Glen Campbell: Ghost on the Canvas

"'I’m a blessed man, I know that,' Campbell, 75, says by phone from home in California. ... That notion is an anchor fastening him to the present, though his recollections of the past grow cloudier, blurring a lifetime’s worth of memories from one of country music’s all-time greats. In a career spanning 54 years, Campbell has released 52 studio albums, 17 of which reached the top 10 on Billboard’s country chart. He landed 23 top-10 singles, including seminal versions of the iconic songs 'Wichita Lineman,' 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' and 'Rhinestone Cowboy.' Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s about a year ago, after years of short-term memory loss. Determined to retire on his own terms, he released a new album, last summer’s poignant 'Ghost On the Canvas,' and embarked on what’s billed as a 'goodbye tour'" (Eric R. Danton, "'Blessed' Glen Campbell Brings 'Goodbye Tour' to Mohegan Sun," Sound Check, 2/23/12).

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Paul Simon: Songwriter

"Yes Virginia, there are talented singer-songwriters who play guitar. ... And lest we ever forget, if you like your singer-songwriters intelligent, artful, witty and enduring, Paul Simon is as good as it gets. Simon's 2011 album So Beautiful Or So What is easily his best album since Graceland, a genuine, full-on masterpiece from one of our true musical masters. Songwriter is a fantastic new two-CD set handpicked by Simon himself that puts his career in a fresh perspective, from his work with a guy named Art, to his very latest piece of solo art, from the songs that we all know and love, to some recent we all should know and love. Wrap up a little genius for someone you love. And as a short man myself, I'm here to tell you Paul Simon is a little genius" (David Wild, "Get Boxed In: A Few Last Minute Musical Gift Suggestions," Huffington Post, 12/22/11).

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Supertramp: Breakfast in America

"One of the world's greatest singer-songwriters has just begun a new tour of the world. And happily, this tour is called 'Breakfast in America,' not only cementing his reputation with that much-adored album, but beginning, indeed, here in America. Then going farflung through many lands. Then returning Stateside (some dates below). It'll be a grand year. The artist's name is Roger Hodgson. You know his glorious voice: a high, haunting tenor which imbues his hits such as 'Give a Little Bit,' 'It's Raining Again' and 'Had a Dream (Sleeping with the Enemy)' with a unique and indelible soulfulness. Fads burn weekly, but brilliant songwriting endures. I actually heard the eponymous 'Breakfast in America' in the supermarket (!) just minutes before sitting down to write this article, and its wondrous, Klezmer-esque reverie had me bopping through the aisles: 'Take a jumbo / Across the water / Like to see America...'" (Gregory Weinkauf, "Roger Hodgson Serves Up 'Breakfast in America' to the World," Huffington Post, 3/11/12).

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Mary J. Blige: My Life II ... The Journey Continues (Act 1)

"The VH1 Divas Concert, held Sunday night at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, was nothing short of a superb display of talent and style. The show gathered the most dazzling divas around -- Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson, Jill Scott, Chaka Khan, Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Kelly Clarkson and Florence Welch from Florence + The Machine, just to name a few -- to pay homage to the soul music cities of Philadelphia, Detroit, Memphis and even London. ... 'It's like being part of a team.' Blige, the Queen of R&B, was also excited about the night's attendees. 'I'm super excited to see Chaka Khan, who will be performing right next to me,' Blige said. 'And also Dolly Parton. I didn't even know she was here until I got on the red carpet.' Blige hit the stage not one, not two, but an amazing three times. She teamed up with Kelly Clarkson and Jennifer Hudson for one set in a body-hugging white gown and performed with Chaka Khan in a short beaded frock. She also performed her new album's first single, 'Mr. Wrong,' in a high-high boots and a feather-trimmed tweed motorcycle jacket" (Julee Wilson, "At VH1 Divas Concert, Mary J. Blige, Chaka Khan And Jennifer Hudson Light Up The Stage," Huffington Post, 12/19/11).

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Todd Snider: Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables

"The murder ballad has been around for centuries, but Todd Snider offers an of-the-moment spin on his latest album, 'Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables.' ... 'In Between Jobs,' which is directed at a have from a have-not, ends with a brutal calculation about wealth redistribution. And on 'In the Beginning' a dirty capitalist talks his way out of murder at the hands of the less fortunate. 'God gave me this because I’m humble,' he says — and it works. These aren’t uplifting songs, or even empowering. Mr. Snider sings about the intractable, and his solutions are really just ways of working within the system so that it doesn’t make you crazy. More than any of his previous albums, on which Mr. Snider usually excoriates himself above all others, this one — among his best — is largely a genial catalog of working-class rage and revenge. A vivid, overly detailed songwriter, Mr. Snider is a worthy antagonist. 'New York Banker' displays at least a little fluency with the lingo of CNBC. 'I came to the day I had waited on/ just to find out all the money in our pension was gone/reinvested in something called the Abacus bond,' he drawls. 'Come to find out the bond born to fail’d been built so that banker could bet his bread against it/when the housing market crashed, our retirement did too'" (Jon Caramanica, "New Albums," New York Times, 3/5/12).

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The James Brown Show Live at the Apollo

"The James Brown Show Live At The Apollo, first released in 1963, is perhaps the greatest live album ever recorded. It remains, more than 40 years later, one of the best albums of all time. A tidal wave of raw emotion, Apollo is a stunning document regardless of sales. Even without a single driving fans to stores it became a phenomenon, selling a million copies. It was Brown's first hit album, and it is still his biggest ever. Aficionados mimic its introduction by heart, as if in a trance; can hear in their heads the rise and fall of the crowd's excitement just as any nervous band member did that crazy night in '62" (CD notes by Harry Weinger).

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The Menzingers: On the Impossible Past

"This latest release from Philadelphia’s the Menzingers is a testament to the power of melodic punk rock. On the Impossible Past is a 13-track ode to past and future mistakes, regrets and realizations. It’s also proof that power chords don’t have to be boring, unimaginative or overdone. Sonically, this record is simultaneously beautiful and abrasive, polished with all its grit and character intact. As the first major label full-length for the Menzingers, it’s refreshing to see the band retain its sound and personality. This album should appeal to music fans who appreciate punk’s heart and attitude, but also know that sometimes you just have to sing it out to put your ghost to rest" (Alison Geisler, "CD of the Week," New Haven Advocate, 3/1/12).

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Robert Glasper Experiment: Black Radio

"'Black Radio,' due out on Tuesday, is the fourth Blue Note release by Robert Glasper, a pianist who has spent the last decade or so building on a dual firmament of acoustic jazz, and artisanal hip-hop and R&B. It’s the album he has been hinting at for years: an earnest confab with some of the artists in his network, like the politically minded rappers Lupe Fiasco and Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and the vibe-oriented singers Erykah Badu, Meshell Ndegeocello, Musiq Soulchild and Chrisette Michele. ... The creative exchange between jazz and hip-hop has always worked best when jazz provided source material rather than a methodology. Miles Davis wanly flirted with the concept during the same era that yielded classic jazz-informed hip-hop by Guru, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. 'The precedent was set,' Lupe Fiasco said. 'It was just waiting for somebody who was a master with jazz, in its own right, to come in and bridge the gap. It was a matter of the stars aligning, and they aligned over Robert, and the Experiment. They play hip-hop and jazz, but with a mastery of both. And not a schooled mastery'" (Nate Chinen, "The Corner of Jazz and Hip-Hop," New York Times, 2/24/12).

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Peter Frampton: Frampton Comes Alive!

"Peter Frampton has been reunited with the Gibson electric guitar he played on 'Frampton Comes Alive,' three decades after it was presumed destroyed in a plane crash. ... Mr. Frampton said he was given the guitar by a man named Mark Mariana in 1970. Mr. Frampton had been playing with his band Humble Pie at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, and he borrowed the guitar from Mr. Mariana for a show because his own instrument kept feeding back when he soloed. He fell in love with it. Made of Honduran mahogany, it was light in his hands, and the neck was thin, the fretting action light, suiting his small hands. 'I used it for both sets and my feet didn’t touch the ground,' he recalled. saying he thought, 'This is the best guitar I have ever played.' After the show he tried to buy the instrument, but Mr. Mariana insisted on giving it to him. It became his favorite guitar. ... Perhaps most important, it was the guitar he played on the 1976 solo album 'Frampton Comes Alive!' one of the best-selling live albums ever and the recording that established him as one of the great rock guitarists of the 1970s" (James C. McKinley Jr., "Peter Frampton Reunited with 'Best Guitar' after 31 Years,' New York Times, 1/3/12).

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Esperanza Spalding: Radio Music Society

"She conceived of 'Radio Music Society' as the extroverted, electric flip side of 'Chamber Music Society,' originally with the intention of making songs that could get airplay. ... But as she got deeper into the process, she realized she didn’t want to excise solos just to suit the constraints of a radio format. While 'Radio Music Society' is crowded with several generations of jazz musicians — including her old mentor from Portland, the trumpeter Thara Memory, along with his students — she’s front and center at every turn. Which is partly a matter of style: 'Radio Music Society' reaches most for the gleam of aspirational pop in the Stevie Wonder vein. ... Befitting that lineage the album mingles love songs with social commentary. Its lead single, 'Black Gold,' is an exhortation aimed at African-American boys, calling up a cultural legacy that predates slavery. The Wayne Shorter fusion anthem 'Endangered Species' comes with new lyrics framing an environmental parable. 'Land of the Free' reflects on the exoneration of a Texas man, Cornelius Dupree Jr., after 30 years of wrongful imprisonment for rape and robbery. 'Vague Suspicions' is about America’s violent incursions in the Muslim worldd'" (Nate Chinen, "The Rookie of the Year, One Year Wiser," New York Times, 3/16/12).

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Nick Drake: Bryter Layter

"If I were to look back at my life and choose the one thing that has mattered the most and defined me as a person, without question it would be music. ... Beginning with REM's Chronic Town, the mournful optimism of anything by the The Smiths, Nick Drake's gorgeous Bryter Layter, Jeff Buckley's heroic Grace, Neutral Milk Hotel's astonishing In the Aeroplane Over The Sea, Midlake's soulful The Trials of Van Occupanther, to the blissful eponymous Fleet Foxes debut, these are a few of the records that comprise the soundtrack of my life" (Marc Ruxin, "Music Matters," Huffington Post, 3/6/12).

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Nicolas Jaar: Space Is Only Noise

"Where the music of, say, Skrillex, flits from one cathartic explosion to the next, Mr. Jaar offers a melancholic, lugubrious throb that he once jokingly termed 'blue-wave,' evoking Erik Satie or Leonard Cohen as much as deep house. Elements of Ethiopian jazz, hip-hop and ambient piano create a sultry, smoky vibe, with Mr. Jaar’s deep voice (alternating among English, Spanish and French lyrics) bobbing in and out of the mix. His down-tempo beats are intended to cause what he has called 'rhythmic anguish,' a more meditative and contemplative state, though they still retain an insinuating groove. Only recently turned 22, Mr. Jaar has been releasing 12-inch EPs since he was 17 and steadily building an international reputation as both a solo performer and the leader of a live band; a poll on the electronic music Web site Resident Advisor named him 2011’s top live act. His 2011 debut album 'Space Is Only Noise' sold 25,000 copies worldwide and appeared on many year-end 'best-of' lists" (Mike Rubin, "Between Semesters, Digital Innovation," New York Times, 3/9/12).

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Benjamin Grosvenor: Chopin, Liszt, Ravel

"The spirit of Liszt is ever-present in Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, composed in 1908. ... Ravel was inspired by the French poet Aloysius Bertrand's book of poems of the same name, written between 1832 and 1836 and published posthumously in 1842. ... Gaspard is one of the iconic challenges of the repertoire: indeed, in its requirements for tone colour and atmosphere, and its range of articulation and dynamics, it demands as much of the piano as it does of the pianist. ... The water nymph Ondine attempts to lure the poet to be king in her palace at the bottom of the lake. The shimmering moonlight is magically portrayed, and throughout Ravel manages to weave Ondine's theme into the most intricate and original textures. Her final burst of laughter and disappearance in a cloud of white spray are superbly conjured in this vivid musical portrait. In 'Le Gibet' a bell tolls for the corpse of a hanged man, seen on the horizon, reddened by the setting sun -- a repeating B flat, unwavering, ever-present, always in the distance. Finally, the elusive Scarbo is a devilish dwarf, 'buzzing with mirth in the shadows.' He appears, then disappears; he spins pirouettes and does cartwheels; and finally he expires" (CD notes by Tim Parry).

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Dolly Parton: Better Day

"Yes, we all know she seems ageless, but Dolly Parton -- legendary singer, actress, philanthropist, theme park entrepreneur and all-around icon -- turns 66 years old today. With her new movie 'Joyful Noise' currently in theaters, the country music queen is once again being buzzed about. After making her Broadway debut in 2009 with '9 to 5,' a musical re-telling of the 1980 cult classic in which she starred, she's reportedly set to return to the Great White Way with a new show based on her life story. But that, of course, doesn't mean that Parton's abandoned her Nashville roots: 'Better Day,' her 41st studio album, was released last year to strong reviews, and its supporting tour played throughout the U.S. as well as Europe and Australia" ("Dolly Parton's 66th Birthday," Huffington Post, 1/19/12).

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Plants and Animals: The End of That

"It’s rare to find classic-rock tinged jams with so much swagger and juice that still have a sense of humor (not so much as to be a gag) and real artistry to the lyrics. 'The moral of the story almost always ruins every word in it,' goes one line on the new record by Plants and Animals, a talented and eclectic Canadian band. They’re sometimes described as 'post-classic-rock,' which is a hilarious genre designation -- I’m not exactly sure what it means, but if it has something to do with having moved past the punk and grunge rejection of classic rock’s excess back to a more aloof place where one can enjoy the big pleasures of classic rock without exactly buying into all the pretense -- then that sounds about right. Plants and Animals bring to mind bands like Spoon, who balance the large gestures of rock showmanship with a kind of sober minimalist groove. And these guys know how to deploy some handclaps, too" (John Adamian, "CD of the Week," New Haven Advocate, 2/23/12).

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Earth: Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II

"Imagine Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother played at one-quarter speed, and you get an idea of what Earth sounds like. ... The music moves at a glacial, liquid-metal pace. It's so slow and spare that it recalibrates your metabolism, dialing down your body and mind, like some deep-breathing exercise for the ears. It's music as medicine. And — it's true — it makes you feel better, but that doesn't mean it doesn't sting at times. The guitar lines unfold with a clean metallic edge, hovering in drone mode, pivoting over minimal lines with slow-mo arpeggiations that collapse the brain's ability to process, turning notes separated by time into a kind of sideways harmony. Listening is a bit like watching the thread of smoke from a stick of incense curl and climb to the ceiling; it's mesmerizing, prayerful, slightly ominous" (John Adamian, "CD of the Week," New Haven Advocate, 2/9/12).

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Bjork: Biophilia

"The multimedia album, full of off-kilter, experimental, and otherworldly sounds, was partially recorded on an iPad" ("Night Life," New Yorker, 2/6/12).

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Amy Winehouse: Lioness

"I feel like a part of my creative soul has been removed, never again to be recovered. But then I have to remind myself how lucky I am to have even got to work on one album with her. I hate the fact that I lost such a good friend, someone with whom I could be on the same exact wavelength without opening my mouth. Someone who, when I was around, I felt just a bit more whole. Maybe part of it was the element of two kids from a North London Jewish background who were completely consumed by and obsessed with soul music. She used to joke and call me 'the big sister she never wanted.' It was meant as a joke but rang true. She felt like a sister from the moment I met her" (CD notes by Mark Ronson).

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Dizzy Gillespie: A Portrait of Duke Ellington

"Clare Fischer, a Grammy-winning composer who wrote scores for television and movies and worked with legendary musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, has died. ... An uncommonly versatile musician, Fischer worked as a composer, arranger, conductor and pianist for more than 60 years. He is best known for his arrangements for Prince, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Branford Marsalis, Raphael Saadiq, Usher and Brandy. ... He worked as the arranger on Gillespie's 'Jazz Portrait of Duke Ellington'" (Shaya Tayefe Mohajer, "Clare Fischer Dead," Huffington Post, 1/28/12).

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Javier Colon: Come Through For You

"'Come Through For You' ... happens to be the title track of Colon's new album. It's also a recurring theme in songs about battling adversity, whether it's romantic, the usual workaday frustrations or even a dire medical prognosis. Perseverance is an appropriate motif, given Colon's own persistence: He found himself with no takers and dwindling prospects when Capitol dropped him a few years ago after he released a pair of albums that failed to ignite. 'The Voice' has changed all that, of course, but Colon's previous experience — as a singer and in the music business — gives his first post-reality TV album greater depth than the usual dross that comes out of televised singing competitions. Not only does Colon sound invested in these songs — the result, surely, of having actually written them, which is another change from the pre-fabricated 'American Idol' model — he sounds thrilled to be singing them. He does it well, in a smooth, expressive voice that lets his earnest, winsome personality shows through over a light reggae backbeat on opener 'Life is Getting Better' and the bubbly duet 'As Long As We Got Love,' featuring Natasha Bedingfield. ... Even the sadder songs have a thankful air about them. The subject on the wrenching ballad 'OK, Here's the Truth' does what she does to spare her partner from worrying" (Eric R. Danton, "Javier Colon Makes the Most of Second Chance on New CD," Hartford Courant, 11/22/11).

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