Staff Picks for September 2012
September 30, 2012
This is a wonderful album, full of great players playing like the best back-porch string ensemble one is likely to hear, and with Annalisa Tornfelt's vocals giving things a consistent emotional integrity, it adds up to one of the best and most unique Americana albums of the year.
September 29, 2012
Whenever the temperature dips, the lavish, frosty atmospheres and incomparable vocals of Goldfrapp's first album always sound just right.
September 28, 2012
In 2004, techno legend Mills went way back to compile a barely-mixed set of underground club classics spanning the late '70s through the early '90s. It's thoroughly fascinating and naturally eclectic � probably the only time we'll hear Teddy Pendergrass and Blake Baxter in the same context.
September 27, 2012
Chodos plays these dramatic piano masterpieces with a great deal of thoughtfulness and grace, plus a warm tone. Larger, more forceful passages are kept in proportion to the more reflective ones, giving a maturity to his readings.
September 26, 2012
Nearly 30 years after its release, the Sir Douglas Quintet's cheerful bandwagon-hopping Border Wave is finally available on CD. SDQ winds up riding a wave Joe King Carrasco left in his wake but even if they're dabbling in new wave they wind up with another cracking Tex-Mex record � a bit poppier than usual but just as irresistible.
September 25, 2012
Still clearly enamored with melodic soft-rock and '60s pop, James Iha's long-awaited sophomore effort expands upon his sundappled palette with shimmery layered synth lines that recall his days as a '90s alt-rock superstar.
September 24, 2012
This is a remarkable achievement for a live recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and if it is not the most sublime version of all, then it is at least an outstanding presentation that belongs in any CD collection.
September 23, 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.
September 22, 2012
In 2004, the Beat Goes On label reissued two legendary Sonny Boy Williamson albums, Down and Out Blues and In Memorium, originally released on Chess Records in 1959 and 1965. You can't go wrong with this classic Chicago blues material.
September 21, 2012
If Satanism is bad, how come Ghost make it sound so good? All that devil talk can be written off easily while listening to Opus Eponymous, a melodic, Blue Öyster Cult-sounding metal album that can be taken as either forked tongue or tongue in cheek.
September 20, 2012
The last of the classic Willie Colón LPs featuring Héctor Lavoe proved without a doubt that salsa's new king for the '70s had nearly endless reserves of compositional fortitude -- and the powerhouse band to match.
September 19, 2012
Following the 1967 masterpiece Forever Changes, Arthur Lee regrouped with a new band of studio musicians adding hard rock muscle to his always haunting tunes. Critics hated the album's heaviness, but Lee's songwriting shines through the amped-up playing, especially on searching tunes like "Robert Montgomery" and "Singing Cowboy."
September 18, 2012
Undeniably ambitious, melodically exquisite, and flush with enough perfectly rendered fantasy metal clichés to feed an army of bards, druids, monks, paladins, and rangers as they set forth on a great cola-and-pizza/20-sided-die-fueled adventure, Iron Maiden's seventh studio album is the shit.
September 17, 2012
Purists may shudder at Pluhar's unabashed jazz interpretations on several tracks, but anyone else might just melt from the heat of these luscious performances of some of Monteverdi's most sensual pieces. The music shimmers with energy and vitality, and the performers' pleasure in it is palpable.
September 16, 2012
Will Smith, Mobb Deep, Faith Evans, the Notorious B.I.G., and (of course) George Michael all owe a debt of gratitude to Straight from the Heart, one of the finest early-'80s R&B albums.
September 15, 2012
Chic get unfairly viewed as Love Boat disco thanks to hits like "Le Freak," but they were no soulless Lido deck staples. Any band that could write a ballad as devastating as "At Last I Am Free" is too cool to be hanging out with Gopher.
September 14, 2012
Show and Tell: The Best of Al Wilson includes 18 tracks that will remind listeners how durable the soul singer's recordings from the mid-'70s are.
September 13, 2012
Fractured, dark, and amazingly profane, on XXX Danny Brown is out to remind the world that the South isn't the only place that's dirty. Name-checking Adderall more than any other rapper, the Detroit MC is content to live in his own perfectly twisted world.
September 12, 2012
With Charlie Palmieri backed by a bassist and percussion section, this instrumental set features a dazzling array of tangos, boleros, cha chas, and mambos. Despite his many excellent recordings, it is perhaps this date that best provides evidence of Palmieri's genius.
September 11, 2012
In her first post-Breeders outing, the lesser-known Deal sister steps out with a charmingly eclectic collection of songs that reveal her knack for catchy choruses, crunchy riffing, and wry wit.
September 10, 2012
Fans of post-Soviet Eastern European mystics, sometimes described as Holy Minimalists, are likely to be thrilled with the music of Vladimir Martynov, who is finally being discovered by the West. The Kronos Quartet plays his quietly glowing music with searing intensity.
September 9, 2012
Textstar pulls from Jan Jelinek's first four Farben 12" releases for Klang Elektronik, 1999-2002. These intricate productions draw heavily from house and dub, blurring the divide between home listening and dancefloor electronic music. Essential for anyone into later abstract electronic acts such as Actress, Mount Kimbie, and James Blake.
September 7, 2012
Although Joey and Rory alternate lead vocals from song to song here, the tracks seem to link up as part of the same quilt, a kind of dialogue between the two of them done with intelligent, well-written songs.
September 6, 2012
Forget the terrible title -- the Canadian pop heroes' debut album is nothing short of an indie pop masterpiece, full of fun and frisky summertime sweetness and some surprisingly emotional ballads for balance. Check "Gotta Get Out" for the former, "I Will Appear for You" for the latter.
September 5, 2012
Nearly a half-century after they first picked up their instruments, the Shaggs are still more out-there than many of today's most warped indie rockers -- and they weren't even trying.
September 4, 2012
Japanese drummer dubbed Pecker flies to Jamaica, hooks up with Sly & Robbie plus the Wailers band, and records at both Channel One and Tuff Gong studios during the late '70s. This is a unique album, and it's an excellent one too, worthy of any dub fan's attention.
September 3, 2012
Anyone who knows the Beatles' albums from Please Please Me to Help! will recognize the tunes on Baroque Beatles Book, and Joshua Rifkin's pastiches of Handel's Royal Fireworks Music, Bach's cantatas, trio sonatas, and the Goldberg Variations -- or is it the Harmonious Blacksmith? -- will amuse classical buffs.
September 2, 2012
With this collection, the rebellious French popster shows off the hip-shaking garage rock stylings, sharp societal observations, and playfully sneering charisma that marked his career's early years.
September 1, 2012
A stunningly psychedelic combination of Beatles worship and musique concrète, Black Foliage is a lo-fi pop wonder. If this album were nothing more than the beautiful, ever-evolving "I Have Been Floated," it could still be considered a perfect record.