Music

Contents:

• CD Collection
• CD Wishlist
• Album Reviews
• Concert Reviews
• Other music links

Album Reviews

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Various Artists

Artist	Album	Release Date	Genre	Rating/10	Comments
A:
Anderson, Laurie	Life On A String	2001	Avant-pop	7	Lovely album that sort of continues in the vein of "Bright Red." Its unmistakably a Laurie Anderson album, with her trademark vocal style and lyrics. "Pieces and Parts" is a typically Anderson piece, "Here With You" is a very pretty minimal instrumental with only violin, cello, and bass. "Slip Away" is quite a sad, but good, song about watching someone die. "My Compensation" misses the mark a bit, and doesn't fit in to the flow of things at all well, likewise its follower, "Dark Angel." "Broken" is a strange, and very cool avant-almost-pop tune and "Washington Street" is a "ballad" (as close as Anderson comes to one at least) in grand style. If anything, it suffers from sounding too much like "Bright Red" in many places. This wouldn't be a bad thing if "Bright Red" didn't achieve the same mood with better music... That said, this is still a pretty fine album, and is utterly free from pop pretenses.
Aphex Twin	I Care Because You Do	1995	Electronica	8.5	Excellent album, this! Quite original and engaging, Richard D. James explores offbeat, experimental minimalistic keyboard music with often wonderous results. This album features another psychotic picture on the cover, like "Richard D. James Album." "Acrid Avid Jam Shred" is a catchy low-key almost-poppy tune, "Icct Hedral" is another excellent, ponderous, and very non-mainstream tune. "Ventolin" is a sonic challenge, with its nearly constant piercing tone, and is likely to be hated by almost everyone who hears it. I understand and appreciate the song, but I can't really say that I like it. "Alberto Balsalm" is one of the best electronica pieces in recent memory, hinting at a radio-friendly steel drum groove, but deftly avoiding it.
	Richard D. James Album	1996	Electronica	7.5	A strange album, incorporating lots of bleeps and bloops with fast drum machines and various other noises. Many of the songs have a mellow top layer and a frenetic rhythm layer, making of a sort of split personality, especially "To Cure A Weakling Child." The opener, "4," is a cool, surreal techno tune that sounds vaguely like it came from a 50s sci-fi movie. "Fingerbib" is another interesting lightweight semi-dancey bit, and "Goon Gumpos" is a likeable short, and somewhat silly little tune (as one might guess from its title). Track 10 (whose name is illegible on the sleeve) is my favorite - a boing'y rhythm with organs, jingling, and a light synth. "Milkman" is an almost straightforward tune complete with actual lyrics! "Girl/Boy," (all three mixes of it) is a fun, quirky tune. "Beetles" is also very good, and pretty mellow. Some of the songs are shorter than I'd prefer, but oh well.
Atlas, Natacha	The Remix Collection	2000	World	9	This album consists of remixes of 5 of Atlas' songs by various worldly DJs. I haven't heard the original versions of Duden or Yalla Chant. The mixes of Yalla Chant in particular, are very good. Fans of Natacha Atlas' other music who are not also into electronica/DJ stuff probably won't like this album very much. Thankfully, I am into electronica/DJ, and I like this album a lot! Atlas' voice isn't in the foreground for the most part, and the songs are much, much more electronic than the originals. The remixes of "One Brief Moment" and "Bastet" are lots better than the originals (which I don't like at all).
	Halim	2000	World	9	This album is more orchestral than the other albums I've heard of Atlas'. The arrangements are more mature, and the songs have more motion and less repetition. Stylistically its also more varied, and its nice and long (70min). The second half of the album is especially good. Her trademark mix of Arabic and Western elements has never sounded better.
	Gedida	1998	World	8	This was the first Natacha Atlas CD I bought, and I loved it immediately! Despite a couple of stinkers (Bastet and Mahlabeya), its an excellent sophomore album by Atlas. She has a really great, sexy voice, and puts it to good use throughout. "Mon Amie La Rose" is a sultry french song, "Mistaneek" is a great bouncy techno/arab groove, and "Bilaadi" are my favorites. "One Brief Moment" sounds like a wannabe James Bond soundtrack, and belongs on a different album.
	Ayeshteni	2001	World	6	Despite the presence of several great tracks, this album is a little repetitive, and not as good as either Halim or Gedida. Not to say that it isn't a good album, though, because it surely is. Her cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put A Spell On You" is almost unrecognizable, and pretty cool.
	Something Dangerous	2003	World	4	This album is very uneven, and often tries much too hard to appeal to mainstream pop listeners. Note to Natacha: if I wanted to listen to that crap, I'd listen to any of hundreds of purveyors of soulless blandness. The opener, "Adam's Lullaby" is a pleasant orchestral piece with Atlas' voice rising above the strings. "Something Dangerous" is something awful; wannabe pale top-40 R&B - yuk! "Just Like A Dream," (with its embarassing chorus), "Layali," "Simple Heart," "When I Close My Eyes" are all much too poppy and generic. "Janamaan" is a good global dance'y tune, her cover of James Brown's "Man's World" is enjoyable, "Daymalhum" and "Who's My Baby" are definitely dance house material, but they're pretty good anyways. The remainder are decent but unremarkable. Overall this album just tries too hard to be "popular" and in the process loses touch with Atlas' exotic qualities, is a bit trying of a listen (and sad, given how good many of her previous albums are).
B:
Banco De Gaia	Maya	1994	Electronica	10	Banco de Gaia finally re-released his first album! This CD is really, really good! I think out of the 4 I've heard ("Magical Sounds...," "Last Train to Lhasa," "Igizeh," and this), this is the best. There's nothing shorter than 6 1/2 minutes, and several of the songs sort of run into each other. Best listened to with one's full attention. "Heliopolis" and "Maya" are the best songs, but they're all excellent. Toby Marks is a master of slowly adding layers and building his songs to wonderful electronic crescendos, then turning them on thier head.
	Last Train To Lhasa	1995	Electronica	7	The first CD of this album is very good, especially the title track and "China." Not quite up to the standards of "Magical Sounds..." or "Igizeh," but still well worthwhile. The second CD doesn't really add anything to the first, but doesn't really cost anything extra either, so no big loss :) Its not quite as polished as the later albums, but has a similar style, with many songs starting off simple, then adding layer after layer and shifting them around in interesting ways. In many ways reminiscent of some of Pink Floyd's mellower/trippier efforts (high praise indeed!). The title track is the best in my opinion, with "Kuos" and "China (clouds not mountains)" close runners-up.
Batidos	Olájopé	2001	Electronica	5	Ron Trent (programming, percussion, keyboards) and Jay Rodriguez (woodwinds, vocals, keyboards) are joined by more than a dozen other musicians on this melding of styles. Its more-or-less jazzy Afro-Cuban in style, but incorporates a number of other elements here and there. Overall its a pretty good album, but a little boring (except for "Tengo Sed", which is great). If you like light modern jazz, you'll probably like this a lot, but its too light for my tastes.
Beastie Boys	Hello Nasty	1998	Rap/Hip-Hop	7	Wonderfully sarcastic, this album happily weds hip-hop with you-name-it. "Song For The Man," the club hit "Intergalactic," and "Flowin' Prose" are stand-uppers, but don't let that distract you - there's nary a foul track to be found.
	Check Your Head	1992	Rap/Hip-Hop	9	Sweet, sweet album, suitable for spacing out indefinitely or partying hearty. "Nirvana" and "Lighten Up" are the standouts, but its all extra-good. Very strong funk influences are blended pleasantly with old-school whiteboy rap.
Birthday Party	Mutiny/The Bad Seed EP	2000	Punk/Industrial	8	These two early EPs from 1982-1983 by Nick Cave's early band are very good thrash-lounge. "Wildworld" is an early sign of things to come from Cave, a plodding ballad, full of love, death, and religious imagery. "Deep In The Woods" is waaaay better and more mature-sounding than the already-good Peel Sessions version - it would easily be at home on some of Cave's early 90s albums, and its lyrics are just great. "Mutiny In Heaven" is also a great precursor to things to come, especially in Cave's collaboration with Einsturzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld - its lyrics are stereotypically Cave, and wonderful!
	The John Peel Sessions	2001	Punk/Industrial	7	The classic "Cry" starts things off, but doesn't sound too terribly different from the studio version. Way more material is on this disc than is on my older copy of the CD EP from the Peel Sessions, and definitely a great peek into the early Cave'ness from 1980-1982. "Release the Bats," and "Sometimes Pleasureheads Must Burn" remain among my favorite songs by this lineup, and, of the songs added to this re-issue, "She's Hit" is a great example of early Cave, "Deep in the Woods" is a sarcastic quasi-ballad, and "Marry Me (Lie! Lie!)" is a cool vamp, chock-full of bitterness. Things sound generally early-punky-thrashy-sarcastic, in a good way.
Bjork	Debut	1993	Alternative	4	I've been trying to get into Bjork for a while now, and I'm just not succeeding. This album, her debut (as you might have guessed from its title ;), is mostly sung-spoken rather than purely sung. There are some good songs on the disc, but overall its unsatisfying. Much of it feels like its being "weird" just for the sake of being "weird." "Aeroplane," "Come To Me," and "Like Someone In Love" are very good, but many of the rest just irritate me.
	Vespertine	2001	Alternative	7	Overall more enjoyable than the other Bjork albums I've heard so far. The songs lack sudden and annoying disruptions, unlike Debut. "Hidden Place" is pleasant enough, "It's Not Up To You" is semi-poppy and very nice, with rising strings and harp, "Frosti" is a lovely instrumental with tinkling bell-like sounds. As with some other Bjork albums, however, there is a certain sameness to the rest of the songs that I don't entirely dig. Sort of sounds like a confused, tone-deaf Laurie Anderson (and that's not entirely meant as an insult.).
the Blind Boys of Alabama	Spirit of the Century	2001	Gospel/Blues	9.5	Absofreakinglutely fantastic album here! The Blind Boys expertly combine their traditional gospel roots (which they've been recording since 1939!) with modern songs from Mick Jagger and Tom Waits to wonderful effect. This whole album is superb, but the standouts are Ben Harper's "Give A Man A Home," "Amazing Grace" (set to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun), the classic gospel tune "Soldier," "Motherless Child," and "the Last Time." The production (in Realworld studios) is beyond reproach, and the backing musicians (such "unknowns" as Charlie Musselwhite, John Hammond, and David Lindley) couldn't be better. Get this album!
Bowie, David	Heathen	2002	Alternative	8	This is a great album - much better than any of Bowie's '90s endeavors, which I mostly don't care for. Not quite as good as his classic albums (duh), but still excellent! No weak songs. Overall it isn't an especially cheery album. My favorites are "Sunday," "Slip Away," and "Everyone Says 'Hi'" When I saw Bowie with Moby in Area2, he played a bunch of material from this album, and it was great live as well!
C:
Cave, Nick	Henry's Dream	1992	Alternative	8.5	Very solid album, with Cave's usual themes of love, religion, and death. The songwriting is excellent. Stylistically this continues the progression of his previous albums, with a little bit of subtle C&W & gospel influences. My favorites include "Papa Won't Leave You, Henry," "Straight To You" (a great bitter ballad), "Christina The Astonishing," and "Loom Of The Land."
	Here Comes The Sun b/w Let It Be	2002	Alternative (CD single)	8	Cave's cover of "Here Comes The Sun" is good, but its eclipsed by his superb rendition of "Let It Be" from the movie "Son of Sam." Extremely expensive ($17) CD EP, but I'm a big Cave fan, so I don't mind too much....
the Celibate Rifles	Spaceman in a Satin Suit	1994	Aussie Punk/Garage	6	Fun album of punky rock, but with a bit more wit and musicianship than most punk bands. Not as good as the too-rare "Turgid Miasma," but pretty solid nonetheless. The first 9 tracks are merely OK, but the remainder are better. "Diamond Sky" is an excellent dirge, and "Cuttin' It Fine" is another loud rocker.
	Sofa	1993	Aussie Punk/Garage	7	Great collection of mostly hard-to-find Rifles tracks! My favorites are all of the ones from the now-unobtainable "Turgid Miasma of Existence" - "Sometimes," "Bill Bonney Regrets," "New Mistakes," and "Glasshouse," as they bring back "fond" memories of being an angstful punker. "New Mistakes" features the timeless line "consistency is less than romantic." All tracks are very good, and the flow is smooth. As its one of their only reasonably-easily-acquired albums, go and get it now!
Cooder, Ry	Paris, Texas (Soundtrack)	1990	Slide Guitar	8	The soundtrack to one of my favorite (if a bit depressing/bleak) films is also one of my favorite soundtracks. The album is minimal, mainly consisting of unaccompanied slide guitar work by Cooder. Its very mellow, and quite haunting. My only complaint is the inclusion of a somewhat lengthy dialogue ("I Knew These People"). Its a very good dialogue to be sure, but it breaks up the flow of the album for me.
Cracknell, Sarah	Lipslide	2000	Dance/UK Pop	5	The wonderful St. Etienne's singer's solo debut is nice enough, but pretty mainstream, especially the opener, "Anymore," a really upbeat bouncy (and at times repetitive repetitive repetitive) ditty. It has a very "modern british top of the charts" feel to it, and dances dangerously close to the edge of being overly-sugared. "Ready or Not" and "Goldie" are both solid poppy ballads. "4 Months, 2 Weeks" is a sad, slow burner that sounds more like it was written in 1988-1992 than in 2000. "Can't Stop Now" is a bit of a soul-less let-down, but the rest of the tracks are decent-to-good. Definitely a good road-trip album if nothing else....
Current 93	Earth Covers Earth	1992	Apocalyptic Folk	5	As always, this C93 disc isn't for everyone by any stretch. I like this album well enough, but its not a very good introduction to the band - for that, listen to their album "Thunder Perfect Mind." "On An Houre-Glasse" sets lyrics from the 1600s to angry, repetitive acoustic music. The title track also sets old lyrics to, well, old music. It wouldn't be a bad thing if there was a bit more variety in style to this album; its mostly gloomy acoustic folk rock. Lyrics are decidely on the pretentious gothic side of things, which works alright for the most part with this music.
D:
Danzig, Glenn	Danzig	1988	Heavy Metal	8	One of the best late 80s metal albums, from Misfits and Samhain frontman Glenn Danzig. "Twist Of Cain" is an excellent stomper, "Soul On Fire" progresses "nicely" from ballad to guitar rock stereotypica, but "Mother" takes the cake on this album. This tune got a good deal of airplay, and unusually, not without reason. Both a warning and an enticement, it builds to a great crescendo, then tapers again. The final track, "Evil Thing" is another great one that evolves into a classic jam. Far more metallic than the already-metal Samhain and even more so than the punk Misfits, this is an excellent continuation for Danzig. This is the only metal album you're likely to hear me play.
DeLucia, Paco	Antologia Vol. I	1995	Classical Guitar	9	Incredibly good flamenco acoustic guitar defines DeLucia's style, and this surely doesn't disappoint! In places its perhaps a bit newage'y, however Paco's brilliant playing overcomes any such reservations. In particular, "Almoraima" is a tour de force, "Gloria al Nino Ricardo" is an amazing solo guitar piece that sounds like it was performed by at least 20 fingers. A few pieces are a touch on the elitist/showy side, but by and large its just incredible strumming.
Dire Straits	Love Over Gold	1982	Rock	7.5	Only 5 songs are on this early Dire Straits disc, but its a great one. "Telegraph Road," the opener, is an epic (15min) rock story, with wonderful interplay between Mark Knopfler's guitar and Alan Clark's keyboards. The song ebbs and flows until it wraps up with some solid strumming. "Private Investigations" starts off tenderly, with lovley acoustic guitar and piano gradually building, interspersed with sung-spoken lyrics - its quite a treat throughout its 6-minute length. "Industrial Disease" is a straight-up rocker aimed a bit too squarely at the charts (and reminds me too much of "Walk of Life," which I dislike greatly). Its especially jarring after the two previous wonderful, sensitive tracks. 4th is the titular song, another pretty, but not especially remarkable ballad. Lastly, we get "It Never Rains," a decent, but not stellar, tune. As ever, Knopfler is a superb guitarist, expressive like few others. This album is worth owning for the first two tracks alone.
dZihan & Kamien	Freaks and Icons	2000	Electronica	8	A successful marriage of modern jazz, electronica, and funk with some occasional arabic influences. Good chill-out music. Creative and effective use of electronic sounds makes this sound very fresh. "After," "Streets of Istanbul," "Slowhand Hussein," and "Smile" (an especially intriguing pseudo-pop tune) are the standouts, but its all pretty darned good.
E:
Einsturzende Neubauten	Strategies Against Architecture III (2CD)	2002	Industrial	9	This 28-song compliation of EN's 1991-2001 works (their 3rd copendium) covers my personal favorite period of the band to date, as they're more mature, and less purely industrial noise-oriented (although there's still pleny of that too!). The songs flow very well, especially considering their 10 year span and associated personnel differences. Even though I already had almost everything on this set (though not necessarily the same mixes), its a welcome addition to their catalog. If you like EN, you'll definitely want this, and if you don't know them, it is a reasonably comprehensive introduction to their recent'ish works. Its all extremely good, but the best of the best are "Zentrifuge," "Snake," "Was Ist Ist," "Helium," the incomparable industrial ballad "Bili Rubin," "Installation Nr. 1 (John is mixing)," and "Salamandrina."
Ekova	Heaven's Dust	1998	Alternative?	8.5	Very cool stuff - soaring vocals mostly in a nonexistent language accompanied by various instruments from all over the place. I have no idea what style one would put this in. Its worldly, and some of it dancey, but not electronica or DJ. Ah well, what's in a genre? Some songs are pretty similar to Dead Can Dance's stuff, but many are quite different. Dierdre Dubois' voice is great, and very versatile. "Temoine" and "Helas and Reason" are standouts, but there's nothing weak on the album.
Euphoria	Euphoria	1999	Alternative?	8	Slide guitar meets electronica, 2 great tastes together at last! It may sound like an unlikely blend, but it sounds great (and rather unlike most everything else, which is always nice). This is a pretty low-key album, with almost every song being suitable for getting some shut-eye, but not in a boring or repetitive way. "Lost On A River" is fantastic, as is "(Is This) Heaven?"
	Beautiful My Child	2001	Alternative?	6	Euphoria's second album lacks the prominent slide guitar of their eponymous first album, but its still pretty good (though I prefer Euphoria). The guitar work is uniformly excellent, and most of the songs are right about the right length. It lacks some of the uniqueness of Euphoria, however. My favs are "Sweet Rain," "Little Gem," "Desert Drive," and "Cactus"
F:
Foetus	Gash	1995	Unclassifiable/Industrial/WTF?	8.5	Jim Thirlwell again impresses with this sonic assault on the senses. The opener, "Mortgage" is at once dark and engaging, followed by the huge breakneck orchestral "Mighty Whity," which features some positively insane "horns." The epic "Slung" is indescribable, but lots of fun, with full-on swing horns punctuating off-and-on industrial insanity, likewise the huge epic "Mutapump." Great stuff!
G:
Gabriel, Peter	Passion (Soundtrack)	1989	World	10+	I don't quite know what to say on this one - this is a stunning accomplishment and its never left my must-play list in the 10+ years I've had it. Get it and judge for yourself! A supreme melding of various worldly styles in an unpretentious and very welcome outing!
	We	2002	Pop/Rock	7	Gabriel's first proper studio album in ages is a decent outing, but its not quite up to the standards of his prior work. The opener, "Darkness" is true to its name, and sets the tone for this somewhat less than cheery album. "Sky Blue" features the fabulous Blind Brothers of Alabama, but I question whether their presence is really necessary on this particular song. "I Grieve" is a pretty, but tired-sounding ballad that evolves into a nice pop tune. "More Than This" is my favorite on the album - its a nice poppy tune. "Signal to Noise" has vocals from the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and is also a strong tune, and the closer, "The Drop," is a beautiful acoustic piano and vocal piece. Although I like this album a good deal less this Gabriel's other albums, its still better than 95% of the rest of the pop rock out there....
Galas, Diamanda	Malediction & Prayer	1998	Vocal/Experimental	9	Album of live performances of mostly cover songs, all just Galas singing and playing piano. Among the many highlights: the opener, "Iron Lady" firmly sets the mood on the bluesy side of things, followed by the jarring, but very cool, "The Thrill Is Gone," which showcases her unparalleled voice most magnificently. "My World Is Empty Without You" is gripping, emotion-laden, and beautiful. "Death Letter" is another great bluesy bit, sung soulfully. "Supplica A Mia Madre" is an interesting piece - semi-classical piano with Italian spoken word on top. "Si La Muerte" sets a great Spanish poem to Galas' inimitable style to good effect. "Keigome Keigome" harkens back to some of her best work circa "Saint of the Pit." As she often does, Galas glides effortlessly between a number of languages, and here proves herself a much better pianist than I'd previously thought. This album is much, much better than the often-reviled "The Singer" (although personally I like that album well enough), and could be a good first Galas album for the uninitiated (its merely unsettling as opposed to outright terrifying :). The fact that its live is mostly unnoticable, and makes me really want to see this amazing woman in concert!
	the Sporting Life (w/John Paul Jones)	1994	Gothic/Vocal/Experimental	7.5	Far, far from easy linstening! Who'd have imagined that Galas' soaring, searing voice would be laid down with Led Zeppelin's bassist's grooves? This is a deeply odd album, with heavy bass and Galas doing a bit more actual singing (as opposed to screaming) than usual. Jones' bass playing here is fantastic and makes you wonder who the real talent in Zeppelin was (hint: the last name doesn't start with a "P"). This recording pushes the boundaries while still remaining mostly tuneful. "At the Dark End of the Street" is a cool, (almost) normal rock ballad, "Tony" is a sweet rocker, and "Baby's Insane" is ummm different as well. Don't get me wrong - my opinion notwithstanding, most people will not like this or any other album in which Galas figures prominently, and more's their loss.... Galas' voice is less arresting than on her other recordings, as if she was content to let the bass bubble to the foreground, but its still ear-grabbing.
Gilberto, Bebel	Tanto Tempo	2000	Modern Brazillian	10	Tanto Tempo is Bebel Gilberto's 2000 debut album -- I can only hope that more will come! This CD is mellow bossanova with some funk and R&B touches that just oozes "cool." I like every track on the album a lot, but some standouts are "Samba da Bencao," a sleepy, sultry tune that makes me dream of a warm, humid summer day at the beach drinking a fashionable cocktail, "Sem Contencao," a fast-paced jam, "Mais Feliz," a slow ballad which reminds me of some of Sade's stuff (not a bad thing!), "So Nice (Summer Samba)," a very up-beat ditty, and "Close Your Eyes," a cool frolic which is reminiscent of some of Stereolab's stuff. The CD is well-produced, and sounds just great.
Groove Armada	Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)	2001	DJ/Electronica	9	Sweet! Groove Armada are very good at putting together enticing beats and samples, and they do so consistently throughout this album. It feels less made-for-radio than some of the tracks on "Vertigo" do, and unlike "Vertigo" it doesn't have that damned "Shakin' that ass" sample.... "Suntoucher" is a really, really good slow funky hip-hop song, "Superstylin'" is fast and upbeat, with more than a hint of reggae, "Little By Little" is a pleasing mellow groove, "My Friend" is a very cool trip-hoppy ditty. "Edge Hill" is a wonderful, lush, downtempo ballad that I get lost in everytime I listen to it. The overall effect of this album is relaxing without being cloying, downtempo without a trace of depression.
	Vertigo	1999	DJ/Electronica	8	This is a great chill-out/dance album. It feels overall "brighter" than Theivery Corporation, but in a similar vein. "Whatever, Whenever" is a great hip-hoppy laid back tune, "Dusk You & Me" and "Serve Chilled" are waaaaay mellow and almost put me to sleep, but they're nice groovy tunes. "If Everybody Looked the Same" sounds like, and was, a song aimed at the charts, but its a nice upbeat tune nonetheless. I almost immediately got tired of and annoyed by the repetitive "Shakin' that ass" sample in "I See You Baby" - it figures that it was the most popular song from this album.... "A Private Interlude" is an unassuming somewhat jazzy ditty with some scratching injected. "At The River" is a really, really good, and unusual song, and is worth the price alone. The final track, Fatboy Slim's remix of "I See You Baby" is less irritating than the studio version (but is still too repetitive). There's a pretty wide range of styles on this album, and they flow amazingly smoothly.
	Back To Mine	2000	DJ/Electronica	8	Great collection of songs, remixed by Groove Armada, along with one original song. The tracks flow very nicely from one to the other, and the mixes are, as one might expect, top-notch. The overall vibe is funky, mellow but danceable, and a bit retro. Particularly good are Barry White's "Playing Your Game Baby," Sir Raymond Mang's "No. 1," Mica Paris' "I Should've Known Better," and the lovely closer, Tears For Fears' "Pharoahs."
H:
Haza, Ofra	Shaday	1988	World/80's Pop	7.5	Less cheesy 80s drum machine goings-on than Desert Wind, and better for it, although some of the music still sounds pretty dated. Ofra's voice is simply amazing, though, and mostly rises above some somewhat cheesy music. "My Aching Heart" is a very nice 80s-style ballad, "Love Song" is an absolutely gorgeous acapella song, and "Shaday" sounds waaay ahead of its time. The final track, a remix of "Galbi" is also very good.
	Desert Wind	1989	World/80's Pop	6	Haza's voice is undeniably exquisite, however, the electronic backing music on much of this album sounds extremely dated, and not entirely in a good way. Standout tracks include "I Want to Fly," "Mm'mma," and "Da'asa."
	Yemenite Songs	1995	World/80's Pop	5.5	Again, thin backing music mars otherwise lovely music. I'm hopeful that somewhere out there is a recording that matches Haza's fantastic voice with a backing band with depth and modern equipment :-P All songs are sung in Arabic. "Ode Le'Eli" is a wonderful semi-but-not-quite ballad and "Im Nin'Alu" is a good song (its also the first track on "Shaday" but the version on this album is better). The rest are OK, but not especially memorable for the most part, save for the excellent singing.
Hirch, Beth	Early Songs	2000	Girl-folk	6.5	Good folk'ish songs from Hirch, with perfectly appropriate accompaniment. Beth Hirch has a wonderful smoky voice that does a great job expressing her feelings. I'm hard-pressed to pick a favorite song on this album. If you like Joni Mitchell and/or Rickie Lee Jones, you'll surely like this. It doesn't break any new musical ground at all, however....
Hitchcock, Robyn	Spooked	2004	Alternative/Folk	8	This album quickly became one of my favorite of Hitchcock's (long a favorite artist of mine) due to its unique blend of Robyn's inimitable oddball lyrics with fairly straightforward Americana acoustic instrumentation. One of my favs, the opener, "Television" is a love song to everyone's favorite boob tube, sung with typical Birds'ian harmonies and highly sarcastic words. "Everybody Needs Love" is a fun frenetic acoustic bit, and "Demons and Fiends" is a somewhat psychadelic slow-jam with some nice slide guitar and typically weird lyrics. "English Girl" and "We're Gonna Live In The Trees" are the two duds here, the first boring musically and the second focussing too much on its nonsensical lyrics in lieu of actually saying anything interesting. "Tryin' To Get To Heaven..." begins to redeem the previous misfires and the subsequent "Full Moon In My Soul" is one of the best (and most radio-friendly) Hitchcock tracks in recent memory, along with "Television." The second-to-last song, "Welcome to Earth" is a super-weird monologue that only longtime fans are likely to enjoy, but the closer "Flanagan's Song" is another winner. I always prefer Hitchcock at his most acoustic, and his partners in crime here complement him nearly perfectly - if you liked "Eye" you'll definitely enjoy this album.
I:
Iglesias, Alberto	Talk To Her (Soundtrack)	2002	Soundtrack/Spanish	7.5	Alberto Iglesias' soundtrack is one of the best I've heard recently, expertly blending traditional Spanish styles with movie mood music. Of particular note are: the flaminco "Hable Con Ella," (the title track) the beautfully tender "Cocurrucucu Paloma," sung in a very high register by the fantastic Caetano Veloso, "Por toda A Minha Vida" sung by Ellis Regina & Tom Jobim. "Alicia Vive" is pretty, and reminiscent of Eric Satie (in a good way), and "Raquel" (by Bau) is another great flaminco tune. The final song, "The Plaint: O Let me Weep, For Ever Weep" by Purcell is also gorgeous. The rest is perfectly suited to the film (which if you haven't seen, you should!), but does definitely sound like a film soundtrack.
J:
Jazzanova	In Between	2002	?? ("Nu-Jazz")	8	Ahh, another group who don't feel constrained to fit into a nice neat genre box! This album took a few listens to really grow on me, but I really like it now. Stylistically, its fairly modern-jazz'y, but with strong electronica, hip hop, and prog rock strains, along with some beat-style spoken word. In poking around on the net to find some information about Jazzanova (there's no insert, nor much information on the sleeve), it appears that they belong in the "nu-jazz" genre - whatever... The sticker on the CD's shrink wrap made comparisons to Kruder & Dorfmeister and Thievery Corporation, which I feel are waaaaaaay off-base, as Jazzanova sounds nothing like either of them. "L.O.V.E. and you & I" is a standout modern jazzy opener and "Hanazono" is an excellent jazzy prog rock bit. The two closers, "Takes You Back," an almost dancy tune, and "Wasted Time," a mellow ballad sung by Vikter Duplaix, are my other favorites. Happily, Jazzanova don't feel obliged to make all of their songs 3.5 minutes long, and so there are some tracks that actually take their time evolving, and hurrah for that!
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Khan, Nusrat Fateh Ali	The Final Studio Recordings (2CD)	2001	Sufi/Pakistani	8	Very good 2CD set of the legendary singer's final studio session. Both discs are traditional sufi music, and are pretty unlike his more popular with western audiences "Night Song." There are 4 songs per CD, each around 15 minutes in length. All songs are wonderful, soaring and falling vocally, instrumentally, and harmonically. My favorite, though, is "Teray Warian Main Saceyan (I Am Going To Be A Sacrifice For You)," a haunting piece in the minor key. Its probably not the best introduction to his work ("Night Song", "Mustt Mustt", and "Shabaaz" are his most accessible), and the track lengths make it more suitable for background listening unless you want to spend 2+ hours with your ear to the speaker.
KMFDM	Nihil	1995	Industrial/Techno	8	Great high-energy stuff - the opener, "Ultra" begs to be played extremely loud, and almost makes even me want to shake to it. The second track, "Juke Joint Jezebel," continues the trend with a sweet industrial disco jam, one of the best, IMNSHO, with a superb recurring resonant synth riff, and "Terror" is a great angry song. KMFDM, along with "My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult" do a great blend of industrial and wanky disco (tho KMFDM is by far the better band), with almost random mixing of heavily distorted percussion and guitars with heavily funky keys
	Angst	1993	Industrial/Metal/Techno	7	More heavy metal'ish than Nihil, but very good, and not overly serious. The opener, "Light" is a great blend of humorous self-reference (also heard elsewhere on this album), speed metal, female chorus vocals, and industrial, and has a catchy chorus riff, "A Drug Against War" is a cool very fast, angry thrash metal tune, with almost no keyboards apparent (and a bona-fide guitar solo!). "Lust" sounds more like KMFDM as I knew them before hearing this album (primarily from hearing "Nihil") - its a more-or-less straightforward industrial/techno dance jam, and "A Hole In The Wall" is a great combination of industrial & metal. "Suck" is an amusing self-pardoy (its chorus is "KMFDM sucks...we don't give a shit and the kids just love it"). Although its one of the most successful marriages of metal and industrial I've heard, I prefer the very-electronic "Nihil."
Kruder & Dorfmeister	DJ Kicks	1996	Downtempo	7	Good selection of remixes by Kruder & Dorfmeister. The two K&D original tracks are excellent, as are remixes of Theivery Corporation, Beanfield, and Herbalizer. The atmosphere is dowmtempo, as one might expect. Its not quite up to the standards of the "K&D Sessions," but not much is!
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the Legendary Pink Dots	the Maria Dimension	1991	Gothic/Electronica	8	Very good album by one of my favorites in this genre (whatever genre that is!), comparable to their wonderful Crushed Velvet Apocalypse. As ever, they employ a very wide range of sounds and have extremely orchestral arrangements. Edward Ka'Spel's voice isn't for everyone, but if you like other LPD albums or Tear Garden, this is one of the Dots' best that I've heard. The tunes range from long trippy space-outs to more-or-less straightforward ballads. Its mellower than CVA and doesn't have the biting craze of songs like "Hellsville." The best songs are the strange, swelling psychedelia of "the Grain Kings," the soft acoustic ballad "Belladonna," and "Cheraderama," which has lovely verses and a cacophonous and dark chorus.
	Remember Me This Way	1995	Gothic/Electronica	6	Short (and expensive -- its an out-of-print import *sigh*) album of only 5 tracks, this album is a bit disappointing. The title track is okay, but drags on a bit. Its oddly upbeat for a LPD song, which I find somehow discomforting. "Beautiful Machine" is another uncharacteristic, whimsical song that I can do without. "Anastasia" is peppy and reeks of the Caribbean (what's up with these first 3 songs? Was Edward K'Spel on Prozac or what?). Finally, "Day Zero" actually starts to sound like LPD ought to, even if its still a bit bright, and with fascile drums, but it serves as a good lead-in to "Damien (remix)," which is, finally, a good, and again, atypical piece. Saxophone and guitar soar throughout this song, lending an almost a psychedelic feel (nevermind K'Spel's vocals and the somewhat trippy arrangements). Although long'ish, this song progresses much like a ballad normally would. An interesting (but non-essential) album for the LPD fan, this would be a poor choice for an introduction to the Dots' work (see "Crushed Velvet Apocalpyse" or "the Maria Dimension" for that).
Lhamo, Yungchen	Coming Home	1998	Tibetan/New Age	7.5	Yet another great album from Peter Gabriel's Realworld label. Tibetan exile Lhamo has a beautiful voice and uses it to good effect here, backed by nicely understated mellow western music. My favorite songs are the opener, "Happiness Is...," "Khyah Sangye," a minimalist song which consists mainly of Lhamo's voice, a ringing bell-like sound, and soft percussion and slowly adds instruments, the beautiful, nearly a capella, "Dream," and the deep multi-timbral chanting samples of "Defiance".
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Massive Attack	100th Window	2003	Trip-Hop/Electronica	6	A good album, but not up to the standard set by Mezzanine. It has a similar building menacing feel throughout, but unlike Mezzanine, it never breaks free from it and twists in another direction, making it a more consistent album (and I don't mean that in a good way - I really liked the off the wall directions that Mezzanine went in!). Its a very mellow (and dark) album overall, their most so to date. The tracks mostly sound similar, although "What Your Soul Sings" and "Butterfly Caught" are better than the rest, and "A Prayer For England" sounds out of place, despite some nice singing from Sinead O'Connor.
Morente, Estrella	My Songs And A Poem	2001	Flamenco	6.5	Interesting album of sung flamenco music. It took me a bit to get into it, since I'm not used to hearing vocals with my flamenco guitar, but Morente has a nice voice, and uses it to good effect here. Most of the songs are Morente's arrangements of traditional pieces. The backing music is very good as well. It sometimes sounds a little like the Gypsy Kings, but mostly its different. My favorite song is "At The Top Of The Cerro De Palomares," which features a familiar falling melody. Many of the rest sound a little too similar to me, which makes this disc a little boring for intent listening, although its a great background album.
Morricone, Ennio	The Mission (Soundtrack)	1986	Modern classical	8	This is a great soundtrack (to a movie I've never seen, no less!). Its a very pretty album, with a lovely recurring oboe theme ("Gabriel's Oboe"). Some might be a bit put-off by some staccato choral singing here and there, but I like it. There's also a lovely choral arrangement of "Ave Maria." The album flows well, unlike many soundtracks.
Los Mocosos	Shades of Brown	2001	Multi-culti latin rock	9	Super-cool album from this SF-based sextet. Recalls 70s-era Sly and the Family Stone, Santana, and their ilk. This album is relatively heavy on guitar and brass, and generally happy and bouncy. Great latin beats and piano riffs abound. I really like this album a lot. It doesn't really cover any new musical ground, but its a ton of fun, and listening to it puts a smile on my face. Most of the lyrics are in Spanish. "Llegaron Los Mocosos," "Tito Puente," and "El Gran Skalsero" are my favorites. A cover of War's "Spill the Wine" also deserves a special nod. Some of the lyrics are a bit fascile, but other than that, its sweet!
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No Doubt	Rock Steady	2001	Rock	7.5	Great album that bears almost no resemblance whatsoever to "Tragic Kingdom." This album is much more dancy, and much less ska-influenced. "Hella Good" and "In My Head" are my favorite tracks, but all save for "Waiting Room" (which is dreadful) are good. The album does suffer a little bit from overproduction and too-focused targetting of the teeny bopper crowd. This was evidenced even more when I saw No Doubt - there was much too much pandering to the crowd, which detracted from the musical experience (not that I'd hesitate to see them live again, mind you).
	Return of Saturn	2000	Rock/Ska	6	Waaaaaay more rockin' than "Tragic Kingdom," but a decent album in its own right. "Ex-girlfriend" is a fun bouncy rock song, as is "Simple Kind Of Life." "Magic's In The Makeup" is a pretty OK ballad, but not nearly up to the standards of "Don't Speak." I miss No Doubt's ska sensibilities blended with catchy pop/rock - when its just rock (albeit quirky rock), it loses a lot of its uniqueness and appeal, and winds up being just another pretty good popular rock band in a sea of thousands. More ballads than "Rock Steady," "Tragic Kingdom," or "the Beacon Street Collection," but they're mostly pretty unremarkable. The album is redeemed somewhat by retaining a unique sound, mostly identifiable as No Doubt to the familiar ear. Perhaps its telling that they played only a couple of songs from this album live, but many from "Rock Steady" and "Tragic Kingdom"...
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Otten, Thomas	Close To Silence	1999	New Age	8	Lovely album by a talented singer. Otten has a very high voice for a man (contralto), and uses it very well on this disc. If you didn't know it was a man singing, you'd never guess. Some of the instrumentation is a little Enya-esque (mostly in a good way, not in the annoying way of her later recordings), especially on "Espiritu," by and large, everything is great. Flavors of Enigma pervade the music, and its better than most new age I hear. Of my favorites, "Qualitati Umane" is dreamy, though at 2 minutes, too short, "Divigi Tu" is slow and beautiful, "Sanza" is lovely, his rendition of Handel's wonderful aria "Ombra Mai Fu" is excellent, "Merciful Raindrops," the silly title notwithstanding, is another lovely song.
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Peace Orchestra	Peace Orchestra	1999	Electronica/Downtempo	8.5	Sweet album here from Peter Kruder (of the famed Kruder & Dorfmeister), mixing styles like nobody's business, yet still keeping things firmly downtempo. The production of this album is superb, with every last bleep and bloop in its rightful place. This album makes me really want to don a good set of headphones and crank it up! Experiments abound yet don't intrude on the overall mellowness of the album. The tracks are somewhat indistinct except for the superb final 3 tracks, "Who Am I," a great drippy electronic outing, "Shining," a superb extended trip-hop jam with anonymous vocals, and finally, "The Man Part Two."
Pigface	Easy Listening...	2003	Industrial/Noise	8	Somewhat more song-like overall than many other Pigface incarnations, but still nice & noisy. "Mind Your Own Business" is an interesting techno/disco tune in the style of the Thrill Kill Kult , "Insect/Suspect" is a great noisy rocker, "Bitch (Mattress Mix)" is a retro-industrial romp, in the style of Ministry or Skinny Puppy or early NIN, as is "Blow You Away (G.T.F.A.F.M.)." "King Of Negativity" is hugely distorted and very cool. "Miss Sway Action" is a strange minimalist piece of mainly vocal and light percussion that's oddly appealing to me despite its utter lack of resemblance to anything else on this album in either style or mood. "The Horse You Rode In On" is a great noisy curse-fest, where they basically say "fuck everything." The only song that I don't especially care for is "The Loneliest Sound I've Ever Heard" - its mainly an aimless wank. A little less experimental than other Pigface albums, and I think its better for it, as the songs are actually almost cohesive and the album progresses with something approaching logic. My favorite Pigface album that I've heard thus far.
	Preaching To The Perverted (2CD Best of)	2001	Industrial/Noise	7	35 tracks from various configurations of the inimitable industrial (sometimes) band Pigface. Given that Pigface changes lineup and sound so much, its understandably a bit uneven stylistically, but contains some great tunes. On the first CD, "Kiss King" is my favorite, followed by "Nutopia," "Alle Ist Mein," "Asphole," "Chickasaw," and "Fuck It Up." The second CD consists largely of previously unreleased tracks, but isn't as good as the first CD is, although "Dribble," "Dog," and especially "You Know/You Know/You Know" are very cool. If you're not a fan of often-noisy sometimes-industrial music that tends towards the experimental, you will likely hate Pigface. A lot.
	A New High In Low (2CD)	1997	Industrial/Noise	7.5	Great album spanning a variety of styles, as usual. Not too noisy overall, and closer to approachable than most Pigface offerings (not to say that its all that approachable, mind you!). "Kiss King (high high high)" is a great, strange rocker, "Bring Unto Me" is an intersting semi-spoken-word piece, "Nutopia" alternates wonderfully between spoken word and wailing thrash, "Methylated" (all 4 parts of it) is a crazy, cool, unbounded sonic playground, and the closer of CD1, "You Know/You Know/You Know" is a sweet vocal piece, and about as uncharacteristic as one could hope for. The second CD is just plain weird, and I consider it a throwaway for the most part. It has 3 tracks, all long, weird, and quite aimless.
	Gub	1990	Industrial/Noise	5	Very noisy. Much excellent drumming, but not terribly coherent and it mostly fails to satisfy. If you like, and I mean really like industrial music, you'll dig this. If not, stay away! There are many great moments on this album, but mostly they don't amount to much. NIN's "Suck" originated on this album. Their later releases are much more musical. The last 4 tracks are remixes of other songs on this CD, and are on the whole better than their sources.
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Sade	Stronger Than Pride	1988	R&B/Soul	6.5	Another good album from Ms. Abu. Doesn't sound too terribly different from her other albums, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Her smooth soulful singing is immensely enjoyable as ever. "Nothing Can Come Between Us" and "Haunt Me" in particular, are gorgeous ballads, and alone are worth buying this album for.
Skinny Puppy	The Greater Wrong Of The Right	2004	Industrial	7	SP's first album in a long while is very listenable and energetic, these not being words often used to describe their past endeavors. By and large, it's recognizable as a Puppy album, blending their trademark drum machine and sequencer sound with quasi-rap, heavily-processed vocals and various other menacing sounds. Although I like this album well enough, it does not hold a candle to their wild and wooly early work (VIVIsectVI and Too Dark Park in particular). They seem to be taking many cues from recent KMFDM and Pigface releases, lending a certain sameness to things. Still, it's better than most current industrial albums, sadly....
Stereolab	Emperor Tomato Ketchup	1996	Indie Rock? Prog. Jazz?	8.5	Great album by Stereolab here! Elements of modern jazz, the Velvet Underground, and other styles permeate. Masterful synth use in many tracks keeps the songs from sounding too avant-garde, yet keeps them firmly in the retro style as well. The best tunes are "Metronomic Underground," the way cool funky jazz grooves of "Spark Plug," and the slow, brooding "Monstre Sacre," but the rest of the songs are all great as well. I really like how Stereolab's style mostly defies conventional genre-tagging.
	Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements	1993	Indie Rock	8.5	Stereolab's first full-length US album is quite enjoyable! They take alternative rock and stand it on its head, and the result sounds great. More rockin' than "Sound-Dust", or "Cobra Phases...." "Tone Burst" sets some heavy distortion against a pretty straightforward rock beat - its a somewhat difficult listen, but a worthwhile one. "Our Trinitone Blast" is a great retro rock tune, with strong hints of vintage Velvet Underground (which can be heard in several other places on the album). "Pack Yr Romantic Mind" is another lovely tune and, like most of Stereolab's music, is difficult to classify or describe. "I'm Going Out Of My Way" is a fun pop rock song. The lengthy (>10min) "Jenny Ondioline" is a great retro distortion rock groove, and "Analogue Rock" has a catchy repetitive riff. Stereolab is wonderfully unlike most anybody else, and more power to 'em for it!
Suba	Sao Paulo Confessions	2000	Brazillian/Electronica	7	The late Suba's only album is good. Its an unusual and interesting blend of samba & bossanova with electronica. A few of the songs don't do much for me, but its always a treat to hear CDs that aren't just a rehash of the same old (crappy) stuff! "Na Neblina," and "Felicidade" are my favorites. Doesn't live up to its hype, though.
T:
Tear Garden	To Be An Angel Blind, the Crippled Soul Divide	1996	Goth/Industrial Electronica	9	Another great album by Edward Ka-Spel (from the Legendary Pink Dots), cEvin Key (from Skinny Puppy), and company. Ka-Spel's voice is, as always, unique, and not for everyone's tastes. This album is sad, even for a Tear Garden album, mellow, and lovely. "Crying From The Outside" is lovely, and not at all happy, "New Eden" has a great acoustic guitar theme, and "Malice Through The Looking Glass" is probably my favorite Tear Garden song - long, and beautiful. This, along with "Last Man To Fly," is my favorite Tear Garden album.
Thievery Corporation	The Mirror Conspiracy	2000	Downtempo	10	Sublimely mellow, suave, and laid-back, there's nary a false note on this album. It oozes "cool" and defines the downtempo genre. "Lebanese Blonde" is especially good. The production is very slick, and there's mostly nothing too new here, but the overall effect pleases me greatly.
	The Richest Man In Babylon	2002	Downtempo	9	This album doesn't go in very different directions from the superb "Mirror Conspiracy," but its extremely enjoyable in its own right. The title track is a laid-back reggae tune (there are several straight-up reggae songs on this disc), and "Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes" is simply fantastic. There are more lyrics and form here than on previous Thievery Corporation outings.
Tricky	Maxinquaye	1995	Trip-Hop	8	Excellent trip-hop. Tricky must've stolen Tom Waits' percussion section for "Ponderosa." Refreshing mostly non-formulaic stylings, with a dose of experimentalism, are most welcome in this oft-overdone genre. "Hell Is Around The Corner" shamelessly steals its bass line from Portishead, but its a fine song regardless, if not an original one. "Pumpkin" is original and very good (read: sleepy). "Aftermath" again borrows from Waits' rhythm stylings to good effect. There's an undercurrent of hip-hop that's often missing from trip-hop discs, and its quite engaging.
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Waits, Tom	Alice	2002	Gravel/Whiskey	9	Waits' voice seems to be getting even more gravelley (how is that possible?) as he ages. Mellow, and melancholy album on the whole. Not much new ground covered here, but the songs are all solid. Reminiscent of Black Rider, but slower and somewhat more sane. Less percussion and more orchestration than other albums. The title track is a beautiful ballad, "Everything You Can Think" is a great gruff polka, "Kommienezuspadt" is an insane polka from hell, "We're All Mad Here" is a classic creepy polka as only Waits can sing them, and "Reeperbahn" is a plodding, raspy, catchy tune. I really like this album a lot.
Wilco	Yankee Hotel Foxtrot	2002	Rock	8	This is a very enjoyable album, and proves there's yet some life left in popular rock 'n roll. Jeff Tweedy unabashedly draws on past greats without sounding like a copycat. "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" is a lovely mid-tempo folk'y rock song that deteriorates into "in between stations" radio-type noise. "Radio Cure" is a slow, sad song about trying to cheer someone up from far away. "Jesus, etc." is a beautiful mellow retro-rocker that touches on 9/11 in a very respectful manner, and "Ashes of American Flags" does the same in a more rocking fashion. I'm not too fond of "Heavy Metal Drummer" - it feels too silly and light for this album. "Poor Places" is slow, pretty, sad, thoughtful, and unusually-arranged. The rest of the songs are, at the worst, good as well. Less country-influenced than Summerteeth, but there's still a hint. I don't agree with all the folks calling this the album of the year or decade or whatever, but it is definitely very good.
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Zawose & Brook	Assembly	2001	World	8	Very cool world fusion album on the Realworld label. The Zawoses (Dr. Hukwe and his son, Charles) sing beautifully, and Michael Brooks' arrangements and production are top-notch. Brooks adds a electronic/pop touch, which blends pleasingly with the Zawose's unique sounds. Instrumentation is a blend of electronic (much keyboards and drum programming) and acoustic (ilimba, zeze, brass, ukelele). I saw the Zawoses open up for Peter Gabriel in December 2002, but, courtesy of Michael Brook's involvement, this album is much more fusion than the straightahead Tanzanian music they played at that show. The overall feel of the album is pretty uplifting. Standouts are the dancey "Ntambalize Lijenje (Pumpkin Life)," "Sina Rama (No Joy)," a slow and pretty tune that evolves into a nice jam at the end, and the intricate rhythms and layering of "Mbeleja (Sweet Deceiver)" and "Awuno Mganga Ndeje (Cry of the Bush Bird)."
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The Rough Guide to Klezmer		2000	Klezmer	9.5	Great pairing of old and new klezmer music. Many songs are presented with both recordings from the 20s and 30s and modern versions of the same tune. This is by far the best compilation of klezmer music I've heard so far, covering all of the different sub-styles of the genre, and clearly articulating its many influences. Amongst the many gems on this album are the Klezmatics' "Fun Tashlikh" (followed by Naftule Brandwein's peppy 1926 version), the exuberant "Shapiros Korohod" by Budowitz, the equally bouncy "Meron Nign" by the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and "Wailing World" by Brave Old World, an amazing fusion of traditional klezmer with jazz, and what-have-you. The David Krakauer Trio's "Bogota Bulgar" has some totally wild clarinet playing, even for klezmer. Alicia Svigals' "Romanian Fantasy No. 1" is beautiful, and unusual for having a violin as the lead instead of a clarinet, and Margot Leverett's clarinet playing on "Oy Tate S'iz Gut" is just incredible. I could go on, but I'd just wind up describing every one of the 19 tracks.... The sound quality of the old recordings is, of course, pretty crappy, but its really cool to hear the juxtaposition of old and new. You couldn't ask for a better introduction to Klezmer music, and the liner notes are extensive and informative. The CD is also enhanced for CDROM playback, but I haven't played with that yet.
Festival Of Light		1996	Hanukkah/Klezmer	8	Great Six Degrees collection of traditional and original Hannukah songs. Its a nice mix of styles, yet (mostly) is still clearly Jewish music. Overall its not exactly a cheerful album, but its quite pretty, and very well-chosen. "Oi Tata" by Don Byron has some great klezmer clarinet playing, "Avinu" by Rebbe Soul is a nice instrumental, and "1902" by The Mels is a very sad, pretty instrumental.
Cuba Without Borders		2000	World	6	I received this Six Degrees compilation as a bonus from the label (if you order 3+ CDs from them, they toss something extra in - nice!). This collection presents various different classic styles of Cuban music, and new takes on them, from son to cha cha cha. Its a good introduction to the styles, but doesn't have too many songs that I'd say are great. Buena Vista Social Club is a much more interesting album, IMO.
Om Lounge Volume 1		1998	Downtempo	6	This compilation should be better than it is, given who's on it, but its OK regardless. "Bohemian Sunset" by Jazzanova is a great chilly tune (by a great chilly band), and "Oceanic Lullaby" by J. Boogie's Dubtronic Science is a toe-tapper as well. Works nicely as mood music, tho its mostly not engaging enough for active listening.
Om Lounge Volume 2		1999	Downtempo	5	I've been led to believe that the Om Lounge series would float my boat - it would seem not to thus far. Like the first, Vol. 2 contains unchallenging not-quite-chill music that mostly is fairly boring. "Humid," by Callisto, is a nice tune, but the rest is pretty unremarkable. There's much better music in this genre....

Concerts:

Other music links

• Piero Scaruffi's Music Pages - TONS of information/lists/reviews/history
• Amoeba Music - its probably a good thing that I do not live too near one of these! The Haight St. store is the best music store I've been in (and I've heard the Hollywood one is even better). The Berkeley one is superb as well.
• Rasputin Music - where I buy much of my music, because I live near the Newark store.
• Streetlight Records - particularly the San Jose branch is quite well-stocked...
• Amazon - where I buy stuff I can't find locally.
• Six Degrees Records - A great independent label specializing in techno'y world music

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