After the surprise release of his 2014 album Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, Thom Yorke has released his third solo studio album (not counting the soundtrack of Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 film Suspiria) the more conventional way. Under XL Recordings, Anima brings us another dose of “electronic Radiohead”. Thom Yorke first showed us that he could successfully dabble in electro music as early as 2006 with his first album The Eraser, and even ten years earlier with OK Computer and the band’s various remixes. His vocals work tremendously well with technoid beats and he’s not afraid to alter them either, sometimes reducing them to a sample which can be cut, repeated and layered, like on the album’s opener Traffic.This album has plenty of spirit and a lot of heart. Produced by the trusty Nigel Godrich, it includes Last I Heard (…He Was Circling the Drain), a true masterpiece with its ethereal organ combined with drones, duplicated vocals and only a bass as the beat. The drones return once more in Dawn Chorus, a track that you should definitely add to your winter playlist, featuring Yorke’s unmistakable vocals with practically zero filters. Also worth a listen is I Am a Very Rude Person, a funny little funk track with a broken beat and various layer changes throughout. For this third solo album, Thom Yorke is clearly more confident in himself and his individuality. His music can be placed somewhere between Four Tet, James Holden, Burial or Caribou – all musicians/groups with whom he has worked, and his minimalist production style is a breath of fresh air in an industry that often piles on too many layers. Most importantly of all, this is clearly the work of a songwriter who pushes his own limits. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

Reuniting after three years and one solo album from Mick Jagger, the Rolling Stones attempted to settle their differences and craft a comeback with Dirty Work, but the tensions remained too great for the group. Designed as a return to their rock & roll roots after several years of vague dance experiments, Dirty Work is hampered by uneven songs and undistinguished performances, as well as a slick, lightly synthesized production that instantly dates the album to the mid-'80s. Jagger often sounds like he's saving his best work for his solo records, but a handful of songs have a spry, vigorous attack -- "One Hit (To the Body)" is a classic, and "Winning Ugly" and "Had It With You" have a similar aggression. Still, most of Dirty Work sounds as forced as the cover of Bob & Earl's uptown soul obscurity "Harlem Shuffle," leaving the album as one of the group's most undistinguished efforts.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

During 1969 and 1970, CCR was dismissed by hipsters as a bubblegum pop band and the sniping had grown intolerable, at least to John Fogerty, who designed Pendulum as a rebuke to critics. He spent time polishing the production, bringing in keyboards, horns, even a vocal choir. His songs became self-consciously serious and tighter, working with the aesthetic of the rock underground -- Pendulum was constructed as a proper album, contrasting dramatically with CCR's previous records, all throwbacks to joyous early rock records where covers sat nicely next to hits and overlooked gems tucked away at the end of the second side. To some fans of classic CCR, this approach may feel a little odd since only "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" and maybe its B-side "Hey Tonight" sound undeniably like prime Creedence. But, given time, the album is a real grower, revealing many overlooked Fogerty gems. Yes, it isn't transcendent like the albums they made from Bayou Country through Cosmo's Factory, but most bands never even come close to that kind of hot streak. Instead, Pendulum finds a first-class songwriter and craftsman pushing himself and his band to try new sounds, styles, and textures. His ambition results in a stumble -- "Rude Awakening 2" portentously teeters on the verge of prog-rock, something CCR just can't pull off -- but the rest of the record is excellent, with such great numbers as the bluesy groove "Pagan Baby," the soulful vamp "Chameleon," the moody "It's Just a Thought," and the raver "Molina." Most bands would kill for this to be their best stuff, and the fact that it's tucked away on an album that even some fans forget illustrates what a tremendous band Creedence Clearwater Revival was.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Epic's The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble gathers two discs' worth of the late blues guitarist's work, including many live performances and a few tracks with the Vaughan Brothers. The collection presents Vaughan's material in roughly chronological order, from the 1980 live recording "Shake for Me" to 1989's "Life by the Drop." It also touches on most of Vaughan's definitive songs and performances, including "Tightrope," "Wall of Denial," "Couldn't Stand the Weather," and "Cold Shot," and live versions of "The Sky Is Crying," "Superstition," and "Rude Mood/Hide Away." Though this album doesn't offer anything that hasn't already been released in some form or another, it does go into slightly more depth than several of the other Stevie Ray Vaughan retrospectives by presenting both his greatest studio hits and some of his best live work.© Heather Phares /TiVo

Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985 is a historically significant recording, presenting Stevie Ray Vaughan in the biggest show of his life to that date, then three years later, once he had become a star. The 1982 show is essentially the show that got his career started. He met both Jackson Browne and David Bowie after his set, and they were so impressed that Browne volunteered use of his studio (for free!) for Stevie to record what would become his debut album, and Bowie recruited him as lead guitarist for the Let's Dance album and tour (alas, the tour was not to be). However, not everyone was so impressed. In fact, there are choruses of boos that follow nearly every tune. Vaughan was basically a nobody at the time, playing very electric blues at the end of a mostly acoustic program. But he had done enough bar gigs to completely rise above it, and he plays with the passion and hunger of a young musician getting his big chance. He's not really an engaging frontman at this point in his career, but man, can he play that guitar. And he simply never lets up. Even at this stage, his tone and style are pretty close to fully formed, and it's easy to see how he could become the guitar hero he ended up being. The 1985 show is quite a contrast. Vaughan had become a star, and it shows in so many ways. He had developed more of a stage persona, with showier moves and infinitely more presence as a frontman. Double Trouble also now included Reese Wynans on keyboards, which, along with Vaughan's addition of a wah-wah pedal, really expanded the sound. Vaughan has many fiery moments on this set as well, but he also loses focus during several solos, and seems more than content to share or even hand over the spotlight to fellow Texas guitar legend Johnny Copeland. Vaughan seems a bit worn out, and it wouldn't be long before he got sober. Even so, there are clear moments of brilliance and this time the audience is fully behind him. Live at Montreux 1982 & 1985 is a vital document for fans, showing the raw ingredients that would make him a star, then comparing it to what happened once he got there. It's a great look at the rise of one of rock's most revered guitar players.© Sean Westergaard /TiVo

"Russian Roulette," released weeks prior to Rated R, just hinted at Rihanna's sudden desire to provoke. Even with the realization that it is metaphorical, the song startles with its hesitant gasps, spinning cylinders, and verses that are glacially paced, where a cold piano line and the slight inflections in Rihanna's voice are front and center. And then there’s an audible shudder followed by a discharged bullet -- the abrupt end to one of Rated R’s most restrained moments. It’s not the only instance where Rihanna’s rise in fame, combined with being the victim in the decade’s highest-profile felonious assault, added up to a perfect-storm scenario for a creative overhaul. Rated R is more like Good Girl Gone Evil, or Abused Girl Full of Vengeful Rage, not Good Girl Gone Bad, where the only casualties were some dishes. The closest the set gets to upbeat pop is “Rude Boy,” and by any standard it is stern; needless to say, there is quite a difference between “Can you get it up?” and “You can stand under my umbrella.” Much of this daring album is absolutely over the top, bleak and sleek both lyrically and sonically, but it’s compelling, filled with as many memorably belligerent lines -- two of which, “I pitch with a grenade/Swing away if ya feeling brave” and “I’m such a fuckin’ lady,” set the tone early on -- as a rap album made ripe for dissection. “G4L,” over a low-slung and sleek production, is the most fantastical of all, in which Rihanna leads a band of homicidal women, opening with “I lick the gun when I’m done ‘cause I know that revenge is sweet” and “Any mothaf*cka wanna disrespect/Playin’ with fire finna get you wet.” The breakup song, “Fire Bomb,” even though it is also metaphorical, is a close second in terms of lyrical extremity: “I just wanna set you on fire so I won’t have to burn alone.” Some of the breathers -- the songs that are less intense -- hold the album back since Rihanna sounds detached from them. The one exception is the wistful, bittersweet “Photographs,” a rare instance of the singer dropping her guard, but it really sticks out since it is surrounded by material that has her taking the variably authentic roles of abused lover, dominatrix, and murderer. Whether the album seems ridiculous or spectacular (or both), Rihanna's complete immersion in the majority of the songs cannot be disputed. That is the one thing that is not up for debate.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

Less frenzied than its predecessor, but more musically adventurous, More Specials was nearly as popular in its day as its predecessor, falling just one chart place below their debut. It kicked off in similar fashion as well, with a classic cover, this time with an exuberant take on Carl Sigman and Conrad Magidson's 1940s chestnut "Enjoy Yourself." A slower, brooding version with the Go-Go's in tow brings the album to a close, taking the place of the set-sealing "You're Wondering Now," which brought the curtain down on their first set. But there the similarities come to an end. The rest of the album is comprised of originals, including a pair of instrumentals -- the Northern soul-esque "Sock It to 'Em JB" and the Mexican-flavored "Holiday Fortnight" -- as well as a duo of minimally vocalized pieces, the intriguing "International Jet Set," and the overtly apocalyptic "Man at C&A." But fans had already been primed for the band's changing musical directions by the release the month before of "Stereotypes," its spaghetti western aura filled with the group's more mournful mood. It's an emotional despair taken to even greater heights on "Do Nothing," as the group futilely searches for a future, but musically stumbles upon a cheery, easygoing rhythm more appropriate to the pop styles of the English Beat than the angrier sounds the Specials had made their own. But to prove it's no fluke, there's the equally bright and breezy "Hey, Little Rich Girl," boasting fabulous sax solos from Madness' Lee Thompson. However, it's an immortal line from "Pearl's Cafe" that Terry Hall and the guesting Bodysnatchers' Rhoda Dakar deliver up in duet that best sums up their own, and the country's pure frustration: "It's all a load of bollocks, and bollocks to it all." It was an intensely satisfying set in its day, even if it wasn't as centered as their debut. The group seems to be moving simultaneously in too many directions, while the lyrics, too, are not quite as hard-hitting as earlier efforts. © Jo-Ann Greene /TiVo

Phil Manzanera had no problem filling his mid-'70s downtime away from Roxy Music. His guitar graced some 20 albums, like John Cale's Fear, Eno's Here Come the Warm Jets, and Nico's The End. This outing from his all-star side group is slicker than his 1976 live debut album, but no less worthwhile; some 16 musicians are credited. The sound is sleek and sophisticated; even lyrics aren't exempt from creative twists, as shown on "Listen Now"'s glistening jazz-pop -- which cleverly juxtaposes its title against a bouncy "now, now, listen" chorus. The song also questions how people are living life in a repressive society, even as "Law and Order" and "City of Lights" ponder its breakdown. Other songs visit more personal turf. "Flight 19" details a young man's angst-filled reaction to his lover's injuries, "Postcard Love" dismisses the perils of on-road romances, and "That Falling Feeling" takes a more wistful look at how people grow apart -- over a gliding Manzanera guitar part. (Yet another sly twist shifts the chorus from "Can't you feel it moving in?" to "You can feel it moving in.") Three totally different instrumentals round out matters. The best one is the lilting "Island," anchored by a climbing Bill McCormick bassline, as Manzanera unleashes his full array of guitar-altering devices. "Initial Speed" and "Que?" take more of a jazz/fusion tack; they're different snapshots of Manzanera's graceful, intelligent guitar style. This album's one of the most absorbing entries of Manzanera's lengthy career. © Ralph Heibutzki /TiVo

45 is a ripe old age to bring out a debut. Well, a debut that actually carries your name. In 1988, Keith Richards became a living legend when he finally decided to release his own album, Talk Is Cheap. The guitarist from The Rolling Stones didn’t have anything to prove, he just wanted to have a good time. And that’s exactly what he has on this rock’n’roll Stones-esque album, recorded with the X-Pensive Winos that brings together Steve Jordan, Waddy Wachtel, Bobby Keys, Ivan Neville and Charley Drayton. He even invited along some acclaimed musicians such as Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and Maceo Parker... Following the album’s release, Richards embarked on a world tour, stopping in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium on December 15, 1988. That night, he performed almost all the songs from Talk is Cheap and added a few covers of The Rolling Stones’ songs (Happy, Connection, Time Is On My Side and Too Rude). It’s like a jam sesh between old friends with a lot of winks towards reggae, a genre dear to Richards. The amazing live album was only released three years later, just before the release of his second solo album Main Offender. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Magic! scored one of 2014's biggest mid-year singles with "Rude," a bouncy piece of blue-eyed reggae-pop and old-fashioned storytelling that drew comparisons to '90s hitmakers like the Spin Doctors, Smash Mouth, and Sublime. However, the band didn't really resemble anyone else on the radio at the time of "Rude"'s release; considering that frontman Nasri was also once a part of the production team the Messengers, who wrote songs for pop stars ranging from Justin Bieber to Pitbull, it's not surprising that Magic! managed to craft a sound that was unique enough to get noticed and catchy enough to get hugely popular. There's a fine line between distinctive and annoying, however, and the band wobbles on either side of it on Don't Kill the Magic, where Nasri and company try to expand their hit's summery vibe into a full-length album. For every song that sounds like a sure-fire hit, there's another that sounds like the band is still figuring things out. Sometimes they lean on their reggae influences too much, as on the meandering "No Way No" and "Paradise" (which even begins with a "yeah, mon!"). Elsewhere, ballads like the limp "One Woman One Man" and "Let Your Hair Down"'s dorm-room seductions drag. Magic! also stumble when they stray too far from "Rude"'s good-natured charm: the somewhat preachy tone of "How Do You Want to Be Remembered" is all the stranger following the unconvincing tough-guy poses on the album's lone rocker, "Little Girl Big World." The band fares best on uptempo fare like "No Evil," "Stupid Me," and the soaring title track, all of which sound just as chart-friendly as Magic!'s big hit without rehashing it too much. With only a handful of songs that truly work, Don't Kill the Magic is an inconsistent debut, but with a song as big as "Rude," it hardly matters.© Heather Phares /TiVo

As the Paul Desmond/Jim Hall quartet's recording activities gradually came to a halt by 1965, RCA Victor assembled the remains of a number of their later sessions into one last album. These are anything but leftovers, however -- indeed, they constitute the best Desmond/Hall album since Take Ten, more varied in texture and mood, and by and large more inspired in solo content, than Bossa Antigua and Glad to Be Unhappy. As a near-ideal example of this collaboration at its intuitive peak, "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" opens with Hall paraphrasing the tune, and Desmond comes in on the bridge with a perfectly timed rejoinder that sounds as if he's asking a question. "Here's That Rainy Day" is another apt match of a standard to Desmond's sophisticated personality; he is at his dry, jaunty best on the uptempo "That Old Feeling"; and both have a ball jamming on the blues in Desmond's wry, quick "Blues for Fun." [Some reissues add a pair of outtakes, plus "Rude Old Man."]© Richard S. Ginell /TiVo

Lee "Scratch" Perry's eccentric persona (he's either crazy as a loon or crazy as a fox) often obscures the incredibly innovative approaches he brought to Jamaican music, and his kitchen-sink recording methods likewise cloak the very real vision behind his one-of-a-kind creations. Perry is quite simply reggae's one true auteur, and no matter who is singing or playing at a Perry session, the finished result is all Scratch. This two-disc set collects three early Perry dub albums, Cloak & Dagger (recorded in 1972, but released in 1973), Blackboard Jungle Dub (originally called Rhythm Shower and also released in 1973), and Revolution Dub (1975). Put together like this, the triptych shows a clear development of Perry's unique version of dub, from the mostly pure backing track instrumentals of Cloak & Dagger through the early restructurings, complete with sound effect additions, to the very beginning of Perry's famous Black Ark sound on Revolution Dub. That it all fits together like multiple pieces in one crazy quilt is a tribute to Perry's singular touch. From the gorgeous soul meets reggae meets jazz feel of "Hail Stone" through the brassy "Jungle Lion," the thundering "Black Panta," and the odd, spooky "Bush Weed," everything here is fascinating, a sort of avant-garde dub jazz, and given Perry's frequent spoken interjections, a strange kind of Jamaican beat poetry emerges. Only Scratch could (or would) spin a track off of the melody to "Pop Goes the Weasel," as he does in "Jungle Jim," and make it stick. Again, whether Perry is crazy as a loon or crazy as a fox, there is a strong vision at work here, and once you've surrendered to its joyful lunacy, a wonderful and wild world emerges, a sort of mirror image of the one you expect.© Steve Leggett /TiVo

Reggae is a genre that works best stripped-down and pure; whether it's simple harmonies with drum or bass or unaccompanied vocals, the essence of the music lies in its earthy spirit. Live Again! expertly captures this spirit, with Israel Vibration performing with inspired emotion. The power of the trio's lyrics is showcased here without overdubs or any other technical tricks clouding their effect. Always a moving live act, Israel Vibration's strong stage presence pours through this CD, providing the closet thing to a live concert.© Rosalind Cummings-Yeates /TiVo