Probably my first Top 10 here consisting entirely of releases from the past four weeks!
Compared to the band’s debut two years ago, there’s more focus: Yuki Chikudate dominates the vocals (perfectly winsome at times, perfectly ethereal at others, recalling Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser), the shoegazer sound is much stronger and more dominant, the songwriting’s better, and Chikudate’s keyboards are usually warmer and more submerged in the overall texture. There’s still a fair amount of variety, though, and more fast tempos and aggression than the obvious comparisons might suggest – the vocals may often recall dreampop, but the drumming usually doesn’t. If you long for a Slowdive reunion, or ever wanted Liz Fraser to front My Bloody Valentine, you’re so gonna love this album.
“Guitar Trio” (1977) is where Sonic Youth learned how to make guitars sound like lethal weapons. The nearly 22-minute title track offers wave after wave of minimalist ecstasy.
More guitar goodness: a 42-minute-plus, five-movement suite “for 100 electric guitars, electric bass, and drums.” Maybe there aren’t really 100 guitars, but the sound is magically rich and textured.
My review will go up soon. Suffice it to say that though the peaks of Sonic Nurse are higher, I think this is their most consistently good album since Daydream Nation.
The most definitive reissue of this 1979 masterpiece, including Daryl Hall vocals that had to be replaced on earlier versions. A two-CD set that duplicates tracks to offer two main versions plus important alternates.
A quietly brilliant masterpiece by this duo of Sierra Casady (CocoRosie) and Matteah Baim. Guests Antony, Jana Hunter, Devendra Banhart, Greg Rogrove, (Tarantula A.D.), and Christina Chalmers add special flavors.
I had doubts that he could still match his former greatness, but a complete-game victory in which he surrendered just one run, in the last inning, has convinced me.
The samba master celebrated his 60th birthday in 1987 by going into the studio and reworking 24 of his most famous songs. It wasn’t released until 1995, a year after his death, in a limited edition, when it was titled Tom Jobim Inedito; this is its first appearance in North America and initiates a new series of Jobim rarities. The seemingly fragile beauty of Jobim’s songs conceals a tensile strength; whether the listener is familiar with the original versions of these tunes or is hearing them for the first time (or most of them – it’s hard to imagine anybody not knowing “The Girl from Ipanema” or “Desafinado”), this album is a joy to hear. Jobim, nearly always on piano, collaborates in these fine-sounding home-studio recordings with his wife Ana, singer/flutist Danilo Caymmi, singer Paula Morelenbaum and her husband, cellist Jaques; drummer Paulo Braga, a string orchestra, and more. This is a first-class production.
Two of the twelve performances from this December 1993 solo concert have been issued before (though not in the U.S.), but the rest are released for the first time this week. The only feedback here is accidental, but the Dinosaur Jr. songs hold up anyway because they’re well-written (especially “Get Me”), and because as ragged as Mascis’s singing is, it’s full of distinctive character. He also “cooked up” (his words) two excellent covers, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Every Mother’s Son” and Greg Sage’s (Wipers) “On the Run” (“because he’s one of my idols”). His guitar skills? Never in doubt. And even though it’s a new release, it’s mid-priced. It’s also supposedly a limited edition, so don’t hesitate.
The jazz bagpiper’s psychedelic 1972 album – reissued last month, and the only one of his five classics on CD – has buckets of gospel organ and backbeats heavy enough for P-Funk. “The Crack” is a groove with eerie synthesizer, over which Harley wails. On a thrilling version of “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” that fans of Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “The Old Rugged Cross” will dig, organist Bill Mason gets some spotlight time and Larry Langston drums up a storm. “Hypothesis” speaks in the modal jazz language of John Coltrane. It’s back to heavy funk on “Gods and Goddesses,” with the electric bass of Larry Randolph added. The closing “Etymology,” also with Randolph, is a hard-driving 12/8 prog-rock excursion. Harley’s bagpipes and electric soprano sax are never just novelties; there’s superb musicianship here.
