September 7th, 2023
Darcy James Argue's Big-Band Wonderland The brilliant composer-conductor's 4th album is by far his bestBy: Fred Kaplan
Darcy James Argue has evolved over the past 15 years, into one of our era’s great big-band composers and leaders, second only to Maria Schneider and, increasingly, a force worth taking on the same level of seriousness. His 4th and latest album, Dynamic Maximum Tension—his first in six years and his debut on the Nonesuch label—is his best to date: a work of stunning versatility and complexity, but thoroughly accessible, borderline passionate, for all its intricate maneuvers.
Read MoreSeptember 3rd, 2023
Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks' 'Orange Crate Art' "Hold(s) Back Time" From the archives: Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks release a misty eyed, warm hearted song cycle of California nostalgiaBy: Michael Fremer
(This review originally appeared in Issue 5/6, Winter 1995/96. A 25th Anniversary double vinyl LP issued by Omnivore with new liner notes and three previously unissued outtakes is currently available—see clickthrough at page bottom).When I was a child, I had a middle-aged second cousin Sophie who lived in far away California. She came to visit one cold New York winter in the late 1950s, bearing crates of tissue wrapped oranges, and jellies and jams from a place with a... Read More
September 3rd, 2023
Golden Smog's 'Down By The Old Mainstream' From the archives: A supergroup mimicking the 70sBy: Michael Fremer
(This review originally appeared in Issue 7, Spring 1996.)It is at once comforting and depressing to hear a band of (relative) youngsters writing and performing songs, most of which could easily be dropped into a cassette tape compilation from the early 70s and segue way so smoothly you’d never know they were new. Since I choose comfort over depression every time, I’m enjoying the hell out of this set of alternative shitkicker music which gracefully slips and slides... Read More
August 29th, 2023
Neil Young's Long-Neglected Mid-80s Country Album From the archives: Mobile Fidelity's ANADISQ 200 reissue of Neil Young's 'Old Ways'By: Michael Fremer
(This review originally appeared in The Tracking Angle Magazine Issue 7, Spring 1996.)Bryan Ferry covering Gogi Grant’s dramatic “The Wayward Wind” has always been one of my musical dreams, but Neil Young does a more than adequate version to open this long neglected mid-80s Young country album. While he doesn’t bring the kind of “camp” to the tune Ferry could, he’s got the spirit right, with cascading strings (17 count ‘em pieces), Waylon Jennings on guitar, and Bela... Read More
July 25th, 2023
Jason Moran's Lovely Pitch-Black Rainbow The pianist's solo soundtrack of our decadeBy: Fred Kaplan
As I’ve noted a few times in this space, Jason Moran is the most versatile, virtuosic jazz pianist on the scene. Around the turn of the decade, as player and composer, he focused on elegiac melodies, deceptively simple in form, rich in harmonies and textures, stirring, even spiritual, in their quest. Some tracks on this album from that period, The Sound Will Tell You, resemble movie music (but deep movie music); two of them were written for the HBO adaptation of... Read More
March 26th, 2023
Chaplin - Original Soundtrack: 30th Anniversary Expanded Edition John Barry's Late-Period Score Enchants in this Newly Remastered and Expanded Edition from La-La Land RecordsBy: Mark Ward
For anyone more familiar with John Barry’s 50s and 60s discography and his early scores for spy films like the James Bond series or The Ipcress File (1965), encountering his late-career work on films like Dances with Wolves (1990) and Chaplin (1992) can be a bit of surprise. Gone are the stylings of his era-defining London mod classics like “Hit and Miss” and “Beat for Beatniks”, let alone his genre-defining “James Bond Theme” (Barry's arrangement of a melody by... Read More
March 24th, 2023
Cécile Salvant's Mélusine magic The greatest jazz singer of our time expands her range to French Renaissance, cabaret, and much moreBy: Fred Kaplan
Cécile McLorin Salvant has reached the point in her career where she can, apparently, get away with doing whatever she wants. Dreams and Daggers and The Window solidified her status as the preeminent jazz singer of our time. Ghost Song, her debut on Nonesuch Records, cracked open all genres, covering a range enveloping Kurt Weill, Kate Bush, Harold Arlen, a 19th-century folk ballad, and a half-dozen original songs, which matched the album’s standards for wit, swing,... Read More
March 19th, 2023
‘Fragments’: Bob Dylan’s ‘Time Out Of Mind’ Restored Volume 17 of 'The Bootleg Series' is a thoroughly fascinating listenBy: Malachi Lui
The best reissues provide fuller context to the material, guiding listeners to (even) more favorably reassess the work without seeming forceful. As more recent installments have generally grown in size and curation quality, the series has become essential for anyone with more than a passing interest in Dylan. The latest set, 'Fragments: The Bootleg Series Vol. 17,' is the definitive collection of session material and tour recordings surrounding 1997's 'Time Out Of Mind.'
Read MoreFebruary 28th, 2023
Jason Moran's Voyage From the Ancient to the Future The pianist's brilliant revival-tribute to bandleader-composer James Reese EuropeBy: Fred Kaplan
Jason Moran’s latest album, From the Dancehall to the Battlefield, is a staggeringly ambitious work, nothing less than a stab at reconceptualizing jazz history, hoisting a fairly obscure figure—the composer-bandleader James Reese Europe (1881-1919)—onto the pantheon of major innovators, a project that forges new links and traces a new path of the music’s evolution, with Lt. Jim Europe (as he was also known) at the—or at least a—center.
Read MoreFebruary 4th, 2023
World Pacific Reissues An Essential Lenny Bruce Recording From the archives: On this recording, Lenny Bruce riffs off of set pieces, going wherever his mind leadsBy: Michael Fremer
(This review originally appeared in Issue 7, Spring 1996.)This 2CD set documenting comedian Lenny Bruce’s legendary February 4th, 1961 midnight concert at Carnegie Hall is a slightly expanded version of what was originally issued in 1972 as an attractively packaged 3LP set by United Artists (UAS 8900). The concert took place the night after a gigantic blizzard had literally closed down New York City. Bruce almost didn’t make it into town, and when he did, he hardly... Read More
January 25th, 2023
Diving Deep into the John Williams' Harry Potter Film Scores La-La Land Records’ Essential Deluxe Limited Edition is Back In Stock!By: Mark Ward
John WilliamsEven within the context of his catalogue of one classic film score after another, the three films that John Williams scored for the Harry Potter franchise - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - occupy a very special place. But you wouldn’t necessarily have known that to judge from the somewhat parsimonious manner in which the soundtrack scores... Read More