it was recorded, Pilot's 1976 gem Morin Heights was produced by Queen man Roy Thomas Baker. Featuring some of the most rocking, melodic songs the Scottish outfit ever recorded, it also includes one of the most infectious and unlikely pop anthems, "Canada."
July 28, 2012
Sure, Graceland is a masterpiece, but David Byrne's 1989 celebration of Latin and South American music deserves just as much praise as Paul Simon's post-Garfunkel opus does. Summer is nasty and gross, so pour yourself a Caipirinha and put on a Band-Aid.
July 27, 2012
By the time their fourth album dropped in 2001, this Michigan space rock duo had refined their delicate atmospherics past the delay-drenched sound portals of earlier work. Consciousness is full of moody ambient sounds that stretch out with subtlety, grace, and story-telling undercurrents of pain and resolution.
July 26, 2012
This is one of only a handful of dates McDuff recorded for Cadet. It was co-arranged and co-composed by McDuff and Richard Evans. It's pregnant with deep bass, heavy funky grooves, and rocked-up electric guitar. It's a gritty standout in the organist's catalog.
July 25, 2012
This totally obscure gem from '90s girl punkers the Hissyfits sounds like the perfect blend of the cute pop of Cub, the hard rock skills of the (early) Donnas, and the riot grrrl punch of Sleater-Kinney.
July 24, 2012
The Flaming Lips explore the psychedelic outer rim of sonic space with a crack team of guest performers on The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends. Featuring collaborations with Lightning Bolt, Jim James, and Erykah Badu, the compilation documents the last couple years of the band's experimental team-ups.
July 23, 2012
Daring in virtuosity, vigorous in interpretation, and spellbinding in effect, the Takács Quartet recorded one of the truly great sets of Béla Bartók's monumental String Quartets, one which has seldom been matched and surely never surpassed.
July 22, 2012
The queens of U.K. garage rock pay homage to punk with a cool, cheeky collection of covers (the Damned, the Ramones, the Undertones -- even Plastic Bertrand!) alongside Billy Childish-penned, punk-inspired new tunes (best of all, the sneering reinterpretation of the Beatles with "Don't Wanna Hold Your Hand").
![The Singing Brakeman [Living Era]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0000701135/front/400/jkfBeted912HZdwYd2H_gt_M69_UI9rrJSVvWL2-yAg=.jpg)
July 21, 2012
Living Era's Jimmie Rodgers collection highlights 50 RCA recordings of the late '20s and early '30s, emphasizing his multifaceted career with solo and small-band tracks. Spread out over two discs, this set combines cowboy and railroad tunes, all 13 Blue Yodels, and three selections from his final session on May 24, 1933.
July 20, 2012
Parks co-writes with Nostalgia 77's Ben Lamdin and Riaan Vosloo. With stripped-down arrangements, her soul-jazz piano chops come out to play. Her hipness on the keys is matched only by her highly individual vocal style.
July 19, 2012
This set, taken from a May 13, 1971, concert at Royal Albert Hall, captures the sound of the Clarence White/Roger McGuinn version of the Byrds at a peak, anchored by a monstrous, nearly 20-minute version of "Eight Miles High."
July 18, 2012
This 1975 date is a masterpiece of Detroit jazz and a perfect snapshot of the sound of the region in the hazy, often turbulent mid-'70s. Led by organist and keyboardist Lyman Woodard, the group burns through groove-oriented semi-cosmic street scenes with an occasional hint of Latin flavor. The album's grit is offset by its sheer beauty, as on the heartbreaking "Joy Road," the sonic equivalent of a lovelorn sigh.
July 17, 2012
Hmm, first five albums from Kevin Ayers, one of the most delightfully idiosyncratic rockers of the '70s, replete with bonus tracks and great sound? Yes, I'll have some.
July 16, 2012
It's rare when a classical ensemble can successfully pull off an idiomatic switch to folk music, but Jeanette Sorrell and Apollo's Fire hit it out of the ballpark with this exceptional album of American folk song; the performers' pleasure in the music leaps out on every track.
July 15, 2012
It's really uneven but Hall & Oates' 1979 X-Static has moments of arty new wave brilliance along with the gorgeous blue-eyed soul "Wait for Me," which points the way to their hitmaking sound of the '80s.
July 14, 2012
Fergie's first and only solo album is pretty awful, but I like it the way someone likes a really ugly, slobbery dog because it's kind of lovable despite it all. Plus "Clumsy" is sort of a jam, right? "London Bridge," too. Right? I may be alone on this one but I will never back down!
July 13, 2012
Call Ini Kamoze a one-hit wonder and I'll bristle, because the man is much more than "Hotstepper." That mammoth hit is here, and cool and deadly as ever, but also check "Call the Police," "Gunshot," and "World-A-Music," the last of which would be sampled on Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock."
![Alexander Scriabin: Das Solo-Klavierwerke [CDs+DVD]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0002728280/front/400/SZUSOGKyH6XpXzDuRM5Fs4Af7E_1E-2MlBBPmPAXRBU=.jpg)
July 12, 2012
Swedish virtuoso Maria Lettberg has recorded all of the published solo piano music for Capriccio, and this exceptional set fills collectors’ needs admirably. Lettberg has made Scriabin’s music a specialty within her large and varied repertoire, and her performances are consistently insightful, polished, and electric.
July 11, 2012
Injecting a dose of '70s rock into its Beatles-inspired pop, Navy Blues finds the Canadian band at its best with a sugary sweet riff-fest of an album.
July 10, 2012
James Iha's solo debut, 1998’s Let It Come Down, is a blissful, shiny blast of melodic guitar pop that more than hints at his pre-Smashing Pumpkins obsessions. This is ‘60s and ‘70s-influenced folk-rock and singer/songwriter pop that finds Iha wearing both his heart and his influences on his sleeve.
July 9, 2012
Fergus-Thompson seems naturally to get Debussy's music just right. It has everything that you would expect in what's often described as the musical equivalent of Monet's art: softness of edges, organic formations, a blooming richness of hues.
July 8, 2012
While Geek the Girl may not be as iconic as, say, Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville, it's as smart, brave, and vulnerable as better-known portraits of '90s femininity.
July 7, 2012
The new Searchers box set Hearts in Their Eyes takes its name from "Hearts in Their Eyes," the first song on the group's self-titled 1979 album. The group was at a latter-day peak, playing a terrific blend of power pop and pub rock.
July 6, 2012
Dave Holland's first record as bandleader was also one of the bassist's most adventurous. Featuring reed/wind men Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton (the only time the two performed together) plus drummer Barry Altschul, the foursome effortlessly moves from inside/outside post-bop to pliant free improvisation.
July 5, 2012
Invitation to Openness is Les McCann's funky, spacy masterpiece; it's comprised of only three long, tripped-out tracks, including the classic 26-minute opener, "The Lovers."
July 4, 2012
Now that Redd Kross are returning with an upcoming album on Merge, it's a great time to revisit their 1982 debut, a gloriously snotty meld of L.A. punk with good old-fashioned rock & roll.
![Ongakushitsu [Moikai]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0000012348/front/400/6EejLd12KSWnopCdsufBoByhM-OFI8zG4l-qVpXXB1I=.jpg)
July 3, 2012
As a longtime collaborator with experimental electronic artist Nobukazu Takemura, Aki Tsuyuko provided sampled vocal snippets and video accompaniment to Takemura's childlike electro rhythms. With Ongakushitsu, however, Tsuyuko painted in broad impressionistic strokes, creating patient and playful atmospheres of organ and electronic tones. The album is meditative to the point of nearly becoming ambient, and creates a unique feeling of serenity and quiet contemplation.
July 2, 2012
William Christie leads a thrilling live performance of Handel's late masterpiece from the 1996 Glyndebourne Festival. Lorraine Hunt (Lieberson), Dawn Upshaw, David Daniels, and Richard Croft were all in their prime and their singing is soulful and dazzling, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment plays brilliantly.
July 1, 2012
Robert "Barbecue Bob" Hicks recorded some 65 sides between 1927 and his death in 1931, a mix of modal country blues that is as fine as any tracked by a country blues artist in the era. This double-disc set has all the essentials.