Staff Picks for May 2015
May 31, 2015
The best album Digital Hardcore Recordings ever released. 15-minute drone opener "Opium" barely prepares you for the volatile combination of dark ambient and harsh breakbeats that follows, especially on unrelentingly bleak tracks like "What You Call A Life" and monolithic closer "My Confession." Still astonishing nearly 2 decades later, If You're Into It... is the defining statement from one of the founding fathers of breakcore.
May 30, 2015
The US debut from Coventry, England's Rajinder Singh Rai, better known by his DJ nom de plume Panjabi MC, Beware is bookended by a pair of bonafide club classics featuring Jay-Z, but astute gamers will be more impressed with the trippy Rajasthani/Hip-Hop mash-up "Jogi," which drives one of Far Cry 4's most impressive (and drug addled) action sequences.
May 29, 2015
Very few country singers of the '60s and '70s could touch Bobby Bare in terms of range and depth—Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, George Jones and Willie Nelson, but that's about it. Despite his greatness, he's never had a career-spanning compilation prior to this sterling Raven double-disc set. Bare was a progressive singer in the best sense, stitching together different sounds and styles so the seams don't show, and he was the best interpreter Shel Silverstein ever had, plus he made "The Gambler" seem like a real song. Get this. You won't be disappointed.
May 28, 2015
Sullen, brash and unashamedly sexual, PINS' full-length debut crackles with the intensity of a band that feels like a gang. Faith Holgate's wails rival forebears such as PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, and the Duke Spirit's Liela Moss, while her bandmates' grinding attack just adds to the chemistry. Girls Like Us' slow-burning evocations of hunger and danger make it a riveting debut.
May 27, 2015
Young's impressive debut successfully delivers songs to back up that tremendous, soul-filled rasp. Beyond his international break-through hit "Come Back and Stay," there's his ballad version of Marvin Gaye's "Wherever I Lay My Hat," still the gold-standard vocal performance of that song, and his soul reinvention of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," another potential blaspheme but different enough and emotive enough to slide by doubters with a grand jeté.
May 26, 2015
While superstar jazz team-ups often fall short of the hype, this superb 1956 pairing between two of the jazz world's most influential and infamously troubled icons remains a classic of the era. From the saucy cheesecake cover shot, to the unexpected abundance of compositions from Philly-legend Jimmy Heath, to the melodic sparring between Baker and Pepper, Playboys is an utterly engaging artifact from the golden age of West Coast jazz.
May 25, 2015
Though all of Placebo's albums have been reissued, this killer, budget-priced comp, assembled from all three records, reveals the jazz-funk genius of the late, great producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist Marc Moulin and his band. Placebo was one of France's great exports during the 1970s; they picked up on the inspiration from Tony Williams' Lifetime, Miles Davis and Eleventh House, then transformed it for the discotheque floor.
![The Best of the Shangri-Las [Mercury]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0000026574/front/400/X2xlL4K6gcLq5TRA2K4xYphUoDg0hsvx4F4sL4oO-nA=.jpg)
May 24, 2015
Phil Spector used to say he wrote little symphonies for the kids. In contrast, Shadow Morton wrote compact operas, full of love, death, betrayal, familial strife, and abundant heartache, and Mary Weiss was his Maria Callas, a singer who could bring the full range of teenage emotional fury to life with a vocal shrug of the shoulders. The singles Morton produced for the Shangri-Las are as good as girl group pop gets, and this collection brings together nearly all their best moments on one disc; teen angst never sounded this thrilling.
May 23, 2015
The debut album from the Farfisa-loving "Madchester" outfit peaked at the number 2 spot on the British album charts, largely on the strength of the brooding, but hook-laden "This Is How It Feels" and the similarly earworm-heavy "She Comes in the Fall." Better still was the dizzying "Commercial Rain," a dizzying blast of Teardrop Explodes-inspired electro-Britpop that only appeared on the US version of the album.
May 22, 2015
With Jean-Benoît Dunckel's EP Man of Sorrow on the horizon, it's worth revisiting his self-titled debut as Darkel. With or without Air, Dunckel's approach is unmistakable—epic synths and starry-eyed melodies abound—but if possible, these songs are even gauzier and more impressionistic, and act as forerunners of the filmic turn his music took a few years later.
May 21, 2015
Blues rarely gets as harrowingly real and tough as Otis Rush's mid-50s recordings do. His vocals and guitar have a ferocious power, his songs cut deep (especially the classic "Double Trouble") and the razor sharp guitar antic of Ike Turner gives everything a jolt of electricity. This collection gathers up all his singles for the Cobra label and even if the blues bores you silly, this set might just knock you for a loop.
![The Best of Gilbert O'Sullivan [Rhino]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0000118706/front/400/M3ToA9-bn1fGtF-T2lVv-Q4Q1ghY8VaPylnm7PwcKNY=.jpg)
May 20, 2015
Forget all the Harry Nilsson and Paul McCartney comparisons in regards to Tobias Jesso Jr. The '70s singer/songwriter Jesso really sounds like is the oft-maligned Gilbert O'Sullivan, an irripressibly chipper, tuneful and sentimental chap. His cutesiness could sometimes grate but it often charmed—or, in the case of "Matrimony," simply baffled—and there's a moroseness to his two biggest hits so palpable that Morrissey wound up credibly covering "Nothing Rhymed."
May 19, 2015
Eerie and atmospheric, yet rife with funky, psych-infused, electric guitar, trumpeter Ron Miles' 1997 effort Woman's Day still sounds revelatory over ten years later. Working with longtime collaborator guitarist Bill Frisell, Miles built upon the Hendrix-esque sound of My Cruel Heart with a warmer, more introspective set that prefigured (and most likely influenced) the work of younger artists like Christian Scott and Robert Glasper.
May 18, 2015
Mark Eitzel's second album after retiring American Music Club found him collaborating with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, and they proved to be well suited to one another; Eitzel's dour but dazzling tales of the shadows of love and life mesh brilliantly with Buck's evocative melodies, and the band (with Buck on guitar and Barrett Martin and Scott McCaughey handling a wealth of instruments) provides dynamic accompaniment that's artful but never overwhelms the songs. Accessible by Eitzel's standards, West is also one of his best and most compelling solo albums.
May 17, 2015
Sonic Boom's first album after the bitter breakup of Spacemen 3 is a beautiful, spacey delight that never raises it's voice above a whisper, yet still manages to be riveting. The record has many songs perfect for drifting off, but also some that count as the hookiest Sonic ever did. Check "Touch the Stars" for an example of how when the two are combined, the album really zooms off into inner space.
May 15, 2015
The Allmans reached their peak of stunning musicianship on 1971's At Fillmore East after touring in support of this sophomore studio outing released the preceding year. Produced by Tom Dowd, it marked Dickey Betts' emergence as a songwriter (but not singer) on a pair of classic tunes bracketing two of Gregg Allman's finest on side one. A model of concision at scarcely over half an hour in length (shorter than Eat a Peach's "Mountain Jam"), it was—unimaginably at the time—also the last Allman Brothers studio album featuring Duane Allman from start to finish.
May 14, 2015
After he was known as MC Percy, and before he went by Tragedy Khadafi, Queensbridge rapper Percy Chapman released a pair of stellar early-'90s albums on A&M. Combined and recirculated by Nature Sounds in '07, the hard-edged sets—involving Marley Marl, Large Professor, and K-Def—are essential components in Queens-birthed rap, released before Nas and Mobb Deep delivered their classics.
May 13, 2015
Best known for his extensive resumé of film soundtracks, composer/multi-instrumentalist Mark Isham made his solo debut in 1983 with the incredible Vapor Drawings. The album's inventive electronic sequencing (especially on "Sympathy and Acknowledgement") and solemn trumpet, flugelhorn, and EVI playing make this one highly recommended for fans of 21st century cosmic droners such as Emeralds and Justin Walter. Not to mention, the album's title anticipates the Internet-spawned "vaporwave" genre by about 30 years.
May 12, 2015
Her voice sounds so good on this one. Mournful, fragile, playful, and emphatic are all in rotation on the robust Gather Me. Though the flower power era is long gone, one can only hope the lyrical balance of storytelling and wordplay Melanie exhibits here never goes out of style. Included is the platinum-selling "Brand New Key," unofficially aka "The Roller Skate Song."
May 11, 2015
Before reemerging as a classical guitar ace and allowing the internet to expose his increasingly unpleasant stage manners, Mark Kozelek released a string of influential albums fronting the evocative, minimalist San Francisco outfit Red House Painters. Their pastoral fourth album marked a turning point toward the more acoustic, folk-inspired sound Kozelek would later explore as Sun Kill Moon.
May 10, 2015
With a new Faith No More record on the way, it's a good time to dig into some of the zanier corners of the Mike Patton catalog. His 2002 collaboration with the still-ascending Dillinger Escape Plan was a dream come true for avant metal dorks, and it delivered on its promise of jagged compositions, frayed vocals, pandemonium and discomfort. The six exhilarating and exhausting minutes of "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things" are equivalent to six full songs from any other band.
May 9, 2015
On September 5, 1982, a few days before they started work on their debut album, the Dream Syndicate played a live set in the studios of KPFK-FM, a listener-supported radio station in the Los Angeles area. The Day Before Wine and Roses gives the KPFK broadcast a non-bootleg release, and between the slow burn of "Some Kinda Itch," the long, ominous jam through "Season of the Witch," and the twin guitar fury of "Open Hour," this offers a decidedly different but equally devastating portrait of this band's formative period.
![Connected [3-2-1]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0000148608/front/400/--1tgvfGimL1XaUvXh47mxyhM-OFI8zG4l-qVpXXB1I=.jpg)
May 8, 2015
Various Artists
Right up there with the Lyricist Lounge series, the Connected compilation was another blow against hip-hop's status quo. With Ced-G and Kool Keith leading the charge as the Ultramagnetic MC's, the album offers a variety of underground flavors including cuts from Blackalicious, Channel Live, and the Angel. Spida from the Refugee Camp offers a dancehall jam while other cuts are based in the reigning electronica sound of the time: trip-hop.
May 7, 2015
While Durutti Column mastermind Vini Reilly never tied himself down to one genre, even the most fluent fans might have raised an eyebrow for 1996's Fidelity. More informed by techno and electronic music than anything that came before it, the album begins with a time-honored Led Zeppelin drum sample and blooms from there into evocative ambient experiments, strange programed pop and glowing guest vocals on some songs by Elli R. Rudge.
May 6, 2015
French musician Cécile Schott has changed direction with nearly every release under the Colleen moniker, but few things on earth sound anything like her 2003 debut. Her excellent later albums are based on acoustic sounds such as music boxes and viola da gamba, but this one's composed entirely of samples lifted from dusty old records. The opening title track alone is utterly transportive and mesmerizing, and the album just gets better from there. Truly wondrous and beautiful.
May 5, 2015
Originally packaged in a tin case that was guaranteed to warp and destroy the CD inside, this collection of Porter Ricks' early singles is an experimental dub classic. Here, members Andy Mellwig and Thomas Köner offer rumbling sub-frequencies and melodies that hiss and echo, along with layers of music that slowly drift apart. Check their self-titled, 1997 effort for more hallucinatory excellence.
May 4, 2015
The sixth studio long player from Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor, Sean-Nós Nua (Irish for "new old-style") saw the enigmatic Dubliner exploring her roots with a thirteen track set of traditional Irish songs. Produced by folk legend Dónal Lunny, O'Connor's take on the genre is both esoteric and humble, and her powerhouse voice, which is so well suited to the material, has never sounded better, especially on standouts like "Paddy's Lament," "Molly Malone," and the epic "Lord Baker."
May 3, 2015
A few years back, one of the U.K.'s leading reissue labels paired this keyboardist's second and third albums, both of which were recorded in Detroit, released during the late '70s. Between the two, there are several exceptional jazz-funk cuts, including a blistering version of Earth, Wind & Fire's "See the Light." The albums should be as valued as any of the contemporary releases from Lonnie Liston Smith, Ramsey Lewis, and Ronnie Foster.
May 2, 2015
Few European bands were as guilty of glorious excess like Brainticket. Established during the early krautrock period, they quickly moved toward prog, adding jazz, modern classical composition and acid-drenched space rock into the mix. This four disc box contains three full Brainticket albums—including Cottonwood Hill and Psychonaut—rare early tracks from other bands, and Joel Vandroogenbroek's solo material (including the stellar Biomechanoid).
May 1, 2015
Aqualung was a commercial breakthrough, but this immediately preceding record from 1970 remains a favorite of some early Tull fans, moving past the debut album's blues emphasis and giving a harder edge to sophomore Stand Up's folk-rock. And some of Ian Anderson's finest songwriting is here, including "Teacher" with the late Glenn Cornick's earworm bassline, a tune hooky enough that some kids probably cut class so they could head out to their cars and listen to it on eight-track in the high-school parking lot.