Ida Maria: Fortress 'round My Heart

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Oh my God — Morning light — I like you so much better when you're naked — Stella — Keep me warm — Forgive me — Queen of the world — Louie — Drive away my heart — In the end. Words and music by Ida Maria Sivertsen.
Personnel: Ida Maria Sivertsen, vocals; Stefan Törnby, guitar; Johannes Lindberg, bass; Olle Lundin, drums.
Sample lyrics: "What's easy in the night/ It is always such a bite in the morning light/ Ha ha ha ha ha/ And you've got a liquor stain/ On your uniform/ I know where you're from/ Ha ha ha ha ha/ And you know what I've got/ Such a heavy heart/ You can't carry it/ No no no no no … Such a mixed up mind/ You can't sort me out … And you've got a polished mask. …"
"The year's most exciting debut comes from this Norwegian dynamo. A cross between Courtney Love, Karen O and Avril Lavigne, she's one of the baddest rock chicks to come around in a long time" (Chuck Arnold, "Music: Recent Raves," People, 5/18/09, p. 43).

Diana Krall: Quiet Nights

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Where or when (lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers) — Too marvelous for words (lyrics by Johnny Mercer, music by Richard Whiting) — I've grown accustomed to his face (lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe) — The boy from Ipanema (lyrics by Norman Gimbel, Vinicius deMoraes, music by Antonio Carlos Jobim) — Walk on by (lyrics by Hal David, music by Burt Bacharach) — You're my thrill (lyrics by Sidney Clare, music by Jay Gorney) — Este seu olhar (lyrics and music by Antonio Carlos Jobim) — So nice (lyrics and music by Marcos Kostenbader Valle and Paulo Sergio Valle, English words by Norman Gimbel) — Quiet nights (lyrics by Gene Lees and Buddy Kay, music by Antonio Carlos Jobim) — Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry (lyrics by Sammy Cahn, music by Jule Styne) — Bonus tracks: How can you mend a broken heart (4:28) ; Every time we say goodbye (5:19).
Personnel: Diana Krall, piano, vocals; Anthony Wilson, guitar; John Clayton, bass; Jeff Hamilton, drums; Paulinho Da Costa, percussion; orchestra; Claus Ogerman, arr., conductor.

Tony Sachs on Tom Jones

"After several leads proved fruitless, I was finally able to schedule an interview through his British publicist, with two caveats: I had 20 minutes to do my job; and I had to spend at least part of the interview asking Mr. Jones about his latest album and tour. The album, 24 Hours, is his first to come out in America in 15 years. … We spent the first part of the interview discussing his recent gig at the opening party for Mardan Palace, the ultra-opulent Turkish resort. … Then on to the new album, almost all of which he co-wrote — quite a feat for a guy who's rarely penned his own tunes. 'I've written songs before, but not so many. I mean, I co-wrote them with songwriters — I'd be there, and I'd give them ideas, for what kind of thing I wanted, and then they'd put it together. And then I'd alter things. So I worked with some really good songwriters.' When you've achieved Tom Jones' station in life, I guess that's how you do things -- call up the experts, tell 'em what you want, and give the results the thumbs-up or down. An important lesson for all us Sir Tom wannabes" ("My Exclusive Interview with Sir Tom Jones, in Which I Fail to Learn How to Be More Like Tom Jones," Huffington Post, 7/18/09).

Melena Ryzik on St. Vincent

"In the video for her new single, 'Actor Out of Work,' the singer and multi-instrumentalist St. Vincent sits in a cavernous room and holds auditions, trying out a steady stream of rubber-faced performers, all of whom eventually break down under her unyielding, if lovely, gaze. 'A lot of people got confused and thought I was so mean that I made people cry, which was not what I intended,' she said, explaining to the crowd at a recent show in TriBeCa that the action had been staged. 'But I sort of like it.' She picked up her guitar and played the song, a fuzzed-out rocker with a humming melody from her sophomore album, 'Actor,' released this week by Beggars/ 4AD. Alone onstage in a black party dress and red-red lipstick, St. Vincent — offstage she goes by Annie Clark — was all concentrated thrash. She padded over to the piano for the next song. … A few days later, over breakfast at Marlow & Sons … Ms. Clark explained her aesthetic. 'I like things that are unsettling or a little bit creepy,' she said. Her stage name was inspired by the hospital where Dylan Thomas spent his last hours. 'It’s the place where poetry comes to die,' she said, joking. 'That’s me'" ("Friendly, and Just a Bit Creepy," New York Times, 5/7/09).

Levon Helm: Electric Dirt

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Tennessee Jed (Jerry Garcia-Robert Hunter), Move Along Train (Roebuck Staples), Growin' Trade (Levon Helm-Larry Campbell), Golden Bird (Happy Traum), Stuff You Gotta Watch (M. Morganfield a/k/a Muddy Waters), White Dove (Carter Stanley), Kingfish (Randy Newman), You Can't Lose What You Ain't Never Had (Waters), When I Go Away (Campbell), Heaven's Pearls (Anthony Leone-Byron Isaacs-Fiona McBain-Amy Helm-Glenn Patscha), I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free (Richard Carroll Lamb-William E. Taylor).
"Levon Helm is a legend. His is the voice we associate with timeless tracks by the Band. And when he had a run-in with cancer a while back we thought we might lose that inimitably laid-back drumming and his distinctive singing. Happily, Helm recovered and he's since made some well received solo music. Here he returns with a pack of friends and collaborators. Helm has a wonderful behind-the-beat drumming style and a well-worn voice—scuffed, familiar and snug-fitting as an old shoe" (John Adamian, "CD Shorts," New Haven Advocate, 7/9/09, p. 40).

Will Hermes on Passion Pit

"From Animal Collective's psychedelic collages to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' punk disco, electronic music has been invading the indie-rock world lately. … Now please welcome Michael Angelakos, the 21-year-old drama queen at the core of Passion Pit. Dude's got a window-rattling falsetto, and his hyperemotional electro pop comes complete with romantic back story (a Valentine's Day gift tape to a girlfriend, which became last year's Chunk of Change EP, earned him a label deal and sold-out club gigs). Passion Pit's full-length debut proves he isn't fronting: It's a shiny bouquet of synth-pop roses, with perfumed Eighties keyboard whooshes and modern stutter beats crooking a finger toward the dance floor. Angelakos takes full advantage of his resources: There are horns, a string section, even an elementary-school choir. But what makes the record are his loose beats, shamelessly fruity melodies and breathless little-boy vocals, all pushing skyward. … 'You've left me shimmering/Like diamond wedding rings!' he declares, ecstatically heartbroken, on the dulcimer-decorated 'Moth's Wings.' … Like all disco divas, Angelakos knows sadness and musical ecstasy can go great together" ("Review," Rolling Stone, 5/28/09, p. 68).

Alex Ross on David Lang

"I’m listening to 'Simple Lines of Enquiry,' an immense, glacial, hypnotic piano work by the Canadian composer Ann Southam, on Centrediscs; a survey of the starkly eloquent harpsichord music of Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, with Glen Wilson, on Naxos; and 'The Little Match Girl Passion,' a compilation of choral music by the American composer David Lang, on Harmonia Mundi. Lang is a hard-driving minimalist who has lately taken an introspective turn. The principal work on the CD interweaves Hans Christian Andersen’s tale with the Gospel According to Matthew. In 'For Love Is Strong,' pairs of voices slowly chant the title phrase while the rest of the chorus unfurls similes culled from the Song of Songs—'like the morning, like the moon, like the sun, like an army with banners,' and so on. This is the text that captivated Clemens non Papa half a millennium ago. Lang’s serene, limber music breathes much the same air, even if its angular repetitions are pure New York. The album ends with a hauntingly spare setting of lines adapted from Ecclesiastes: 'People come and people go / the earth goes on and on'" ("Infinite Playlist," The New Yorker, 8/10/09).

Eric R. Danton on Julian Plenti

"It's anyone's guess why Paul Banks recorded his solo debut under the pseudonym Julian Plenti, but the singer for New York band Interpol even created a back story: solo-acoustic singer-songwriter quits music in 2001 to focus on writing and engineering, only to reemerge when a bit of computer gadgetry allows him to flesh out his songs to orchestral proportions. Whatever. There's no mistaking Banks' stately vocal intonation for anyone else … even outside the context of Interpol's icy, gleaming post-punk. There [are] hints of that sound on 'Julian Plenti is ... Skyscraper' (Matador), recorded in part and mixed at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, but Banks pushes beyond Interpol's musical boundaries, too, with symphonic adornments and even acoustic songs. Horns spray brassy notes through 'Unwind,' and sweet strings swell up through the spaces between spare piano notes on 'Madrid Song,' which includes scratchy snippets of found vocals placed among Banks' fervent murmurs. … Banks trolls more familiar territory on opener 'Only If You Run,' the dark bass line and booming drums lending an understated urgency to his vocals" ("CD Review," Sound Check, 8/3/09).

John Adams: Dr. Atomic Symphony; Guide to Strange Places

Copy at Case Memorial Library
From the notes by Jeremy Denk: "We could begin with a musicological question: what's a moto perpetuo? In Western Classical music from Bach to Stravinsky (and beyond), it's a kind of compositional fetish: music that depends upon a constant motoric rhythm, an unstoppable flow of notes. In Guide to Strange Places, Adams seems to address this genre and question it at the same time. He's feeling out a unique zone between what we would now call 'groove' and the traditional perpetual motion. He's using a seemingly endless—but extremely unpredictable!—rhythmic unfolding as a canvas to tell a tale of bizarre transformations. The more one listens to this work, the more pleasure one gets out of the change-ups. It seems clear that Adams loves elisions, and particularly cherishes the slightly awkward moment of overlap, when two often contradictory musical 'characters' are trying to coexist. He's not just shifting between grooves; he's derailing his own patterns on purpose, while exploiting the imbalance to find another groove, and on and on. In an enormous chain."

Danko Jones: Never Too Loud

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Code of the Road, City Streets, Still in High School, Take Me Home, Let's Get Undressed, King of Magazines, Forest for the Trees, Your Tears My Smile, Something Better, Ravenous, Never Too Loud; bonus tracks: My Problems (Are Your Problems Now), Sugar High, R.I.P. RFTC.
Personnel: Danko Jones, guitar; John Calabrese, bass; Dan Cornelius, drums; guest vocals on "Forest for the Trees," Pete Stahl and John Garcia.
"Though he’s big in Europe, Danko Jones plays small indie clubs in the U.S., where the crowds often don’t get his brand of hard rock. Perhaps that will change with his hook-laden new album, Never Too Loud (Sept. 8), recorded at Dave Grohl’s studio in L.A. But Jones won’t pander. 'I know my Slint and my Sonic Youth just like the next guy,' he says. 'But I also like Motörhead and Slayer, and I’ll shove it down their goddamned throats, if I have to'" (Hugo Lindgren, "Pop: Eat My Metal," New York, 8/31-9/7/09, p. 78).

Anthony Tommasini on Meyerbeer

"Leon Botstein, a champion of neglected works, has leapt into the breach, presenting a production of 'Les Huguenots,' which opened on Friday night. … 'Les Huguenots' places a fictionalized love triangle against the backdrop of the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French Calvinist Protestants by the Roman Catholic forces of Charles IX and his indomitable mother, Catherine de’ Medici, in 1572 (an event depicted in the opera’s brutal final scene, staged here with gore and nudity). Of the seven major roles, the tenor lead, Raoul de Nangis, a young Protestant noble, drives the story. … The love triangle does become convoluted. But you can enjoy 'Les Huguenots' without following the network of romantic intrigue too closely. There are stunning episodes, as in the concluding ensemble of Act II, when choruses of Catholics and Huguenots voice their hatreds in vehement music. … Yet this grand opera also has passages of subtle intimacy: a forlorn aria for Valentine, for example. … Queen Marguerite — a role sung by Joan Sutherland on a landmark 1969 recording, conducted by Richard Bonynge — was sung here by Erin Morley" ("Music Review," New York Times, 8/3/09).

Yacht: See Mystery Lights

Copy at Case Memorial Library
"[Daddy:] Hello Natasha, you wanted to ask me something? [Natasha:] Daddy daddy daddy pleeeeze can I go with Ivan to see this really crazy cool kid called Yacht? Pleeze?! Yacht makes electronic dance music that would otherwise sound somewhat cold if it were not for the warmth and charm that he brings to all of his songs! He appears to be a true free spirit, unafraid of what other people think of him and uninhibited by self-doubt! In other words, Yacht is a true artist, a self-actualizing person on a mission to create, rather than destroy or exploit… [Daddy:] Why, this Yacht fellow must really be something! You sound positively inspired, my darling… [Natasha:] Well, someday Ivan and I would like to make some sort of bold and daring artistic statement through music together, and Yacht is a positive influence… [Daddy:] Just don't let your artistic ambitions interfere with your studies, OK? I'm counting on you to get a degree in criminal law so that you can represent me in court. …" ("Stripwax: The World's First and Only Comic Record Review," New Haven Advocate, 8/20/09, p. 28).

Vivien Schweitzer on Yuja Wang

"The enormous surge in the popularity of classical music in China is now well documented. One of the latest talents to emerge from that country is Yuja Wang, a 22-year-old pianist endowed with a powerhouse technique and penetrating musicality. The daughter of a percussionist and a dancer, Ms. Wang trained initially at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing; then at the Mount Royal College Conservatory in Calgary, Canada; and most recently with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 2006 she received the prestigious Gilmore Young Artist Award. Ms. Wang makes her Deutsche Grammophon debut with works by Chopin, Ligeti, Scriabin and Liszt, a weighty program that showcases both her muscular technique and her poetic gifts. She brings the requisite excitement to the opening of Chopin's tumultuous Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor and imbues the ensuing Scherzo with wistful longing. The chordal progressions unfold with stately grandeur in the Funeral March. … Chopin's sonata inspired Scriabin's Sonata No. 2 in G sharp minor. … Ms. Wang plays the Scriabin with improvisatory flair and brooding passion" ("Classical Recordings," New York Times, 7/26/09).

Indigo Girls: Poseidon and the Bitter Bug

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Digging for your dream — Sugar tongue — Love of our lives — Driver education — I'll change — Second time around — What are you like? — Ghost of the gang — Fleet of hope — True romantic.
According to the Indigo Girls website: "The new album reunites the Grammy-winning duo [Emily Saliers, Amy Ray, vocals, guitars] with veteran producer, arranger and keyboardist Mitchell Froom (Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Los Lobos and others), who worked on the Indigo Girls’ acclaimed 2006 release, Despite Our Differences. Longtime bassist Clare Kenny, drummer Matt Chamberlin and engineer David Boucher make up the rest of the core band."
"[T]he Girls are making a nice effort to move from fem-jam-folk into some pop territory. 'Driver Education' is catchy and different-sounding even from the other songs on this record, which are pretty country and plain, but those Indigo harmonies are still in check" (Brianna Snyder, "CD Shorts," New Haven Advocate, 4/16/09, p. 28).

Ben Ratliff on the Grateful Dead

"Deadheads have often been polled about their favorite show, through fanzines and Web sites. The answers have stayed fairly consistent. May 8, 1977, at Barton Hall, Cornell University. The pairing of Feb. 13 and 14, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York — perhaps the first widely traded shows. The Veneta and Binghamton shows. … David Lemieux has been the tape archivist and CD producer for the Grateful Dead’s official archival releases since 1999. Mr. Lemieux said he has listened to the Cornell concert 'virtually weekly' since the late ’80s. … Mr. Lemieux characterizes the recording as the Dead concert one would likely want to pass on to the most people: it pleases the most tastes. But … the Dead played a concert 20 days after Cornell, in Hartford, that some, including Gary Lambert, a host of the Grateful Dead Radio show 'Tales From the Golden Road' on Sirius XM, consider just as good. (That show, taken from the master tapes engineered by [Betty Cantor-Jackson, the Dead’s live recording engineer], has just been released by Rhino in heretofore unbeatable audio as 'To Terrapin: Hartford ’77')" ("Bring Out Your Dead," New York Times, 4/12/09).

Miles Davis: Birdland Jam Session

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: 1. Embraceable You (George and Ira Gershwin), 2. Eronel (Thelonious Monk;), 3. 52nd Street Theme (Monk), 4. Wee (Denzil Best), 5. Hot House into 52nd Street Theme (Monk), 6. Conception (George Shearing), 7. [band warming up], 8. Max Is Making Wax (Oscar Pettiford), 9. Ow! (Dizzy Gillespie). Performed live at Birdland, New York, June 30, 1950.
Personnel: Miles Davis, trumpet on all tracks; Fats Navarro, 2nd trumpet on 2, 3, 5, and 6; J. J. Johnson, trombone; Brew Moore, tenor sax; Tadd Dameron, piano on 1, 4, 5, 7-9; Walter Bishop Jr., piano on 2, 3, and 6; Curly Russell, bass; Art Blakey, drums. Track 1 is Miles Davis and rhythm section only. Charlie Parker (alto sax) plays a few notes at the end of track 6.
From the notes by Matías Rinar: "Jazz buff Boris Rose recorded dozens of programs from Birdland and the Royal Roost. … [This recording] can also be attributed to Rose with a certain degree of certainty. … The last three tracks of our CD, which probably were the first tunes of the jam session, have the worst sound quality and have therefore been placed at the end."

Tiny Masters of Today: Skeletons

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Drop the Bomb!, Two Dead Soldiers, Skeletons, Pop Chart, Real Good, Big Stick, Monkey in the Middle, Big Bass Drum, Ghost Star, Understandable Honesty, Abercrombie Zombie.
"[Teacher:] Now class, sit down and shut up so Natasha may tell us about her inspiration … [Natasha:] I've discovered a rock band named Tiny Masters of Today. It's a brother and sister, Ivan and Ada. Ivan is 15 years old and Ada is 13. They made their recordings on their parents' home computer using Garageband … Ivan and Ada have made a new record named Skeletons. It's not the greatest record ever, they are not the most fantastic singers or musicians, but I can't think of anyone else that sounds quite like them … and they are young and unafraid of looking foolish. I think everyone should be like them … [Teacher:] I've not considered my own crushed dreams in years! Thank you for that, Natasha …" ("Stripwax: The World's First and Only Comic Record Review," New Haven Advocate, 7/16/09, p. 32).

Jon Caramanica on the Pains of Being Pure at Heart

"Had you been covering your ears Friday night at the Bell House while taking in the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, you might have mistaken its sound for a heavy one. Kip Berman, the singer, was grinding away at his guitar, often doubled over, and Kurt Feldman was pounding at his drum kit. … But really the Pains of Being Pure at Heart are irrepressibly light, a band at ease with melody and softness. On its excellent self-titled debut album, which was released last month on Slumberland, the band — which includes Mr. Berman, Mr. Feldman, the singer and keyboardist Peggy Wang and the bass player Alex Naidus — neatly processes a whole range of styles. There’s a mild hauteur drawn from new wave, a thickness derived from shoegaze-pop and a pulse passed down from dance-punk. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart might paint within the lines, but they do so with panache. … 'Everything With You,' a wistful love poem, was big and bright, and 'A Teenager in Love' sounded like an optimistic Cure record, with shuffling beat underneath swooning keys. … Warm on the outside, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart seethe with refreshingly mordant wit" ("Music Review," New York Times, 3/17/09).