Staff Picks for November 2017
November 30, 2017
Sweet vocal jazz for the post-club generation that could have been made decades ago, Koop's debut album finely treads the line between the hipster posturing and lounge perfection that is the specialty of acid jazz radio guru Gilles Peterson. Lush orchestration and hard bop rhythms make Waltz for Koop a pleasing sensation, but it is the rotating cast of vocalists that gives the album a strength beyond kvetch.
November 29, 2017
This set of prime New Orleans jazz music belongs in every serious jazz collection. The title is actually quite inaccurate, for "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" is the only funeral song included on the date, and there is nothing somber about any of the joyful music.
November 28, 2017
Featuring members of the defunct post-metal band Isis and Deftones frontman Chino Moreno, Palms is certainly faced with the trouble of standing in its own shadow, but for fans of the members' other groups, Palms' debut is an easy recommendation that will leave listeners enjoying the similarities and getting lost exploring the differences.
November 27, 2017
Various Artists
This collection features (nearly) all of the James Bond theme songs, from Dr. No through Quantum of Solace, showcasing the melodrama of Shirley Bassey, the sexy swagger of Duran Duran, and the button-popping bombast of Tom Jones, among others.
November 25, 2017
Though many people looked down on them as Echo & the Bunnymen imitators, the similarly dour and psychedlic lads had a few tricks up their sleeve; namely really good songs and a lot of energy. This collection captures them at their early, non-major label production best.
November 24, 2017
The Norwegian singer-songwriter's second album is a thing of transcendent, unhurried beauty, full of contemplative songs that nevertheless swirl with complexity. Fans of Grouper and Jenny Hval should take the time to get lost in these bewitching atmospheres.
November 23, 2017
On the Nashville singer-songwriter's excellent 2016 alt-pop EP, the styles and textures of Radiohead and Air collide in gorgeous fashion, creating an atmospheric and introspective preview to his 2017 full-length debut, Together. Alone. The sweeping "The Dissonance Between Us," lush "Carry You Down," and pulsing "Sleeptalking" are immediate draws, but in truth, all six tracks here are worth the time.
![Smog [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0004184649/front/400/3HB8gMMvLEqC9hYr6yxBNj6KsMttLlyBmmVTZ6_CLs0=.jpg)
November 22, 2017
This 1962 soundtrack is the second-to-last collaboration between Italian composer/arranger Piero Umiliani and the American trumpeter. They worked together on three previous films so the chemistry was well established. Umiliani's charts for "Dawn" and the title track are perfect dreamy vehicles for vocalist Helen Merrill. Baker's soloing throughout is as muscular and meaty, but whenever his expressiveness is called for as on "Twilight in Los Angeles," he delivers big. He doesn't solo on every track, but Umiliani's tunes and charts are so hip he doesn't need to.
November 21, 2017
Several albums sprang from West London's broken beat crew in 2001. Domu, New Sector Movements, 4hero, and Numbers offered full-lengths filled with polyrhythmic jazz-funk/soul hybrids seemingly made with nimble octopedes in mind. Orin Walters' lone album as Afronaught was among the sub-genre's most thrilling releases, containing the stampeding "Transcend Me," a belter powered by a hair-raising vocal from Melissa Browne.
November 20, 2017
A hard bop gem from a tenor master, Dexter Gordon's superb 1962 date, Go, was captured during the same New York renaissance period that produced some of his other Blue Note classics like Dexter Calling and A Swingin' Affair. Loose, but vibrant, it has come to be seen as one of his landmark recordings.
![Frankenweenie [Original Score]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0003734721/front/400/sC1tArBc-hkHvqD4LgaR0ByhM-OFI8zG4l-qVpXXB1I=.jpg)
November 19, 2017
Not one of the film composer's most iconic soundtracks, but one of his most representative, this 2012 score borrows from the whimsical rhythms and choir-laced palettes of works like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, but tempers the sound with a more a more restrained (relatively speaking), sentimental tone. Despite track titles that refer to death and monsters, it's not only for Halloween.
November 18, 2017
While some fans wonder if PJ Harvey will ever make an album again that rocks like Dry or Rid of Me, 2011's Let England Shake confirmed she can still makes emotionally powerful music, even at a lower volume. 12 songs about conflict, war, and loss that face spare arrangements against an idiosyncratic use of samples, Let England Shake is a deeply affecting work that's all the more potent in our current moment of political chaos.
November 17, 2017
Original Soundtrack
Enough time has passed to get beyond the franchise stigma, but just in case, the impressive list of acts on this soundtrack speaks for itself. The best exclusives come from Metric, Sia, Beck and Bat For Lashes, Fanfarlo, and the Bravery. Even so-so contributions by Muse, Florence and the Machine, the Black Keys, the Dead Weather, and Vampire Weekend bolster each other to make this the best mixtape of your 2010 alt-indie dreams.
November 16, 2017
This is a contender for one of the Irish singer's best. His choice of material is eclectic, veering from the delicate airiness of Richard Thompson's "Beeswing" to Morrissey's "America I Love You" and Bob Dylan's "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," he manages to invest them all with true spirit. It's a measure of what he does right that you listen to his version of Phil Ochs's "Changes" and realize it stands tall besides the original.
November 15, 2017
With his early death from cancer at 37, trumpeter Mike Lawrence never got the individual recognition he deserved. A gifted post-bopper, Lawrence's style competed admirably with contemporaries like Tom Harrell and Woody Shaw. Along with sessions by Joe Henderson, he can be heard delivering soulful, wah-wah pedal-drenched solos on guitarist Larry Coryell's sophomore Eleventh House date, Level One. These are expansive, heady tracks, in which Lawrence's warm, harmonically-inventive lyricism contrasts nicely with Coryell's fiery leads.
November 14, 2017
Pram's 2008 album plays like a goodie bag of their whimsical experimental pop. As they span exotica, '60s and '70s electronic novelty pop, and noir-ish jazz in songs that evoke imaginary places like spaghetti Western wastelands and seductive underwater worlds, it all makes for some of their most vivid -- and accessible -- music.
November 13, 2017
Frustrated, mad, and at times flat-out pissed-off, this album takes aim at a multitude of societal ills with razor-sharp lyrics cloaked in funky modern gospel grooves. As with the singer's debut, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder parallels still apply, especially if you can imagine them collaborating with Eugene McDaniels, Gil Scott-Heron, and Les McCann. This is a singular work nonetheless.
November 12, 2017
Formerly of well-regarded Norwegian teen pop duo M2M, Larsen's debut was a pleasant surprise not only for fans of that group, but of inventive, inviting tunes that draw equally from folk, pop, and country. Recorded when she was 22, it offers both a sprightly playfulness and a self-consciously mature anxiety, as reflected in her penchant for outsized melodic choruses and more tentative, delicate verses.
November 11, 2017
Not as intelligently sequenced as Snap! or as comprehensive as the Direction Reaction Creation box set, this budget priced collection is still an impressive overview of the length and breadth of the Jam's career. Disc one collects the hits and fan favorites, disc two delivers rarities and collectors items, and at 49 tracks this sums up their career arc with (pardon the expression) fire and skill. For the price, this is as good an introduction as you could ask for.
November 10, 2017
Curve's first two albums have just been reissued after being out of print for eons. Doppelganger was their first and best album, distilling their forward-thinking fusion of whirlwind guitars, industrial dance beats, and poppy vocals to its essence. The real treat of its deluxe reissue is the raft of bonus tracks, including all of their early EPs (essentially reissuing the 1993 comp Pubic Fruit), B-sides, and one of the first remixes Aphex Twin ever did.
November 9, 2017
Musically, the Long Island progressive hardcore band Glassjaw shows far more versatility than many of its metal peers, perfectly willing to slow the tempo, replicate the sound of a field recording, or let frontman Daryl Palumbo pretend to be a sports announcer if he likes. Glassjaw can pound it out like the best of them, but the fun comes in never knowing what variation the band will throw in next.
November 8, 2017
Even amid the dimming of Shane MacGowan's abilities from alcohol dependency, the Pogues' follow-up to their 1988 masterpiece, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, is remarkably solid and diverse, with strong contributions from the band's other talented songwriters.
November 7, 2017
There's a sense of fearlessness on Warning, as if the band didn't care if the album wasn't punk enough, or whether it produced a cross-platform hit. There are no ballads here, and while there are a number of punchy, infectious rockers, the tempo is never recklessly breakneck. Instead, the focus is squarely on the songs, with the band at a peak of songcraft and performance, doing it all without a trace of self-consciousness
November 6, 2017
Widely considered the late Peter Bellamy's masterwork, the 1977 ballad opera The Transports tells the true story of Henry Cabell and Susannah Holmes, a pair of English convicts transported to Australia in the 18th century, set to period instruments, and featuring vocals by Norma Waterson, Mike Waterson, Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, and A.L. Lloyd.
November 5, 2017
Mogwai's score to the acclaimed French TV show about the undead is a latter-day classic that showcases the band's ability to evoke moods rather than force them. This music is often surprisingly gentle, but the subtle tension and menace within it reveals a low-key brilliance.
November 4, 2017
Released just a few months before his major label debut Riddim Warfare, the half-hour EP Synthetic Fury is easily the most instantly gratifying release in DJ Spooky's sprawling catalog. He unleashes his hardest beats and most abrasive scratching, and when Panacea joins him on the epic title track, the entire world feels like it's about to collapse.
November 3, 2017
What's so fascinating about Coryell's vocal songs is his almost naive eschewing of genre conventions. This is a guy who can play classical guitar one minute, rip into reverb-soaked blues solo the next, and finish by evincing the hollow-body lyricism of Wes Montgomery. Here he is, in the same year that Miles Davis recorded Bitches Brew and the Beatles delivered Abbey Road, casually knocking out what sounds like Pavement's Stephen Malkmus backed by John McLaughlin.
November 2, 2017
The Horse Flies' evocative score for director Jay Craven's period piece punctuates the plight of a stubborn ex-logger who refuses to be bought out by a hydroelectric company intent on flooding the valley in which he resides. Utilizing their enormous talent for atmosphere, the band hones in on the films weary protagonist like a predatory bird, painting his every move with fingerpicked guitars, subtle percussion, and cricket and loon samples.
November 1, 2017
From 1982 to 1986, Sonic Youth matured from a good idea for a band to a genuinely great art band. It was on 1987's Sister that they finally showed that their rock moves could be as strong as their ideas, and it was the beginning of the strongest era of their career. Fierce guitars, unrelenting rhythms, brute force, and heady atmosphere -- this one has it all, and was the ideal run-up to their first masterpiece, Daydream Nation.