Staff Picks for October 2012
October 31, 2012
Nicholas Payton takes a wild left turn into outsider R&B with funky beats, and spacey loopy grooves, with guest appearances by� Esperanza Spalding, N'dambi, Cassandra Wilson, and more. Place it between sides by Foreign Exchange and Sa-Ra on one end, and Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith on the other.
October 30, 2012
Love him or hate him, hearing the Nuge in a live setting is impressive. Here, in his prime, he works the crowd into a frenzy, performing like a fireball and shouting outrageous claims like, "This guitar right here's guaranteed to blow the balls off a charging rhino at sixty paces!"
October 29, 2012
Various Artists
Each volume of the Mood Mosaic series has something special to offer, but the fourth entry -- grooving and campy and virtuosic all at the same time -- may be the best of a great lot.
October 28, 2012
If your life flashes before your eyes right before you die, Firesign Theatre believes it'll be just like watching TV. That's the concept behind this 1970 comedy album, a mind-blower in exaggerated stereo with the greatest main character, George Leroy Tirebiter.
October 27, 2012
With all of the wispy dream-pop pretenders borrowing from Julee Cruise's surreal little-girl-lost vignettes � Tamaryn, Puro Instinct, I�m looking at you � it's nice to go back to the source and remember how timely, and timeless, Cruise's first album sounds.
October 26, 2012
This set is a rare look at the singer and the songwriter performing together, Jimmy Webb on piano and Glen Campbell on guitar and singing, filmed, taped, and recorded in 1983 in Hamilton, Ontario.
October 25, 2012
Once again, Converge prove that they're an unstoppable juggernaut on All We Love We Leave Behind. After so many years of excellent releases, I'm not sure what's more mystifying: The fact that Converge is still one of the most intense bands out there, or the fact that they somehow keep getting better.
October 24, 2012
The electrifying and almost accessible (check out the wondrous "Good News for Pus Pickers") Steve Albini-helmed fifth outing from generally unclassifiable Christian freak-folk/post-punk/art-rock/creep-twee/nurse-core collective the Danielson Famile, never lets up, yet never lets you down.
October 23, 2012
After much time spent apart making solo albums, The Go-Betweens' Grant McLennan and Robert Forster decided they still had more chapters to add to their story. This wonderful reunion album was full of heart, wit and great songs...even a few of their best like "He Lives My Life" and "Spirit."
October 22, 2012
This transatlantic quintet featured New York downtowners from Curlew (Tom Cora, Pippin Barnett) and European folky avant-proggers (Momo Roussel, Jean-20 Huguenin, Bratko Bibic), who combined brash rock, timbral experimentalism, and skewed European folk dance rhythms in a meld that today's Gypsy punk fans ought to hear.
October 21, 2012
Originally issued in 1996, the Promise offers a summation of all the places John McLaughlin had been musically, and points directly toward the future. With appearances by the Free Spirits, the Guitar Trio, and an electric version of Shakti, it is among the most wide-ranging offerings in McLaughlin's career.
![Friends & Neighbors [Live at Prince Street]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0001175190/front/400/AugKDCFMAsd6EiiQxaX4hASijaXJlYnq0St31qpAJWo=.jpg)
October 20, 2012
Dismissed by some as an inessential live recording of a jam session at the community center, Friends & Neighbors actually represents the often academic Coleman at his most playful, groovy and reflective. While it's by no means his most accomplished recording, this candid date shows a rare side to the depth of reflection and hope� in Ornette's playing.
October 19, 2012
After you've played through your Misfits albums and the Halloween party is winding down, give this gloomy classic a shot. You just can�t top a line like, "Trick or treat, trick or treat, the bitter and the sweet" when you're bobbing for apples. Essential listening for goth, darkwave, and witch house fans.
October 18, 2012
George Jones was a country star well before the '70s dawned, but as this collection proves, he really came into his own when he began singing the lush balladry that producer Billy Sherrill crafted for him and his wife (briefly), Tammy Wynette.
October 17, 2012
Estranged from the Wu-Tang at the time, Killah Priest goes it alone on this 2001 release, a slept-on winner if there ever was one. Check "Madness" for the Priest on his own, or the great posse cut "Horsemen Talk" with Canibus, Ras Kass, and Kurupt.
October 16, 2012
Sometimes dismissed as throwaway piffle, this 1979 album -- reissued in 2009 -- is among the Krautrock hero's most inviting work. It maintains a sweet, melodic, playful mood. Contemporary labels like Karoake Kalk, Morr Music, and Ghost Box would likely be proud to consider it their own.
October 15, 2012
Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons is one of the most beloved works in Baroque music, and casual listeners can recognize famous passages from them. Max Richter has deconstructed these concertos, recomposed their fragments, and created new music that speaks to a generation familiar with remixes, sampling, and sound collages.
October 14, 2012
Listening to Muse's new The 2nd Law reminded me of how much I like Mansun's now-underrated 1997 debut, Attack Of The Grey Lantern. Mansun also has a debt to '70s British prog, but they're more adventurous than Muse and had a better melodic sense, as evidenced by the single "Wide Open Space".
October 13, 2012
A solid set of borrowed material and the combined talents of a stellar cast -- Hancock, Carter, Hubert Laws, Gary Bartz -- made Stoned Soul Picnic one of the best early sets from jazz music's classic groove merchant.
October 12, 2012
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra trumpeter Ryan Kisor's first album of all-original material is an evocative, angular post-bop work featuring the adventurous Hammond organ playing of Sam Yahel. The moody tension of the Bossa-funk title track is a particularly engaging listen.
October 11, 2012
Joshua Eustis and the late Charlie Cooper incorporated elements of contemporary R&B -- and didn't make a big deal about it -- years before it was considered a novel approach in indie electronic music. The duo's other two albums are very different, but this is their most emotive work.
October 10, 2012
With all of MF Doom's side projects, fans of the masked MC may have overlooked this one. Too bad, because it's one of his best. Like the excellent Mm...Food, the beats are on point, Dumile's rhymes are superb, and Fantastic Four snippets pull the concept together.
October 9, 2012
This collection of singles and B-sides released early in their career shows the duo at their most concisely poppy and includes one of the great indie rock singles of all time in "Tropical Ice-Land."
October 8, 2012
Brought to you by some of the folks behind the stellar Tame Impala, Pond helps to make a pretty strong argument for Australia being the center of the modern psych-rock universe with their second album, Beard, Wives, Denim.
October 7, 2012
The Captain's most absurd, engaging and likeable outing, this typically gonzo conceptual album pairs impeccable pop craftsmanship, aliens, hot licks, and BBC actors reciting Martin Newell-penned news reports on the impending apocalypse.
October 6, 2012
Few chiptune-affiliated acts write songs that are as catchy -- or have as much pop pizzazz -- as DAT Politics.
October 5, 2012
This commercial failure -- an imaginary Stax/Cadet Concept soundclash with a few flashes of brilliance -- was lost in the shuffle, released shortly after Search and Nearness (itself a low seller). Alice Coltrane, Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, and Chuck Rainey are in on the action.
October 4, 2012
While assembling my Allmusic Loves 1978 list, I revisited NRBQ's At Yankee Stadium and it sounded better than ever to my ears. Anchored by the originals "Green Lights" and "It Comes To Me Naturally" and featuring corking covers of "Get Rhythm" and "Shake Rattle & Roll," this is the best showcase for the Q's naturally eclectic bar band boogie.
October 3, 2012
While Billy Talent has always espoused a kind of punk-rock anti-authoritarian message, on Dead Silence they imbue their exuberant, muscular pop-punk with a more pointed socio-political angle.
October 2, 2012
Concept-minded meta rapper extraordinaire Danny! delivers incredibly tight production and narrative flow on his 2011 album, Where is Danny?
October 1, 2012
Antonio Pappano and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia performed Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 6 in A minor, "Tragic," in concerts to mark the 100th anniversary of the composer's death, and this 2011 EMI Classics release captures the excitement and amazing precision of the playing.