Céu - Vagarosa 2009

Céu's second album, arriving four years after her debut, finds her sticking to the style that brought her to the attention of the world music and hipster-lounge communities. She's still mixing the relaxed grooves of her native Brazil with those of downtempo/trip-hop acts like Thievery Corporation; still throwing in surprisingly capable reggae grooves "("Cangote," the first full song on this CD, boasts a deep dub bassline and some extremely haunting organ); and still multi-tracking her vocals into a conversation. It's a lilting yet heady blend that she pulls off with an utter confidence that's fascinating in such a young artist. Brazilian music has an innate lightness that Céu engages with on basically a molecular level. Her songs flirt with a Tom Waits-like clatter sometimes, but always resolve themselves into drifting bliss. Her psychedelic take on Jorge Ben's "Rosa Menina Rosa," the only song on Vagarosa she didn't write, works itself into a whirling storm of reverb and phasing effects, yet never loses its essential breeziness even as the throbbing bassline heads nearly into "Journey to the Center of the Mind" territory. Computer-generated vinyl crackle turns up on the album intro, as well as "Somnambulão" ("Sleepwalking"), the most ordinary song on the album and one which almost lives up to its title, though some dubwise melodica livens things up. The last track, "Espaçonave," throws in field recordings of rain forest creatures and multi-tracked vocals alongside fuzzed-out guitar, creating a feel reminiscent of the work of similarly brilliant Mexican art-pop princess Natalia Lafourcade. This is an extremely impressive, assured album well worth a listener's time, whether one speaks Portuguese or not. AMG.

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Terry Kath - Chicago Presents The Innovative Guitar Of Terry Kath 1997

To many, the late Terry Kath (guitar/vocals) was the heart and soul of Chicago. This is especially true of his contributions to the band's early blend of jazz with amped-up unadulterated wailing guitar rock. Sadly, Kath's tenure with the group was cut tragically short when, in late January of 1978, he accidentally and fatally shot himself. In hindsight, the band never fully recovered from the loss, and it would take four years before Chicago would creatively and critically reinvent itself on Chicago 16 (1982).The Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath (1997) includes 14 seminal selections and examples of the string man at the peak of his prowess. While there are no previously unissued songs, this compilation scans the nine Chicago studio long-players that Kath performed on as well the incendiary readings of "25 or 6 to 4" and "Mississippi Delta City Blues" from the must-own Live in Japan 1972 concert set. The track list is rather heavily represented, and rightfully so, by the first three Chicago titles -- Chicago Transit Authority(1969) , Chicago II (1970), and Chicago III (1971). Among them are the fully improvised "Free Form Guitar," "Listen," "An Hour in the Shower," and "South California Purples." Chronologically, later offerings include "Dialogue, Pts. 1-2" from Chicago V (1972) and "Darlin' Dear" off of Chicago VI (1973). Although the follow-up Chicago VII (1974) is glossed over, "Ain't It Blue?" ably represents Chicago VIII(1975) and both the soulful "Scrapbook" and the Memphis-style R&B rave-up on "Once or Twice" are taken from Chicago X (1976). (Note that 1975's Chicago IX was the band's first "best-of" and contained no new songs.) Kath's final effort was Chicago XI (1978); there is nothing featured from that album, although it is represented via the previously mentioned version of "Mississippi Delta City Blues" from Live in Japan 1972. While hardcore enthusiasts will inevitably have all of these selections, the real audience for The Innovative Guitar of Terry Kath is the uninitiated and burgeoning listener who is well-served by the broad range of the selected materials. AMG.

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Maria Rita - Elo 2011

Maria Rita quickly became a huge critical and popular success in Brazil (being Elis Regina's daughter certainly didn't hurt), but after releasing three albums and two DVDs in less than six years, she probably felt it was time for a break. By 2011, however, she was under mounting pressure from fans and her recording company to record a successor to 2007's Samba Meu. Cue the stopgap album Elo, made of songs Maria Rita had been performing during the first decade of her career, but which have never made it to her albums (the only previously released track is "Coração em Desalinho," featured on a popular TV soap opera.) For this record, Maria Rita re-creates the intimate setting of her appearances at Sao Paolo's Tom Jazz club in 2010, as she is joined only by the trio of pianist Tiago Costa, bassist Sylvinho Mazzuca, and drummer Cuca Teixeira. In this respect, Elo is much closer to the singer's first two records of acoustic jazz, bossa, and vocals, rather than the more expansive Samba Meu. To put it succinctly, this is a Brazilian nightclub chanteuse album in which Maria Rita offers her take on well-known songs by the likes of Djavan, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, and Rita Lee. The general response in Brazil was more sympathetic than enthusiastic, for the following reasons: first, since some of Brazil's greatest singers have already recorded these songs, Maria Rita was inviting direct comparison with the canonical versions (often a battle that simply cannot be won), and secondly, albums by Brazilian female singers are usually judged almost as concept albums by virtue of their choice of repertoire and general intent. Compared to her previous work, Elo lacks the weight of an artistic statement. Maria Rita remains of course a class act, and this album is superbly played and sung, but it is more pleasing than revelatory. Fans of the artist, however, will find here many an insight into the different sides of Maria Rita's artistic persona, and are also rewarded with the inclusion of three songs that had not been previously recorded by any other artist: "Pra Matar Meu Coração" (Daniel Jobim & Pedro Baby), "Coração a Batucar" (Davi Moraes & Alvinho Lancellotti), and "Perfeitamente" (Fred Martins & Francisco Bosco). AMG.

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Hindu Love Gods - Hindu Love Gods - 1990

Hindu Love Gods formed in Athens, GA in 1984, a virtual cult-hero supergroup originally comprising guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry (all three of then-underground iconsR.E.M.), pianist Warren Zevon (the famously sardonic singer/composer best known for the classic "Werewolves of London"), and vocalist Bryan Cook (a veteran of local favorites Time Toy and Oh-OK). Their first single, "Narrator," arrived on the IRS label in mid-1985, getting lost in the hubbub surrounding the concurrent release ofR.E.M.'s third LP Fables of the Reconstruction. A year later, Buck,Mills, and Berry rejoined Zevon to collaborate on his Sentimental Hygiene solo effort; minus Cook, the foursome recorded a full-length Hindu Love Gods LP over the course of a single drunken after-hours studio session (Bill Berry: "It took us about as long to do as it takes to listen to"), with Zevon assuming vocal duties for a series of loose-knit electric blues covers capped off by a reading of Prince's "Raspberry Beret." The session remained an underground legend until it was finally issued on the Giant label in 1990; no other Hindu Love Gods recordings were forthcoming. AMG.

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CéU - CéU 2005

CéU's debut album -- originally released by Urban Jungle Records in Brazil in 2005 and reissued two years later in the U.S. by Six Degrees in conjunction with Starbucks -- is a lush blend of African-rooted North and South American music styles (MPB, samba, soul, jazz, Afrobeat, reggae) with cutting-edge contemporary production techniques. The radiant São Paulo vocalist is no doubt the star of this show, as she writes her own songs as well as sings them. The formative span of time she spent in New York City, where she found a rich array of influences, from classic jazz (Billie Holiday) and contemporary soul (Lauryn Hill) to hip-hop and electronica, greatly inform her music here. From song to song, CéU sings in a number of respective fashions, often channeling her influences. Her reverent cover of "Concrete Jungle" is the most overt instance of this, as she channels the spirit of Bob Marley for three-and-a-half minutes and does so quite convincingly. So while CéU may be the star of the show here, with her clear talent and varied wardrobe of influences, producer Beto Villares is the X-factor. He produces all but one of the 15 songs ("Ave Cruz" is the fine work of Antoñio Pinto), and he brings the songs to life in such a way that their blend of traditional music styles is melded tastefully, if not downright perfectly, with present-day advances in technology. He ensures that every song here has a prominent rhythm, even if it's a gentle soul groove or a jazzy lilt, even if that means he has to play the bassline himself (and in some cases he does, according to the revealing track-by-track credits). Practically every song features real percussion and bass playing (i.e., no programming, except on "Roda" and "Ave Cruz" -- each outstanding), as well as frequent acoustic guitar, all of which gives the album an organic earthiness that most so-called worldbeat albums lack, not to mention the productions of globally appropriating downtempo electronica acts like Thievery Corporation. Yet at the same time, Villares makes frequent use of studio effects, multi-tracking especially, and moves the percussion and bass to the forefront of the mix, and he also incorporates the turntablism of DJ Marco on most tracks. So even if the music of CéU is earthy and, for the most part, actually hand-played rather than programmed, it's just as contemporary in technique and style as that of Thievery Corporation, to again reference one of the most impressive concurrent downtempo electronica acts. CéU consequently fits in well with fellow cutting-edge female Brazilian artists such as Cibelle, Bebel Gilberto, and Marisa Monte who straddle classic as well as contemporary styles of music, and while each of these women is thankfully unique in her own wonderful way, they as a group represent what seems to be a growing, forward-looking Brazilian music movement whose appeal is increasingly global in its reach. This CD was nominated for a Grammy award in 2007 for Best Contemporary World Music Album. AMG.

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Al Kooper - White Chocolate 2008

Coming just three years after Black Coffee, his first solo studio album of new material in three decades,White Chocolate (what's next, "Green Tea"?) is quite possibly the most satisfying solo release of this veteran's 50-year career. The title is the giveaway: Kooper has always championed classic soul music above all else, but now he's graduated from paying homage to his heroes of the '60s and '70s to absorbing their essence and personifying the music's most attractive qualities himself -- maybe this release falls short of equaling the best of Stax, Hi, or Philadelphia International (Kooper would no doubt admit to that), but not by much.

Kooper has always made his best music when he holds the reins and here he not only self-produced and arranged, and of course sang the lead vocals, on some tracks he also played every instrument -- whileKooper's skills as a keyboardist are well established and his guitar work long underrated, he also puts down mandolin, percussion, string sounds, and more. Of course he did have help: several brass teams (including the Uptown Horns) and a vocal trio (including the great Catherine Russell) provide ace support. Various additional guitarists, bassists, and drummers flesh out the tracks but the focus never strays from Kooper himself. For starters, if he's ever enjoyed making a record this much before, you wouldn't know it: Kooper seems so at home here (and not just because most of the album was recorded at his Somerville, MA. home studio). His voice, at 65, has naturally weathered, but he can still hit the notes he needs to hit and never tries to sound like the brash twenty-something kid who recorded Super Session or Child Is Father to the Man. Yet despite the maturity of the music, there's an oversized quality to this recording and a set of instantly memorable melodies and hooks that make it Kooper's most blatantly radio-friendly album in years -- that is, if radio was anything close to what it was in 1968. Hear these songs a couple of times and you will swear you've known them all your life.

But all of this is not to suggest this is a retro affair -- White Chocolate is exactly where Al Kooper should be right now. That's made clear from the first notes of opener "Love Time," as pure a slice of Southern soul/pop as the early 21st century can hope to produce. As the record unfolds, it becomes clearer that the lead track is no fluke: "I Love You More Than Words Can Say," penned by Booker T. Jones and Eddie Floyd back in the day, boasts some seriously funky chops and a tough guitar solo by Bob "Dyno" Doezema. A new take on Bob Dylan's "It Takes a Lot to Laugh (It Takes a Train to Cry)," which Kooperand Michael Bloomfield cut on the classic Super Session album 40 years previously, is presented here as a rolling, brassy, souled-up shuffle. And Kooper had to love cutting his song "Staxability," a tribute to the legendary Stax Records of Memphis, with no less than Steve Cropper on guitar and Donald "Duck" Dunnof Booker T. & the MG's on bass. Kooper gets to shout "Play it, Steve!," a line familiar to any fan of vintage soul, and actually gets to hear Cropper do just what he's asked.

In addition to his blue-eyed-soul pedigree, Kooper has always possessed a sharp sense of pop songcraft (he wrote "This Diamond Ring," the huge hit for Gary Lewis & the Playboys), and the chance to co-write two tunes for the album with Gerry Goffin (as in Goffin & King) had to be another dream come true for him. Those two are among the album's highlights: the smooth "You Make Me Feel So Good (All Over)" may not have more than a simple message to offer, but sometimes that's all that's needed to make the connection. And "No 1 2 Call Me Baby," with its phalanx of layered instruments and vocals, is almostSpectorian in its grandness. Other key tracks include the semi-autobiographical "Cast the First Stone," a statement on the politics of our times (of all times?) and how we all fit into those games; a gutsy, bluesy cover of Fred Neil's "Candy Man" (made famous by Roy Orbison); Kooper's interpretation of the Leiber & Stoller/Ben E. King perennial "I (Who Have Nothing)"; the set-closing, gospel-fied "(I Don't Know When But) I Know That I'll Be There Soon" (complete with Farfisa organ and accordion); and "Hold On," a tune of hope and self-determination that offers vocal thrills a-plenty when the powerhouse Russell takes lead on a verse and Kooper counters in his finest falsetto. White Chocolate can serve as a primer for Social Security-age rockers who still think the spandex fits. News flash: it doesn't. AMG.

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Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost 2011

Girls' second full-length sees indie rock songwriter Christopher Owens and his multi-instrumental sidekick Chet "JR" White getting better acquainted with the studio and growing more indulgent. All too often, artists follow up a breakout debut with a difficult sophomore outing, and Girls fall prey to the syndrome, overcompensating for average songs with dazzling instrumentation. It’s probable that after recording a straight-ahead EP, they wanted to show off their range, and as a sprawling, 54-minute epic,Father, Son, Holy Ghost is decidedly vast, but it also goes completely over the top. “Alex,” “Saying I Love You,” and “Forgiveness” fit with the ‘50s/Americana vibe of the Broken Dreams Club set. “Die” sounds like a stoner rock version of Deep Purple's "Highway Star" before it gives way into a Pink Floyd outro. The dreamy organ ballads “My Ma” and “Vomit” take the Floyd craftsmanship to the next level with a questionable addition of soul singers. Elsewhere, flamenco guitar, Mellotron arrangements, and sweeping guitar harmonies shape simple Merseybeat and soft rock templates into majestic psych-prog-tinged rock numbers. If there is a unifying theme, it’s that many of the songs start slow and escalate into overblown jams, with extra session musicians filling the gaps. As a duo, Girls felt comfortable like an old, weathered T-shirt, and now they feel like a well-pressed dress shirt with extra starch. The good news is that this album proves they are top-level purveyors of pop. The bad is that the eccentricity that once flowed freely feels forced. AMG.

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Aberfeldy - Do Whatever Turns You On 2006

Aberfeldy's marvelously endearing and ramshackle (the word is nigh inescapable) Young Forever was one of the most auspicious indie pop debuts of the 2000s. It earned the Scottish quintet a small but devoted following in the States and tour slots opening for lite rock heavy-hitters (albeit somewhat odd stylistic bedfellows) James Blunt, the Beautiful South, and Paolo Nutini in their home Kingdom. In 2007 they landed the distinctly '00s-style promotional coup of having one of their songs (the infectious "Summer's Gone") featured in a widely seen commercial (in keeping with a time-honored rock & roll tradition, it was an ad for Coke), but even as like-minded Europeans such as Peter Bjorn and John andI'm from Barcelona were racking up stateside accolades, Aberfeldy's 2006 sophomore album still failed to see a U.S. release. And it's a crying shame, because Do Whatever Turns You On is, if anything, more immediate than its predecessor: it's bigger, bolder and shinier, without sacrificing a single ounce of charm -- a larger recording budget meant they weren't limited to a single microphone this time out, but it still sounds wonderfully intimate and welcoming -- and most crucially, without losing their penchant for endlessly hummable indie pop melodies. The rootsy country vibe of the debut is still present occasionally, most notably on the gently luminous book-ending tracks "If-Then" (also known as "Someone Like You") and "Turn Me Towards the Light," though Sarah McFadyen's fiddle is largely absent, but in general (and even on these tunes) the band piles on the synthesizers and electric guitars more than ever, resulting in a slightly more conventional power pop/rock sound ("Need to Know" could almost pass for the Cars with its gleaming synth lines and cowbell-fueled riffage.) Either way it's still unmistakably Aberfeldy, in the way the songs are full to bursting with good cheer, glockenspiels, generous helpings of organ, and especially their distinctive, delicious group vocals -- Riley Briggs' reedy tenor is almost always accompanied by the tight harmonies of McFadyen and Ruth Barrie, whether wailing like Linda Thompson on the chorus of "All True Trendies." or offering cheeky retorts to Briggs' lead on "Hypnotised" ("shut up! shut up!" they chirp in response to his self-doubting verse speculations.) Another possible selling point: though the band's penchant for romanticism is decidedly intact, Whateveris a substantially less twee affair than their debut, thanks mostly to the more muscular arrangements and a handful of uncharacteristically sardonic lyrics. Witness "1970s," with its snide swipes at trendy retro culture: "you dress as if it was the 1970s/you say 'far out, man' but you don't know what it means."Briggs has suggested in interviews that these sentiments are primarily self-directed, and reasonably so given the '70s and '80s pop signifiers that crop up all over this record -- not that that's cause for derision, mind you. In any case, the overall sentiment of the album is unmistakably positive; it's right there in the titular credo, which the band seem to have taken to heart. "It's up to you/do what you want to do/you can tell the truth or lie/come on baby/you might as well dance all night" they exhort the listener in the rousing "Up Tight"; roughly the same sentiment is expressed in the irrepressibly bouncy anti-conformist/self-fulfillment anthem "Whatever Turns You On." They may not be particularly nuanced lyrically, but those two songs just happen to be two of the sharpest pop/rock nuggets anyone's come up with in recent years, though you could make an equally compelling case for "Hypnotised," or "1970s" or, actually, come to think of it, most of the rest of the album. AMG.

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