Staff Picks for November 2016
November 30, 2016
November 2016 saw the passing of Billy Miller, one of the founders of the celebrated fanzine Kicks, the exemplary rock 'n' roll label Norton Records, and a wild and frantic rock band, the A-Bones. If you want to pay homage to Miller's skills as a front man, you could do no better than this collection, a two-disc sampler of the band's most raucous and primal sides, hitting a greasy sweet spot between garage punk and rockabilly.
November 29, 2016
Battles in the North is an album that sets Immortal apart from their black metal brethren, boasting a consistency of theme and an instrumental efficiency matched by few within the genre, never bowing to pretension or pointlessly kowtowing to the ridiculous mores of the "true black metal" underground.
November 28, 2016
With Índia, Gal Costa completely abandoned the absurd, screaming guitars and wild drumming for some of the lushest, most sophisticated, and most complex arrangements of her career. Even though the Tropicalia movement was over by the time of this release, Índia unquestionably shows that Costa's inventiveness was still unfolding.
November 27, 2016
The peak of the band's industrial-gone-mainstream fusion, and still one of the best electronic music albums yet recorded, Some Great Reward still sounds great, with the band's ever-evolving musical and production skills matching even more ambitious songwriting from Martin Gore.
November 26, 2016
A vivid snapshot of one of their best-loved eras, the third installment of Dick's Picks finds the Dead stretching out harmonious rapport on a late Spring night in 1977 at the Sportatorium in Pembroke Pines, Florida. As they were so many times that year, the band was at the top of their game and this set ripples with spirit.
November 25, 2016
Few acts manage to have a creative and commercial breakthrough with the same album, especially in country music, but the Mavericks pulled it off with their third album, 1994's What A Crying Shame. Don Cook's production brought the sheen of the band's melodies forward, and made the most of Raul Malo's exceptional vocals. And the splendid mix of country, retro-pop, and Latin influences would define the Mavericks' most fruitful era.
November 24, 2016
On this fine late phase recording by the great conguero, his septet moves through soul-jazz grooves, swinging hard bop, Latin jazz classics and originals. All assembled, it illuminates a crossroads where fingerpopping dance grooves, uptown cutting sessions and sophisticated postbop converge.
November 23, 2016
Sripping away much of the noodling and noise of their earlier work in favor of tighter structures, more immediate melodies, and vocals, on Rock Action Mogwai recaptures the excitement that surrounded their first releases. The album incorporates bristling distortion, propulsive drums, and electronic textures, but the album's most remarkable moments revisit and reinvent more traditional sounds.
November 22, 2016
Perhaps the ulimate triumph of blackened death metal, which didn't even have a name yet, Storm of the Light's Bane uses its scant six proper songs to create a world of haunting, icy imagery, replete with fallen angels in despair, souls being torn asunder, and surrendering to a majestic, ancient evil.
November 21, 2016
McCoy Tyner and his trio (bassist Art Davis and drummer Elvin Jones) lay out a tight 32 minutes of smokey cafe jazz, featuring mostly original compositions. Never stodgy or dull, the tracks are melodic and elegant, highlighting Tyner's terrific sense of bop timing and groove. Alongside his brilliant work as part of Coltrane's classic quartet, Inception shows a master at the peak of his craft.
November 20, 2016
While California's Middle Class are often cited as the first real-deal hardcore band, Arizona exiles the Consumers at least deserve an honorable mention. Recorded in a single evening in 1978 shortly before leaving Phoenix for L.A., All My Friends Are Dead is a blistering 19-minute assault of teenage rage, played with speed, intensity, and precision that's still impressive thirty-eight years later. All My Friends Are Dead sat unreleased until 1995, and heard today, it makes the Consumers sound like the great punk band that got away.
November 19, 2016
Collecting 53 recordings from 1939-1952 that include all of their official releases as well as a few outtakes, this two-disc set can put an admirer's mind at ease -- there's no need to chase down piecemeal collections. Along with the team's Christmas classics, it includes non-holiday treasures by the likes of Sammy Cahn and Jules Styne, Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer, Frank Loesser, and Irving Berlin.
November 18, 2016
The musical equivalent of a country themed Sears catalog shoot full of gingham skirts and soft-focus golden hour lighting, Juice Newton's third and final album with Silver Spur finds her stretching towards the melodic soft-rock that would later pervade her early solo albums. From the sparkling, Raspberries-esque "Low Down and Lonesome," to the Nashville stank' face cover of Bob Seger's "Fire Down Below," the album is a perfect showcase for Newton's highly resonant croon and rising profile as country-pop queen in Jordache jeans and Zodiac boots.
November 17, 2016
A second-wave Earache band, obviously influenced by Napalm Death, Carcass and Godflesh, the Berzerker breathed much-needed new life into the insular grindcore genre. The songs on this eponymous debut come off as a cross breed of classic early-'90s grindcore and late-'90s gabba, an almost self-mocking style of hardcore techno that pushes the bpm level to ultra-jackhammer levels.
November 16, 2016
Released after Pressure, the breakthrough album from Kevin Martin's experimental dancehall alias The Bug, this EP contains three non-album cuts as well as several brutal dub versions. It was the first of many astonishing collaborations between Martin and Jamaican vocalist Warrior Queen, and it's still some of the best work either have done.
November 15, 2016
Among the least fashionable things Elvis Costello could have done in 1981 was to cop to loving country music and travel to Nashville to work with George Jones' producer. But Almost Blue turned out to be an exceptional tribute to both classic Nashville sounds and inspired outlier Gram Parsons. Costello's performances are heartfelt and smart, the work of a man who learned a lot from the originals, and his take on the material showed these tunes weren't such an unlikely influence after all.
November 14, 2016
Handy's inspired mash-up of the funky organ jazz of Jimmy Smith with the tuba-based grooves of New Orleans second-line brass band music is a roiling, earthy, smile-inducing production. Without sacrificing any of his improvisational edge, Handy ably straddles the lines between dance-oriented, mardi-gras party music, exploratory hard-bop and sophisticated R&B.
November 13, 2016
Felt's final album is a sweeping, deeply emotional sophisticated pop masterpiece. Nostalgia untainted by false sentiment, with perfectly layered guitars and keys. Not to mention the lyrical and vocal genius of Lawrence, one of pop's greatest iconoclasts.
November 12, 2016
If it isn't Midnight Oil's best effort, it's certainly close. The band sticks to themes that are close to its heart here -- the environment, native peoples, and other social causes -- but rarely has it fashioned an album full of songs that are as musically intoxicating as on this 1993 release. ICYMI, the band has announced plans to tour in 2017.
November 11, 2016
A head-first plunge into expressive madness, Fear was the album where John Cale began seriously tapping into his mammoth reserves of paranoia. After several quirky but accessible works following his departure from the Velvet Underground, Fear allowed Cale to musically run free, from the unsettling dynamics of "Fear Is A Man's Best Friend" and the mercenary's tale of "Gun" to the off-kilter love song "Barracuda" and the the sorrowful Old West tale "Buffalo Ballet." A seriously bent masterpiece.
November 10, 2016
Originally billed as "Four Boys and a Guitar," the Mills Brothers incredible ability to harmonize as well as approximating instruments with their voices is as charming today as it was 80 years ago. While the concept of vocalists imitating trumpets, tubas and trombones sounds gimmicky like a novelty act, listening to Their Original & Greatest Hits, the concept of faux instrumentation disappears and the listener is left with lush rich harmonization and a treasure trove of terrific songs.
November 9, 2016
On this exceptional date, the downtown NY pianist with bassist Greg Cohen and drummer Ben Perowsky (with vocal contributions from Mike Patton and Antony Hegarty) a restrained and beautiful approach to an unusual mix of Bob Dylan songs. These canny arrangements reflect Saft's assertion that Dylan is a great improviser. Highlights include the inside out blues of "What Was It You Wanted," the soul-jazz read of "Dignity," and the swinging "Ballad of a Thin Man."
November 8, 2016
Some songs here have titles like "Lord, I'm on My Way" and "Love," but anyone expecting something close to Spiritualized might well run away screaming. God's first full studio album found the band firmly established in its aggro-jazz ways. The influence of both early-'70s Miles Davis and later exponents of free-form playing is clear. It's a full ensemble approach that won't surprise anyone who loves On the Corner.
November 7, 2016
During their brief lifespan, the Left Banke managed to invent a genre of their own, baroque pop-rock, and created two dazzlingly beautiful singles, "Walk Away Renee" and "Pretty Ballerina." Despite plenty of personnel shakeups, they also managed to create a remarkably consistent body of work. This collection features their two albums (Walk Away Renee/Pretty Ballerina and The Left Banke Too) in full, along with a handful of rare single sides, and reveals nearly all of their work was up to the high standards of their hits.
November 6, 2016
Kenny Loggins' second cousin hit the big time for a couple of months in 1975 with the single "Please Come to Boston," a serviceable and sentimental soft rock gem from his second album. Apprentice (In a Musical Workshop) is an expertly crafted slice of commercially made diner pie that resonates squarely in the moment, and then vanishes two steps out of the door.
![The Thing [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0000770223/front/400/WHMq0ot9b4FMKZS3ltReix_TZlp6n_cq-Emr2zx15tU=.jpg)
November 5, 2016
As chilling and icy as the film itself, Ennio Morricone's score for 1982's The Thing is a foreboding atmospheric experience. Gone are Morricone's gritty high-plains themes, and in their place are electronic-based mood pieces with a otherworldly heartbeat that runs throughout. This is what John Carpenter listens to when he wants to feel creeped out.
November 4, 2016
The band's fourth and second-best-selling album is a high point in their catalog, buoyed by catchy choruses, improved vocals, punishing riffs, and haunting effects that amp up the menace and dread. They had all but abandoned the rap stuff, firmly establishing themselves as alt-metal -- not dreaded rap-rock nu-metal -- kings. In addition to the great singles, "Let's Get This Party Started," "Hey Daddy" and "Dirty" stand as three of their best deep cuts.
November 3, 2016
An early landmark of West Coast rap, the D.O.C.'s debut album remains sorely underheard today. Though his chops are rarely mentioned in the same breath, the rapper clearly ranks up near the master technicians of the era, Rakim and Big Daddy Kane; while he may not be as smooth as the former or as spectacularly wordy as the latter, he has a distinctively rough, commanding voice and an aggressive, hard-hitting flow all his own.
November 2, 2016
Various Artists
Originally released in 1956, Iron Muse was the first of its kind, a collection of folk music derived almost exclusively from the experiences of industrial workers in the north of England. Folklorist A.L. Lloyd went inside blazing steel mills, onto hard iron railways, and into dank boiler rooms in search of the workers' music and their voices, and helped paint a vivid picture of life inside the industrial towns and add a new chapter to the history book of traditional folk music.
November 1, 2016
Evidenced by their 1971 self-titled debut, EWF was already fluent in the close harmonies of soul's classiest groups, James Brown's funk, and the vocal prowess of Sly & the Family Stone. To these they added horn heavy arrangements, exceptional musicianship and focused compositions that reflected the positive influence of civil rights era, and the need for community in dealing with issues. Artistically, this is easily one of their best albums.