Elvis Costello: This Year's Model (deluxe edition)

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Rob Sheffield wrote in Rolling Stone: "'No Action,' 'Hand in Hand,' 'Lip Service' — these are some of the snarliest love-is-hell songs ever written. The pain in these songs is as clearly visible as the wedding ring Costello wears on the album cover. He might play the jaded rake in '(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea,' but these are the plaints of a kid who fell too hard too fast, who took romantic promises way too seriously and believed more fiercely as he kept getting burned. The music is surprisingly lush and pretty. … Yet it's all punk rage, thanks to Pete Thomas' drums and Steve Nieve's cranky organ. (Funny how the most popular song, 'Pump It Up,' is the one where the vocal is a blur and the drum hook takes the spotlight.) … With rants against the media ('Radio Radio'), the church ('The Beat') and the right wing ('Night Rally'), This Year's Model is the angriest album Costello ever made, yet the songs remain brutally funny, sung with moments of unexpected tenderness … that taught a host of tortured-Irish-guy vocal tropes to the Hold Steady and LCD Soundsystem — and those moments make the album unforgettable" (3/6/08).

James Taylor: One Man Band

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Jesse Kornbluth wrote in the Huffington Post: "His voice: undented after four decades of regular use. Sense of humor: still charmingly off-center, but never blue. And his stories about his early days — they take me back to when we were kids. … It was September 1963, and my brother Richard and I were 'new boys' at Milton Academy. … James was 'Moose', because he was tall and gangly, with a shy, embarrassed smile that suggested he knew he was in the wrong place. … [A]t Harvard … James, now somewhat itinerant, spent the occasional night on my couch. … Through it all, James was making music. … And then James was off to England. … The Beatles loved his butter-smooth voice and those ultra-laid back, sorta-country-but-not-quite songs, and they made him the first 'artist' on their new label. … [T]he impulse to do a straightforward, confessional piece is the musician's equivalent of writing a memoir. It's hard to do. But this one doesn't feel fake, and it doesn't sound forced, and although he's still got that shy, embarrassed smile, James Taylor looks as if he feels he's in the right place" ("Exclusive Preview," 11/7/07).

The Eagles: Long Road Out of Eden

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Personnel: The Eagles (Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Joe Walsh, Timothy B. Schmit).
Contents: Disc 1. No more walks in the wood — How long [Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals, 2008 Grammy Awards] — Busy being fabulous — What do I do with my heart — Guilty of the crime — I don't want to hear any more — Waiting in the weeds — No more cloudy days — Fast company — Do something — You are not alone; Disc 2. Long road out of Eden — I dreamed there was no war — Somebody — Frail grasp on the big picture — Last good time in town — I love to watch a woman dance — Business as usual — Center of the universe — It's your world now. Recorded at The Doghouse, Los Angeles, and Samhain Sound, Malibu.
Artist website: http://www.eaglesband.com/, see also http://www.myspace.com/eaglesmusic According to Wikipedia: "Long Road Out of Eden is the seventh studio album by American rock band the Eagles, released in 2007. … Nearly six years in production, Long Road Out of Eden is the first studio album from the Eagles since 1979."

Herbie Hancock: River: The Joni Letters

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Contents: Court and spark (ft. Norah Jones) — Edith and the kingpin (ft. Tina Turner) — Both sides now — River (ft. Corinne Bailey Rae) — Sweet bird — Tea leaf prophecy (ft. Joni Mitchell) — Solitude — Amelia (ft. Luciana Souza) — Nefertiti — The jungle line (ft. Leonard Cohen).
Eric R. Danton wrote in his Hartford Courant blog Sound Check: "When Herbie Hancock’s 'River: The Joni Letters' won album of the year last month at the 50th Grammy Awards, it marked the first time a jazz album took top honors since Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto won for 'Getz/Gilberto' in 1965. Does Hancock’s win signal the start of a popular resurgence for jazz, or was beating Kanye West and Amy Winehouse merely a pleasant surprise with no larger implications for the jazz world? Acclaimed Hartford jazz musicians Steve Davis, Rich Goldstein and Nat Reeves graciously share their perspectives for our latest podcast, recorded in the Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz — that is, the late, great McLean's old office. … Download Podcast — Jazz and Pop Culture" ("Podcast: Harbie Hancock, the Grammys and Jazz," 3/4/08).

Josh Groban: Noël

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Contents: Silent night (traditional) (with Magdalen College Choir, Oxford, under the direction of Bill Ives) — Little drummer boy (Katherine Davis/Henry Gnorati/Harry Simeone) (featuring guitarist Andy McKee) — I'll be home for Christmas (Kim Gannon/Kent Walker/Buck Ram; featuring messages from Captain Patrick Caukin, Specialist Brooke Frisk, Master Sergeant Benito Perez, Sergeant Katie Vineyard, Sergeant 1st Class William Neil, Lieutenant Colonel Phillip Stagg, Major Norm Young) — Ave Maria (traditional) — Angels we have heard on high (traditional) (duet with Brian McKnight) — Thankful (David Foster/Carole Bayer Sager/Richard Page) — The Christmas song (Mel Tormé/Robert Wells) — What child is this? (traditional) — The first Noël (traditional) (duet with Faith Hill) — Petit papa Noël (A.L. Martinet/Henri Ovanessian) — It came upon a midnight clear (traditional) — Panis angelicus (traditional) — O come all ye faithful (traditional) (with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir). Produced and arranged by David Foster.

John Coltrane: Olé Coltrane

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Contents: Olé ‪(‬18:05‪)‬ — Dahomey dance ‪(‬10:48‪)‬ — Aisha ‪(‬7:32‪)‬ — To her ladyship ‪(‬8:54‪)‬.
Recorded May 25, 1961 at A & R Studios, New York. Program notes by Ralph J. Gleason inserted.
Personnel: John Coltrane, soprano & tenor sax; Eric Dolphy, flute & alto sax; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; McCoy Tyner, piano; Reggie Workman, bass (tracks 1, 2, 3) ; Art Davis, bass (tracks 1, 2, 4); Elvin Jones, drums.
Tom Gogola, "singer/songwriter/basically everything for New Haven's Blown Woofer," said to Pat Ferrucci of Play: "Ole, John Coltrane — There's almost too much great John Coltrane out there, but this track, from 1961's Ole Coltrane, is a favorite of mine. It's the first Coltrane album I owned, and I turn to it pretty often for inspiration if not outright salvation. There's a yearning beauty, a relentlessness and a certain haunting quality to the melody, all at once" ("Making a Mix with Tom Gogola," 3/12/08, p. 21).

Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Scriabin: Poem of Ecstasy

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David Schiff wrote in the Nation: "Gergiev pricks up your ears with the first note: the famous opening bassoon solo, played molto espressivo, becomes a human voice, not an instrumental effect. Gergiev represents the cutting edge for the post-Soviet reclamation of Stravinsky's music by Russian performers. Russians have always heard all of Stravinsky's work as Russian music. Whereas some critics thought Stravinsky's 1924 Piano Concerto was reaching back to Bach, Prokofiev detected quotes from Tchaikovsky. Significantly, Gergiev's recording pairs The Rite of Spring with Scriabin's symphony Poem of Ecstasy, reminding us of their common roots in theosophical mysticism. (Stravinsky expunged the many traces of Scriabin when he reduced the score of Firebird to an orchestral suite. 'I could never love a bar of his bombastic music,' he wrote.) Russians hear Stravinsky's neoclassicism as a move from St. Petersburg to Moscow, a turn away from Rimsky-Korsakov to the Tchaikovsky of the Rococo Variations and the Serenade for Strings; for them the music remains both Russian and romantic" (3/17/08).

The White Stripes: Get Behind Me Satan

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Blue orchid — The nurse — My doorbell — Forever for her (is over for me) — Little ghost — The denial twist — White moon — Instinct blues — Passive manipulation — Take, take, take — As ugly as I seem — Red rain — I'm lonely (but I ain't that lonely yet). All songs composed, produced, and mixed by Jack White. Recorded by Matthew Kettle at Third Man Studios, Detroit, Feb. 2005.
Personnel: The White Stripes (Jack White, vocals, guitar, piano, marimba, tambourine; Meg White, drums, percussion, vocals, triangle, bells).
From the booklet: "there once was a story i wanted to tell, but i assumed it was one you all knew too well. maybe i was wrong. was wondering how clear we were gonna say it. how to keep us all interested enough to not drift off and start fantasizing about romantic things. but then again, what about those things in books, and in movies? are they real? does anybody care? …"
Released 2005, purchased 2008 to replace missing copy (please don't steal from your library!).

Brian Setzer Orchestra: Wolfgang's Big Night Out

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Take the 5th ("an adaptation of Beethoven's 'Symphony No. 5')" — One more night with you ("an adaptation of Grieg's 'Hall of the Mountain King'") — Wolfgang's big night out ("an adaptation of Mozart's 'Eine kleine Nachtmusik'") — Honey man ('an adaptation of Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumblebee'") — Yes we can can ("an adaptation of Offenbach's 'The Can Can'") — Swingin' Willie ("an adaptation of Rossini's 'William Tell Overture'") — Sabre dance (Khachaturian) — For Lisa ("an adaptation of Beethoven's 'Fur Elise'") — Here comes the broad ("an adaptation of Wagner's 'Lohengrin' and Mendelssohn's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'") — 1812 overdrive ("an adaptation of Tchaikovsky's '1812 Overture'") — Some river in Europe ("an adaptation of Strauss's 'Blue Danube'") — Take a break guys ("an adaptation of 'God rest ye merry gentlemen'").
Produced by Dave Darling and Brian Setzer.
Artist website: http://www.briansetzer.com/

Ned Rorem: Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto

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Contents: Piano Concerto No. 2; Cello Concerto: 1. Curtain Raise, 2. There and Back, 3. Three Queries, One Response, 4. Competitive Chaos, 5. A Single Tone, a Dozen Implications, 6. One Coin, Two Sides, 7. Valse Rappelée, 8. Adrift.
Russell Platt wrote in the New Yorker: "[T]he cello remains the most versatile member of the string family. … Ned Rorem has been a lyrical presence in American music for more than half a century, but rarely with such power as in the Cello Concerto (2002), part of a new disk by the conductor José Serebrier and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Naxos). Deftly scored for a pared-down chamber orchestra, it is the finest of Rorem’s many concertos, consistently inventive and shot through with piercing melancholy. The somewhat self-effacing soloist, Wen-Sinn Yang, is buoyed by the suave sounds that Serebrier coaxes from his group; Simon Mulligan is a more decisive presence in the merrily Gershwinesque Piano Concerto No. 2 (1951), the album’s opening flourish" ("Classical Notes: Cello Love," 3/31/08, p. 34).

Nielsen: Symphony No. 2, Symphony No. 4

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Alex Ross wrote in the New Yorker: "With savage concentration, Nielsen proceeds to hack apart … and rev up his catchy little tunes. … As in the case of Janácek and Bartók, the other leading folk-modernists of the early twentieth century, Nielsen seamlessly fused his 'peasant' and 'urban' selves. His habit of flattening the third and seventh notes of the major scale harks back to folk modes, yet it also allows for rapid-fire modulations and polymorphous key schemes. Players need to believe fervently in this music if they are to bring it fully to life. Each phrase must trigger the next in a kind of chain reaction. The difference is clear when you go from, say, the Berlin Philharmonic’s solemn, square-footed 1981 recording of the Fourth Symphony, under the direction of Herbert von Karajan, to a series of live recordings that the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra made in the nineteen-fifties. The conductors … aren’t household names, but they elicit playing of reckless passion. (… There is also an outstanding CD of the Second and the Fourth on RCA, with Jean Martinon and Morton Gould conducting the Chicago Symphony.)" (2/25/08)

k.d. lang: Watershed

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: I dream of spring — Je fais la planche — Coming home — Once in a while — Thread — Close your eyes — Sunday — Flame of the uninspired — Upstream — Shadow and the frame — Jealous dog.
Artist website: http://www.kdlang.com/home.php
Michael Hill writes at this website: "As the title suggests, Watershed represents a milestone in k.d. lang's already extraordinary career. For the first time, she has assumed, on her own, the role of producer — as well as writer, singer and multi-instrumentalist — for this album of new original songs. The result is perhaps lang's most confident and revealing work, with gorgeous arrangements featuring strings and guitars. … "
People wrote: "With a voice that is decadently rich and lush, lang delivers both torch and twang on her first album of original material since 2000. Warmly rendered tunes like 'Shadow and the Frame' are perfect for curling up by the fireplace" ("Music: Quick Cuts," 2/25/08, p. 51).

The Great Debaters: Music From and Recorded For the Motion Picture

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: My soul is a witness (Alvin Youngblood Hart & Sharon Jones) — That's what my baby likes (Jones, Teenie Hodges & Hart) — I've got blood in my eyes for you (The Carolina Chocolate Drops & Hart) — Step it up & go (Hart & Hodges) — It's tight like that (Jones, Hodges & Hart) — Busy bootin'; City of refuge (Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops) — Two wings (Hart with Billy Rivers & The Angelic Voices of Faith) — Delta serenade; Rock n' rye (David Berger & The Sultans of Swing) — Wild about that thing (Jones, Hodges & Hart) — Nobody's fault but mine (Hart & The Carolina Chocolate Drops) — How long before I change my clothes (Hart) — We shall not be moved; Up above my head (Jones with Rivers & The Angelic Voices of Faith) — The shout (Art Tatum) — Begrüssung (Marian Anderson).
Chuck Arnold wrote in People: "This excellent set boasts traditional blues, gospel and jazz selections hand-picked by Denzel Washington, the period drama's director-star" ("Music: Movie Soundtracks," 1/14/08, p. 45).

Red Stick Ramblers: Made in the Shade

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Nicole D'Andrea wrote in Play: "To learn about the Red Stick Ramblers before they come to Café 9 this Tuesday check out the band's front man Linzay Young. Though he's a mean fiddle player and his voice sounds deep and multifaceted, he's also one hell of a cook. In his hometown of Eunice, Louisiana, Young rastles up some chickens and prepares them with what he calls the 'Holy Trinity' - black pepper, cayenne pepper and salt. Check out this You Tube video for more, www.youtube.com/watch?v=piC-yI_AvD4. The crooner from the south also claims talent in chasing his goats across the prairie. Young is a Louisiana guy through and through and the title song of the Red Stick Ramblers' latest album, Made in the Shade on Sugar Hill Records proves it. You'll hear a little diddy about a local guy who makes the best corn mash moonshine in Young's area. The liner notes say, this distiller will have to remain nameless. Is it a hoax - a put on to make us Yankees think this group is 'real country?' Young's voice purrs, 'No one would know who he is but we regularly pick up some of his craft'" (2/20/08).

Ray Barretto: Latin Soul Man

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Oliver Wang wrote in the Nation: "When the Emusica Entertainment Group bought Fania [Records]'s catalog in 2005 … it astutely perceived a continuing market for the music. … Bugalú was always a great bridge between communities; in its heyday, ballrooms would draw black, white and Latino fans from across New York's boroughs to boogaloo the night away. With an equally diverse fan base in this emergent generation, bugalú continues to live up to the cross-cultural ideal it was born out of. That sentiment of unity is brought home on one of the new Fania anthologies, Latin Soul Man, dedicated to the late, great percussionist Ray Barretto. A Nuyorican from an older generation, he was an undisputed forefather of the bugalú. However, unlike his scornful peers, Barretto embraced the style; he even titled his 1967 album Latino Con Soul. The title track of another LP, Together (1969), appears on Latin Soul Man. On it, Barretto expresses the social idealism of the bugalú era, singing, 'I know a beautiful truth and it's helped me be free/ I know I'm black and I'm white and I'm red/ The blood of mankind flows in me.'"

Lucinda Williams: West

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Are you alright? — Mama you sweet — Learning how to live — Fancy funeral — Unsuffer me — Everything has changed — Come on — Where is my love? — Rescue — What if — Wrap my head around that — Words — West. Lead vocals and acoustic guitar by Williams.
Chuck Arnold wrote in People: "Musicians have long used songwriting as a form of therapy, but rarely as eloquently as Lucinda Williams. On the wistful 'Words,' one of many highlights of her eighth studio disc, she sings about the cathartic powers of 'the paper and the pen' as she writes off a relationship: 'My words enjoy the feel of the paper/ Better than mingling with your consonants/ Once they get going, they never waver.' … Such pure poetry helps make West … the first great CD of 2007. But the genius of Williams lies in her ability to be both poetic and plain-spoken. Just as she cautions against spending too much money on a 'Fancy Funeral,' she doesn't dress up her rootsy tunes in flowery language. Which helps her get right to the bluesy heart of a song like 'Unsuffer Me'" (2/26/07, p. 45).

Steve Reich: Drumming

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Dan Johnson wrote in the New Haven Advocate: "So studied in the Yale percussion program under Robert Van Sice; Todd Meehan and Doug Perkins peeled off of So Percussion to focus on teaching, and have since teamed up as a duo. As one of the most highly touted young new music ensembles out there, So Percussion has taken pains to build a body of work that foils and surpasses expectations. Most of the laurels they've received were thrown at their interpretations of contemporary classics for percussion, especially the music of Steve Reich—and with good reason. Their recording of Reich's Drumming (written around 1970-71), is even more hypnotic than the composer's own, perhaps owing in part to So's place in a generation of performers for whom Reich's work has finally won a spot in the canon. The unique virtuosity Reich and similar composers demand of their performers, namely purity of timbre and total rhythmic precision, are at last the mother tongue of certain conservatory students—especially percussionists. But even among this new breed of musician, So's Reich rocks especially hard."

Prince: Purple Rain

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Contents: Let's go crazy (4:39) — Take me with u (3:54) — The beautiful ones (5:15) — Computer blue (3:59) — Darling Nikki (4:15) — When doves cry (5:52) — I would die 4 u (2:51) — Baby I'm a star (4:20) — Purple rain (8:45).
Personnel: Prince and the Revolution.
Year of release: 1984.
"Movies Rock" (supplement to Vanity Fair) rated this disc as #1 in its list of the 50 greatest rock soundtracks of all time, and wrote: "Perhaps the best badly acted film ever, the semi-autobiographical Purple Rain turned the pride of the Minneapolis pop scene into an international superstar. Even if you've never seen the movie, chances are you know every note of the succinct and flawless soundtrack, which mashes funk, R&B, pop, metal, and even psychedelia into a sound that defined the 80s. The album produced two No. 1 hits, won the Oscar for best original song score, and taught the world what it sounds like when doves cry."