December 2011
Look for "Rick's Pick"

CLASSICAL
 
$17.98
 
Title:    El Resplandor: The Shining In Dubai
Label:    Sub Rosa (dist. Forced Exposure)
Composer:    Nettle
ISBN:    9786314462437
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    05411867113249
Prod.#:    BECDSBRS324
Cat.#:    SR 324
Period:    Contemporary
Genre:    Avant-garde
Release type:    New
Comments:    Anyone familiar with Nettle's previous work will be expecting something rather different from this fine and transcendently strange recording. Nettle is a duo project featuring DJ Rupture and Moroccan violinist Abdelhak Rahal; for this disc, the pair imagined a remake of the classic horror movie The Shining set in a Dubai luxury hotel, and wrote a 32-minute soundtrack to accompany the imaginary film. The music is scored for acoustic stringed instruments and wordless vocals, and the generally quite mellifluous playing and singing are frequently subjected to (at times aggressive) electronic manipulation. The result is unsettling, fascinating, and often beautiful. (RA)
 
$18.99
 
Title:    Imperatrix Inferni: Votive Antiphons & Ritual Music
Label:    Obsidian (dist. Naxos)
Composer:    John Taverner
ISBN:    9786314528348
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00658592070729
Prod.#:    BECDOBSD707
Cat.#:    CD707
Period:    Renaissance
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    These are relatively early works from the great Tudor composer John Taverner, including both his six-voice "Quemadmodum" setting and three large-scale votive antiphons. Academically, these pieces mark the beginning of the transition from late medieval polyphony to a mature Renaissance style in England; aesthetically, this disc provides yet another opportunity to hear the exquisite Alamire ensemble perform some of the most gorgeous music ever written, and on that account alone it's not to be missed. (RA)
 
$21.98
 
Title:    Cello Sonatas
Label:    Onyx Classics (dist. Harmonia Mundi)
Composer:    Felix Mendelssohn; Frederic Chopin
Performer:    Pieter Wispelwey; Paolo Giacometti
ISBN:    9786314553944
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00880040407829
Prod.#:    BECDONXC4078
Cat.#:    4078
Period:    Romantic
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    Over the past two decades, Pieter Wispelwey has emerged as perhaps the most gifted and versatile cellist of his generation, equally at home on baroque and modern instruments and playing virtually any repertoire. Pianist Paolo Giacometti is just as good. Together they have assembled a stirring, at times even fiery, program of pieces for cello and piano by two master of the Romantic period. There is a cello sonata from each composer, as well as a lovely account of Mendelssohn's "Song Without Words" and a medley of Chopin waltz arrangements. Brilliant playing, lovely compositions. (RA)
 
$17.98
 
Title:    Flos Inter Spinas
Label:    Supraphon (dist. Qualiton)
Composer:    Various Composers
Performer:    Tiburtina Ensemble; Hana Blazikova / Barbora Sojkova
ISBN:    9786314293895
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00099925403720
Prod.#:    BECDSUPP4037
Cat.#:    SU 4037-2
Period:    Medieval
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    The St. George Convent in Prague Castle contains a wealth of manuscripts filled with 13th- and 14th-century plainchant devotions celebrating Saints Catherine, Barbara, and Margaret. Each of these pieces recounts the legend of the individual saint's life and is designed to be sung as part of the liturgical celebration on her holiday. These are interspersed for this program with early polyphonic motets taken from French sources. The Tiburtina Ensemble's singing is beautifully clear and supple, and libraries that lend lots of Hildegard recordings should expect demand for this one. (RA)
 
$17.98
 
Title:    Basset Horn Divertimenti
Label:    Glossa Cabinet (dist. Qualiton)
Composer:    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Performer:    Stadler Trio
ISBN:    9786314418038
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00675754034658
Prod.#:    BECDGLSA80602
Cat.#:    GCD C80602
Period:    Classical
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    Reissue
Comments:    Originally issued in 1997, this disc should be welcomed back to market by anyone who loves either Mozart or the clarinet, or both. The three divertimenti (plus one adagio and a handful of instrumental selections from The Marriage of Figaro) are played by a trio of basset horns, an immediate precursor of the modern clarinet with a deeper and richer low register. The Stadler Trio play expertly and their instruments are exceptionally sweet and mellow in tone, a perfect match for the bittersweet loveliness of Mozart's compositions. Very highly recommended. (RA)
 
$16.98
 
Title:    Brahms on Brass
Label:    Opening Day
Composer:    Johannes Brahms
Performer:    Canadian Brass
ISBN:    9786314447489
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00776143741529
Prod.#:    BECDOPEN7415
Cat.#:    ODR 7415
Period:    Romantic
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    Canadian Brass is a legendary ensemble, and on this loving tribute to the godfather of the Romantic period they demonstrate what has made them that way: a pure, burnished tone, nearly telepathic rhythmic unity, and impeccable intonation. This program consists of Brahms' 16 waltzes (op. 39), a D minor ballade, and the eleven choral preludes (op. 122), all played with both crisp virtuosity and, at times, humor. These arrangements reveal a side of Brahms not always evident in his larger-scale works or piano compositions, and the album is a pure delight. (RA)
 
$19.98
 
Title:    Masses: De Beata Virgine; Ave Maris Stella
Label:    Gimell (dist. Harmonia Mundi)
Composer:    Josquin des Pres
Performer:    Tallis Scholars
ISBN:    9786314553647
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00755138104426
Prod.#:    BECDGMEL044
Cat.#:    044
Period:    Renaissance
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    Every new release by the Tallis Scholars is a worthy addition to any library's classical collection, and the group's latest Josquin program is particularly fine. It pairs one of the composer's most popular and yet structurally befuddling works (the De Beata Virgine mass) with one of his most straightforward. Both are performed with a delicacy, one almost wants to say tenderness, unusual even for a group as refined as the Tallis Scholars--there is a sense of hushed devotional wonder throughout the album even during the most intense passages, and the choir's grasp of the highly challenging complexities of the De Beata Virgine mass in particular is very impressive. That blend of virtuosity, grace, and taste is what has distinguished the Tallis Scholars throughout the ensemble's nearly 40-year history. (RA)
 
$19.98
 
Title:    Secret Voices: Chant & Polyphony from The Las Huelgas Codex
Label:    Harmonia Mundi USA
Composer:    Various Composers
Performer:    Anonymous 4
ISBN:    9786314510558
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00093046751067
Prod.#:    BECDHMD 807510
Cat.#:    HMU 807510
Period:    Medieval
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    Most libraries will assume (rightly) that they should acquire any new recording by Anonymous 4 pretty much as a matter of course, even when the repertoire is perhaps a little bit tired (cf. the group's Hildegard set of a few years ago). The 14th-century Las Huelgas codex is a familiar source to lovers of medieval music, but as usual the 4 shed a new and lovely light on this material with their crystal-clear voices and the nonpareil loveliness of their blend. Yet another essential release from this very consistent group. (RA)
 
$15.98
 
Title:    Stile Moderno
Label:    Acis Productions (dist. Albany)
Composer:    Quicksilver
ISBN:    9786314538040
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00885767725461
Prod.#:    BECDACIS72546
Cat.#:    APL72546
Period:    Renaissance/Baroque
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    The period-instrument chamber ensemble Quicksilver brings us back to the turn of the 17th century on this delightful debut album, which documents a heady period in the development of European art music. A number of Italian composers are represented here, but the focus is on works by Dario Castello, who was instrumental (sorry) in helping to create the newfangled "sonata" form. In his works and those of his contemporaries you can hear the fading influence of the Renaissance and the emerging ideals of the baroque, old-fashioned syncopations and cadences giving way to increasingly disciplined counterpoint and a nascent form of continuo. The playing, as we would expect from this group, is fantastic. No classical collection should pass this one up. (RA)
 
$17.99
 
Title:    O Virgo Benedicta: Music of Marian Devotion from Spain's Century of Gold
Label:    Delphian (dist. Allegro)
Composer:    Various Composers
Performer:    Marian Consort / Rory McCleery
ISBN:    9786314282806
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00801918340864
Prod.#:    BECDDLPN34086
Cat.#:    DCD34086
Period:    Renaissance
Genre:    Classical
Release type:    New
Comments:    The Oxford-based Marian Consort is a small vocal ensemble that is generating quite a buzz in early-music circles. For this (apparently debut) recording, the group has gathered a cappella works by Spanish composers from around the turn of the 17th century, a period during which Spanish polyphony came into its full maturity. There are pieces by such usual suspects as Guerrero, Morales, and Lobo, but also lesser-known works by Vivanco and Ceballos. Though the Marian Consort consists of only six voices, the group generates a notable lushness of texture and an attractively colorful blend. Recommended. (RA)
COUNTRY/FOLK
 
$10.98
 
Title:    Ready For Confetti
Label:    Lost Highway
Artist:    Robert Earl Keen
ISBN:    9786314392727
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00602527718866
Prod.#:    BECDUMG B001565702
Cat.#:    B0015657-02
Genre:    Country & Western
Release type:    New
Comments:    Texas singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen has been performing for some three decades, a musician known for his insightful and searching lyrics attached to memorable tunes. Here, he comes up with his finest release in a decade, deciding to write songs on the road rather than while holed up in his usual isolation. The results are eleven straightforward songs (and one remake), with toe-tapping rhythms, catchy melodies, and a mix of irony and sardonic wit that should make his fans ecstatic. The title track is his Jimmy Buffett moment, but most of the others are in the alternative country vein. Great work. (JW)
 
$17.99
 
Title:    Shadow and Light
Label:    Compass (dist. Naxos)
Artist:    John Doyle
ISBN:    9786314470180
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00766397456225
Prod.#:    BECDCOMS4562
Cat.#:    7 4462 2
Genre:    Celtic
Release type:    New
Comments:    If you’re in the market for great new Irish ballads that sound like great old Irish ballads, look no further. Doyle, a founding member of Solas and longtime collaborator with Liz Carroll and Karan Casey, has written ten of the eleven tunes here, including a couple of shiny instrumentals. Among the cheery topics are the Irish in America's Civil War, migration, exile, rebellion, and lost love. His vocals are a pleasure to hear, his guitar work is sublime, and he gets some help from fiddler Stuart Duncan, among others. Simply brilliant. (JW)
 
$15.98
 
Title:    Ragged Kingdom
Label:    Topic
Artist:    June Tabor & Oysterband
ISBN:    9786314421366
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00714822058520
Prod.#:    BECDTOPI585
Cat.#:    TSCD585
Genre:    Folk Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    It's been 21 years since British folksinger June Tabor united with the folk-rock ensemble Oysterband to make Freedom and Rain, one of the best folk-pop albums of the decade. Better late than never, they're back together again with a somewhat darker and more brooding, but equally fine, set of songs new and old. In this case it's the trad material that hits hardest: "Bonny Bunch of Roses," "(When I Was No But) Sweet Sixteen," and "Fountains Flowing" are among the highlights, whereas their version of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is curiously bloodless, and their version of the Memphis soul classic "Dark End of the Street" is squashed like a grape by that of fellow Britfolkies Richard and Linda Thompson. Still, a great album overall, and one that folk collections should seriously consider acquiring. (RA)
 
$15.99
 
Title:    Two Nights in Texas
Label:    Large River Music (dist. Redeye)
Artist:    Kate Campbell
ISBN:    9786314442828
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00634457549524
Prod.#:    BECDLRMC5011
Cat.#:    LR 5011
Genre:    Country
Release type:    New
Comments:    For two nights in Wimberley, Texas, Campbell and her band put on a delightful show. With Sally van Meter (dobro), Scott Ainslie (guitar and banjo), and Don Porterfield (bass), she runs through fourteen of her songs chronicling life in the New South, civil rights, her religious beliefs, and their curious intersections. The lyrics are heartfelt, sad observations or alternately humorous takes on the lack of justice in the world and the ironies of being a left-leaning Christian. Part country, part folk, and wholly well-played and sung, this release might make you think, and maybe check out her earlier albums. (JW)
 
$13.99
 
Title:    A Friend of a Friend
Label:    Acony (dist. Redeye)
Artist:    Dave Rawlings Machine
ISBN:    9786313280421
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00805147090828
Prod.#:    BECDACNY908
Cat.#:    470908
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    The Americana magic wielded by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings is alive and potent alive on this, Rawlings' first solo record. Welch appears throughout the record and co-wrote five of the songs. Members of Old Crow Medicine Show are prominent throughout the recording and several of the songs could easily fit on one of their releases. Rawlings’ guitar-playing is excellent as always and his singing fine. His songwriting mostly celebrates early 20th-century folk and blues and doesn’t stray too far from his work with Welch. Folks who like either Welch or Old Crow should be happy with this effort. (CLHD)
JAZZ
 
$35.98
 
Title:    Re: ECM
Label:    ECM
Artist:    Ricardo Villalobos
ISBN:    9786314406318
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00602527586816
Prod.#:    BECDUMG B001590502
Cat.#:    2211
Genre:    Jazz
Release type:    New (2-discs)
Comments:    This is a jazz remix album, but it’s unlike any you’ve ever heard. The German jazz label ECM opened up its vaults to electronic artists Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer, who used the original recordings as source material for creating totally new pieces that bridge the worlds of jazz, classical, and electronica. ECM recordings are known for their sound and use of acoustic space, and these abstract reworkings somehow manage to retain some of that sound. One of the most original albums of the year. (SA)
 
$18.98
 
Title:    Schumann: Kinderszenen
Label:    Telarc
Artist:    Jacques Loussier
ISBN:    9786314439040
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00888072322707
Prod.#:    BECDTELA32270
Cat.#:    TEL-32270-02
Genre:    Jazz
Release type:    New
Comments:    French pianist Jacques Loussier continues to march resolutely through the classical canon, taking works that appeal to him and adapting them for jazz piano trio. His most famous and popular recordings in this style have been by baroque composers (especially Bach), but here he takes on a different challenge: the Kinderszenen ("Scenes from Childhood") of Robert Schumann, the Romantic's Romantic. The results are every bit as light and lovely as his previous efforts, and those who have enjoyed his past work will find much to love here. (RA)
 
$13.00
 
Title:    The String of Pearls Project: Inspired by Water
Label:    Zoning Recordings
Artist:    Claire Ritter
Cat.#:    ZR 1010
Genre:    Jazz
Release type:    New
Comments:    Pianist/composer Claire Ritter’s String of Pearls Project is a musical portrait of the power of water in two variations. The first, “North American Watercolors,” is inspired by the Charles River and various North Carolina streams, capturing the quiet power of a stately river and the bouncing energy of a rocky mountain stream. Her second variation, “Outer Banks Crystal Scores,” captures both the serenity and power of the oceans, and the freedom and grace of the wild ponies that roam the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Bridging jazz and classical, Ritter’s engaging compositions evoke the beauty of a variety of waterscapes. Recommended. (GH)
 
$18.99
 
Title:    Live at the Royal Festival Hall, London
Label:    Winter & Winter (dist. Allegro)
Artist:    John McLaughlin Trio
ISBN:    9786314522155
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00025091018727
Prod.#:    BECDWAW 187
Cat.#:    910 187-2
Genre:    Jazz
Release type:    Reissue
Comments:    The excellent Winter & Winter label continues reissuing important jazz releases of the 1990s that originally emerged on the Japanese JMT imprint. This one documents a 1989 concert by legendary guitarist John McLaughlin (accompanied by bassist Kai Eckhardt and drummer Trilok Gurtu), and finds the leader at the peak of his considerable (okay, jaw-dropping) technical powers, and playing mostly acoustic guitar. Although he frequently plays with blinding speed, you never get the feeling that speed is the point; his melodies are as inventive as his lines are fast, and Eckhardt and Gurtu are right there with him. It's an amazing set. (RA)
 
$16.98
 
Title:    So Nice
Label:    Highnote
Artist:    Houston Person
ISBN:    9786314500580
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00632375722920
Prod.#:    BECDHNR 57229
Cat.#:    HCD 7229
Genre:    Jazz
Release type:    New
Comments:    Person is up to his usual excellent standard on this release. The tenor saxophonist takes on some standards and mixes things up by cycling various musicians through on four or five of the dozen tracks, including Warren Vache (cornet/flugelhorn), Mark Patterson (trombone), and Howard Alden (guitar). Person’s soulful and exuberant interplay with his guests make for some great straight ahead jazz. Everything is clean and concise, with very fine backing by a rhythm section of Ray Drummond and Lewis Nash. Person finishes with a Sondheim duet with pianist John di Martino, a cap on a very fine album. (JW)
ROCK/POP
 
$14.98
 
Title:    Conatus
Label:    Sacred Bones (dist. ADA)
Artist:    Zola Jesus
ISBN:    9786314467852
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00616892176268
Prod.#:    BECDSCDB21762
Cat.#:    62
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    As much as artists on the influential 4AD label decried being lumped together during the imprint's 1980s heyday, the label had an undeniable trademark sound, dark and atmospheric; it was also a place where women with powerful voices were never merely a trendy gimmick. Zola Jesus’s third album is new but could be mistaken for a 4AD release of that era, fitting in with Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins. It is goth in texture without succumbing to cartoonish, haunted-house imagery. Nika Roza Danilova, who performs under the Zola Jesus name, uses electronic instruments as tools, not as novelties, and they never get in the way of her forceful voice. (MC)
 
$14.98
 
Title:    In The Pit of The Stomach
Label:    Fat Cat (dist. ADA)
Artist:    We Were Promised Jetpacks
ISBN:    9786314467692
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00600116999726
Prod.#:    BECDFTCT69997
Cat.#:    97
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    Their name may be cumbersome, but We Were Promised Jetpacks adroitly exploit the tension between chaos and control on their sophomore effort. Rumbling bass, furious guitars and rat-a-tat drums surge in and fall back, leaving space for Adam Thompson’s distinctively Glaswegian vocals. The contrast between clatter and quiet culminates with the yearning of “Human Error.” (MC)
 
$20.98
 
Title:    35 Years of Stony Plain
Label:    Stony Plain
Artist:    Various Artists
ISBN:    9786314207106
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00772532135429
Prod.#:    BECDSTON21354
Cat.#:    SPCD 1354
Genre:    Blues
Release type:    Compilation (3-discs)
Comments:    This fine compilation captures the artistic diversity of Canada’s venerable Stony Plain roster. Disc one includes singer-songwriters such as Ian Tyson, Maria Muldaur, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris and others, while the second disc features blues and swing by musicians such as Duke Robillard, Jeff Healey, Rory Block, Ronnie Earl, and many more. Given Stony Plain’s deep vaults, it’s no surprise that nearly every track is excellent. A bonus DVD includes a studio tour plus live footage of Ian Tyson, Long John Baldry, and a great version of the late Jeff Healey covering Neil Young’s guitar epic, “Like A Hurricane.” Great stuff from an excellent label. (GH)
 
$14.98
 
Title:    Ancient & Modern
Label:    Bloodshot
Artist:    Mekons
ISBN:    9786314467890
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00744302070520
Prod.#:    BECDBLOD20705
Cat.#:    BS 705
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    The Mekons started as political punks in late 70s Leeds, and they’ve evolved into something of an Anglo-American roots collective. On this album, subtitled “1911-2011,” the idea was to write about similarities between our current social and political situation and the situation as it was right before World War I. When you think about what would happen in the decades after 1911, this is not an encouraging comparison. Fortunately for us the Mekons make some beautiful and enlightening music out of this concept, and those who listen to this album as an album will be richly rewarded. (SA)
 
$15.99
 
Title:    The Double Cross
Label:    Yep Roc (dist. Redeye)
Artist:    Sloan
ISBN:    9786314213145
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00634457223028
Prod.#:    BECDYP 2230
Cat.#:    YEP-2230
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    The only thing more shocking than the pure power-pop bliss of this album is (for me, anyway) the realization that Sloan has been doing this for twenty years now. It's embarrassing because that's how long I've been reviewing pop music, and this is the first I've heard of them, and they're now one of my favorite bands. Time to dig into the back catalog -- which you and your patrons will want to do as well, should you be wise enough to snap up this disc and hand-sell it to your more pop-smart users. (RA)
 
$12.99
 
Title:    Pajama Club
Label:    Lester (dist. Redeye)
Artist:    Pajama Club
ISBN:    9786314421250
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    09421902533006
Prod.#:    BECDLTER011
Cat.#:    LRPJCD011
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    Neil Finn has nothing left to prove: as co-leader of Split Enz in the early 1980s, leader of Crowded House in the 1990s, and a brilliant solo artist, he has long established his reputation as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. So he keeps himself in the background on this trio project with his wife Sharon on bass and keyboardist Sean Donnelly, playing drums and sharing both songwriting and lead vocal chores with Sharon. The result is a pop album with some nicely jagged edges, one that flirts with electronica even as it harks back to earlier eras and wields its hooks with insinuatingly subtlety. Nice stuff. (RA)
 
$13.99
 
Title:    Tell Me
Label:    Nonesuch
Artist:    Jessica Lea Mayfield
ISBN:    9786314044596
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00075597977738
Prod.#:    BECDNONE526609
Cat.#:    526609
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    Mayfield’s folk and indie rock influences are unmistakable throughout this recording, which marries acoustic instruments and country/folk vocal melodies to distorted and reverb-laden guitars, rock drums, drum machines, piano, organ, and synthesizers. Mayfield’s somewhat languid and melancholy vocals add poignancy to lyrics that often focus on loss, desire, and sexual yearning. Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys produced the recording and undoubtedly contributed ideas to the production. Regardless of who contributed what, the parts all add up to an interesting and haunting whole that rewards the listener. (CLHD)
 
$13.99
 
Title:    Dubstep Academy 101: San Francisco
Label:    Geomagnetic (dist. Allegro)
Artist:    Various Artists
ISBN:    9786314521578
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00881034501509
Prod.#:    BECDGMGN701101
Cat.#:    DUBSTEPSF101
Genre:    Electronica
Release type:    Compilation
Comments:    It shouldn't come as any surprise that the varieties of dubstep emerging from the fertile Bay Area electro scene depart significantly from what you'll hear in the music's UK centers. The examples compiled here are just as bone-shakingly bass-centric and sometimes just as claustrophobically dark, but there are also often layers of busyness, more brightly-colored textures, and even some humor. Nothing here is going to change the definition of dubstep, but there's plenty to help you think about its possibilities differently. (RA)
 
$10.98
 
Title:    Veronica Falls
Label:    Slumberland (dist. Revolver)
Artist:    Veronica Falls
ISBN:    9786314503109
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00749846015327
Prod.#:    BECDSLMB153
Cat.#:    SLR 153
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    If Young Marble Giants had recruited twice as many band members, gone for a bigger version of their own sound, and thrown themselves into overemotional, melodramatic glee in their songwriting and delievery they would have sounded something like this. Like their peers, Dum Dum Girls, Grass Widow and lots of others, Veronica Falls draw inspiration from the past. The results are addictive, gloomy retro-pop that will make you want to bop around and sing along and join in the absurdly funny psychodrama. Listening, you may find yourself thinking at different points: REM…Velvet Underground…B-52s... But here’s the thing: they’re really, really good REM, VU, B-52s sounds! It is a first album after all, but one with its share of singularly catchy, cheeky, irresistable gems. It is giddily morbid sing-along pop that will draw the listener into repeated listens. (TWB)
WORLD/ETHNIC
 
$13.98
 
Title:    Radioclit Presents: The Sound of Club Secousse
Label:    Crammed Discs
Artist:    Radioclit
ISBN:    9786313852239
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00876623006213
Prod.#:    BECDCRMD30062
Cat.#:    CRAM 171
Genre:    Dance, DJ
Release type:    Compilation
Comments:    The flood of archival African releases seems to be giving way to an interest in more contemporary sounds. Here a couple of European DJs offer a selection of tracks that fill the dance floor on their club nights (the titular Club Secousse). Favoring southern sounds (South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe) instead of the more frequently heard scenes (Mali, Nigeria, Senegal), but still finding space for Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire in the northwest, this sampler gives voice to a generation of Africans for whom synths and hip-hop are no longer foreign. (SA)
 
$17.98
 
Title:    Clash Of The Titans: The System Shakedown Remixes
Label:    Collision: Cause Of Chapter 3 (dist. Forced Exposure)
Artist:    Dubmatix
ISBN:    9786314501631
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00673795002520
Prod.#:    BECDCLLN3025
Cat.#:    CCT 3025
Genre:    Reggae
Release type:    New
Comments:    It continues to be sad but true that the best roots reggae comes not from Jamaica, but rather from elsewhere: Berlin, London, and, in this case, Canada, which is where Dubmatix (aka Jesse King) bases his operations. In 2010 he released an album titled System Shakedown featuring such A-list singers as Brother Culture, the Mighty Diamonds, and Tippa Irie. Now comes a remix album on which he hands the mixing board over to such equally impressive production talents as Zion Train, G Corp, Webcam Hi-Fi and Vibronics. The result is, predictably enough, a brilliant mashup of roots, jungle, dubstep, and electrodub grooves that never lets up the pressure. (RA)
 
$14.98
 
Title:    La Grande Cantatrice Malienne, Vol. 3
Label:    Awesome Tapes from Africa
Artist:    Nahawa Doumbia
ISBN:    9786314500528
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00656605789729
Prod.#:    BECDADA 57897
Cat.#:    ATFA001
Genre:    World Music
Release type:    Reissue
Comments:    This is the debut CD release from the Awesome Tapes from Africa project, a blog which has been operating since 2006 and is dedicated to exposing Western listeners to the wealth of great African recordings that are not easily available in this hemisphere. This disc is a startlingly high-fidelity transfer of a 1982 recording by Na Hawa Doumbia, a brilliant singer of Mali's griot class. Accompanied by a variety of electric and acoustic instruments and very delicate percussion, Doumbia sings in the Wassoulou language and her voice alternately soars, keens, and comforts. It's an amazing (and, at 29 minutes, all too brief) performance. (RA)
 
$14.99
 
Title:    Inspiration
Label:    Domo (dist. Allegro)
Artist:    Viva Girls
ISBN:    9786314446796
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00794017314921
Prod.#:    BECDDOMO73149
Cat.#:    73149-2
Genre:    Pop/Rock Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    Everything about this album (from the soft-rock arrangements to the cheesecakey presentation of the musicians) screams "pseudo-pan-cultural exploitation," and indeed the fusion of Chinese traditional instruments and high-gloss pop-rock settings presented here is a bit much. However, there are some genuinely lovely moments -- and as an example of ways that East and West are adapting each other's traditions to create new kinds of easy-listening music, it's really quite interesting. (RA)
 
$18.98
 
Title:    Slavonic Tractor
Label:    Alba (dist. Albany)
Artist:    Slavonic Tractor
ISBN:    9786314309619
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00617513120424
Prod.#:    BECDALBR42
Cat.#:    NCD 42
Genre:    World Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    This charmingly-named Finnish choir is dedicated to the performance of women's vocal music from the Baltic region, music that first came to wide attention in the U.S. thanks to the Mystere des Voix Bulgares albums on Nonesuch back in the late 1980s. The virtuosically dense harmonies, reedy vocal tone, and often thrillingly cathartic chord progressions of these traditional songs are beautifully rendered by this group, though there is unfortunately something of a "back of the hall" remoteness to the recorded sound. Recommended. (RA)
 
$15.98
 
Title:    Tassili
Label:    Anti (dist. ADA)
Artist:    Tinariwen
ISBN:    9786314411657
ISBN-10:   
UPC:    00045778714827
Prod.#:    BECDANTR87148
Cat.#:    87148
Genre:    World Music
Release type:    New
Comments:    The Toureg band Tinariwen has been building its reputation with recordings and performances that are electric in both senses, but now they have decided to regroup and issue a primarily acoustic album. The addition of guest musicians (the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, and Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio) is handled with a light touch that doesn’t change the group’s basic sound. This album represents another stage in the development of one of the premier contemporary African bands. (SA)

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