Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash – 16 Biggest Hits (Columbia Legacy)
Just because the commercial impetus behind this inaccurately titled, mid-priced album is obvious (“The Very Best from the Couple That Walked the Line!” the cover proclaims) is no reason to scorn it. “Jackson” is one of the most fun duets in all of country, and that spirit resurfaces frequently on this program. There’s a more serious side at times, not least on an epochal version of Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through the Night.” It’s not all great art – there’s a level of sentimentality that rock fans may be uncomfortable with – but a lot of the material here was released on singles rather than albums, so it’s nice to have it compiled. And the “new” “It Takes One to Know Me” (mostly recorded in 1977, but finished in 2004 and first released late last year in the box set The Legend), heart-rending in its sincerity, crowns this collection perfectly.
Robyn Hitchcock – Element of Light (Rhino)
This 1986 release is Hitchcock’s most serious album, and his best. Full of gorgeous, autumnal tracks such as “Winchester,” “Raymond Chandler Evening,” and the sublime “Airscape,” with some Lennonesque songs (Hitchcock and multi-instrumental Egyptian Andy Metcalfe are quite expert at the claustrophobic style of ‘70s production, and Robyn’s vocal on “Somewhere Apart” could easily be confused with solo John Lennon) and the bitter, anti-Reagan “The President,” it’s definitely his most consistently memorable and melodic release, with every song from the original 10-track LP a little masterpiece. The hilarious bonus narrative “The Can Opener” is so funny the band members can’t get through its recitation without cracking up, and the acoustic demos (and a live “Airscape”) are the most interesting bonus tracks in Rhino’s series of Hitchcock reissues.
Kodo – Ibuki (TriStar)
My new friend Tsubo-chan is a taiko drummer who dreams of playing with musicians in New York. The study of taiko, Japanese drumming, led to the formation of the powerful percussion group Kodo in 1981. This 1997 album was produced by Bill Laswell and showcases especially well the boomingly resonant sound the group is famous for. The throbbing pulse suggests a giant, living being, while the dramatic dynamic swells conjure images of an unstoppable force of nature. Drumming doesn’t get any more primal and overwhelming than this.
Neil Young – Decade (Reprise)
Believe it or not, this is still produced on vinyl, and we sell it regularly at Sound Fix. When Young put this together, it was still unusual for a “greatest hits” collection to include lots of previously unreleased material; between that stuff and the best of Young’s songs with Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Stills-Young Band, this is a crucial document of his most fertile period.
Jonas Hellborg/Shawn Lane – Zenhouse (Bardo)
Bass virtuoso Hellborg and guitar wunderkind Lane (who died, just 40, in 2003), along with drummer Apt. Q-258, AKA Jeff Sipe, frequently recorded together, usually in high-decibel/high-energy electric contexts. This time out, though, they played lengthy acoustic improvisations, with Hellborg using an acoustic double-neck bass guitar and Sipe using miscellaneous percussion rather than a drum kit. This concert recording from Sweden of four pieces in 54 minutes consists of modal, trance-like grooves that draw from flamenco and Arabic music at times. Though generally quiet and hypnotic, its ebbs and flows keep up interest and offer haunting themes and virtuosic ornamentation, with a few uptempo moments for variety. When we got a used copy at the store, I recommended it to a customer who’s a guitarist, and he came back raving about how good it is.
Arthur Russell – The World of Arthur Russell (Soul Jazz)
Famous as one of the most creative dance-music producers in 1980s NYC, the late Arthur Russell was truly beyond category. Uder his own name or with/as Loose Joints, Dinosaur L, and others, he had such scene hits as “Let’s Go Swimming,” “Is It All Over My Face,” and “Go Bang.” A restless experimenter who had studied both classical western and classical Indian music, wrote quirky horn arrangements for early Talking Heads, and played cello even on some of his dance hits, his music is bursting with influences unexpected in dance music (which led some labels to have big-name figures such as Francois Kevorkian and Larry Levan remix his songs to sound more normal). This 2004 compilation gives a good overview of Russell’s hits and many facets, including his spare, wistful pop-song demos.
Astor Piazzolla & New Tango Quintet – Zero Hour (Nonesuch)
The tango began in the shadier parts of Buenos Aires as dirty dancing. Piazzolla, who studied classical music with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, turned it into art – without sacrificing its innate sensuality and earthy elegance. He was a virtuoso player of the bandoneón, an elongated relative of the accordion; the group here also includes violin, piano, guitar, and bass. For all the soaring sentimentality of some of the slower melodies, there’s a bite to this music, and at times a jazzy freedom.
David Lang – The Passing Measures (Cantaloupe)
English composer David Lang’s 42-minute work The Passing Measures, for bass clarinet, amplified orchestra, and women’s voices, is definitely Minimalist, but with a strong Ambient flavor. Musical events develop slowly here, with sustained tones. The bass clarinet part (played by Marty Ehrlich) is not very foregrounded. When the female voices sing wordlessly, it recalls a section of Brian Eno’s Music for Airports. Though The Passing Measures is an entirely composed work (well-executed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, conducted by Paul Herbert), its relationship to the classical tradition is much less pronounced than its Ambient leanings, and this is a restful work that functions equally well soothing listeners as background music or fascinating them with subtly deployed instrumental textures.
Tom Waits – Blood Money (Anti/Epitaph)
This 2002 CD contains music Waits and wife Kathleen Brennan wrote for a Robert Wilson production (which was awful) of Georg Büchner’s protean 1836 play Woyzeck. Waits is ideally suited to give voice to the economically and spiritually oppressed Woyzeck, who in his inability to deal with his miserable life ends up killing the girl he loves. The songs mostly display characters’ moods, as on Woyzeck’s ode to Marie “All the World Is Green,” or general philosophies, such as “Everything Goes to Hell” and “God’s Away on Business.” The musical style Waits perfected over the past two decades complements the play’s Expressionist mood, veering between emotional bluesiness and the biting wit and woozy jazziness of Weill/Brecht. Waits’s most depressing album, it’s nonetheless so stunning and profound that it’s among his best work.
Suzanne Vega – Suzanne Vega (A&M)
On Vega’s 1985 debut, the cool, youthful intensity of her vocals (complemented well by the production and arrangements of Lenny Kaye and Steve Addabbo) and the enigmatic poetry of her lyrics remain enthralling two decades later. None of the tracks were hits (that would come with her sophomore release), but “Marlene on the Wall” is the consensus favorite.
