Oregon
Oregon in Moscow (Intuition)
Oregon wedded free jazz, chamber music, Indian drones, and an ache for transcendence 30 years before DJs spliced tabla beats into soul-sax riffs. Now, the quartet teams with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra for majestic scorings of old and new compositions. "Round Robin" and "Icarus" sound like music from the first morning of the world.
Russell Simins
Public Places (Grand Royal)
As the man behind the eclectic beats of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, kit man Russell Simins has never thought too hard about following the protocol of any particular genre. And on this debut solo album, Simins brings it all to bear across a wide musical lexicon. Whether deconstructing Chuck D ("Don't You Believe") or aping Hüsker Dü ("World Over"), Simins gently mocks while paying homage. All the poses he strikes are so authentic, you know he's a fan. But implying that this is some kind of tribute album is like suggesting that Luther Campbell created 2 Live Crew as vehicle for social change. Simins just enjoys making music.
Godspeed You Black Emperor!
Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (Kranky)
Four lavish pieces spanning a double CD are assembled here - each like a Joseph Cornell box full of pearls and grenades. With patient musical logic, this nine-piece Canadian experimental rock collective alchemizes minimal materials, including found recordings of off-kilter Mormon liturgical esoterica ("Static"), Coney Island musings ("Sleep"), and the warbling voices of buskers and playing children ("Antennas to Heaven"). The marriage of these fragments with coruscating waves of guitar, violin, and cello result in something powerful and elegiac.
Ernest Ranglin
Modern Answers to Old Problems (Telarc)
The synthesis of reggae and Afropop is a natural progression, but it took Jamaican guitar virtuoso Ernest Ranglin - a pioneering force in Marley's early recordings and Baaba Maal's Senegalese sound - to bring it on. Traversing these rhythmic cultures, Answers grooves sublimely with a crosscontinental dream team that includes saxophonist Courtney Pine.
Les Tambours du Bronx
silence (Naïve)
Anything but mute, silence features 18 street musicians, percussionists, and performance artists beating oil drums with pickax handles like a postmodern taiko drum troupe. The result: an out-of-theater Stomp experience. Pounding in unison and in layered rhythmic patterns - with occasional chants, samples, and electric guitars - Les Tambours give a performance that's visceral and devastatingly dynamic.
Various Artists
Xen Cuts (Ninja Tune)
After 10 years as the premier production house to international turntablists, Ninja Tune has compiled a mind-blowing box set that contains some of the greatest hip hop and electronica music to date. "Emperors Main Course," a limited-release remix, shows off Kid Koala's ability to fuse traditional Japanese symphony with modern beats and masterful scratching. Dynamic Syncopation's down-tempo breaks, combined with the smooth lyrics of Mass Influence on "2 Tha Left," get the hips moving. Xen even includes Saul Williams' rare anti-rap-star rant, "Twice the First Time," which incorporates live instruments such as human beat box and violin.
Icebreaker International
Trein Maersk (IT)
What's the sound of collective security? Think the love child of Alan Greenspan and the Alan Parsons Project, playing synthesizer on a sea cruise. An ode to global economy in principle and sonic design, Trein Maersk was launched by Alexander Perls and Simon Break with arts funding from NATO. Thematically, their high-concept agitpop bounces in the wake of a container ship sailing from Yokohama to Halifax. Musically, it's a trip through the boom on gossamer wings, mixing in brief squawks from seagulls and soaring technocratic sound bites. There's no doubt in this pro-WTO disco that a rising tide floats all boats. Free your trade - the rest will follow.
Elysian Fields
Queen of the Meadow (Jetset)
Like the house band in a pub run by Victorian-goth illustrator Edward Gorey, Elysian Fields haunt as they charm. Jennifer Charles' beguiling voice swirls like sweet smoke and lures with warm, lethal words. Meanwhile, guitarist Oren Bloedow leads the band in slow, bluesy tunes that snare with their simplicity. Listen closely: Echoes of Mazzy Star ("Black Acres"), Nick Cave ("Rope of Weeds"), and the Beatles ("Tides of the Moon") can be heard.
STREET CRED
Trafficking Jam
Invisible Band
Jet Pack
Flash of Recognition
The Bargain Store
Caddie Whack
Six Million Degrees of Separation
ReadMe
Music
Ring My Bell
Scene Blocking 101
Kiss of the Spider Woman
Just Outta Beta
Underware
Derailing the Thought Train
Contributors
