Since releasing their self-titled debut album in 1995, Gov't Mule have remained close to their trademark bluesy hard rock roots. While they cover classic blues tunes regularly, they apply that musical signature. Heavy Load Blues marks the first time the quartet have recorded an album devoted strictly to blues. They cut it in one small room in a New England studio standing very close to one another -- without headphones -- using small vintage amplifiers. The band played stripped-down blues live from the studio floor; the few overdubs were added later. The 13-song standard version of the set offers six excellent Warren Haynes originals alongside covers by masters such as Ann Peebles, Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James, Bobby "Blue" Bland, and others. Haynes co-produced the set with John Paterno. Gov't Mule's approach is exemplified in their reading of Junior Wells' "Snatch It Back and Hold It"; they inserted a spontaneous jam called "Hold It Back" into the middle without rehearsing it (Matt Abts' drumming is stellar). Leroy Carr's "Blues Before Sunrise" walks a line between the composer's strolling piano version (Danny Louis shines), John Lee Hooker's boogie read, and Muddy Waters' house-rocking Chicago blues take. Bland's "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" is slow, steamy, and downhearted, with glorious bass work from Jorgen Carlson and a swelling B-3. Haynes' singing -- buoyed by his biting guitar through the turnarounds -- has never sounded better. Tom Waits' "Make It Rain" is sinister, broken, and lost. The distorted guitar and basslines edge into a filthy Wurlitzer, then swirl around the lyric with venomous intent. Gov't Mule have performed Ann Peebles' "I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home" live before, but not like this. It delivers funky organ and bass work as Haynes adds delightfully rhythmic phrasing in his leads. The guitarist's "If Heartaches Were Nickels" has been recorded by Joe Bonamassa, Charles Wilson, and Dudley Taft, but this smoldering version is unparalleled due to Haynes' masterful playing and deeply emotional vocal delivery. Howlin' Wolf's "I Asked for Water (She Gave Me Gasoline)" is raucous, angry, and deep, deep blue; throughout it, Gov't Mule channel Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsies with great success. The title track is a slow, unaccompanied resonant acoustic blues done in vintage Delta style, while "Black Horizon" recalls Mississippi Fred McDowell's slide approach to gospel blues, complete with a testifying backing chorus. Heavy Load Blues is raw, heavy, and immediate, the sound of a band unfettered while pursuing a deep blue groove that never quits.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

In the year of his 90th birthday (which he would have celebrated on the 23rd of September 2020 had he not died in 2004), Ray Charles is honoured with a new 90-track compilation box set. Just another compilation like all the rest? Yes and no. Ray Charles is undoubtedly one of the most-compiled artists in the history of music. Published by Tangerine, the label that the musician set up at the end of the 50s to keep the rights to his songs, this box set starts out like all the others: with the post-Atlantic hits, Georgia On My Mind, Hit The Road Jack, One Mint Julep, Busted... These are timeless treasures of proto-soul, but there doesn't seem to be much novelty here. The rest is much more interesting, and much rarer: tracks recorded between the second half of the 1960s and the 2000s, many of which were only released on vinyl, never reissued on CD and until now unavailable on digital. This is the first time that Ray Charles' lesser-known years have been given the compilation treatment in this way, and it is a revelation. In the 90s and 2000s, the production of his songs had a synthetic feel, and they did not age too well. These rarer songs are often hidden gems of southern soul, flavoured with country and wrapped in sumptuous symphonic orchestrations. Whether he is singing the Muppets (It's Ain't Easy Being Green) or Gershwin (Summertime, a duet with Cleo Laine), Ray Charles is always deeply moving. Now, the dream is to hear reissues of all these albums in their entirety. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz

Considering the esoteric materials that make up Moloko's unusual sound (trip-hop, funk, drum'n'bass, and a decidedly bizarro pop ethic), the group's music is surprisingly coherent and accessible. Things to Make and Do, the English duo's third full-length platter, is as strong as anything else they've done -- Roisin Murphy's singing style, which combines a wild variety of voices and textures, from impassively chilly to gorgeously lilting to gleefully offbeat, is instantly recognizable and endearing throughout, while Mark Brydon's broad compositional palette runs the gamut from irresistibly straightforward rock/dance grooves ("Indigo") to highly stylized electro/hip-hop programming (the Timbaland-esque "Absent Minded Friends"). Just enough live instrumentation is added to the songs to make them sound varied and human (check out the nylon-string guitar in the flamenco-flavored "The Time Is Now," which faintly recalls Basement Jaxx's "Rendez-Vu") and it adds a timeless quality to the music overall. The duo never falls into any of the clichés of any of the genres they exploit, managing instead to sound consistently fresh, adventurous, and enjoyable. Highlights include the buoyant "Somebody Somewhere" (featuring a rare vocal turn by Brydon) and the flawless, inscrutable "Indigo" (with its nonsensical chant: "Ramases! Colossus!"). Moloko is the best at what they do mainly because they are the only ones doing it. [Includes a dance remix of "Sing It Back" from I Am Not a Doctor.]© Andy Hinds /TiVo

Karen Carpenter's only solo album, recorded in New York in 1979 with producer Phil Ramone but unreleased until 1996, was also the only album she ever recorded with a producer other than her older brother Richard. The difference is immediately obvious. Ramone, whose biggest client was Billy Joel, prefers a looser, more spacious sound than Richard's note-perfect, almost-antiseptic orchestral pop.Not to take anything away from Karen and Richard's endless string of classic pop singles, but it is refreshing to hear Karen's near-perfect voice, a dusky, melancholy alto with bell-like clarity, in a more relaxed and jazz-influenced setting. Arrangements are by jazz greats Bob James and Rod Temperton, and accompaniment includes most of Joel's backing band. The clear highlight, a sensuous yet melancholy version of Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years," is easily among the best things Karen Carpenter ever recorded in her short career.© TiVo

If you've never heard Blind Willie Johnson, you are in for one of the great, bone-chilling treats in music. Johnson played slide guitar and sang in a rasping, false bass that could freeze the blood. But no bluesman was he; this was gospel music of the highest order, full of emotion and heartfelt commitment. Of all the guitar-playing evangelists, Blind Willie Johnson may have been the very best. Though not related by bloodlines to Robert Johnson, comparisons in the emotional commitment of both men cannot be helped. This two-CD anthology collects everything known to exist, and that's a lot of stark, harrowing, emotional commitment no matter how you slice it. Not for the faint of heart, but hey, the good stuff never is.© Cub Koda /TiVo

"...Throughout [YES WE CAN], there is an irresistible charm...and tight, no bullshit production. The material, all Toussaint originals with the exception of `Games People Play,' while not remarkable, is just right...Together, they make no wrong moves...."© TiVo

In musical terms, it is less significant that Mitchell Froom is no longer Suzanne Vega's husband than it is that he is no longer her producer. Although Froom's experimental style helped the singer/songwriter fulfill her desire to expand beyond her folk-pop roots on her fourth and fifth albums, 99 F° and Nine Objects of Desire, his approach actually worked against the material, cluttering her intimate, direct songs with inappropriate percussion tracks and various kinds of sound processing. So, listeners who responded strongly to her first three albums but found the Froom discs off-putting (and there were plenty of them) should be alerted that, sonically, Songs in Red and Gray is ready to welcome back old fans. Produced by Rupert Hine, it has the kind of carefully played acoustic guitar work and close-up vocal miking that characterized Suzanne Vega and Solitude Standing. That makes it easier to appreciate Froom's departure from Vega's personal life as well as her professional one, however. This is very much a divorce album, its songs frequently touching on romantic discord and the resulting fall-out. Vega is both precise and artful in describing the situation. She writes by metaphor, unafraid, on "Machine Ballerina," for example, to mix those metaphors and pile them up. That allows her some emotional distance, but never at the expense of meaning. Her concern with the dissolution of her marriage and its impact on her child is apparent in "Soap and Water" when she sings, "Daddy's a dark riddle/Mama's a headful of bees/you are my little kite /carried away in the wayward breeze," even though the lines make up a succession of metaphors. Her calm, hushed, clear singing only emphasizes the emotional torment the songs trace. The result is an album on a par with her best work.© William Ruhlmann /TiVo

The first hits compilation of the Rolling Stones is still one of the most potent collections of singles that one can find. Listening to it in 1966 or today, one can understand how, almost prematurely for the 1960s -- as most of the material here dates from 1964 or 1965 -- the Stones set themselves up as the decade's most visible rock & roll rebels. The defiant, in-your-face fuzztone riff and sexually frustrated lyrics of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and the frenetic pounding punk anthem "Get Off of My Cloud" are highlights of a 12-song set that has no weak points, only peaks -- the louder-than-life rhythm guitars on "It's All Over Now" and "The Last Time," the wailing R&B of "Time Is on My Side," the balladry, folk, and soul style of "As Tears Go By" and "Tell Me," and all of the rest make for a body of work that's still amazing to hear decades after the fact. Appearing as it did in the late winter of 1966, this collection completely missed the group's drift into psychedelia, and it has since been supplanted by Hot Rocks and More Hot Rocks, but Big Hits is still the most concentrated dose of the early Stones at their most accessible that is to be had, short of simply playing their first five U.S. albums. The artwork and photography were pretty cool too, and the original LP had one of rock's early classic gatefold album designs.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

On this popular two-LP set, singer Carmen McRae interprets songs by Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Michel Legrand, Warren & Dubin, Henry Mancini, and Jimmy Van Heusen, among others, but it is her rendition of a humorous Jimmy Rowles novelty ("The Ballad of Thelonious Monk") that is best remembered. Joined by pianist Rowles, guitarist Joe Pass, bassist Chuck Domanico, and drummer Chuck Flores, McRae had what was at the time a rare opportunity to record a live, spontaneous, jazz-oriented set. She sounds quite enthusiastic about both her accompaniment and the strong repertoire, which includes "At Long Last Love," "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Sunday," "I Cried for You," and "I Thought About You."© Scott Yanow /TiVo

While both Liam Gallagher and Noel Gallagher have had some pretty good moments in their hit-or-miss solo careers, neither has been able to match what they had together as brothers in Oasis: the one-upmanship competition that pushed both to be better, yes, but also the us-against-the-world sibling camaraderie. Both need a foil to play off. Liam has been winning the race recently, though. For one thing, he's found the right producer in Greg Kurstin (Adele, Foo Fighters), who pushed him to great heights with 2022's C'mon You Know. But now he's teamed up with one of his hometown heroes: John Squire, legendary guitarist for Manchester's beloved Stone Roses, the band that Liam has said made him want to get behind a microphone. And damn if it's not an absolutely delightful, inspired pairing. (And if it makes Noel jealous, bonus points—right?) He's also brought Kurstin along for the ride, which was a wise decision. The set-up works as Oasis used to: Squire writes the songs, à la Noel, and Liam is just Liam. He sounds terrific here, and unmistakable. So does Squire, who absolutely wails on the excellent, Stone Roses-esque "Just Another Rainbow" and struts his stuff for groovy "Mars to Liverpool"; it's easy to imagine Oasis having gone in that direction had they not split in 2009. But the two don't just nod at their own past bands. Irresistible "One Day At a Time," which practically casts Squire's showy guitar as a duet partner for Liam, lifts a bit of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black." Muscular "I'm So Bored" cribs from the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" (which also means it feels especially Oasis-esque). And "Love You Forever," which puts a psychedelic Madchester effect on Liam's sneer, owes a big debt to Hendrix and "Purple Haze." It's also boosted by monster fills from Joey Waronker—because if you're going to bring two Mancunian legends to Los Angeles to make a record, why not get that town's best studio drummer? Waronker adds a real kick to "You're Not the Only One," which also features great boogie-woogie piano and Squire's snarling runs. Single "Raise Your Hands" is a bit paint-by-numbers, but "I'm a Wheel" is unexpected: Squire and Kurstin, on bass, letting loose on 12-bar blues while an energized Liam delivers goofy lines like "Lock all the doors/ These aren't the droids/ You're looking for." It seems weird on paper—but wow, it works. (Thanks to Squire, too, for giving him lyrics like "Thank you for your thoughts and prayers/ And fuck you too" to gleefully nail.) "Mother Nature's Song" feels the most like a real Oasis-Roses crossover: Mersey paradise meets Beatlemania. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

It would be impossible to try and discover all the possibilities the harp has to offer within the Jazz genre (or Afro-American music in general) without coming across Dorothy Ashby (1932-1986). Ashby was the first musician to implant the harp into the collective imagination, typifying it as Western “salon music” with her bop album The Jazz Harpist (released in 1957). Brandee Younger, a budding harpist herself, is now following in her footsteps. With Brand New Life, she’s released an album that’s as ambitious as it is masterful. Using Dorothy Ashby’s greatest works as inspiration, the harpist creates a programme that skilfully blends a handful of original compositions and selected covers (Michel Legrand's The Windmills of your Mind and Stevie Wonder's It's Magic), achieving symbiosis between her art and her inspirations. Within an organic quartet composed of herself, Rashaan Carter (double bass), Joel Ross (vibraphone) and Makaya McCraven (drums and session producer), Younger updates Ashby’s take on the instrument with great refinement and skill. She adapts it to her own resolutely modernist language with the same ability with which she sews the threads between classical, jazz, soul and hip-hop. Joined by soul and hip-hop singers Mumu Fresh (Brand New Life) and Meshell Ndegeocello (Dust) and rap composers/producers Peter Rock and 9th Wonder, the harpist develops sophisticated and seductive melodic music. She’s careful to strike a balance between staying faithful to a song’s format whilst allowing room for improvisation and demonstrating the expressive fluidity and rhythmic richness of an instrument that’s finally been freed from the bourgeois shackles of the past. © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz