The Pogues: Red Roses for Me

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Andy Webster wrote in the New York Times: "'He knew he was totally mediocre, he was a measly old poet, Wordsworth, and never made it at anything like Coleridge,' Shane MacGowan said, adding, 'He had really bad teeth.' Mr. MacGowan, the principal singer of the Celtic rock band the Pogues … has sympathy for Wordsworth’s friend Coleridge. … The Pogues are in the United States for their annual St. Patrick’s tour, hitting cities where their fan base and Irish enclaves are strong. … Hours later the Pogues were onstage at the Avalon, playing to a sold-out house. Fans were carried aloft over the mosh pit, as the eight-man band pounded out frenzied jigs and reels with a controlled fury. Workouts like 'Fiesta' and 'Sally MacLennane' prompted stomping and fist pumping; 'Dirty Old Town,' a tune by the folk singer Ewan MacColl … became a deafening singalong. … The group, whose first album, 'Red Roses for Me,' appeared in 1984, is five years into a comeback after a 10-year separation during which Mr. MacGowan sang with another group, the Popes, and the other band members put out middling albums as the Pogues."

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: 100 Days, 100 Nights

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Michael Giltz called this album a tie with The Great Debaters for best CD of 2007, and wrote in the Huffington Post: "Sharon Jones is the beginning and the end, an old school singer who sounds like she came straight from the Stax studios through a time tunnel and into the present. I've struggled all year to define the difference between 'retro' music that just sort of apes the past and the real deal. But you can't define it. You just feel it. Jones and the Dap-Kings have been steeped in classic soul for years and this album is their greatest achievement yet. Fanatics will love the little touches, like the way the songs sometimes fade out quickly just like the old pop singles where a tune would simply run out of space on the 45 and they'd have to dial down the sound abruptly at the end. But this isn't just for hardcore collectors. It's great, great stuff, with one pounding, unforgettable, heart-pumping song after another. Think Aretha. Think Otis Redding. Think Brooklyn's Sharon Jones." Also high on Mr. Giltz's list: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand; The White Stripes, Icky Thump; Terence Blanchard, A Tale of God's Will.

Chris Byars: Photos in Black, White, and Gray

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Personnel: Chris Byars, alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones; Sacha Perry, piano; Ari Roland, bass; Andy Watson, drums.
Contents: Aquarian epoch — Milton — Safe at home — Acoustic phenomenon — Manhattan Valley — Cliff diving — Riddle of the Sphinx — A.T.
Tom Hull wrote in the Village Voice: "Referencing Gigi Gryce’s alto sax and Lucky Thompson’s tenor, Byars finds new niches in bebop, picking up ’50s threads that got pummeled by hard bop, discarded by the avant-garde, then buried under whatever passes for post-bop these days. Much as bebop developed underground in places like Minton’s where musicians played for each other, the same dynamic developed at Smalls in the ’90s, connecting a new generation to unreconstructed veterans like Frank Hewitt and on to the foundations of modern jazz. Tapping into the process, Byars sounds fresh even while working in such a well-worn form. A MINUS" (2/13-19/08, p. 77).

Steve Earle: The Revolution Starts Now

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DHinMI wrote in Daily Kos: "Earle's gift for stories, his Blakean revolutionary vision and hostility to authority and convention, his radical politics rooted in American tradition — more Eugene V. Debs and Wobbly than Karl Marx — and his gift of empathy are all in evidence on his 2004 album The Revolution Starts...NOW! … Home to Houston is a raucous truck driving song about a guy who came to Iraq for the money, but with a Bradley on his back door and an RPG whizzing by his window, prays to the Lord to just get him home alive. In Rich Man's War, Jimmy joins the Army because the jobs have all gone to Mexico. That's a story we aren't surprised to hear. But Jimmy's story is just the American version of Ali's, the other side of the story we don't typically hear. … Warrior is a poem recited in the idiom of the King James translation of the Bible. And The Gringo's Tale is told by a former soldier who throws in with the CIA, does dirty work through Latin America, but when he starts to think critically and ask the wrong (right) questions, becomes a marked man living out his life in the shadows" (2/17/08).

Featured Book: Diana Ross by J. Randy Taraborrelli

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Mr. Taraborrelli writes in "Discography and Other Notes": "Stolen Moments Live — The Lady Sings … Jazz and Blues – 4/93 — R&B #73 and Jazz LP chart #10 (also available on DVD) This concert was recorded live in New York for a pay-per-view television special. With it, Diana was back with conductor/arranger Gil Askey for an evening of jazz standards. Most of the material performed here was from Lady Sings the Blues" (p. 519).
And in Part Four, "Solo Star": "Finally, with a 100-page shooting script and 168 different scenes, principal photography for Lady Sings the Blues began on 3 December 1971. Motown's Suzanne dePasse and Chris Clark had written a movie that was not really true and not really false … just a great Diana Ross vehicle. The film was very loosely based on Billie Holiday's autobiography, which she wrote with William Dufty. It told the story of how Holiday… eventually became the toast of the town with a triumphant engagement at Carnegie Hall. Along the way, she … suffers the anguish of an attack by Ku Klux Klan members while on the road …" (pp. 255-256).

Featured Book: Diana Ross by J. Randy Taraborrelli

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Mr. Taraborrelli writes in Part Four, "Solo Star": "In July [1970], Diana's second solo single was released, an exciting new arrangement of the Marvin Gaye–Tammi Terrell pop classic 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' [anthologized on The Best of Diana Ross: The Millennium Collection]. With the release of this song, the future of her solo career seemed absolutely assured. Complete with spoken verses — the memorable 'If you need me, call me' — and a gospel-influenced climax of soaring male and female voices, it is truly a classic pop record. If Berry [Berry Gordy, founder of Motown Records and Ross's lover at the time] was ambivalent about the release of 'Reach Out and Touch' he must have been equally apprehensive about 'Ain't No Mountain' since it is definitely not a number people could dance to. However, it went straight to number one on the charts and would eventually be nominated for a Grammy award. After that song was released, Diana felt that her decision to leave the Supremes had been a wise one. Now, what to do about Berry? Not surprisingly, Berry just wasn't interested in marrying her. …" (pp. 228-229).

Featured Book: Diana Ross by J. Randy Taraborrelli

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Mr. Taraborrelli writes about "Where Did Our Love Go": "[D]uring the time the group was on the road with Dick Clark's revue, Motown reorganized its national record distribution by making deals that guaranteed its product placement in major sales outlets. Also, after five years in business, the company firmed up its relationships with important radio station program directors. Therefore, when 'Where Did Our Love Go' was finally released on 17 June 1964, it would be one of the first beneficiaries of these stronger media ties. … 'Where Did Our Love Go' soared up the charts. As it made its ascent, the Supremes finally received billing on the revue. No longer were they just one of the others; rather, their name was up on the marquee along with those of all of the other major attractions. Also, their position on the revue was moved closer to the end of the show, which is where the headliners were always placed. … [T]he tour finished in Oklahoma. [Motown head Berry Gordy] then telephoned the girls to give them even more good news: they could take a plane back to Detroit instead of hopping on another bus" (pp. 98-99).

James Morrison: Undiscovered

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Contents: Under the influence — You give me something — Wonderful world — Pieces don't fit anymore — One last chance — Undiscovered — Letter — Call the police — This boy — If the rain must fall — Last goodbye.
Sample lyrics: "You see the look that's on my face / You might think I'm out of place / I'm not lost, no, no, just undiscovered. …"
Chuck Arnold wrote in People: "Sharing his name with the legendary Doors frontman, James Morrison has already made his mark in his native Britain: Undiscovered, his debut CD, went to No. 1 in the U.K. last summer. Now the 22-year-old singer-songwriter arrives stateside with a brand of bluesy pop that paints him as the British answer to John Mayer. That may not make him the most original bloke on the block, but when the tunes are this strong and the voice is this soulful, it hardly matters. Best is the R&B-dipped single 'You Give Me Something,' on which Morrison and his richly textured pipes really give us Yanks something to talk about" (4/9/07).

The Magnetic Fields: Distortion

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Eric R. Danton wrote in his Hartford Courant blog Sound Check: "The Magnetic Fields' latest album, 'Distortion,' takes the band's chamber-pop sound in a startling new direction, with swirling fuzz-tones wreathing catchy pop melodies. It's easy enough to coax feedback and distortion from guitars, but singer Stephin Merritt … and company went a step further and sent piano, cello, organ and accordion to the verge of feedback for the sound of this album, he told me in a recent interview for this story. Given the noisy leap forward, and the fact that the Magnetic Fields open their first tour since 2004 Monday in Northampton, 'Distortion' seemed like a topic worthy of discussion. Our podcasting crew was divided over the new sound: Babe Zero and I love it, Stephen Busemeyer and Elizabeth Zuhl weren't so sure. Listen to songs from 'Distortion' here. Listen to previous podcasts here. Download Podcast — Magnetic Fields (caution: one of the songs we discuss features a colorful, explicit term for 'inebriation')" ("Magnetic Fields Podcast," 2/11/08).

Boston: Boston

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Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times: "Brad Delp, the lead singer and a guitarist for Boston, a hugely popular rock band in the late 1970s, was found dead on Friday. … Mr. Delp sang the lead and harmony tracks on the first three Boston albums, starting with its 1976 debut, 'Boston.' On Tuesday the National Association of Record Manufacturers and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ranked the album No. 43 in a list of 200 'definitive' rock albums. The band, specializing in what became known as anthem rock — ballads beefed up with multilayered rock instrumentation — produced hits like 'More Than a Feeling,' 'Smokin' ' and 'Don't Look Back,' selling millions of albums. Mr. Delp joined Boston while working in a manufacturing plant making heating coils for Mr. Coffee machines and singing in Boston-area clubs at night, according to the band's Web site, bandboston.com/html. … In addition to Mr. Delp and Mr. Goudreau, Boston included its founder Tom Scholz and Jim Masdea, its drummer. When Boston later regrouped, its throwback-to-the-70s album 'Third Stage,' in 1986, was a blockbuster" (3/10/07).

John Corigliano: Music for String Quartet

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Contents: Snapshot, circa 1909 (5:22); A black November turkey (originally for a cappella chorus; arranged by the composer; 2:55); String quartet (1995) (32:22)/ John Corigliano — String quartet no. 2 (1998)/ Jefferson Friedman (21:39).
Personnel: Corigliano Quartet (Michael Jinsoo Lim, Lina Bahn, violins; Melia Watras, viola; Jeffrey Zeigler, violoncello).
Russell Platt wrote in the New Yorker: "Half magus, half magpie, this quintessential New York composer assembles works of piercing tenderness from the shards of twentieth-century music. The Corigliano Quartet plays its signature piece with persuasive devotion; a startlingly mature quartet by Corigliano’s student Jefferson Friedman rounds out the album" ("Classical Notes: Best of 2007," 1/21/08, p. 14). Other items on Mr. Platt's top ten list for 2007 include Marc-André Hamelin's recording of Haydn piano sonatas and the Budapest Festival Orchestra recording of Josephs Legende by Richard Strauss.

Elana James: Elana James

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Nicole D'Andrea wrote in Play: "There are a thousand great musicians Elana James sounds like and to many artists that's an insult. But when a fiddle playing mama can be likened to the greatness of Stephen [i.e., Stéphane] Grappelli or Django Reinhardt, there's got to be something pretty good here. … At just 33 years old, James has already become noteworthy through her work as member of Hot Club of Cowtown. After seven years the band split in 2004 and James took to touring with Bob Dylan. Yeah — the Bob Dylan and it gets better; she had to pass up touring with Willie Nelson to accept Dylan's offer. Two years on the road as a fiddler for Dylan's shows and much knowledge later, the brunette with the big lungs has released her self-titled album on Snarf Records. The album has been hailed as a perfect progression for this jazzy, twangy, string playing singer. Backed by band pianist Joe Kerr, guitarist Dave Biller and bassist Beau Sample, the band hits the mark with equal parts timelessness and old school swagger. Half of the work is dedicated to original numbers. …" ("Listen: Elana James," 1/9/08, p. 19).

Marah: Angels of Destruction!

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Contents: Coughing up blood — Old time tickin' away — Angels on a passing train — Wild West love song — Blue but cool — Jesus in the temple — Santos de madera — Songbirdz — Angels of destruction — Can't take it with you — Wilderness. All songs written by David & Serge Bielanko except tracks 4 & 10 by Bielanko, Bielanko, and Christine Smith; track 3 by Bielanko, Bielanko, Smith, and Kirk Henderson; track 6 by Dave Petersen.
Notable lyrics: "When you're lyin' in your bed you get twisted in untieable knots/ you get worried that your baby won't find his way home/ well, don't let it fool when you're wonderin' where I am/ I'm in a wine bar in the middle of Madrid toastin' your blue eyes" ("Songbirdz").
Esquire wrote: "How to allocate your free time this month. … Listening to Angels of Destruction!, perennially under-the-radar Marah’s seventh album, for perfectly romantic notions like 'I love you so much/ Now let’s get something to eat.' 1 hour" ("The Leisure Meter," 1/08, p. 19).

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Octet, Songs; Daniel Hope, violin

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Matthew Gurewitsch wrote in the New York Times: "As a musician and a citizen of the world, the violinist Daniel Hope is hard to pin down. Born in South Africa to a father of Irish stock and a mother with roots in Germany, he grew up in England, travels on an Irish passport and lives in Amsterdam with his German wife. His résumé includes the premiere recordings of new editions of the violin concertos of Berg and Mendelssohn (the Mendelssohn, with Thomas Hengelbrock and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, to be released next week by Deutsche Grammophon); membership in the venerable Beaux Arts Trio; experiments with jazz and Indian ragas; and collaborations with actors including Klaus Maria Brandauer and Mia Farrow. He is known too as a champion of composers silenced by the Nazis. Now Mr. Hope, 33, has written a book, 'Familienstücke: Eine Spurensuche' ('Family Album: Following the Trail'), which folds his personal history into an epic of families displaced to South Africa by famine in Ireland and the Nazis in Germany" ("Music: How's the Family? Fascinating," 1/13/08).