Staff Picks for July 2017
July 31, 2017
Alex Ayuli and Rudi Tambala neologized dream pop and released two of the style's exemplary albums. They also excelled with their singles, all of which are compiled on this two-and-a-half-hour set.
July 30, 2017
Even if Jay-Z's debut album didn't have the polish, the superstar roster, or the hits of his subsequent late '90s albums, it retains an air of irreplaceability. No matter how many trendy producers or how many talented rappers Jay-Z would work with on later albums, he couldn't duplicate this one's naked sincerity and naive ambition.
July 29, 2017
With the Soothing Sounds for Babies series, Raymond Scott did the near-impossible: He packaged progressive musical ideas in an accessible way. This is particularly true of the series' second volume, which was designed by Scott for infants six to 12 months old. Featuring longer and more complex compositions, the collection ranges from winsome melodies to avant-garde polyrhythms (played on a toy typewriter!), all of which remain playful and challenging for listeners over half a century later.
July 28, 2017
An intelligent, highly adept improviser, trumpeter Jason Palmer represents a new breed of 21st century jazz musicians including such contemporaries as Ravi Coltrane, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, and others, who set their egos aside and take a thoughtful, intellectual, and technically adept approach to the music. Which isn't to say this album comes off as a cold, academic exercise. On the contrary, what's so great here is how well Palmer walks the line between romantic slow-jam R&B and harmonically challenging modal jazz improvisation.
July 27, 2017
Opening for Rammstein's 2017 U.S. shows helped boost this LA industrial outfit's profile, just in time for their excellent sophomore set, which finds them coming into their own. Fans of Broken/Spiral-era NIN, Antichrist-era Manson, White Zombie, and, yes, Rammstein, will delight in this effort, a cinematic soundtrack to the apocalypse. In the three years between releases, they upgraded from base model androids into fully formed cybernetic organisms, a formidable evolution that demands attention.
July 26, 2017
A bold and soulful piano pop record chronicling the American experience from this Midwestern-bred, New York-based, Korean-American with a huge voice.
July 25, 2017
An iconic figure on the L.A. punk scene as the founder and leader of the Bags, Alice Bag never got around to making a solo album until 2016. But boy, did she ever make up for lost time; Alice Bag is a smart, furious, and uncompromising set that deals with the personal and the political with equal fury and sonic impact. Merging rock, pop, and Latin sounds, Bag's album is as eclectic as it is powerful.
July 24, 2017
A brilliant fusion of the '90s and 2010s that calls to mind the Breeders and Dum Dum Girls in equal amounts. Throw in some Wedding Present, a little moody '80s synthy new wave, some Lush at their poppiest, and maybe a little Veronica Falls too, and one has a pretty clear picture of the world Chorusgirl operates in.
July 23, 2017
The debut long player from the Derbyshire-based rockers is an unapologetic blast of earworm-heavy, modern rock/punk-pop in a neo-glam wrapper. It's all pomp, circumstance, bluster, and nasty, sugary goodness; an 11-track set (13 on the 2016 U.S. reissue) of hook-laden, radio-ready party songs that embrace both sleaze and cheese.
July 22, 2017
They don't rage and riff like they did in 2002, but the slowly-unspooling pleasures and effortless cool of ...Like Clockwork are myriad and set a potentially interesting table for the band's upcoming Villains.
July 21, 2017
On their surprisingly pretty sixth album, Liars bring the electronic undercurrents lurking in their sound since They Were Wrong, So We Drowned to the fore in a softly hypnotic fashion. WIXIW's insularity often recalls the whispery parts of Drum's Not Dead, another album where the band proved that they do quiet just as thrillingly as they do loud, and it's still fascinating to hear them wield beauty and delicacy just as formidably as they've used force and noise in the past.
July 20, 2017
In her achingly lovely voice, Moura belts out fados new and old in a style that draws deeply on tradition while incorporating subtle melodic and rhythmic innovations in a seamless, unprepossessing way. The contemporary compositions she sings are informed by the greater independence women enjoy today
July 19, 2017
Psychic TV's 1988 studio LP kicks off with "Godstar," their delightful ode to Brian Jones which ended up being a surprise hit in the U.K. It's followed by the equally poppy "Just Like Arcadia," another fan favorite, and from there the album bounces around from noisy Beefheart imitations to warped Pet Sounds pop to the group's first flirtations with acid house. Sacred Bones is about to give this its first vinyl pressing since its original release, so don't miss out.
July 18, 2017
Nearly a decade after the paint peeled from the shine of bossa nova's domination of the pop and jazz charts, producer Creed Taylor and engineer Rudy Van Gelder brought the master's tender sound back into the limelight with the maestro guiding an all star band--half Brazilian, half Anglo--to deliver a true masterpiece of the form.
July 17, 2017
It may not have been the most natural match in music history, but the 1979 marriage of Sparks' focus on oddball pop songs to the driving disco-trance of Giorgio Moroder produced the duo's best album in years.
July 16, 2017
The album is made up of demos Epic and Kevin Junior (of the Chamber Strings) recorded on a four-track recorder in Epic's bedroom in November of 1996. Destined for the fourth album he never recorded, the songs are intimate and unassuming, the most upbeat (for the most part and keeping in mind that most of his tunes are about as bleak as can be), melodic, and powerful of his career.
July 15, 2017
The psychedelic stoner rock band's second EP -- so-called even though it clocks in at 55 minutes -- shows Monster Magnet at its least filtered, with the swirling title track alone exploring the outer reaches of space for over 32 minutes. A vinyl reissue on Napalm Records has been announced, so dig out the blacklight.
July 14, 2017
Stereolab's final album of the '90s was their least critically acclaimed release, but it's generally maintained its status as a fan favorite. Yes, it's 75 minutes long and possibly the most difficult work in their catalog -- centerpiece "Blue Milk" is 11 minutes of monotonous clanging, for example. If you haven't been scared away yet, this is easily the most daring album they've ever done, swinging from avant-jazz to lounge pop to freaked-out electronics at the drop of a hat and never failing to come up with something strange and lovely.
July 13, 2017
Strikingly spare, Low rarely made better use of dynamics than they did on their fourth full-length album, 1999's Secret Name. The album's slow, patient performances are often whisper quiet, lending the bursts of guitar and keyboard a tremendous impact (Steve Albini's engineering makes the most of the relief between the instruments). And the vocals from Mimi Parker and Alan Spearhawk are strikingly beautiful in their naturalism; this is 3 a.m. listening at its finest.
July 12, 2017
This two-disc set compiles a handful or so tracks from the singer's four seasonal EPs and fills it out with music exclusive to this album. There are 20 tracks that cover a range of styles from bossa nova and samba to soul and jazz (both trad and acid) to pop and beyond. This is a high watermark in a career teeming with them.
July 11, 2017
With a title and tunes ideal for summertime driving with the top down (windows will do), this collection gathers the doo-wop icons' Atco singles from 1959-1961. While most of their hits were written by Leiber and Stoller, the set also includes the Bobby Darin-penned "Wait a Minute," Willie Dixon's "My Babe," and "The Snake and the Bookworm" by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman.
![Adaptation [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0000866165/front/400/djHzvgKiiUWGf-gsZzZ7Dh_TZlp6n_cq-Emr2zx15tU=.jpg)
July 10, 2017
The uncategorizable Adaptation is hardly what one would call a thriller (in the conventional sense). Its atmospheric score, however, while never quite "creepy" or "eerie," does mine a palpably suspenseful vein from ominous start to melancholy finish. Since you never know what's going to happen next in Spike Jonze's acclaimed "meta-movie," this seems only fitting. The Turtles' radiant "Happy Together," which plays a key role in the film, closes out the soundtrack.
July 9, 2017
This is the amiable and slightly mischievous Waterboys of old, as evidenced by the tight, Beatles-inspired "Nobody's Baby Anymore," which takes a winking look at age, success, and nostalgia, but that's not to say that the weighty themes of life, loss, faith, and hope aren't still the bedrock on which Mike Scott builds his sonic temples.
July 8, 2017
Retaining producer Kip Hanrahan from the classic Tango: Zero Hour sessions, this set offers more whimsy; the often perilous shifts in tempo and mood are handled more smoothly here. Perhaps this is because this piece was used for the musical production Tango Apasionado, which chronicles the history of the tango. Nonetheless, this is essential for the maestro's fans, and tango lovers in general.
July 7, 2017
The second EP from the Long Beach rapper is a concise and intense ride that combines his uncomfortably honest inner ruminations with wider social issues relevant to being a black man in America. Head straight for "War Ready" and the sobering slice of vulnerability, "Smile." An essential snapshot of 2016 that bears witness to the evolution of an artist coming into his own with an unflinching, socially conscious perspective.
July 6, 2017
Following an acrimonious split with longtime producer Mickie Most, the psychedelic Scottish troubadour returned to the U.K. and formed a leaner, more electrified ensemble that he dubbed Open Road. Although this new direction was somewhat short-lived, the resulting album yielded a number of strong standouts like "Changes" and "Roots of Oak."
July 5, 2017
The meeting of the dread roots maestro Yabby You and the techno-driven Mad Professor had all the ingredients of a clash made in hell. You's forte -- hypnotic, mesmerizing roots with a message -- by all measure seems the total antithesis of the Professor's oftentimes startling, yet invariably brilliant, special effects-ridden style. Yet, it turns out that the pair's meeting was a match made in heaven.
July 4, 2017
The Portland, Oregon-based singer/songwriter's penchant for sun-drenched West Coast vistas and timeless narratives that revel in Tom Waits-inspired Americana and non-dogmatic spirituality come full circle on Hold Time, a typical Matt Ward collection of laconic summer songs that could have safely appeared in any decade without suspicion of origin.
July 3, 2017
Jazzy, hyperspeed drum'n'bass by a quartet of NYC scene regulars, completely improvised in concert at the now-defunct Izzy Bar. This album came out in 2000 and completely flew under the radar, probably as it had nothing to do with the U.K. scene and clearly wasn't designed for DJs. Fans of Squarepusher, Bill Laswell, and the Jungle Sky massive absolutely need to track this one down.
July 2, 2017
Famous for not being famous -- despite decades of solid output -- this California indie rock outfit deserves a listen. On this, their thirteenth album, the band produced another enjoyable set of atmospheric tunes in a vein similar to the Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, Guided by Voices, and more. This is a good taste of their late-era trajectory, which peaked again with their most recent LP, The Gospel According To John, which arrived in April.
July 1, 2017
Many straight-ahead bop musicians would never consider recording traditional folk songs from the British Isles, but that's exactly what Johnny Griffin does on The Kerry Dancers and Other Swinging Folk -- and this Orrin Keepnews-produced album just happens to be one of his best releases of the 1960s.