Staff Picks for October 2016
October 31, 2016
In the year 2000 -- just before emo exploded in the mainstream -- bands like Death Cab, Dashboard, and Jimmy Eat World were working their ways up to the top. While the Juliana Theory never really hit the same highs, they released a handful of impeccable genre classics before breaking up in 2006. This is arguably their best, jam-packed with pop-punk harmony, soaring rock drama, and even experimental electronic atmospherics, decades ahead of their time.
October 30, 2016
Unlike many of his rockabilly peers, either at Sun or elsewhere, Smith cut almost no dross, and his sides for Sun rank among the finest at the studio, holding its own against the work of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis, which is high praise indeed. Needless to say, The Classic Recordings: 1956-1959 belongs in the library of any serious fan of '50s country, rockabilly, or rock & roll.
October 29, 2016
The singer and his band go through roaring versions of "Respect," "I Can't Turn You Loose," "These Arms of Mine," "Pain in My Heart," "Satisfaction" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and four more, in Redding's only full-length recording in a small-scale setting.
October 28, 2016
Madlib's first album under his helium-voiced alter ego Quasimoto remains one of the most original, otherworldly hip-hop recordings ever made. Bizarre and unpredictable to the last drop, the album follows the adventures of an aardvark-like bad character who's obsessed with old jazz records. It's cartoonish and mischievous, as you would expect, but there's several surprising moments of deep introspection, and the album remains fascinating and enlightening a decade and a half after its release.
October 27, 2016
After the entertaining but ultimately predictable debut album AM, Wilco first demonstrated their full potential on their ambitious and satisfying sophomore effort, 1996's Being There. A far better showcase for Jeff Tweedy's songwriting, Being There also marked the point where Wilco began breaking away from the passionate alt-country that defined Uncle Tupelo and embraced an eclectic indie rock sound that better reflected Tweedy's influences, from the unnerving dynamics of "Misunderstood" to the rollicking, Stones-inflected "Outtasite (Outta Mind)."
October 26, 2016
With just one Act left in the saga, here's a summary: it's the story of the son-of-a-prostitute who gets his heart broken, fights in WWI, steals the identity of his half-brother, runs for office under the new guise, and battles a pimp (who's also a priest). Dramatically epic, this is gorgeous orchestral rock that shoots for the moon. Fall down the rabbit hole before the inevitable movie/show (start with "Waves" and go from there).
October 25, 2016
Gunplay comes off as the 2.0 version of the Rick Ross-styled Gangsta rapper, barking out memorable punchlines based on money and murder while some ridiculously infectious, DJ Mustard-type of club music plays underneath. Living Legend is a non-stop gangsta party connected to the street, offering a more approachable alternative to Ross' grandiose LPs.
October 24, 2016
Like many of their peers on the California punk scene in the late '70s, San Francisco's Avengers never got to cut a proper album. But this collection of the group's 1977-1979 recordings (including their classic singles and an EP produced by Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols) documents them brilliantly. Tough, tight, and bracing music accompanied by the fully empowered vocals of Penelope Houston, Avengers ranks with the best music San Francisco's punk community ever produced; one listen confirms why this band was so influential in their day.
October 23, 2016
It's hard to think of a rap crew weird enough to run with Harmony Korine muse Riff-Raff, but somehow in 2012 the planets were aligned and Diplo semi-produced and released this gem on his Mad Decent label. Teaming up with baby faced comedian Andy Milonakis and former MTV VJ Dirt Nasty, Riff doesn't even have the most outrageous lyrics on the EP. Highlights include "Bong Hits," where Milonakis spits lines like "Your mom has no legs, her nickname is no legs," and "Your mom's a dumb b**** and she lives in a wigwam."
October 22, 2016
One of the main victims of the "huge in the UK, mostly unknown in America" phenomenon (see: Roses, Stone), the Manic Street Preachers maybe just weren't fun enough to cross the Atlantic with much success; when Oasis was singing about living forever, the Manics were singing about anorexia and leftist politics. But they had the melodies and they had the enthusiasm, so this two-disc compilation is a good place to dip one's toe.
October 21, 2016
The Ettes' Coco Hames and the Reigning Sound's Greg Cartwright got together to make an album that blended the best aspects of both bands (super hooky songs, smoky displays of emotion, gritty guitars) into a very satisfiying modern garage rock nugget.
October 20, 2016
The 2008 debut from this baseball-themed power pop supergroup was an unexpected delight. Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn, Peter Buck, and Linda Pitmon seemed like unlikely champions of the national pastime, but they managed to produce a record that is scholarly, playful, and shockingly catchy.
October 19, 2016
Taking its name from the Ray Davies studio where much of it was recorded, this sophomore release pays tribute to Britain's pop/rock past with gusto and swagger for miles. Tight songwriting and inspired performances lead to a set the plays like a greatest-hits collection, and no doubt when the band does release one, Konk will be well represented.
October 18, 2016
After making two brilliant albums with Television, the possibilities seemed endless for Tom Verlaine when he launched his solo career. On his own, his body of work proved to be unfortunately erratic, but 1981's Dreamtime was one moment of unqualified triumph. Full of great songs, potent rock & roll energy, and brilliant but muscular soloing from Verlaine, Dreamtime comes close to Television's level of genius, but with a sound and attack all its own.
![In Paris Festival International de Jazz [Columbia]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0001624614/front/400/w1-bIXEz6GYJ9TizUNbr-A4Q1ghY8VaPylnm7PwcKNY=.jpg)
October 17, 2016
This radio broadcast captures the then rising young jazz trumpeter Miles Davis with pianist Tadd Dameron's quintet live in Paris in 1949. Rather than the laid-back romantic of the mid '50s, here we get Davis as swashbuckling bebopper, his rapier sharp trumpet lines and sparkling tone bringing to mind a mini-me version of his mentor Dizzy Gillespie. Not only is it a fascinating window into Davis' early artistic development, but given the superb quality of Dameron's compositions, it's also a superb listen.
October 16, 2016
It's a simple formula: bring together one of the East Coast's finest rappers with some of the most clever trackmasters in hip-hop, then add in a stellar DJ, and the results are bound to be exciting. Funky Technician was just that, an excellent LP of battle rap with Lord Finesse simultaneously claiming and proving his immense skills over a set of funky backing tracks that used the familiar James Brown blueprint but delivered it with unobtrusive class and innumerable displays of deft turntable wizardry.
October 15, 2016
Stripping the vocals from recordings of the fearlessly eloquent reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson would seem the height of foolishness, but Johnson and producer Dennis Bovell knew what they were doing when they created 1980's LKJ in Dub. Bovell strips these tracks to the bone, and the inspired use of echo and reverb makes these numbers as hard and ominous as the British society depicted in his lyrics. And the ghostly appearance of Johnson's voice on "Iron Bar Dub" makes it every bit as powerful as the original "Sonny's Letter."
October 14, 2016
A giddy cacophony of fuzzy pop gems, the 23 songs here are noisy, quirky, and occasionally low-fi, but above all they're hooky, with sing-along choruses and friendly melodies packed into every second.
October 13, 2016
Declared "unlistenable" by the very label that initially released it, Mr. Oizo's first foray into digital production (following freak hit "Flat Beat" and the mostly dissimilar full-length debut Analog Worms Attack) still makes no logical sense whatsoever. Fast, frenetic, and ultra-glitchy, it seems like he was trolling the entire concept of dance music with this one. Nevertheless, a select few picked up on how wildly inventive it was, and it was eventually given a belated vinyl release on Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder label.
October 12, 2016
One of several film scores the band composed for the films of Werner Herzog, this is one of Popol Vuh's true masterpieces. Utilizing East Indian classical music as its starting point, pianist Florian Fricke and guitarist /percussionist Daniel Fichelscher, with help from Alois Gromer on sitar and flutist Mattias Tippelskirch deliver slowly developing themes in processional tempos that culminate in nearly transcendent euphoria..
October 11, 2016
Death Cult Armageddon finds Dimmu Borgir gloriously fulfilling the potential exuded on Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia and breakthrough release Enthrone Darkness Triumphant, and officially staking claim to the heap of bones and armor known as the Scandinavian black metal scene. It may be the closest-to-perfect amalgamation of the hallowed genres of black, death, thrash, gothic/industrial, and symphonic metal, because here the bullet-belted, corpse-painted Norwegians collaborate with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and reap the benefits with savage glee.
October 10, 2016
Having struck gold on his debut with "Taxi," Harry Chapin returned with Sniper & Other Love Songs, an ultimately more artistic and less commercial rendering of his distinctive story song style. While it did yield future Chapin folk anthem "Circle," the album's centerpiece is the masterful, ten minute progressive title cut.
October 9, 2016
Switching from Westbound to Mercury, the Dayton funksters went from enjoying a cult following to being one of the most celebrated funk bands of the 1970s. The title song and "Jive Turkey" are down and dirty funk classics, and the jazz-influenced "Heaven Must Be Like This" illustrates the fact that the Players could also be captivatingly romantic.
October 8, 2016
Frank Zappa was a freak, but he was never a hippie. Once the counterculture went mass during the Summer of Love, Zappa's worst suspicions about the alternative youth culture were soon confirmed, and 1968's We're Only In It For The Money, his third album with the Mothers of Invention, was a witty, troubling, and prescient satire of the hippie movement and the follies of the generation gap. Funny, smart, and despite being inspired by a specific time and place, it still feels timely.
October 7, 2016
Neil Landstrumm's third album (and second for Tresor) is a definite highlight of the Scottish techno veteran's discography, although nearly everything he does is great. As with most of his work, here he combines more-distorted-than-necessary basslines and wobbly, bloopy synth tones, all set to beats suitable for a bedroom pogo session.
October 6, 2016
Frequently dismissed as "that Australian teenage grunge band," Silverchair actually evolved -- rather quickly -- and became one of the more creative and unpredictable forces in modern rock. Diorama is the pinnacle of that ingenuity, showcasing Daniel Johns' genius on a symphonic epic that sweeps and swells with Van Dyke Parks' orchestral arrangements. Fans of Muse or the Dear Hunter, take note. Highlights include: the entire album.
October 5, 2016
On a soundtrack that reflects Gabriel's (continued) fascination with world music in the '80s, he creates an exceptionally beautiful and atmospheric tapestry of sound perfectly evocative of the film's resonant spiritual drama. Its varied influences achieve a cumulative effect clearly Middle Eastern in origin, yet its fusion of ancient and modern musics ultimately transcends both geography and time, as well as the film.
![Ascenseur pour l'Échafaud [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]](https://fastly-s3.allmusic.com/release/mr0003344721/front/400/j6HyfZqBzXvwVAH2TmrRKhyhM-OFI8zG4l-qVpXXB1I=.jpg)
October 4, 2016
Recorded live to an early edit of Louis Malle's film, 1958's Ascenseur pour l'echafud is a ground-breaking soundtrack and a good example of Davis' burgeoning experimentalism. Built around several moody harmonic progressions, the music Davis supplied is atmospheric and open ended; more extended improvisations than arranged pieces. While the album stands next to other highly regarded jazz soundtracks of the period, with its evocative, modal ambience, it also feels like a warm-up for the trumpeter's innovative work with Gil Evans and soon-to-come classics like Kind of Blue.
October 3, 2016
If Where We Come From comes off a bit aloof and electro for such a Gaza past, know that the singles-driven dancehall scene is less concerned with albums than other genres, so consider it a simple slice of the Popcaan picture or some exciting stepping out for the dancehall singer, because it is both.
October 2, 2016
Finally reissued (on vinyl only) in 2016, the most elusive chapter in Neil Young's "Ditch Trilogy" is a chaotic and powerful live album in which an audience looking for mellow good times is confronted by an artist obsessed with drugs and death who isn't about to give them what they want. A brilliant, harrowing epitaph for the hippie dream, Time Fades Away cuts deeper and harder than most anything in Young's catalog.
October 1, 2016
When you combine Chuck Schuldiner's shrieking vocals (his eeriest performance ever) with the most talented, cohesive lineup yet, you get the definitive Death album. This album delicately mixes the best aspects of past albums Human, Individual Thought Patterns, and Symbolic and takes them one step further.