Staff Picks for October 2014
October 31, 2014
Just because something is a cliche doesn't make it untrue. Case in point, George Harrison's All Things Must Pass really is the Beatle's finest solo album, something made plain by the release of the big new box The Apple Years. Among the six albums housed here, there are some surprises Wonderwall Music is more interesting than you remember, Dark Horse a harder sit-but even with its third LP of jams, All Things Must Pass remains majestic.
October 30, 2014
Released and executive produced by Kenny "Moodymann" Dixon, the first album from this percussionist and producer, aka DJ Dez, condensed previously released output and combined it with new material. Cunningly edited, sequenced, and subtly mixed, it's a low-key Detroit house classic that is almost on the level of the best from Dixon and Theo Parrish.
October 29, 2014
With songwriter/idea man Michael Brown and producer/arranger Harry Lookofsky both out of the picture, the second album from baroque pop trailblazers the Left Banke didn't seem to hold much promise. But 1968's The Left Banke Too is even more forward-thinking than the group's debut; it didn't spawn any hits, but "Desiree," "My Friend Today," and "There's Gonna Be a Storm" are as smart, evocative, and effective as anything the Left Banke ever released, and "Goodbye Holly" and "Bryant Hotel" show they had a witty side. An overlooked gem from a band that fell apart too soon.
October 28, 2014
Italian producer Andrea Mangia's third album as Populous predated and predicted the electronic pop-meets-shoegaze trend that dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s. While artists like M83 might have done it bigger, Drawn in Basic's charming songcraft and atmospheric sounds prove that few can do it better.
October 26, 2014
Prog rock has a reputation for bombast; add an orchestra to a prog rock band and many would expect the bombast-o-meter to go through the roof. Not so in the case of Canterbury scenesters Caravan and their appearance with the 39-piece New Symphonia at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in October 1973. The orchestra adds grace, power, dynamics, and beautiful textures to Caravan's tunes, highlighted by a stunning - perhaps definitive - version of the classic "For Richard." This exceptional recording captured it all.
October 25, 2014
Eschewing the more reindeer-heavy popular holiday songs of the day, Stan Kenton instead delved into various traditional songs for his forward-thinking 1961 Christmas album. Progressive and classical in tone, the album nonetheless shimmers with the warmth of Kenton's polyphonic brass arrangements. This is the thinking man's Christmas album.
October 24, 2014
The first post-Soundgarden output of any of its members, Chris Cornell's solo debut yielded a minor radio hit and took a lot of heat for being watered-down and veering too far from his open-throated days of yore, but on closer examination, many of songs here are worthy of appreciation. His fascination with odd tunings and difficult chords carries over on show-stopper "Sweet Euphoria," and "Moonchild" comes closest to the careening histrionics of his earlier work, but coupled with ringing guitar instead of steamroller riffs, it takes on a different timbre that works in the context.
October 23, 2014
By the time 1972 hit, Diana Ross was long gone from The Supremes. This didn't stop Motown from from churning out a ridiculous amount of output for the group with Jean Terrell now in the spotlight. With that said, the Smokey Robinson produced Floy Joy is still one of the catchiest albums of The Supreme's overall career even if the girl group sound was beginning to fall out of fashion.
October 22, 2014
Bright, bold, and brimming with flourishes of new wave, Rush's seventh studio album found a way to stay true to the band's prog rock fan base by providing plenty of epic drum fills to mimic in the backs of cars, while simultaneously launching a full-on Top 40 attack with the brilliant "Spirit of Radio."
October 20, 2014
It speaks well of the New York Dolls' debut album that after more than four decades, it still sounds rude, raw, and profoundly attitudinal. Thousands of guitarists may have aped Johnny Thunders' buzzsaw sound, but the tunes remain brilliantly elemental, and no one has walked the line between fey and street tough the way David Johansen does here. A glorious rattletrap ride through pre-gentrified New York City, New York Dolls tosses out one instant and enduring classic after another, and for all its influence, no other band has ever sounded quite like this.
October 19, 2014
Although it wasn't as wildly experimental as some of their earlier efforts, Dirty Projectors' sixth album still made for one of 2012's most engaging musical experiences. Perhaps a reaction to the solitude of rural Delaware where it was written, the album possesses a warmth that seems to invite listeners in, making it the band's most immediately accessible and engrossing outing to date.
October 18, 2014
Various Artists
This beautiful set of field recordings was made by John Cohen in Virginia and North Carolina in November of 1965 and includes Appalachian banjo tracks surrounded by unaccompanied ballad singers, and the tone of the whole album is remarkably cohesive, bright, stark, and sometimes relentlessly dark, as in Lloyd Chandler's unaccompanied version of "Oh Death" (called "A Conversation with Death" here). A remarkable set of recordings.
October 17, 2014
While Tusk gets all the critical glory, Fleetwood Mac's 1982 follow-up is a wonderfully tight and concise pop platter with strong contributions from all three songwriters. Like a younger sibling woefully eclipsed by its three more celebrated predecessors, Mirage is worth another listen at the very least for standouts like Christine's "Love in Store" and Lindsey's "Book of Love."
October 16, 2014
I'm not entirely sure the Doobie Brothers ever made a great album - the gap between the peerless singles and the deep cuts is simply too wide - but if they ever did, it would've been this 1978 LP where Michael McDonald consolidated his position as the group's leader. "What A Fool Believes" and "Minute By Minute" are the hits and while only a handful of the rest approach their standard (not coincidentally, all written in part by McDonald), the entire record glides by on a groovy SoCal breeze and has plenty of guitar by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter that can only be described as "tasty."
October 15, 2014
The Cribs are one of those bands you kind of forget about. It's like "yeah, those guys...right." If you go to the trouble of listening back to one of their albums though, like this corker from 2007, it all comes rushing back like you stood up too fast. The razor sharp guitars, the spunky vox, the big beat, the songs that 'll get you up and running in place...it's like Britpop happened again and someone got it right this time. Check out any of their albums (excpet that slick one with Johnny Marr) and you'll remember.
October 14, 2014
Released in 1996 from an archive's worth of material recorded before black metal kingpin and Burzum mastermind Varg Vikernes went to jail for murdering a bandmate, Filosofem represents the best of Vikernes' merging of classic black metal and dark ambient sound. The album ranges from lo-fi metal heavy on evil riffs and blastbeats to electronic fields of sorrow on the mesmerizing 25-minute-long "Rundtgåing av den Transcendentale Egenhetens Støtte."
October 13, 2014
With its esteemed music conservatories, Boston is well known as a breeding ground for jazz artists who ultimately establish careers in New York City. This 1992 double-disc set by drummer George Schuller's (yes, Gunther's son) big band catches a handful of Boston-educated notables - Dave Douglas, Matt Darriau, Chris Speed, Cuong Vu, and Schuller himself among them - poised for liftoff as key members of New York's downtown jazz scene. It's a must-hear for fans of both Boston and N.Y.C. cutting-edge jazz and yes, Mingus lovers included.
October 12, 2014
While Daydream Nation is widely considered Sonic Youth's magnum opus, Experimental Jet Set hones in on their essence in post-Nirvana 1994. Recorded by hotshot of the moment Butch Vig, Thurston and the gang were able to assemble their noisier side into short feedback bursts creating more traditional pop structures.
October 11, 2014
The late, great Nick Curran moved from rockabilly to rockin' blues on his 2000 solo debut, Fixin' Your Head. With a voice reminiscent of legendary shouter Lloyd Price and a guitar style that paired the wide-open lines of T-Bone Walker with the manic energy of AC/DC's Malcolm Young, the Maine native redefined the standard of retro-rock.
October 10, 2014
Winter will be here before we know it, how better to herald the impending icy grimness than Norway's Immortal. Their 2009 return from a seven-year hiatus didn't have to be as great as it turned out to be, as the band sounded absolutely on fire instead of rusty and old, perhaps taking inspiration from Celtic Frost's then-recent, awesome return, also produced by metal guru Peter Tägtgren. The title track alone is worth the price of admission, an absolutely pulverizing slab of blackened death metal, powered by Horgh's relentless blastbeats and featuring a sinister guest vocal from sidelined guitarist-turned-lyricist Demonaz.
October 9, 2014
The Live at Maritime Hall series came on like gangbusters in the late '90s with prime live reggae albums like this one, but the series disappeared soon after, which is a crying shame. Yellowman's entry features all the swaggering man's hits with plenty of nonstop medleys included, and the set list is pretty much in line with his current 2014 show, so seek this out as a primer should the mighty King Yellow come to town.
October 8, 2014
If Ron Sexsmith's self-titled debut earned him some heavy-hitting admirers like Elvis Costello and Elton John, his 1997 follow-up cemented the deal with some of the best material in the Canadian's now lengthy career. The bittersweet "Strawberry Blonde" remains one of his finest moments.
October 7, 2014
This is Ramsey Lewis' debut for Columbia, a recording that bridges his classic sides with Chess and the music that would eventually become the mind-blowing jazz-funk of Sun Goddess. Lewis plays Rhodes and acoustic piano with upright bassist Cleveland Eaton and drummer Morris Jennings (an underappreciated trio). This is a seamlessly assembled recording. Highlights include the simmering "Slipping into Darkness," the blissed-out "People Make the World Go Round," the soul-blues of "Please Send Me Someone to Love," "Concierto de Aranjuez," the smoking title track, and "Collage."
October 6, 2014
Team Sleep's debut (a follow-up is planned to be recorded soon) makes more sense now than it did in 2005. Chino Moreno's work with Deftones and Palms has gone so far into atmospherics and away from throat-shredding that no one would bat an eye these days, and drummer Zach Hill's role as a founding member of Death Grips would have bumped him up near co-star status. Pinback's Rob Crow also shows up on four tracks to add a counterpoint to the vocals, and gentle eruptions like "Live from the Stage" hint at where Moreno's interests would increasingly lie.
October 5, 2014
Dub legend Scientist is known for ridding the world of the evil curse of the vampires and winning the World Cup, but things get really bonkers when he meets the Space Invaders. Pray to Jah that he can save the day this time.
October 4, 2014
This past August there wasn't a record I played more often than Peggy Lipton's The Complete Ode Recordings. Lipton may not be a commanding vocalist but this first-ever CD release of her Lou Adler-produced eponymous 1968 album—expanded with various rarities—is lush, exquisite late '60s Southern Californian soft-pop that makes no apologies for its debts to Laura Nyro and Carole King.
October 3, 2014
Various Artists
This archival set is drawn from that vital early 1960s Chicago folk and blues scene, featuring intimate recordings done by Chess Records producer and engineer Norman Dayton on a portable Ampex in small clubs, living rooms and basement studios around Chicago. This is simple, honest and straight-forward country blues by early blues rediscoveries like Son House, Little Brother Montgomery and Robert Wilkins and others done without overdubs or other studio embellishments, a priceless historical document as well as a compelling and fascinating listening experience.
October 2, 2014
Barely five months old, Lost in the Dream sounds like a classic album already. Listening through is like one of those hidden pictures images where you can pick out the influences (intended or not) in each song. From Bruce Springsteen to Rod Stewart to Bob Dylan to more obscure touchpoints like The Hooters and 10cc, this album is like wall-to-wall carpeting (in a good way)—consistent and comforting throughout.
October 1, 2014
Germany's Helloween set the gold standard for power metal in Europe with their excellent second album. Guitarist Kai Hansen and newly acquired singer Michael Kiske led the way mixing speed and might with soaring melodies and a strong fantasy concept.