Khruangbin's  A LA SALA is billed as a return to basics. Made with minimal overdubs and in only the company of the band's longtime engineer Steve Christensen, the mostly-instrumental trio's fourth record is a quieter, more introspective affair. The measured first track "Fifteen Fifty-Three," which starts with crickets and ends with birds chirping, sets the tone for an album where several tunes include ambient or found sounds. In the sweet and gentle flow of "May Ninth," bassist Laura Lee Ochoa quietly sings, "Oh what a dream to me/ Memory burned and gone/ A multicolored grey/ Waiting for May to come/ Happy for the rain." Her whispers can be heard in several tracks including "Pon Pón," a classic example of the instinctual way that the trio mind meld into a groove—here spiced with a dash of West African bounce.Khruangbin have routinely sought out vocal collaborators (like fellow Texan Leon Bridges) but have now mastered the art of adding ghostly, often near wordless  background vocals.  Lee purrs in the sinuous "Todaviá Viva," a funk jam paced by drummer Donald "DJ" Johnson's rim shots and high hat.  "Hold Me Up (Thank You)" is firmly in the pocket from the opening notes, with Speer darting in and a more assertive Lee singing simple lyrics that conclude with, "Thank your father, thank your mother/Hold me up." With his instantly recognizable guitar tone always submerged in reverb, Mark Speer continues to refine his playing, trending more towards the jazz improvisations while also being able to savor shorter, less challenging moments like in "Caja de la Sala."  He stretches a solo into a song in the dance track "A Love International."  A LA SALA (a phrase Lee used as a child to summon her family into the same place) closes on the slow, reflective "Les Petits Gris," set to a repeated keyboard phrase before it dissolves into the sound of crickets in full thrall.  Khruangbin continue to find new ways to make instrumental-centered music consequential. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

March 1985 was a golden age for Rogers Nelson… at just 27 years old, Prince already had six huge albums to his name: For You (1978), Prince (1979), Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981), 1999 (1982) and, of course, the massive Purple Rain (1984) which catapulted him into superstardom. His seventh album, Around the World in a Day, was released just a month after he finished touring. This record set his music on a new trajectory, experimenting with rock, pop and even psychedelic sounds. This live album was recorded in Syracuse, New York, on the 30th of March 1985 during his Purple Rain tour, and Prince made sure to pepper it with genius. This genius was multiplied tenfold by the adrenaline he put into his stage performances. Everything he touched would fizzle and spark with energy. He was supported by his fantastic band, The Revolution, which was composed of Bobby Z. on drums, Brown Mark on bass, Dr. Fink on keyboard, Eric Leeds on saxophone and the amazing twosome Wendy & Lisa on guitar and keyboard, not to mention guests such as percussionist Sheila E. His compositions, each one more perfect than the last, contain raw rock, pop and rhythm & blues. They’re a far cry from the old Prince from the decade prior, who was more inclined to stretch his tracks into extra-long improvs that flirted with jazz-fusion. He still enjoys making the pleasure last on this album, as evidenced by Baby I’m a Star, however, he maintains a funky, rock n roll beat throughout. Remixed by the sound engineer Chris James, who he would continue to work with throughout his later career, this reissue is a momentous release that can only be described with superlatives. Its explosive tone is established right from the opening track, Let’s Go Crazy. Prince and The Revolution: Live is 1 hour and 54 minutes of pure brilliance. It’s a must-listen! © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Teenage Dream did its job. With its five number one singles, the 2010 album turned Katy Perry into a genuine superstar, the kind of musician whose image rivaled her music in popularity, the kind who could topline her own 3-D theatrical documentary, the kind whose name became shorthand for a sugar-pop sensibility. This meant there was only one thing left for her to do on its 2013 sequel, Prism: to make a graceful pivot from teen dream to serious, mature artist. Prism hits these marks precisely yet isn't stuffy, not with its feints at trap-rap, but even with the preponderance of nightclub glitz, there isn't a shadow of a doubt that Katy Perry has toned down her cheesecake burlesque, opting for a hazy, dreamy, sun-kissed hippie Californian ideal that quietly replaces the happily vulgar pinup of her earliest years. All the lingering nastiness of One of the Boys -- the smiling Mean Girl backstabbing of "Ur So Gay," for instance -- and the pneumatic Playboy fantasy of Teenage Dream are unceremoniously abandoned in favor of Perry's candy construct of a chipper, cheerful grown-up prom princess, the popular girl who has left all her sneering dismissals in the past. Perry remains a terminal flirt but she channels her energies into long-term relationships -- the sexiest song, "Birthday," is a glorious retro-disco explosion delivered to a steady boyfriend, while elsewhere she testifies toward unconditional love -- and the overall effect transforms Prism into a relatively measured, savvy adult contemporary album, one that's aware of the latest fashions but is designed to fit into Katy's retirement plan. Ultimately, this makes Prism a tighter, cleaner record than its predecessors -- there are no extremes here, nothing that pushes the boundaries of either good taste or tackiness; even when she cheers on excess on "This Is How We Do" she's not a participant but rather a ringmaster, encouraging her fans to spend money they don't have just so they can have a good time. Ultimately, this sense of reserve reveals just how canny Katy Perry really is: she's determined to give her career a dramatic narrative arc, eager to leave behind the bawdy recklessness of her early years in favor of something that's age appropriate. That's why the lead single from Prism was "Roar," an homage to Sara Bareilles so transparent that the singer/songwriter may deserve co-credit: the inspirational adult contemporary single signaled how Perry no longer views herself as a fluffy confection but rather a showbiz staple who'll be here for years and years, and Prism fully lives up to that carefully constructed ideal.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Something/Anything? proved that Todd Rundgren could write a pop classic as gracefully as any of his peers, but buried beneath the surface were signs that he would never be satisfied as merely a pop singer/songwriter. A close listen to the album reveals the eccentricities and restless spirit that surges to the forefront on its follow-up, A Wizard, A True Star. Anyone expecting the third record of Something/Anything?, filled with variations on "I Saw the Light" and "Hello It's Me," will be shocked by A Wizard. As much a mind-f*ck as an album, A Wizard, A True Star rarely breaks down to full-fledged songs, especially on the first side, where songs and melodies float in and out of a hazy post-psychedelic mist. Stylistically, there may not be much new -- he touched on so many different bases on Something/Anything? that it's hard to expand to new territory -- but it's all synthesized and assembled in fresh, strange ways. Often, it's a jarring, disturbing listen, especially since Rundgren's humor has turned bizarre and insular. It truly takes a concerted effort on the part of the listener to unravel the record, since Rundgren makes no concessions -- not only does the soul medley jerk in unpredictable ways, but the anthemic closer, "Just One Victory," is layered with so many overdubs that it's hard to hear its moving melody unless you pay attention. And that's the key to understanding A Wizard, A True Star -- it's one of those rare rock albums that demands full attention and, depending on your own vantage, it may even reward such close listening.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Born in 1997, a disciple of Dang Thai Son in particular, Bruce Liu won the 2021 Warsaw Chopin Competition, the "proofs" of which were published a few weeks later, as for each edition, by Deutsche Grammophon, which has long since developed a partnership with this prestigious Polish institution. A beautiful and generous sound, a refined and fluid playing, often striking in its elegance, easily distinguish the twenty-four year old Franco-Canadian laureate: the Mazurkas and the few studies particularly seduce by their probity. We are now waiting for a real phonographic project, in which Bruce Liu will be able to really immerse himself, without the usual anxiety and pressure of the big international competitions. The sound recording on this work is more distant than on the competition videos. © Pierre-Yves Lascar/Qobuz

Two years after his premature death, Prince’s Ali Baba cave has offered up its first treasure. With the aptly named album Piano & A Microphone 1983, it’s with the simplest devices that his art is heard. At only 25 years old, Prince had already released five albums (For You, Prince, Dirty Mind, Controversy and 1999) and was just about to release the album that would turn him into a global star, Purple Rain. The multi-instrumentalist spent his days and nights in the studio and we find him here alone at the piano for a medley of personal compositions and two covers: Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You and the gospel song Mary Don’t You Weep. The intimate context of this recording only amplifies the intensity of this unpublished work. Just close your eyes and you’ll find yourself alone with Prince…With his elastic voice and skilled playing, the musician from Minneapolis proves to those who doubted him that he was a true artist; both entertainer and composer, showman and improviser. His stripped back version of Purple Rain touches on the sublime and the track Strange Relationship gives an insight into the evolution of his productions, as four years later the track appeared, more muscular this time, on the album Sign o’ the Times. While Piano & A Microphone 1983 may be primarily aimed at Prince fans, novices – if there are any left – will no doubt enjoy discovering this impressive artist. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Power pop bands are often caught in a quandary. Their core audience praises them for their classicist approach, but if they ever want to break out into a larger audience, they have to modernize their sound, which makes their cult angry. The problem is especially difficult for bands that came of age in the early '90s, since they were weaned on not just the Beatles and Beach Boys, but also the Pixies and Sonic Youth. As a result, bands like the Dandy Warhols are restless, anxious to make catchy pop songs while keeping indie cred, and that's why their major-label debut, The Dandy Warhols Come Down, is so uneven. The band has talent for not just punchy hooks, but for layered sonics as well, but they don't know how to meld the two together. As a result, the most immediate moments on the record are awash in a sea of feedback, which can't be trance-inducing since its spell is punctured by pop hooks. And while those pop songs are good, they aren't enough to prevent Come Down from being a frustrating listen. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

While the into-the-wind blare of the title cut was what people remembered best, the Saints' first album, (I'm) Stranded, had a lot more musical variety than it was generally given credit for in 1977, and the band stayed much farther from the standard punk template (which had solidified with remarkable speed in the wake of the Sex Pistols) on their second LP, Eternally Yours. For their sophomore outing, the Saints threw actual tempo changes, horn charts, keyboards, and R&B accents into the mix, which didn't endear them to punk purists, who predictably didn't recognize that these changes had only strengthened the band's sound. Anyone looking for blazing 4/4 punk will find it in "Lost and Found" and "Private Affair," but the horn-fueled "Know Your Product" and "Orstralia" proved that punk could also sound soulful (Rocket from the Crypt owe their entire career to these cuts); the moody "A Minor Aversion," "Untitled," and "Memories Are Made of This" proved the Saints could slow it down and still sound tough and impassioned; and "This Perfect Day" is quite possibly the greatest song this band would ever record -- Chris Bailey's sneer of "It's so funny I can't laugh" is alone worth the price of admission. While Eternally Yours is a bit less consistent than (I'm) Stranded, the material is first-rate, the band sounds better than ever, and the approach suggests the pop-smart eclecticism of the band's mid-'80s period fused with the muscle and ferocity of their debut. Maybe Eternally Yours didn't sound like a standard-issue punk album in 1978, but it's stood the test of time much better than most of the work of punk's first graduating class.© Mark Deming /TiVo

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OMD's glistening run of top-flight singles and chart domination came to a temporary but dramatic halt with Dazzle Ships, the point where the band's pushing of boundaries reached their furthest limit. McCluskey, Humphreys, and company couldn't take many listeners with them, though, and it's little surprise why -- a couple of moments aside, Dazzle Ships is pop of the most fragmented kind, a concept album released in an era that had nothing to do with such conceits. On its own merits, though, it is dazzling indeed, a Kid A of its time that never received a comparative level of contemporary attention and appreciation. Indeed, Radiohead's own plunge into abstract electronics and meditations on biological and technological advances seems to be echoing the themes and construction of Dazzle Ships. What else can be said when hearing the album's lead single, the soaring "Genetic Engineering," with its Speak & Spell toy vocals and an opening sequence that also sounds like the inspiration for "Fitter, Happier," for instance? Why it wasn't a hit remains a mystery, but it and the equally enjoyable, energetic "Telegraph" and "Radio Waves" are definitely the poppiest moments on the album. Conceived around visions of cryptic Cold War tension, the rise of computers in everyday life, and European and global reference points -- time zone recordings and snippets of shortwave broadcasts -- Dazzle Ships beats Kraftwerk at their own game, science and the future turned into surprisingly warm, evocative songs or sudden stop-start instrumental fragments. "Dazzle Ships (Parts II, III, and VII)" itself captures the alien feeling of the album best, with its distanced, echoing noises and curious rhythms, sliding into the lovely "The Romance of the Telescope." "This Is Helena" works in everything from what sounds like heavily treated and flanged string arrangements to radio announcer samples, while "Silent Running" becomes another in the line of emotional, breathtaking OMD ballads, McCluskey's voice the gripping centerpiece.© Ned Raggett /TiVo

Released via T-Boy Records, Spookshow International Live is the first collection of live music from the horror music/film icon since 2007's Zombie Live. Recorded during Zombie and company's 2013 Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor tour, the 19-track set list, none of which has been tampered with (no overdubs, exaggerated crowd noise, etc.), includes fan favorites like "Living Dead Girl," "House of 1000 Corpses," "Dragula," and "Superbeast," as well as covers of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop" and Grand Funk Railroad's "We're an American Band."© James Christopher Monger /TiVo

A Qobuz ExclusiveThis particular recording is split into four songs but the set itself bore few separations. A full and immersive listen bears that out—nothing stops, per se, but transitions until the final song. Opener "Meta-Ideations," meanders through several stylistic changes in 19 minutes without a hiccup, showcasing the control Carlos Niño, Surya Botofasina and Adam Rudolph have even in improvisational settings.The highlight of the evening is "It's Nice and Warm, Warm Inside" with a soothing vocal intro from Niño. "We are warming … inside, it's warm and welcoming in here," he whispers. If you've seen any of these musicians perform, they often offer short benedictory introductions to earmark a new song. In this case, the dead of winter made it easy to connect to the audience. Besides a respite from the cold, the trio provided longform moments of clarity and precision, a break from norms and noise in a city that provides far too few of those.The collective history here—Botofasina was raised on Alice Coltrane’s Shanti Anantam Ashram; Niño has impeccable taste in collaborators; Rudolph has pioneered music from different walks of the world—allows for playful movements juxtaposed with extended ambient moments. Their peacefulness resonates to an obviously attentive crowd and, for a moment, it is easy to forget that the set had to end at all. © Jeff Laughlin/Qobuz

Using the psychedelicized prog-punk of Fuzzy Logic as a foundation, Super Furry Animals move even further into left field on their second album, Radiator. As before, the group displays a gift for catchy, deceptively complex melodic hooks, but now its songwriting and arrangements are mind-bogglingly intricate and eclectic. Songs boast intertwining melodies and countermelodies, with guitars and keyboards swirling around the vocals. Similarly, the production is dense and heavy with detail, borrowing heavily from prog rock and psychedelic pop, but pieced together with the invention of techno and played with the energy of punk. It's a heady, impressive kaleidoscope of sounds, but what gives Radiator its weight is the way the sonics complement the songwriting. SFA's songs are melodic, accessible, and utterly original -- melodically, they may borrow from '60s pop, but they rearrange the clichés in fresh ways. Also, Gruff Rhys has a fondness for revolutionary politics and the bizarre that helps give Radiator its intoxicating, otherworldly atmosphere, making it one of the few late-'90s albums that sounds inventive, vibrant, and utterly contemporary.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo