Arriving swiftly on the heels of Moving on Skiffle, Accentuate the Positive is certainly a kissing cousin to its 2023 companion: it's another spirited revival of a style that a young Van Morrison held dear. Despite being titled after the Johnny Mercer & Harold Arlen standard, Accentuate the Positive isn't an ode to the Great American Songbook. It's nominally a celebration of the early days of rock & roll, an era that did see various styles, attitudes, and demographics mingle, so Morrison's decision to punctuate classics by Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers, Little Richard, and Chuck Willis with pop tunes, country hits, and jump blues isn't far afield: all this music was part of the early explosion of rock & roll. Besides, Van Morrison has never been a rockabilly cat, he's a blues shouter and he plays precisely to those strengths here, leading his band through lively and loving readings of rock & roll oldies, never apologizing for the unabashed nostalgia of the entire enterprise.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Bridge Over Troubled Water was one of the biggest-selling albums of its decade, and it hasn't fallen too far down on the list in years since. Apart from the gospel-flavored title track, which took some evolution to get to what it finally became, however, much of Bridge Over Troubled Water also constitutes a stepping back from the music that Simon & Garfunkel had made on Bookends -- this was mostly because the creative partnership that had formed the body and the motivation for the duo's four prior albums literally consumed itself in the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water. The overall effect was perhaps the most delicately textured album to close out the 1960s from any major rock act. Bridge Over Troubled Water, at its most ambitious and bold, on its title track, was a quietly reassuring album; at other times, it was personal yet soothing; and at other times, it was just plain fun. The public in 1970 -- a very unsettled time politically, socially, and culturally -- embraced it; and whatever mood they captured, the songs matched the standard of craftsmanship that had been established on the duo's two prior albums. Between the record's overall quality and its four hits, the album held the number one position for two and a half months and spent years on the charts, racking up sales in excess of five million copies. The irony was that for all of the record's and the music's appeal, the duo's partnership ended in the course of creating and completing the album.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

Another fine Webster release on Verve that sees the tenor great once again backed by the deluxe Oscar Peterson Trio. In keeping with the high standard of their Soulville collaboration of two years prior, Webster and the trio -- Peterson is joined by bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen -- use this 1959 date to conduct a clinic in ballad playing. And while Soulville certainly ranks as one of the tenor saxophonist's best discs, the Ben Webster Meets Oscar Peterson set gets even higher marks for its almost transcendent marriage of after-hours elegance and effortless mid-tempo swing -- none of Webster's boogie-woogie piano work to break up the mood here. Besides reinvigorating such lithe strollers as "Bye Bye Blackbird" (nice bass work by Brown here) and "This Can't Be Love," Webster and company achieve classic status for their interpretation of the Sinatra gem "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning." And to reassure Peterson fans worried about scant solo time for their hero, the pianist lays down a healthy number of extended runs, unobtrusively shadowing Webster's vaporous tone and supple phrasing along the way. Not only a definite first-disc choice for Webster newcomers, but one of the jazz legend's all-time great records.© Stephen Cook /TiVo

Recorded at Wally Heider's Studio III in Los Angeles and first released 29 May, 1969 on Atlantic Records, this album was remastered in 2012 and reissued in Hi-Res. This Crosby, Stills & Nash self-titled debut album is one of the true masterpieces of the rock'n'roll canon. 

The Cars' 1978 self-titled debut, issued on the Elektra label, is a genuine rock masterpiece. The band jokingly referred to the album as their "true greatest-hits album," but it's no exaggeration -- all nine tracks are new wave/rock classics, still in rotation on rock radio. Whereas most bands of the late '70s embraced either punk/new wave or hard rock, the Cars were one of the first bands to do the unthinkable -- merge the two styles together. Add to it bandleader/songwriter Ric Ocasek's supreme pop sensibilities, and you had an album that appealed to new wavers, rockers, and Top 40 fans. One of the most popular new wave songs ever, "Just What I Needed," is an obvious highlight, as are such familiar hits as "Good Times Roll," "My Best Friend's Girl," and "You're All I've Got Tonight." But like most consummate rock albums, the lesser-known compositions are just as exhilarating: "Don't Cha Stop," "Bye Bye Love," "All Mixed Up," and "Moving in Stereo," the latter featured as an instrumental during a steamy scene in the popular movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. With flawless performances, songwriting, and production (courtesy of Queen alumni Roy Thomas Baker), the Cars' debut remains one of rock's all-time classics.© Greg Prato /TiVo

If you were Frank Sinatra's daughter and wanted a career in music, how would you go about stepping out of your father's shadow? After a couple of cutesy singles cut with the producer behind Annette Funicello records, Nancy Sinatra, Frank's oldest child found her groove as the kind of female badass rebel that her father likely adored: fashion influencer who brought miniskirts from Carnaby Street to America's Main Street; daring agitator who shared a rare interracial kiss with dad's pal Sammy Davis Jr. on national TV; Playboy cover star at age 54. It's the attitude and image that's given her career a lasting aura and made it influential for artists as diverse as Primal Scream, Morrissey and Lana Del Rey who has modestly referred to herself as a "Gangster Nancy Sinatra." As this well-curated compilation proves, Sinatra's most influential music comes from her '60s collaboration with oddball pop chameleon Lee Hazlewood. Although the pair's vaguely sensual duet on the still puzzling, hippie-cowboy epic, "Some Velvet Morning," earned them artistic credibility, the crowning achievement of their partnership and Sinatra's calling card was 1965's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'"—a Hazlewood original that he originally intended to sing. Sinatra convinced him it needed a women's voice to turn it from a tale of spousal abuse to one of female empowerment. Her instincts proved prescient and her deadpan delivery and Hazlewood's snappy production style built around an unforgettable bass line birthed a defiant feminist '60s anthem. Other Sinatra/Hazlewood numbers included here are the fuzz guitar march, "Lightning's Girls," a tremolo-guitar led version of "Bang Bang" (Cher's first million selling single), and duets that charted with Hazlewood: "Summer Wine," "Jackson." The ace card in the Sinatra/Hazlewood union was using Los Angeles studio vets the Wrecking Crew as the backing band. With pros like Hal Blaine on drums, Al Casey, Glen Campbell and Larry Carlton on guitar and Carol Kaye on bass, it's all well-recorded and beautifully mixed music, solid and stylish, and brimming with a confident Angelino brand of white pop soul. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

It's such a joy when artists continue to explore new territory. On her addictively strange, loop-based, dubby, and intentionally blown-out second solo record for Matador, the multimedia artist, Body/Head co-founder, and Sonic Youth's trailblazing bassist, vocalist, and songwriter finds new levels of sonic digital dirt to explore. Gordon's already made distinctive music outside of the alternative rock/improv bubble of her peers, notably on 2019's No Home Record, a collaboration with producer Justin Raisen (Lil Yachty, Charli XCX), who she notably met while renting an Airbnb or through a restaurant encounter with her brother, depending on the source.Where No Home Record sometimes sounded like it was trying too hard to catch up with the times, all of the choices made on The Collective (also made with Raisen) are solid, syncretic choices, even when the beats and loops are cut-up, distorted, and haphazard. It's nasty and noisy and smart as hell. With its cover art blurrily depicting a pair of hands caressing a cellphone, it's clear these songs were made in the present. "I'm a Man" is hilarious and should be first on your next mixtape. We're reminded at times of the delightfully noisy record the members of Panasonic made with the vocalist from Suicide as Vainio / Väisänen / Vega.With its embrace of new technology and cutting-edge sounds from current hip-hop and experimental music, it's hard not to be reminded of artist Cindy Sherman's current digital collage work. Gordon shows fierce strength shifting styles, engaging with the most contemporary culture, and messing about with new tools.  © Mike McGonigal/Qobuz

Joe Cocker's debut album holds up extraordinarily well across four decades, the singer's performance bolstered by some very sharp playing, not only by his established sideman/collaborator Chris Stainton, but also some top-notch session musicians, among them drummer Clem Cattini, Steve Winwood on organ, and guitarists Jimmy Page and Albert Lee, all sitting in. It's Cocker's voice, a soulful rasp of an instrument backed up by Madeline Bell, Sunny Weetman and Rossetta Hightower that carries this album and makes "Change in Louise," "Feeling Alright," "Just Like a Woman," "I Shall Be Released," and even "Bye Bye Blackbird" into profound listening experiences. But the surprises in the arrangements, tempo, and approaches taken help make this an exceptional album. Tracks like "Just Like a Woman," with its soaring gospel organ above a lean textured acoustic and light electric accompaniment, and the guitar-dominated rendition of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" -- the formal debut of the Grease Band on record -- all help make this an exceptional listening experience. The 1999 A&M reissue not only includes new notes and audiophile-quality sound, but also a pair of bonus tracks, the previously unanthologized B-sides "The New Age of Lily" and "Something Coming On," deserved better than the obscurity in which they previously dwelt.© Bruce Eder /TiVo

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On his third album as Christine and the Queens—but also using the new moniker Redcar—the artist now known simply as Chris isn't pushing boundaries so much as flying over them. "My journey with gender has always been tumultuous. It's raging right now, as I'm just exploring what is beyond this," he said in a May 2022 interview, around the time he announced his adoption of masculine pronouns. "A way to express it could be switching between they and she. I kind of want to tear down that system that made us label genders in such a strict way … I think the answer is to be flickery, fluid, escaping." That's also a pretty good description of his music, which is equally, and charmingly, hard to pin down. Opener "Ma bien aimée bye bye" finds Chris, as Redcar, adopting a chanteur's pose against the late-night cabaret sounds of slinky guitars and shimmering high-hat. Sung in a seamless mélange of French and English, it's a seductive goodbye but still, it's "my life till I die." (It completely fits Chris's estimation of the Redcar personality, which he has also called a "poetic and philosophical construction"—a very Bowie thing to say—as "suave and sophisticated.") While the last Christine and the Queens album leaned heavily into hard-edged '90s funk, here there are more references to the crisp-heavy bottom beats of Shannon-style '80s dance pop, especially on "la chanson du chevalier"—remarkable for its ethereally circling round-robin vocals, ranging from high and sweet ("the man I love") to a richer lead and sharp back-up—and Grace Jones-esque industrial rhythms. "Tu sais ce qu'il me faut" adopts Jones' unique binary of wild and controlled, while "Les âmes amantes" sounds like it's from another planet: liquid and layered. There's also dancefloor euphoria ("Looking for love"), powerful synth-heavy moments ("Les étoiles," aka the stars), airy sweetness ("rien dire") and an Annie Lennox cool breeze ("la clairefontaine"). A groovy eight-and-a-half-minute epic, "Combien de temps" samples electropop pioneer Gina X. "Je te vois enfin" sets up an intriguing mystery: "Oh-oh, my father I believe they have sinned," the lyrics translate to English. "It's impossible in your books not to sin." But Chris—Redcar—is perhaps most revealing on "Mémoire des ailes." The song is so clean and hymn-like, it sounds sacred, with vocals that completely envelop even as the music edgily stutters and shudders. "I'll teach you a game, I'll teach ya," he sings, at once a promise and a tease. © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Blessed with an intuitive genius that illuminated his entire career, Ray Charles sensed that country music and the blues had a common soul that he could touch with his expressive voice and natural gifts for phrasing. Having left Atlantic Records for the ABC label where he was guaranteed artistic freedom, Charles decided to step through the looking glass; in the middle of the civil rights movement he turned country music into lush, R&B-influenced 60s pop, blurring racial and artistic barriers in the process. As proof of his success, the single, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (written by white country star Don Gibson) spent five weeks at #1 on the pop charts and sixteen weeks at #1 on the R&B charts before winning the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Recording.  As fresh today as when they were recorded, no context is required to appreciate these sublime tracks, which have now been combined into a single package.  Charles knew a hit song when he heard it and he convincingly transformed a well-known track like Hank Williams’ “Your Cheating Heart” into a sweet, sexy ballad that seems as right as the original.  For instrumental backup, Charles used two modes: strings and vocal choir by arranger Marty Paich for ballads like “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and punchier swing band arrangements by famed composer/arranger Gerald Wilson for tracks like “Hey Good Lookin’.” While a snappy, brass-led version of Williams’ “Move it Over” is a revelation, the utterly transformative version of one of country music’s most storied touchstones, “You Are My Sunshine,” featuring Charles in full Atlantic-era R&B mode—complete with Raelettes—is spectacular.  One of the finest moments in an acclaimed career, the expansive vision and charismatic vocals heard here are still breathtaking. © Robert Baird / Qobuz

When you see the names Miles Davis and John Coltrane on the same poster, you feel a shiver down your spine. This sixth instalment of the trumpet player's Bootleg Series that shiver grows – to put it euphemistically – to ecstasy. The Final Tour concentrates on the final chapter of the collaboration between Miles and Coltrane. On four CDs, it takes in performances recorded as part of their 1960 European tour – their last outing together before the saxophonist's death in July 1967. It includes both concerts at the Paris Olympia of 21 March 1960, the two concerts of 22 March in Stockholm, and of 24 March in Copenhagen, all available for the first time on a format other than quarter-inch tape. These five concerts take place about a year after the release of the masterpiece Kind of Blue, which shook the jazz world to its core. Our protagonists' nuclear creative power threaten the quintet with catastrophe at every turn. With pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb, Miles and Trane deliver torrential improvisations in which fusion and opposition battle it out. But miraculously, it all holds together. And how! It's the magic of these five concerts: hearing the five giants all at once, and their ability to match each other's pace, and roar in unison. In terms of the repertoire, this box set is a kind of davisian nirvana: it holds all the greatest themes (not always his own) which made the trumpeter's name: ’Round Midnight, Bye Bye Blackbird, On Green Dolphin Street, Walkin’, All Of You, Oleo, So What and All Blues… Finally, The Final Tour finishes on a jaw-dropping interview given by Coltrane to the Swedish DJ Carl-Erik Lindgren. "Do you feel angry?," asks Lindgren. "No, I don't," says Trane. "I was talking to a fellow the other day, and I told him, the reason I play so many sounds, maybe it sounds angry, I'm trying so many things at one time. I haven't sorted them out." Listening to these 1960 concerts, we can only respond: long live confusion! © Marc Zisman/Qobuz