Nana Grizol - Love It Love It 2008

Theo Hilton's rock sextet from Athens, GA, Nana Grizol is a fresh and frisky, if somewhat ramshackle, outfit that hasn't really gotten out of the garage yet on its debut album, Love It Love It. The childlike artwork on the album cover, credited to one "Sam Phillips," hints at the D.I.Y. feel of a band that sounds like its members learned to play their instruments about six months ago; they are still in the first flush of excitement at being musicians and being in a band, but matters of cohesion, much less arrangement, escape them completely. They just bash away excitedly, coming up with rudimentary chord structures to support Hilton's lyric-filled songs. The singer's words tumble out of his mouth in an adenoidal rush occasionally reminiscent of Jonathan Richman or Black 47's Larry Kirwan, full of odd observations and ingenuously expressed feelings. The result is a debut that's engaging and amusing in the manner of a small child, the kind who might have drawn the cartoons on the cover. AMG.

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The Immortal Lee County Killers - These Bones Will Rise To Love You Again 2005

The third incarnation of the Immortal Lee County Killers sounds a bit less frantic but every bit as committed on 2005's These Bones Will Rise to Love You Again. The muscular punk-infused clamor of the group's first two albums has been turned down a few notches, and keyboards have added some additional layers of groove on several tunes, and as a result These Bones Will Rise is rooted more in traditional rock and R&B structures than in the past, with a soulful vibe permeating these sessions. Don't fret, there's still plenty of sweat and energy to be found here, Chetley Weise's guitar still cuts deep, and most importantly this band still lives and dies for their vision of the blues. "Boom Boom" is a telling homage to the power of Skip James, "Airliner" invokes the name and works of Stevie Wonderlike a magic talisman (and who's to argue with that?), and the title "Blues" just about says it all in its tale of pain and menace. And while some fans will wonder about the slow drift of "Lights Down Low" or "Wide as the Sky," the truth is Weise has added new angles to his music without throwing away the passion and force that made it memorable in the first place. Strong stuff. AMG.

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Langhorne Slim - When The Sun's Gone Down 2005

It would be easy to mistake Langhorne Slim for yet another neo-folkie with a song to sing if it were not for the shear exuberance of his performance style on When the Sun's Gone Down. His strained, high, and always intense vocals provide the first clue that this guy isn't another New England singer/songwriter on the make. He kicks off with the energetic, upbeat "In the Midnight," a little ditty accompanied by a frantic drumbeat and a jaunty banjo. Slim's also joined by a group of singers who add odds and ends that can loosely be described as "background vocals." They shout and soar, creating yet another odd texture to these fun, offbeat songs. The acoustic arrangements remind one a bit of late-'60s folk-rock, the kind that groups like the Incredible String Band made in Britain. "Sisterhood" begins with an atmospheric organ before dropping into a banjo-guitar-bass and percussion setup that unrolls like a psychedelic Sunday afternoon. Even on a simple song like "I Ain't Proud" Slim twists and turns and spits out each lyric like they really -- honest to God -- mean something. Some listeners, addicted to a more straightforward folk aesthetic, might find Slim a bit over the top. If folk is to have any future, however, artists will have to move in new, provocative ways like Slim does onWhen the Sun's Gone Down. AMG.

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Mr. Airplane Man - C'mon DJ 2003

You've got to hand it to Jeffrey Evans. Aside from all the music he's made over the years, he's credited with introducing the White Stripes to Sympathy for the Record Industry (and, hence, to the world). Then he did the same for Mr. Airplane Man. Although the Boston duo's first effort was self-released, Sympathy would handle their subsequent recordings. Granted, MAM would stand out in any crowd, even without the assistance of an Evans, a Long Gone John, or the late Mark Sandman (Morphine), who became a fan after hearing them on the streets in 1998. And, to be sure, there are other duos who've been around as long, like the Stripes, but MAM features two women: Margaret Garrett (guitar, vocals) and Tara McManus (drums), and yet they sound nothing like such female duos as the Softies. Their punk-blues hybrid has more in common with the garagey sounds Detroit trio the Gories were laying down in the '90s. Then there's their name, which confuses the issue altogether, but it's really just a tribute to Howlin' Wolf, who once drafted a ditty called "Mr. Airplane Man."

It was, in fact, a shared obsession with Wolf (aka Chester Burnett) that inspired the band's formation. After living on opposite coasts for some time, the friends reunited in Boston in 1995, where they locked themselves up in a basement for a year and absorbed the sounds of the Delta blues as much as any two people can. With that, they hit the streets, honing their chops by playing for rent on the sidewalks of Cambridge -- Garrett with an electric guitar and battery-powered amp and McManus with her trusty five-gallon drum. Sandman wasn't the only Bostonian to take notice. In 1999, they were voted Best New Local Act by readers of the Boston Phoenix. Then they went on tour with Sandman, who helped record their first album, which was released that year and led to more touring. While in Memphis, a chance encounter in a local diner would result in their next release. Garrett had recently become converted to the musical gospel ofMonsieur Evans' '68 Comeback. By coincidence, they met a gent who knew the man, and he arranged for an introduction. The Boston crew hit it off with the Memphis gang and an alliance was formed. They continued on to New Orleans for a gig and, upon their return, M. Evans was set to do some recording. Their first Sympathy release was the single, "Johnny Johnny," which was followed by a full-length in March of 2001. Red Lite was like a history of MAM as it included the Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog," a set list staple since their days in Central Square, along with other longtime favorites like Jessie May Hemphill's "Black Cat Bone."  Next, they hit the road with the White Stripes and opened for the Strokes, as well as local acts DMZ and the Lyres, both featuring the legendary Jeff "Monoman" Conolly.Recorded in Detroit with Jim Diamond (the White Stripes) and mixed in Memphis with Doug Easley and Greg "Oblivian" Cartwright, Moanin' was released in September of 2002, and it's where MAM really hit their stride. Highlights of the well-received platter, which -- like the band -- took its name from a Wolf classic, included the haunting spiritual, "Jesus on the Mainline" and the blissful girl group pop of "Not Livin' at All" (penned after repeated listens to the Lyres' "Help You Ann"). Mr. Airplane Man then took their show across the country, during which time they tried out new material set for inclusion on their next recording. AMG.

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Louis Mhlanga - Song For Nomsa 1998

One of the first to blend Earth, Wind & Fire-like funk and R&B with the traditional dance rhythms of Zimbabwe, Louis Mhlanga continues to be one of Africa's most in-demand session musicians. His melodic guitar plucking has been featured on albums by such African musicians as King Sunny Ade, Hugh Masakela, Ray Phiri, Busi Mhlongo, Sipho "Hotstix" Mabuse, Caiphus Semenya, Letta Mbuli, Vusi Mahlasala, and the Soweto String Quartet. During a brief period in the mid-'80s when he temporarily resided in London, Mhlanga worked with Paul Weller and Afro-Caribbean artists includingDennis Brown and Julian Bahula. Recent collaborators include jazz-pop vocalist Al Jarreau and steel pan player Andy Narrell. Accepting an invitation to work at King Sunny Ade's recording studio in Lagos, Mhlanga learned the craft of record producing. Among the many albums that he's overseen are several by Thomas Mapfumo.

In addition to performing with his band, Musik Ye Africa, featuring drummer Jethro Shasha and bassist Jimi Indi, Mhlanga has increasingly worked with Vusi Mahlasala, a Dylanesque singer/songwriter that he met while working on a show, The Devil and the Saint, with poet Lesego Rampolokeng. Their first album together, Crush the Corn, released in 1997, was followed by Live at the Bassline, recorded during a concert in Johannesburg in 1999. Mhlanga has based his operations in South Africa since the late 1980s. He serves as administrative manager of the Ethnomusicology Trust. AMG.

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The Legendary Shack Shakers - Believe 2004

As the opening track, "Agony Wagon," shuffles out of the starting blocks like some sort of hillbilly klezmer chestnut, complete with violin and clarinet, you can't help but wonder if the Legendary Shack Shakers have done a 180 for their second album, 2004's Believe. Further research confirms this isn't quite the case, but Believe does find this band of hot-wired Nashville maniacs adding a few more flavors to their usual gumbo of country, blues, rockabilly, and punk. Fiddles and horns add seasoning to a few tracks, the group musters up a shade more technical finesse than they did on their blasting debut,Cockadoodledon't, and the graceful waltz-time "The Pony to Bet On" suggests this band might actually have some subtlety lurking deep down inside of them. But for the most part Believe shows the Shack Shakers's instincts remain mercifully unchanged -- they're here to kick ass and get wild, and man oh man, are they good at it. The blues-shot swagger of "All My Life to Kill," the ominous thunder of "Where's the Devil When You Need Him?," and the swampy hipshake of "Piss and Vinegar" all capture this band in high-impact mode, and if anything they're stronger and more swingin' than on their debut.Believe is a high-octane shot of energy and attitude that confirms the promise of the Legendary Shack Shakers' debut, and proves this is one revved-up live band who know how to make their sweat and shakin' signify on tape -- these guys are the best thing to happen to Dixie-fried dementia sinceSouthern Culture on the Skids. AMG.

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Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information Vol. 3 2009

Ethiopian musician (piano, organ, vibraphone, and percussion), composer, and arranger Mulatu Astatke (the name is spelled Astatqé on his French releases) is a household name in his native country, where he is known as the father of Ethio-jazz, a unique blend of pop, modern jazz, traditional Ethiopian music, Latin rhythms, Caribbean reggae, and Afro-funk. Born in 1943 in the west Ethiopia city of Jimma, Mulatu studied music in London, New York City, and Boston, where he was the first African graduate of the Berklee College of Music, and went on to work with several acclaimed jazz artists, including a guest spot with Duke Ellington in 1971. Further schooled in New York’s dance clubs in the 1960s, Mulatu recorded three of his LPs in the city, Afro-Latin Soul, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 in 1966 and Mulatu of Ethiopia in 1972. Most of his records were released by Amha Records, including several singles and the 1974 LP Ethio Jazz. Mulatu’s work brought a renewed focus on instrumentation and rhythm to Ethiopian pop music, shepherding in a golden age in that country’s pop and jazz circles from 1968 to 1974. He went on to found a music school and open his own club, and he stayed active as an arranger, advisor, and DJ. In 2004 he met the Massachusetts-based Either/Orchestra and formed a long-running collaboration with the band. Never one to paint himself into a creative corner and always expanding his musical vision, Mulatu also collaborated with the London-based psyche-jazz configuration the Heliocentrics in 2008 on the albumInspiration Information, Vol. 3, which included updated versions of many of his classic compositions. He also contributed to the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch’s 2005 film Broken Flowers, which brought him a whole lot of new fans outside of his homeland. AMG.

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The Vasco Era - Oh We Do Like To Be beside The Seaside 2007

Hailing from the small town of Apollo Bay on the southern coast of Australia, the Vasco Era have crafted a first album about being small-town boys in a small-town band -- it's even named after their local football club's oddly wimpy theme song. Oh We Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside was produced by Jeff Saltzman, who has worked with the Black Keys and the Killers; this album is definitely closer to the former than the latter in its blues-rock sound. Every song on the almost-concept album contains the word "when," linking them together like chapters in a rambling story told by an affectionate drunk at a party, a simple and heartfelt story about a breakup and its aftermath. Vocalist Sid O'Neil soars between anguished screams worthy of the Vines' Craig Nicholls and a bluesy growl reminiscent ofJack White from the White Stripes. The rest of the band plays hard rock that takes its swagger from the Rolling Stones and its volume and dirge riffs from Black Sabbath. The opening tracks are garagey stomps that don't slow down, the first pause for breath appropriately coming with "When We Tried to Get You to Settle Down." O'Neil laments about the times and "Some kind of blues that I'm way too young to try and understand," but then he delivers lines that show his excellent grasp of a quirky kind of blues for the young, wistfully singing "The girl from The O.C. was backstage at the Wolfmother show/And we almost talked to her." "Honey Bee (When It Was Making Wierd [sic] Love Songs)" exploits the quiet loud/dynamic so apocalyptically it's as if the last 20 years of post-Pixies rock hadn't happened and you're hearing it done for the first time. The rhythms are so solid they demand a kind of whole-body headbanging in response, but the star is clearly the vocals. There's not a second on the whole album where O'Neil doesn't sound so passionate that you think he's about to do permanent damage to his vocal cords. This is an album worthy of taking them from their humble roots and catapulting them to a much larger stage. AMG.

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Wayne/Jayne County & The Electric Chairs - Rock 'N Roll Cleopatra 1995

Jayne County was the John Waters of rock music, crafting blatantly offensive and goofy music that delivered mean-spirited entertainment and a hilarious freak show. Bragging up her own importance on virtually every other song, some of County's best music can be found on this compilation. "Storm the Gates of Heaven" is one of the most silly, offensive, angry, and campy songs to grace the punk movement, delivering a disdain for Christianity with tongue firmly in cheek and middle finger proudly raised. Elsewhere she chastises those who won't take her home ("Fuck Off"), celebrates the twisted men who go through her life ("Mean Muthafuckin' Man"), and sings a tribute to filthy bathroom affairs ("Toilet Love"). Vile, nasty, and hilarious, County is obviously not for everyone. In fact, as the years go by, the audience who would enjoy her routine seems to get narrower and narrower. But this is a document of an important performance artist; in the '70s her live shows couldn't be touched for sheer energy and entertainment. And these songs were the backbone of those shows; even if they weren't always good, they at least had the charismatic snarl of County delivering their hideous message. For anyone curious about the New York punk scene, this is high-priority stuff even if it contains some of the least-important music of the period. County, like many punk musicians, has overcome her talents to become a personality, and that personality is strong enough to make this a recommended collection. AMG.

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Billy Childish & Dan Melchior - Devil In The Flesh 1998

Billy Childish and Dan Melchior team for a stripped-down blues outing on Devil in the Flesh; recorded live on Childish's "1/2 track" machine, the poor fidelity lends the set a kind of authentic field recording texture perfectly suited to the material at hand. AMG.

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John The Conqueror - John The Conqueror 2012

As long as rock & roll still draws breath, there's no getting away from the blues, but who knew that blues-rock would suddenly make such a comeback? No one's shouting "boogie" anymore, but in many respects, the Black Keys and the like-minded bands who've followed in their wake have more in common with Savoy Brown or Foghat as anything that's seemed stylistically innovative in the past couple decades (beyond clearing out the chaff by shrinking the lineup), and the new kids on this scene, Philadelphia's John the Conqueror, aren't bringing much you haven't already heard to the picture. The group's self-titled debut album is dominated by a king-size portion of lean but muscular blues changes courtesy of frontman Pierre Moore, married to the fierce but steady hard rock attack of bassist Ryan Lynn and drummer Michael Gardner. As you might expect, Moore's songs find him having trouble with his woman (or women), enjoying alcoholic beverages, and celebrating his roots in the Deep South (which Moore comes by honestly, as he and Gardner were born and raised in Mississippi), all accompanied by lots of thick, fuzzy guitars and hard-stomping rhythms. If John the Conqueror are regrettably short on originality, they are genuinely good at what they do -- Moore's guitar work is admirably short on self-indulgent soloing, and twists familiar riffs with pithy style, his vocals are effective, and the rhythm section grooves solidly without a lot of wasted effort or aural clutter. They probably would have sounded like a breath of fresh air if you saw them opening for, say, Head East in 1974. But here in 2012, John the Conqueror aren't doing anything other folks haven't done before (and better), and while they've clearly got potential, they're a long way from making the most of it. AMG.

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Chip White - Harlem Sunset 1994

A fine drummer who performs in advanced jazz settings, Chip White is also a talented composer. He began studying percussion when he was nine. White attended Ithaca College, studied at the Berklee School of Music and later took orchestration and arranging lessons from Frank Foster. In the '70s,'80s and '90s, he played with many top jazz musicians including Carmen McRae, Jaki Byard, John Abercrombie, Johnny Coles, Enrico Rava, Mulgrew Miller,Gary Bartz and John Hicks, recording with many of them. He formed the Chip White Ensemble in 1984, produced a jazz musical (Manhattan Moments) in 1990 and toured with the Houston Person-Etta Jones Quintet. In 1994, Chip White recorded Harlem Sunset (for Postcards), his debut set as a leader. AMG.

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Either.Orchestra - The Calculus Of Pleasure 1992

Following their superb, decidedly weird 1989 release, The Half-Life of Desire, and with one's appetite whetted by the intriguing Caravaggio details used in the packaging, The Calculus of Pleasure came as something of a letdown. It's as though the mainstream qualities which were always present but offset by an avant-garde sensibility and some inspired wackiness suddenly rose to the fore and drowned out everything else. This might be all well and good, and to be sure, the ensemble goes through their paces quite ably, but the listener who thrilled to their rollicking covers of everyone from Bobbie Gentryto Robert Fripp may have been expecting a more progressive step rather than the regression to music that seemed so safe and even-tempered. The exception is perhaps their version of Julius Hemphill's classic "The Hard Blues," where the instrumentalists do indeed get a bit down and dirty. Even here though, little enough new is done with the material that one half-wonders why, aside from admiring the original, they bothered. Gershon's "Miles Away" is a funky tribute to post-Bitches Brew Davis, and the album closes with a charming lullaby by bassist Nieske, but the sense of drive and purpose achieved in earlier efforts seems to have largely evaporated. An enjoyable enough recording but not an essential one and, given the band's prior promise, a slightly disappointing one. AMG.

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Kneebody - You Can Have Your Moment 2010

Experimental instrumental ensemble Kneebody makes jazz-, funk-, rock-, and electronic-influenced music. Featured in the band are keyboardist Adam Benjamin, trumpeter Shane Endsley, bassist/guitarist Kaveh Rastegar, saxophonist Ben Wendel, and drummer Nate Wood. Although Benjamin,Endsley, Rastegar, and Wendel attended Eastman School of Music together in the '90s, it wasn't until after they graduated and all relocated to Los Angeles that Kneebody was formed. They released their debut self-titled album on trumpeter Dave Douglas' Greenleaf label in 2005. Two years later, they returned with Low Electrical Worker. Kneebody then collaborated with vocalist Theo Bleckmann for the 2009 album Twelve Songs by Charles Ives. They delivered their fourth studio album, The Line, on Concord in 2013. Two years later they teamed with left-field hip-hop and electronica producer Daedelus for the collaborative LP Kneedelus, a Brainfeeder release. AMG.

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