Eclectic

Sony Leading fantastic swing arrangements, Tony Bennett’s iconic voice commands the Count Basie Big Band for an album of jazzy Christmas classics perfect for the best kinds of holiday parties. The always confident Bennett swaggers through holiday standards like “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” a throwback big-band track with blazing horns and meandering piano interludes. […]

Hallmark A low-key collection of Christmas songs, pop (and occasional country), singer Sheryl Crow’s “Home for Christmas” features an unexciting, but not un-welcoming, lineup of holiday standards. The Christmas warmth is particularly tepid with Crow’s renditions of “White Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Her voice is always good, but this is the singer […]

Vaulternative How immense was Frank Zappa’s “electric orchestra” experimentation circa 1972? The first track on a vintage live recording takes a mind-numbing three minutes and 47 seconds to introduce the band. The 20-piece symphony bore little resemblance to previous incarnations of traditional rock acts. Maybe it was the euphonium and contrabass sarrusophone? Zappa, then 31, […]

Jagjaguwar In the late Nineties, Norman-based Monroe Mustang released a handful of quiet but polished albums of slow-core shoegazing records “¦ and then seemingly disappeared. The band is back (sort of) with its fifth album’ its first since the dawn of the new millennium and an MP3-only release’ even if its members are scattered across […]

Ultra Take the advice of this album’s title, and immerse yourself in its aural anesthetic, awash with stress-numbing melodies and crystalline production. Morcheeba was formed in the mid-Nineties as a trip-hop trio, but since has evolved into a more sonically experimental sibling duo with a notably mature sound. Gone are the vocal-driven singles like “Trigger […]

Dgenetics Musics Want to know what should be in repeat mode on your iPod all summer long? It’s “Skate with Me,” a snappy little number from Dgenerate Nation, one of four unknown acts on the indie compilation “Generation V.” “Skate with Me” provides instant buoyancy, fusing Seventies disco-funk with Nineties electronica and a lackadaisical vocal […]

Fueled by RamenDespite having a near-infantile musical and lyrical vocabulary, Panic at the Disco decided to attempt a thematic rock ‘n’ roll epic with its second release, “Pretty. Odd.” There is nothing pretty about “Pretty. Odd.,” which isn’t really that odd at all’ it’s just pretentious and pandering to an audience that couldn’t name a […]

get=’_blank’>best listened to in one start-to-finish sitting.   “?Rod Lott

Boekbinder, known for their theatrical stage flair and burlesque accompaniment, have long written hilarious songs on topics both topical and nonsensical. “What’s in the Box?” is easy to enjoy, often sounding like a modern take on a low-rent Victorian stage show, especially with songs like “Blue” and the down-South river chorus of “She Comes.”   […]

SCI Fidelity Songwriter Keller Williams has released “12,” an album the Virginia singer touts as his “hitless greatest hits” career-spanning album.   His trademark guitar style and story-song vocal delivery is again delivered in each of “12”‘s dozen tracks, which were culled from his different records.   “Anyhow Anyway,” from his “Buzz” LP, is desolate […]