A departure from the Act I-VI album cycle that the band has been working on, The Color Spectrum finds the Dear Hunter moving in a different and even more conceptual direction, writing songs influenced by the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. While the project spans nine EPs consisting of 36 total tracks, this album collects just 11 of the songs, giving listeners a small taste of the massive project. Casey Crescenzo and company do an admirable job of sticking to the concept, especially given the abstract nature of the project, delivering a collection of songs that actually feel as if they represent the colors associated with them. The album opens with “Filth and Squalor (Black),” which, as one would expect, is a dark and moody track that acts as a nice contrast to the sunny and upbeat bounce of “She’s Always Singing (Yellow).” The album holds up conceptually all the way to the end as it closes with two tracks from the white EP, “Home (White)” and “Fall and Flee (White),” which both have a gentle, almost reassuring benevolence to them as they build into uplifting crescendos. Despite being from different albums, the songs all work together remarkably well, giving the album the kind of natural flow that one expects from an album, never giving away the fact that the songs are all from different EPs. This kind of unity showcases the Dear Hunter’s ability to really mine a concept for all it’s worth, exploring an idea and discovering everything that it might have to offer before moving on to the next thing, and while it’s only about a third of the total work, The Color Spectrum allows listeners the chance to stand at the edge of the water and dip their toes in before wading neck-deep into the strange world Crescenzo has created for himself.© Gregory Heaney /TiVo

Creation Rebel began in the late '70s, consisting of members of the legendary Prince Far I's backing band, the Arabs. Dennis Bovell engineered the group's first album, Dub from Creation, which was the very first production by Adrian Sherwood, and the debut release on his Hitrun label, the precursor to On-U Sound. The group's lineup shifted frequently, and they backed Prince Far I and other artists on-stage and in studio, playing gigs with the Clash, the Slits, and Don Cherry. Their most groundbreaking release, 1980's Starship Africa, is as futuristic as dub gets, and it remains a serious contender for best dub album of all time. The group attempted a more commercial sound afterwards, and after Prince Far I was murdered in his Jamaican home in 1983, Creation Rebel disbanded. Several decades later, Adrian Sherwood invited three of the group's members (guitarist Crucial Tony, drummer and vocalist Eskimo Fox, percussionist and vocalist Ranking Magoo) to join him for live dates, and they gradually worked on music together during the COVID-19 lockdown. The result, Hostile Environment, is the first Creation Rebel album in over 40 years.The album's title is a reference to one of the harshest immigration policies in U.K. history, introduced by former Prime Minister Theresa May, and it serves as a reminder of the oppression that refugees have consistently faced for ages. With all that in mind, the music is uplifting, acknowledging the daily struggle and pressure but still expressing joy and gratitude. The arrangements are tight, melodic, and groove-heavy, but Sherwood and company still go off the rails with crazy effects when inspiration strikes. The album is a well-rounded mixture of conscious lyrics, pop melodies, and far-out dub heaviness. Prince Far I remains the group's guiding spirit, and his ghostly baritone makes appearances on two tracks, including "This Thinking Feeling" with Daddy Freddy. "Stonebridge Warrior" is a gorgeous melodica showcase, and "That's More Like It" is a slow, mesmerizing wash-out in the vein of Starship Africa and other heavy dub excursions. "Whatever It Takes," a song about strength and perseverance with Adrian's daughter Denise Sherwood on harmony vocals, is the album's most traditional reggae-pop tune, and "The Peoples' Sound (Tribute to Daddy Vego)" is a more rousing celebration, paying respect to the late promoter and sound system legend. Rounding out the album are more sweet, spacy dub tracks like "Salutation Gardens" and "Off the Spectrum." Hostile Environment is a triumphant comeback effort, and it continues On-U Sound's run of late-career highlights from veterans like African Head Charge and Horace Andy.© Paul Simpson /TiVo

By 1971, when he released his second offering as a leader, guitarist Volker Kriegel was already established on Germany's jazz-rock scene as a monster player, courtesy of his membership in the Dave Pike Set. Before joining that band, Kriegel had been known as a formidable jazz talent since his teenage years with vibraphonists Fritz Hartschuh and Claudio Szenkar. Spectrum was issued by MPS, the visionary label that issued groundbreaking recordings by everyone from Oscar Peterson and Monty Alexander to George Duke and Peter Herbolzheimer. Kriegel's sidemen here include British pianist John Taylor on Rhodes, Peter Trunk on upright and electric bass and cello, Dutch percussionist Cees See, and master drummer Peter Baumeister. He wrote everything on the date. "Zoom" is a riff-tastic opener with Kriegel playing sitar as well as electric guitar, with Taylor's funky vamps, See burning on tablas and congas, and Baumeister breaking up a storm. This is jazz rock fusion at its very best. "More About D" commences with shakers, spacy Rhodes, and a pizzicato bassline. When Kriegel enters it becomes knotty, serpentine fusion, with loads of free jazz elements alternating with Eastern modes, walking and swinging post-bop, and more throughout its ten-minute duration. It features some of the guitarist's finest playing on the recording and delivers a portrait of his holistic musical vision. "Suspicious Child, Growing Up" reveals that Kriegel had heard, and apparently loved, the Allman Brothers Band. Its meld of acoustic and electric country blues, underscored by soulful, Stax-like electric piano and rumbling bass and percussion, gives a wide-angle view of its composer's lyricism. Closer "Strings Revisited" invert the solo capacities of cello and guitar as lead instruments with Trunk playing his instrument like a guitar, before he and Kriegel fluidly exchange fours and eights with some killer brushed breaks, rolls, and fills from Baumeister, as Taylor's piano impressionistically paints the frame before taking a smoking post-bop solo full of nuanced arpeggios and legato phrasing. Kriegel enjoyed a long, fruitful career with MPS and it's these records which define his legacy as a creative, restless musician who explored all types of jazz, rock, and world music on every recording he made for the label. That said, Spectrum is special for its ideas, boldness, confidence, and no-boundaries approach. As a result, it holds up generations later as a true jazz-rock classic.© Thom Jurek /TiVo