New music: Reviews of this week’s CD releases

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This article was published 12/10/2016 (3581 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Regina Spektor

Remember Us to Life (Warner Bros.)

REGINA Spektor gained a whole new audience when Netflix series Orange Is the New Black first aired in 2013. You’ve Got Time, the show’s kinetic, New Wave-ish theme song introduced Spektor’s lilting, girlish voice and unique pop sensibility to millions of viewers unfamiliar with her work.

It’ll be interesting to see how those people react to Remember Us to Life, the seventh full-length record from the Moscow-born, Brooklyn-raised alt-pop singer, songwriter and pianist.

This 11-song album doesn’t link especially well to You’ve Got Time, but it does fit coherently within her canon. Working with British musician and co-producer Leo Abrahams (Byrne/Eno, Bret Anderson, Paulo Nutini), Spektor has made a chamber pop album that both retains her lyrical whimsy and hints at greater aspirations. Album opener Bleeding Heart, suffused with strings and synths, is this record’s modern pop masterpiece. Other standouts, such as Older and Taller, Grand Hotel, Small Bill$ and Seller of Flowers, create fully realized worlds, while The Trapper and the Furrier is a cleverly cynical take on Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter. And those songs are just the broad strokes, because there’s still room for downbeat introspection and lament on Black and White, The Light and Obsolete. ★★★★

DOWNLOAD: Bleeding Heart, Older and Taller, Grand Hotel

— John Kendle

 

James Leg

Blood on the Keys (Alive Naturalsound)

NO, dear reader, James Leg is not a condition one acquires from too much time at sea, but rather the nom-de-rock of the wily keyboardist/songwriter John Wesley Meyers. If you like unconventional music as much as we do, then Leg’s fourth outing will please you immensely. BOTK is one of the gnarliest releases of 2016 and is built on the foundation of the leader’s acid-washed vocals, grinding organ work and his ability to create the kind of moods seldom heard on contemporary rock records.

His chopped-up, dog-grunt voice brings to mind both Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits; as disconcerting as it is to hear, it works within the framework of his music. He can rock, simply, on tracks such as the captivating album opener Human Lawn Dart and the choogling Dogjaw.

To keep it all interesting, he presents manifold moods, including the Waits-ish St. Michel Shuffle, the candlelit flicker of I’ll Take It and the title track, and the outsider funk that is Tao Te Leg. The addition of viola, soulful female backing vocals and some cracking guitar playing proves that Leg is not just a short-term distortion grinder.

Sure, there may be blood on the keys from James Leg’s throat, but with this album he’s bound to capture more ears. ★★★

DOWNLOAD: I’ll Take It; Hugging The Line

— Jeff Monk

 

Mandolin Orange

Blindfaller (Yep Roc Records)

ON their third album, young North Carolina duo Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz prove authentic bluegrass music is alive and well, and flourishing under their brilliant tutelage.

With some gracious help from co-conspirators, the pair push the boundaries of the stately genre by contemporizing the lyrics to include some thoughts on U.S. politics and religion — all this while sounding marvellously graceful. The key ingredients of the form are all evident — sweetly plucked mandolin leads, strong and melodious guitar fingering and the kind of vocal delivery that speaks to the ages.

Marlin has a singular singing style that is the through-line to the very origins of bluegrass vocals. By delicately dropping the last syllable of some words, he creates a sort of auditory hallucination that is bewitching. George Jones built his career on using this method to create a tension in his most earnest ballads and traditional bluegrassers such as the Osborne Brothers popularized the style. Wildfire and Echo are wonderful examples and when Marlin and Frantz pair their vocals the effect is mesmerizing and the trademark high/lonesome sound moves forward yet again.

Hard Travelin’ is the exception to the rule here and its chugging rhythm and twangy solos make a case for Blindfaller to be the breakout traditional bluegrass album of 2016. ★★★★

DOWNLOAD: Wildfire; Hard Travelin’; Gospel Shoes

— Jeff Monk

 

Dave Holland Quartet

Aziza (Dare 2)

AZIZA means precious or cherished in Egyptian and the term might apply to the members of this outstanding quartet. Bass icon Dave Holland has a quartet session here with some pretty fine musicians: Chris Potter on saxes, Lionel Louecke on guitar and Eric Harland on drums.

The music is extremely rhythmic, from some hard-edged groove (Aziza Dance) to gentle tracks (Friends) and some Latin tunes (Finding the Light), with drummer Harland driving the beat. Holland is one of the finest leaders on bass and has played with all the greats, including Miles Davis, Chick Corea and Stan Getz, and Potter is in the first echelon of contemporary jazz, as are Louecke and Harland.

At its basic level, jazz is, first and foremost, a music that elicits an emotional response, and this album simply shines as it gets into your mind. From the dawn of the genre, rhythm has been the foundation, and Holland and Harland exemplify this as they pull you into this music. Highly recommended. ★★★★1/2

DOWNLOAD: Blue Sufi

— Keith Black

 

Jiri Belohlavek

Dvorak Slavonic Dances (Decca Classics)

EACH autumn, the palate yearns for hearty stews and rustic soups culled from the harvest. Late 19th-century composer Antonin Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances, Op. 46 and 72 might be regarded the musical equivalent, the 16 pieces teeming with peasant-like melodies and galumphing dance rhythms rooted in the earth.

Following the acclaimed 2014 Complete Dvorak Concertos and Symphonies recording, this album features the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Jiri Belohlavek, providing authenticity by performing music from the homeland.

Originally written for piano four hands in 1878 and 1886, and in turn inspired by Brahms’ Hungarian Dances, Dvorak’s orchestrated arrangements bring a fullness to the nationalist-driven works. The maestro conducts with gusto and stylistic understanding, ensuring suitably resonant, vibrant strings and clearly delineated winds. He instils a sense of playfulness into such dances as Op. 46’s No. 2 in E minor, and No. 6 in D major, and searing lyricism into Op. 72’s No. 2 in E minor, while resisting temptation toward the maudlin. But he also brings fire to others, including Op. 46’s No. 5 in A major and No. 1 in C major, in all their rhythmically jagged, boot-stomping glory. ★★★1/2

— Holly Harris