BILL EVANS - Sunday At The Village Vanguard [Keepnews Collection]

The first of two albums culled from a 1961 live date with the Bill Evans Trio, Sunday At The Villiage Vanguard still stands as the model of the modern piano trio. In the two years preceding this recording, Evans, along with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian, had reinvented the sound of this standard jazz grouping as a collaborative creative venture with three unique voices, rather than that of a featured pianist with rhythm accompanists. Much of this innovation was facilitated by the unmatched virtuosity of LaFaro, whose horn-like lines can be heard weaving through Evans' rich harmonies, never married to the pianist's left hand, nor to a strict four-to-the-bar swing.  LaFaro's role in the trio also extended into the repertoire played--his Gloria's Step and Jade Visions present vehicles as daring as the trio's approach, with odd phrase lengths which exploit the constant momentum created by the group's interplay. Sadly, this recording was to be LaFaro's final statement, as he was killed in an auto accident a mere 10 days after this recording at the age of 25.

HIGH PLACES - S/T

Arriving just two months after their previously eMusic-only 03/07-09/07 collection was reissued in physical slipcase form by Thrill Jockey, the joyously regressive duo are back with this proper self-titled debut, making home-recorded digital skip-rope boombap bearing clunky clinks and tinny tropical shakes that could sidle up against El Guincho, Lucky Dragons, or 'Other' musicmaking Brooklynites like Animal Collective and Gang Gang Dance, as well as Heather Lewis' batch of Beat Happening songs in terms of the tweeness of singer Mary Pearson's delivery and subject matter.

LAURA BARRETT - Victory Garden

The kalimba queen's long-promised longplayer is out at last, presented in a way emblematic of her inclusive reach as she brings into her Garden fold a grounds crew of thirteen contributors (if you include those who assisted with the artwork/typography, and you really should) and never navel-gazes in the least, with odd observational, sassily detached lyrics almost like Joni Mitchell's (stress that almost--musically the two are pretty much planets apart!). Good on Paper Bag for at this point being home to quite a few staunch pop individualists, with Barrett, Slim Twig and The Acorn all clawing at conventions while still staying very accessible in their approaches.

BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT - Motion To Rejoin

While Brightblack's metamorphosis from twangy Ala.Cali.Tucky unknowns to Morning Light night-trippers was phenomenal in retrospect, there's no comparable leap made for Motion To Rejoin. Rabob and Naybob have pitched their tent on the site of the sound they found last album, and are staying put, man (in peaceful protest, perhaps?). If you were looking to bask in more of that slo-mo white-light Rhodes-filled soulfulness, you'll be glad they didn't fudge up the formula, but it makes for less of an out-of-nowhere impact than they had with their Matador debut.

YO LA TENGO - They Shoot, We Score

So each week, all these featured-release writeups get written on Sunday. The only reason this is worth mentioning here, in this review of Yo La Tengo's new self-released soundtrack collection, is that I can't think of a better time of said week to listen to these scores. From Ira Kaplan's VU's-a-Dead Man guitar reverberations to classic-if-expected full-band garage jams to brushes with jazz and classical orchestration, downtempo drum-machinery and even an awesome outright Neu! nod on Will Oldham vehicle Old Joy's end credits, with no apologies to the Q, this is my kind of Psychedelic Psunday.

TINDERSTICKS - The Hungry Saw

Alright, no need to drag Walker, Cohen or Cave into this--as far as finding a precedent to Stuart Staples' singing style goes, no disrespect to Staples' artistry intended, but we (and many others, mind you) would opt for Tim Hardin all the way. That dead horse having been beaten (and braying with a confusingly similar sound), though, it's maybe more novel to note that we're now living in an era where the mood and delivery of Tindersticks themselves are a touchstone, particularly in the wake of The National's success over the past two years. This first for Constellation (in this territory) offers as much instrumental heft as vocal brood, a balance and pace which is theirs alone.

FEMBOTS - Calling Out

With more riff-rock bone exposed than on 2005's The City, this fourth disc from Junkshop main men (and Little Italy neighbours) Dave MacKinnon and Brian Poirier (an arrangement that's now over a decade in the doing) has head Hylozoist (and fellow engineer) Paul Aucoin arranging horns as on their last, tracking smart vibraphone parts ("The Ballad Of Lucybelle Crater"'s ear-tickling tinkles, "Ship Breaking"'s morse-code crescendo-cueing lullaby paydirt) that, along with Iner Souster's junkstruments and Nathan Lawr's ever-tasteful percussion, complement FemBots' detailed production work.

BIRD SHOW - Untitled / RAGLANI - Of Sirens Born

    

From where we're sitting (lotus-legged, naturally), Kranky has been on a roll these past few years, signing many notable new (or newish) acts that are often solo projects or duos, yet feel fully-formed: Valet, White Rainbow, Atlas Sound, Lichens, Benoit Pioulard, Andrew Pekler, Cloudland Canyon...Although there are many elder bands on the Chicago-based label's roster of this general, ineffable ilk (Charalambides, Windy & Carl, Stars Of The Lid, Keith Fullerton Whitman, etc.), the A&R pace certainly seemed to pick up right around the time they took on Bird Show's first record, Green Inferno, back in 2005.

Then working with fellow Town And Country player Liz Payne only to go it alone for '06's Lightning Ghost, multi-instrumentalist Ben Vida is joined on this untitled effort by four other players: Rob "Lichens" Lowe and Ben's brother Adam, the three of whom are also 3/4 of US Maple successor of sorts Singer; improv percussionist Michael Zerang; and Greg Davis, who has toured as part of a collaborative trio with Vida and Whitman. Pan-African, Middle Eastern, South Asian and South American soundways intermingle in a rhythmic haze that's maybe more confident in how it'll cohere and congeal than the last two albums, as this more social setup allows for simultaneous recording and fewer overdubs. The fourth-world spirits of Riley, Hassell, and Codona run through this music, and a true fusion connection is here for the making.

Joseph Raglani, for his part, presents a mighty fine floater with Of Sirens Born, mainly synthesized and seemingly rooted in old-school analogue academic experimental electronics, but with enough warmth and gumption to want to lump it in with the punkier noiseniks and ambient outcasts. Makes for terrific namesake theme music whenever it graces the store's PA!

ALEXANDER TUCKER - Portal / ANNE BRIGGS - S/T

 
Cultivating an untrammelled, drony and pagan/Saxon sound (tech-enabled by studio multitracking and live looping, mind you) and singing in a spooked style simpatico with Blue Fog acoustic doomer Wyrd Visions, Alexander Tucker's tunes likewise harness near-metal mystic sustain, married to chugging strings and repetitive fingerpicked figures, causing each song to come off like an ancient introverted war cry, or some modern mead-hall thrash troubadour.

Far less amplified or obtuse, around forty years back and a few branches over in the olde English and Scottish ballad traditions, Anne Briggs' self-titled 1971 album shows why she's considered one of the most important post-war British folk-revival interpreters, and a clear influence on many of Tucker's peers, especially the offhand acapella efforts of Richard Youngs. Fairport fans who haven't yet heard Briggs' debut should check her wildly different takes on Liege & Lief's "Reynardine" and "Tam Lin" (as the variant "Young Tambling"), and the Irish version of "The Cuckoo" she sings bares little resemblance to the one passed down from Clarence Ashley to so many American musicians.

CHAD VANGAALEN - Soft Airplane

With homespun sonics poking out of direct songforms, Chad VanGaalen is foremost blessed with a voice both unsettled and self-possessed, causing customers to ask who's singing whenever we've thrown this on. Speaking of vocal quaver, though, VanGaalen does go full-Shakey once with "Inside The Molecules"' "Wonderin'"-'bout-Zuma swingtime. Techno touches abound on "Phantom Anthills" and "TMNT Mask"'s holy-effed Casio four-on-the-floor, while "Rabid Bits Of Time" mulls over the mess of death and dreams via panned train pistons, followed by "Frozen Energon"'s cold FX snarl.  

VA - Sweet Soul Music: Scorching Classics From 1961-1965

Sweet Soul Music continues Bear Family's year-by-year exploration of R&B that began with the excellent Blowin' The Fuse series (1945-1960).  The first batch in this new series covers 1961-1965 and includes just about every classic soul single released during that period - no obscurities here, this is simply hit after hit compiled by Toronto's own Dave 'Daddy Cool' Booth.  It fills a void left ever since Rhino's Beg, Scream & Shout went out of print. Admittedly, these German imports are more expensive than a typical disc, but every track is a keeper plus you get an 80 page booklet containing stories, photos and cover art.  A must-have!

DOMINIQUE LEONE - S/T / LINDSTROM - Where You Go I Go Too

Caution and coolness refreshingly thrown to the wind, Dominique Leone's willingness to set his Rundgren-like pipes within countless styles and electronic treatments recalls, locally, our own Matt "Nifty" Smith, and may be heard by many as possessing a similar magpie pop spirit to those recently-reviewed Fiery Furnaces. Leone's the first signing to Hans-Peter Lindstrom's Stromland imprint, and though Lindstrom himself's the one getting all the accolades so far for Where You Go's lengthy laidback/hi-NRG early-'80s Moroder moves (most accomplished on last tramp "The Long Way Home"), the ex-Pitchfork staffer in his stable's the real wizard/true star.

THE MOONDOGGIES - Don't Be A Stranger

If there is a formula for making a revivalist throwback to 1970s Americana, well, The Moondoggies have got it down, with honky-tonk pianos and barroom blues borrowed from The Band, twangy harmonies from The Byrds, and southern blues and country riffs from CSNY and CCR. Originality may not be their strength, but they more than make up for it with their pristine musicianship, layered harmonies, charm, and loyalty to the iconic sound of '70s Americana. There are classic boogie-down jams like "Bogachiel Rain Blues" and "Ol' Blackbird" to get your bell-bottomed legs a-movin', along with more laidback whiskey-drenched songs like "Save My Soul" and "Jesus on the Mainline". With Sub Pop signing Fleet Foxes and now their subsidiary label Hardly Art signing The Moondoggies, Seattle is looking like it could very well be the next Laurel Canyon.

THE WALKMEN - You & Me

Hamilton Leithauser retains the title of real rock'n'roll pop frontman, one whose gang splits the difference between the likes of Spoon and the late Afghan Whigs. Lacking A Hundred Miles Off's wayward punk parts, a festive furor's still here, even if those "Louisiana" horns are instead rolled through molasses on "Red Moon". You & Me is full of folky garage waltzes like the latter (for more, check out this teeth-cutting set of Cohen covers), a grower with immediate hooks including "In The New Year"'s ascending chorus organ and "If Only It Were True"'s two-beat turnaround after the eight.

THE FIERY FURNACES - Remember

So many parts, so many setlists, so many lyrics! The bro/sis organ-grinder run-on jump-cut duo do what they must, nodding to the non-stop shuffle of their stage show by turning the innocent proposition of a live album into the sort of splicefest that Zappa would surely have something snarky to say about were he still here. Concert third-wheel and archival soundman Jason Loewenstein should be awarded some kind of war medal engraved with fancy-sounding commendations for his role in this whole undertaking. 2 CDs, 51 songs, and 6 misleadingly-listed, made-up meta-medleys, a fibbed taxonomy that's typically bloody-minded Friedberger.

STEREOLAB - Chemical Chords

Tim Gane wanted to "pick rhythms that were quite fast--short songs that were more upbeat" for Chemical Chords, and despite it feeling at this point like The Groop's own catalog is the one getting thumbed through unlike the record-collector alchemy of older efforts, the reliance on drum machine and loops instead of live percussion (deadlines loomed once Gane and Sean O'Hagan finished the double-disc La Vie D'Artiste soundtrack, with Gane apparently needing to quickly pass songs to O'Hagan for arrangements), as on two-minute blip "Valley Hi!", is what may most distinguish studio set No. 9. Opt for the ultra-nerdy limited edition paper sleeve fake Japanese import!

HUMAN HIGHWAY - Moody Motorcycle

Anyone who can't quite get into Islands' over-the-top antics would be especially advised to ease their way into Nick Thorburn's world by way of this collaboration with Toronto/Guelph's much-loved pop laureate-turned-jinglemeister, Jim Guthrie. With 'man on man' (hey, their words) harmony-vocal touchstones like Simon & Garfunkel and the Everly Brothers openly admitted by the pair, they're now busy making the transition from one-off bedroom writing to committing to tourable versions of these gentle tunes.

RODRIGUEZ - Cold Fact

Originally released in 1970, this album by Detroit's Sixto Rodriguez sank without a trace domestically, but curiously hit it big with listeners in Australia and South Africa. Cold Fact bears a Dylan/Donovan influence, and was co-produced by great Motown session guitarist Dennis Coffey. Kicking off with the dreamy acid-folk rock of "Sugar Man", a paean to a drug dealer, and the fuzz guitar crunch of the searing putdown "Only Good For Conversation", this disc bitterly reflects the harsh comedown of the hippie hangover. Caustic, socially conscious songwriting and hard-bitten vocals, along with some lovely orchestration, make for a lost classic well worth rediscovering.

RANDY NEWMAN - Harps And Angels

Unreliably narrating ironically cheery, old-timey boogie-woogie and showtunes for new bleak times, Newman's back from the soundtrack racket (and Songbook celebrations) with his first set of freshly-penned songs in almost ten years. Deliciously ambiguous in dealing with U.S. highest-ups on "A Few Words In Defence Of Our Country" (and slyly skirting offence again on "Korean Parents"), it's when Newman names names, calling out cause-celebre spokesmen like Bono, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne on the slap-bang "A Piece Of The Pie", that this show really kicks into high gear.

ONEIDA - Preteen Weaponry

Part One in the threatened "Thank Your Parents" triptych first lays an almost Spacemen 3-like groove down, flattening out at the 5-minute mark just in time for some tuneful bass/guitar unison lines to peek out from the distorted drum thicket. Gusts of wrecked speakers then blow across the stereo field for the even slower, even dronier second part, where singing drifts in for a spell before breaking off in a fried-synth clipped motorik for the third and final fifteen-minute stretch. Honestly not likely to win many new converts, Preteen Weaponry still does a great job of showing off the ever-expanding, self-sufficent psych studio skills of these by-now old-school Brooklynites.