Staff Picks for November 2023
November 30, 2023
Fans of muscular progressive rock will love Solar Fire, a concept album loosely designed around cosmology. The album was groundbreaking when it was released 50 years ago today, and is still a delightful listen. If you like the hard-edged side of Manfred Mann, this may be your favorite album.
November 29, 2023
With Valle on Fender Rhodes and Jose Roberto Bertrami on Mini-Moog and ARP, the album is more electronic than electric, but with soloists as talented as these, and a lifetime of musical instincts to draw on, the results are absolutely pristine. (Only Stevie Wonder was capable of coaxing the same type of warm, fluid grooves from his coterie of synthesizers, and integrating them so flawlessly into his productions.)
November 28, 2023
A prolific New York sideman and collaborator (Ladybug Transistor, Crystal Stilts), Kyle Forester's solo debut is a warmly crafted guitar pop gem with smart songwriting and beguiling hooks.
November 27, 2023
Rhonda Vincent has so adeptly incorporated the sparkling production of the best contemporary bluegrass recordings with the heartfelt songwriting and passionate playing of the classic era of traditional bluegrass that her third album for Rounder hits that almost perfect balance: updated enough to not sound stuffy, but faithful enough to still sound honest.
November 26, 2023
Considering the cute, throwback pop of their '90s albums and the warm, soul-nourishing output of what followed in the 2000s, this turn-of-the-decade set now stands out as a fascinating anomaly rather than a permanent shift in sound. Situated smack in the middle of their catalog, this dark, synth-heavy, and potentially overlooked/underrated gem boosted the electronic/trip-hop energy ("Erase/Rewind," "Paralyzed") and pumped out their most rock-leaning tracks to date ("My Favourite Game," "Hanging Around").
November 25, 2023
The title is a sly joke, since the group are revivalists who happen to be part of a fad, but they do prove to be more substantial than many of their peers with this record. Part of the reason they stand apart from the rest of the neo-swing crowd is that they don't forget that there was a bit of menace in the days of hot jazz -- it wasn't a naive, swinging party, there was some genuine hedonism as well. Since the Zippers are revivalists, they can only hint at the subtext that informed swing and hot jazz, but that's considerably more than their glitzy peers do.
November 24, 2023
There are a multitude of reasons why Bags' Groove remains a cornerstone of the post-bop genre. Of course there will always be the lure of the urban myth surrounding the Christmas Eve 1954 session -- featuring Thelonious Monk -- which is documented on the two takes of the title track. Bags' Groove belongs as a cornerstone of all jazz collections. Likewise, the neophyte as well as the seasoned jazz enthusiast will find much to discover and rediscover throughout the disc.
November 23, 2023
Among Nektar fans, there are many who consider Remember the Future, released 50 years ago today, to be the band's creative peak. The album certainly creates the grounds for making that argument. Indeed, it is an ambitious work that is essentially one composition divided into two parts.
November 22, 2023
Hindsight favors the pop icon's tenth LP, which closed out her wildly successful 2000s era. Though not as well-received upon release as its two predecessors, it's aged incredibly well. Packed with timely electro-inspired dance-pop similar to contemporary releases by Madonna, Gwen, Gaga, and Britney, it's pure dancefloor filler. Everything here is great, but start with the sweaty "Like a Drug" and the euphoric trio of "In My Arms," "No More Rain," and "The One."
November 21, 2023
The international debut from Rozalla isn't essentially different than most early '90s dance-pop albums -- it has a handful of standout singles surrounded by less memorable downtempo tunes and interludes. But when the highlights are as euphoric and utopian as "Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)," "Are You Ready to Fly," and "Born to Love You," it's well worth a spot in any nostalgic raver's collection.
November 20, 2023
Expected to continue leading the post-rock brigade into a new fusion with dub and electronics, Tortoise instead turned yet another corner with their third album. Adding guitarist Jeff Parker to cement their musicianship as well as their connections to Chicago's fertile jazz/avant-garde scene, the band returned with a record of post-modern cool jazz, only slightly informed by the dub, Krautrock, and electronics of Millions Now Living Will Never Die. Instead of forcing studio experimentation to become an end to itself, the band mastered the far more difficult lesson of making technology work for the music.
November 19, 2023
The companion piece to director Tony Palmer's documentary, Irish Tour was recorded in January 1974 in Belfast, Dublin, and Cork during the Troubles, when few performers would visit Northern Ireland. Gallagher never turned his back. Irish Tour captures some of his finest known early live recordings. Highlights of a stunning set include dramatic takes on Muddy Waters' "I Wonder Who" and an acoustic read of Tony Joe White's "As the Crow Flies.
November 18, 2023
Stefan Betke's nine variations on damaged dub minimalism recall the best of Basic Channel techno while steering well clear of the monotony factor. As with Pole's first singles, these tracks materialize out of a haze of stuttering fuzz, bouncing thin shimmers of echoing synth off of ambiguous rhythms and taught, bulging bass. An excellent debut.
November 17, 2023
Canterbury scenesters Alan Gowen, Hugh Hopper, Elton Dean and drummer Dave Sheen as Soft Head in France in 1978. The quartet hoped to draw frustrated fans of both Soft Machine and Gilgamesh. This electric jazz date is excellent, primarily due to Gowen's compositions and arrangements that walk a tense line between strictly composed elements and improvisation, and the fire of the band themselves, who are -- on this night anyway -- inspired beyond belief. Thank God somebody recorded it.
November 16, 2023
Of the four or five Kevin Coyne albums that fans routinely describe as his best ever, Marjory Razorblade is by far the best known in the wider world, a consequence not only of the enormous critical splash it made upon its original release 50 years ago, but also because of the ripples it continued sending out long after the fact.
November 15, 2023
John Zorn once called Carl Stalling America's first great avant garde composer, and while he may have been kidding, the topsy-turvy music he coordinated for Warner Bros. classic cartoons of the 1930s, '40s and '50s sounds revelatory all by itself. The curious blend of the melodic and the angular, enlivened by sudden stop-on-a-dime tonal and rhythmic shifts, makes Stalling's music a rare treat, whether you associate it with Bugs Bunny or otherwise.
November 14, 2023
When recording their third Columbia album, the 11-piece New Jersey juggernaut made the conscious decision to get out from behind Bruce Springsteen’s shadow – even though he wrote two of the set’s songs, and the E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt, he produced, arranged, and wrote most of the songs. What’s here is passionate R&B influenced rock & roll, played by a big band with a dynamic horn section and killer players. Vocalist Southside Johnny Lyons fronts them with power, focus, emotional resonance, and plenty of soul.
November 13, 2023
Documenting Robyn Hitchcock's post-Soft Boys group on stage in London in 1985, Gotta Let This Hen Out! captures their impressive strength and energy as a live act while also serving as a superb introduction to the first decade of Hitchcock's career. The set cherry-picks many of the best tunes from his albums with and without the Soft Boys, and the band's taught, playful attack brings out the best in them all.
November 12, 2023
Chicago duo Gastr del Sol's 1996 long-player found them deepening their avant garde take on pop by exploring minimalism and the deconstruction of Americana. Tony Conrad provides microtonal violin drones and the album closes with a drawn out take on a John Fahey tune, somehow fitting perfectly with the group's abstract songwriting style.
November 11, 2023
A marvelous, energetic work made by an artist at the peak of his powers, Go! is not only one of Gordon's finest, but a major work of the hard bop era.
November 10, 2023
While the singer/songwriter may have had multiple so-called breakthrough releases as his star rose, this, his Domino label debut, marked his debut on the Billboard side charts (Heatseekers Top Ten), while he was still recording D.I.Y.-style, alone at home. A loose, exploratory album that leaves indentations in dry, windblown sand rather than distinct footprints, it includes tour favorites like "Bug" and "Brite Boy."
November 9, 2023
1984's Rattlesnakes was a tremendously mature, accomplished debut for Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, a set of ten brilliantly crafted pop songs with superb hooks, melodies to die for, and lyrics that were as clever as they were coolly literate. As a singer and tunesmith, Cole was as keen a chronicler of pop culture iconography and human interaction as Morrissey without his smugness, and Rattlesnakes is among the best British LPs of the 1980s.
November 8, 2023
Is this her most underrated album? Might be! Lodged between the headline fervor of Erotica and the catalog game-changer Ray of Light, this '90s-centric gem is packed with lush R&B textures, hip-hop beats, and trip-hop allure, aging so well nearly 30 years after release. Aside from the stunning Bjork-assisted title track (with its iconic video) and singles "Secret" and "Take a Bow," "Don't Stop," and "Sanctuary" are great, era-specific deep cuts.
November 7, 2023
Released in 1974, Pick a Dub qualifies as one of the earliest dub albums, and remains an ambitiously experimental (if raw) chapter in reggae's evolution. Lean, sometimes blunt production emphasizes the slow power of the rhythms, while eruptions of delay and reverb flip the songs inside out completely. Essential listening for any dub enthusiast.
November 6, 2023
A mind-bending, low-key triumph, the Ecstatic is the kind of magnetic album that takes around a dozen spins to completely unpack. Oscillating between cerebral gibberish and seemingly nonchalant, off-the-cuff boasts, it's obvious on this album that Mos Def is back to enjoying his trade.
November 5, 2023
X-Tal's J. Neo is the best kind of cynic, aware the world should be doing better and not afraid to say so. Neo also had a keen sense of mordant wit – who else would use Frida Kahlo and Leon Trotsky as a model couple in a love song? 1992's Everything Crash was a bracing fusion of rock and folk that spoke of the personal and political with equal fervor, and it's an overlooked triumph.
November 4, 2023
For his second release on his own Heartcore Records, guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel offers an intimate trio album with Italian bassist Dario Deidda and drummer Gregory Hutchinson. Deidda has played with such Italian luminaries as singer Fiorella Mannoia and trumpeter Enrico Rava, and his warm, robust sound brings to mind contemporaries like Christian McBride and veterans like Dave Holland. Similarly, Hutchinson has been a first-call player for decades, and his roiling, textured style is the perfect foil for Rosenwinkel's sparkling, far-eyed improvisational lines. Together, they play a harmonically textured post-bop that evokes the electrified '70s jazz of guitarist Pat Martino.
November 3, 2023
Abandoned Luncheonette, Hall & Oates' second album, was released 50 years ago today and was the first indication of the duo's talent for sleek, soul-inflected pop/rock. It featured the single "She's Gone," which would become a big hit in 1975 when it was re-released following the success of "Sara Smile."
November 2, 2023
Ringo's best and most consistent new studio album, Ringo, released 50 years ago today, represented both the drummer/singer's most dramatic comeback and his commercial peak. Ringo was a big-budget pop album produced by Richard Perry and featuring Ringo's former Beatles bandmates as songwriters, singers, and instrumentalists.
November 1, 2023
A sweet, soulful, and surprisingly epic-sounding sophomore outing from the Oxford-based indie pop quartet, Tales from Terra Firma stays true to Stornoway's folk-pop roots while exploring new arrangement-heavy, psych-tinged avenues that owe as much to the Incredible String Band as they do a less cynical Belle and Sebastian.