The cosmopolitan Tingvall Trio was created in Hamburg in 2003 under the impetus of the Swedish pianist Martin Tingvall, who is accompanied by Cuban double bassist, Omar Rodriguez Calvo, and the German drummer, Jurgen Spiegel. They enjoyed some popularity in their early days, although this was largely confined to the Germanic world (they received two Echo Jazz Awards, including in 2012 that of “Best jazz formation in Germany”). Over the last ten years, however, the group has unquestionably been working hard to widen its reach by multiplying its number of successful albums and showcasing the charm of its acoustic, colourful, and ultra-melodic music directly at festivals around the world. With this new album Birds (its 9th in 20 years), the trio does not change its winning formula. Placing their hat down somewhere between the Avishai Cohen trio, Go-Go Penguin and E.S.T, they have maintained their contemporary trio art with acclaimed jazz bass mixes - both in their general grammar and orchestral dynamics - as well as their catchy pop-inspired melodies and Latin and Caribbean-inspired rhythms. This eclectic mix can almost be compared to the vast and harmonious Scandinavian landscapes. From a repertoire of small ritornellos, with voluntarily simple and precisely drawn forms, the Tingvall Trio develops a collective and clear discourse which showcases the group’s sound and a form of rhythmic joy which could easily revolutionise their formula, both from a formal and expressive viewpoint. © Stéphane Ollivier/Qobuz

Although Wes Montgomery found the most commercial success with his Creed Taylor-produced albums for Verve and A&M Records, the nine-albums-in-four-years run that he had on Riverside from 1959 to 1963 was where he established himself as one of the preeminent jazz guitarists of the hard bop and soul-jazz era. The clarity and energy of those Riverside albums, along with his unique picking style, helped Montgomery carve out a new lane for funky improvisation that was accessible but also technically satisfying. Montgomery's music during this period—sprightly, melodic, and built upon the interplay of the musicians in his group—seems tailor-made for a concert environment, so it's surprising that only one live album was released during his Riverside era. But oh, what a live album it is. First released in November 1962 (his fifth album as a leader on Riverside), Full House was recorded just a few months earlier at the Tsubo Coffee House in Berkeley, California, and captures Montgomery leading a talent-packed quintet featuring Johnny Griffin, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb. In the intimate environment of a club gig, this group is positively electric, and, given that Riverside boss Orrin Keepnews encouraged the band to perform multiple takes to construct a live album, the documentation here is exceptional. Although Full House was delivered as a concise, all-killer, no-filler, six-track album, over the years it has been expanded to include many of those alternate takes. A 2007 reissue doubled the initial length and seemed to be comprehensive, but this 2023 Complete Full House edition tacks on a previously unreleased and unedited version of the title cut that restores Montgomery's original solo. Wisely, the original album—in beautifully remastered form—is the foundation of this edition, and presented with its running order intact. Highlights abound throughout the remainder of the set, however, whether it's Paul Chambers' stunning bass solo on an alternate take of Dizzy Gillespie's "Blue 'n' Boogie" or that previously unreleased master take of "Full House." Although a few tracks are here in two or three different versions, the pacing and sequencing of the record never feels weedy or redundant, even when these alternate takes are presented back to back, making a strong testament to the versatility and vitality of Montgomery and his band. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

The Breeders of Pod and the Breeders of Last Splash seemed like two very different bands, as the astringent indie rock of the band's debut seemed to take a back seat to the highly melodic riff-dealing of their commercial breakthrough. The departure of Slint drummer Britt Walford and Throwing Muses guitarist Tanya Donnelly was certainly a factor, as Jim MacPherson's straightforward drumming has a whole lot to do with the propulsive power of Last Splash. However, Kim Deal's decision to recruit her twin sister Kelley for guitar and vocals is also a big factor. While the Deal sisters' vocal harmonies are justifiably praiseworthy for giving Last Splash some of its most memorable moments (the entirety of "Cannonball," for instance), the quirky muscularity of their deceptively intricate guitar work is the album's secret weapon. The weird combination of multi-tracked and doubled guitar lines (some on acoustic guitars, some on electric guitars, some on distorted acoustic guitars) sounds like effortlessly chunky garage rock, but a close listen to the component parts of a cut like the Blondie-nod of "Flipside" is likely to cause dizziness. This studio intensity is prevalent throughout much of Last Splash, giving it a unique patina that feels as rough and loose as it does meticulously crafted. Much of the album's sonic perfectionism has been variously ascribed to Kim Deal's wish for vengeance after being rudely fired from the Pixies, her escalating drug use, or simply that she's an audiophile spirit trapped in an indie rocker's body. In all likelihood, it was all three things combined with the natural energy that comes from a band working with an exceptional set of material. While "weird Breeders" gets plenty of air time on Last Splash ("Mad Lucas" and "Hag" both could have been Pod outtakes; "Roi" manages to make Led Zeppelin riffs sound like art-rock), the ridiculous quantity of infectious melodies and top-shelf arrangements on the album ("Saints," "Cannonball," "No Aloha," "Divine Hammer" and "Do You Love Me Now?") are evidence of an artist at the peak of her powers who just happens to have a band alongside her that can absolutely deliver on the promise of that material. This 30th anniversary edition benefits from being remastered from the original, long-thought-lost analog tapes (Deal was adamant that the album was recorded in an all-analog chain, so this should be a faithful rendition) as well as two previously unreleased bonus tracks. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz

The Swedish hitmakers' first compilation prepared for the CD format, and one of the biggest-selling releases of all time.© TiVo

SZA's second album was such a long time coming that it was preceded by a fifth anniversary deluxe edition of her debut (the multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated Ctrl), and enough loose tracks, soundtrack cuts, and featured appearances to make an LP-length playlist. One of the intervening singles, "Hit Different," is vintage enough to be sampled -- slowed down to lend a spectral self-duet quality to "Love Language," among many songs on SOS that portrays romantic torment with conflicted emotions. SZA also draws "SOS" itself as a clip-emptying return, an opening scene soundtracked by muffled gospel soul, kicking down the door and staking claims with assaultive bars about her incontestible omnipotence and impostors hatched since she went supernova. Hour-plus length and stylistic variety likewise signal that SOS could be the overreaching kind of highly anticipated follow-up. Still, it's an advancement from Ctrl in every respect apart from cohesion, a feature purposefully disregarded by SZA and main songwriting/production collaborators Rob Bisel and Carter Lang. Take track two, "Kill Bill," a bleary/psychedelic pop-soul revenge fantasy with a performance of such nuance that escalating madness, delight, and shock can be sensed in SZA's confession to murder. "Gone Girl," yearning for comfort and intimate escape, is one of those sad stealth belters. The chaser is a cold-blooded if humor-laced rap broadside. Not far behind is a lonseome and spiteful country pop-punk rager and another number with some Nashville appeal, a codependent acoustic ballad. Fine as the classification-defying moments are, R&B soliloquies remain SZA's forte. The emotional and sonic complexity of SOS was teased by three such songs, pre-release singles placed toward the end that are crucial to the sequence. The brilliantly lean and scuffed Darkchild collaboration "Shirt" allows all the space needed for the singer to unleash some terse invective directed outward and inward. "I Hate U" is a striking depiction of intimate restlessness rendered as an inching slow jam that stings as much as it seduces. "Good Days" is both downcast and dazzling, covering exhaustion, regret, renewal, and progression in one spangled swoop. One of the latter ballad's finely wrought phrases, "a war in my mind," would have been just as suitable an album title as the distress signal.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

Live album or studio album? Woman Worldwide falls right between the two; it’s the synthesis of a huge one-year tour and the meticulous work by the French duo. It all began with their third album Woman, released in 2016, which gave rise to the creation of one of the most impressive live shows the following year. However, Xavier De Rosnay and Gaspard Augé have not just revisited Woman, they have also drawn from their previous two albums (Cross and Audio Video Disco) to create this supercharged mash-up. But for this duo, simply releasing an album isn’t enough. Their label Ed Banger adds that "After a year of testing, performing, refining and recording on the road, they returned to the studio in Paris to give their songs the finish that live performance doesn't always allow.” At first glance, the result seems enormous: you are quickly lead through ten years of Justice with a power that has never been reached before by the French duo. It shakes, it lifts, it explodes. But when you listen to the remix again, the mixing and arrangement work is so thorough that you can understand why one of the most talented electronic duets on the planet have chosen to present this work as a studio album. Our only regret is that no exclusive tracks have been included; it could have alleviated the pain of waiting until the next record. © Sylvain Di Cristo / Qobuz

ABBA Gold: Complete Edition is a curious release -- with two discs of material, it's probably too much for casual listeners seeking only ABBA's biggest chart hits (available instead on the single-disc Gold collection), while more serious fans will have already invested in the four-disc Thank You for the Music box set, rendering this package almost totally irrelevant. There's undoubtedly great music here, of course -- the problem is just that it's unlikely to fill the needs of most consumers.© Jason Ankeny /TiVo

Stylish nostalgia is the pan et beurre of a lot of French dance music, including -- for better and worse -- Justice's third album. Arriving five years after Audio, Video, Disco, Woman is built on layers of fondly remembered vintage funk and disco, pre-EDM French Touch, and Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay's own work. The duo lead with the most broadly appealing side of their music: with its choral vocals and popping bass, "Safe and Sound" sounds like a slowed-down version of "D.A.N.C.E." with a hint of roller disco, while the gleaming synths and chugging rhythms of "Alakazam!" and "Fire" keep going like perpetual-motion party machines. Individually, these tracks are a lot of fun, but taken together, they give the impression that the pop whimsy and prog metal tangents of Cross and Audio, Video, Disco are strengths Justice preferred to leave in the past. Just when it seems Woman is consistent to a fault, Augé and de Rosnay bring some of that weirdness back to their music without derailing their grooves. The luxe vocals on the aptly named "Chorus" lend some oddball '70s sci-fi majesty to its gritty beat (and the final track, "Close Call," adds to the impression that Woman is secretly the soundtrack to a space fantasia). Meanwhile, "Heavy Metal"'s frantic counterpoint has as much in common with Audio, Video, Disco's metal fixations as it does with kitschy classical pop. "Randy," which features vocals from longtime contributor Morgan Phalen, blends chugging guitars and strings courtesy of the London Contemporary Orchestra into one of the album's finest examples of genre-mashing; similarly, the breezy "Love S.O.S." proves the duo's range remains. Even if Woman sometimes sounds more like two EPs than a cohesive set of songs, it's still an enjoyable album -- especially when Justice use their flair for looking back creatively.© Heather Phares /TiVo

While establishing herself as one of the most highly-acclaimed rappers on an international scale, Little Simz has injected herself with a booster shot: her artistic personality is complex, crossing genres and deeply rooting itself in the recent sonic traditions of her home country, England. That being said, Drop7, like many of her EPs, allows her to explore other lands. Here, it's a passion for electronic that comes through with a know-how that allows her to be comfortable with an impressive variety of aesthetics as well as on busy productions that verge on industrial, techno, and deep house but aren't strictly confined to these terms. Just like the album cover, where she appears as half-woman, half-robot, bionic aesthetics occupy a predominant place on this fast-paced EP, whose tracks are short but extremely intense, featuring a melodic and intimate Little Simz right alongside the raw, hard-hitting version of the rapper who has made an unmistakable musical trademark out of her laid back, well-controlled flow. She even goes as far as to dehumanize her primary instrument on "I Ain't Feelin It," and ends up receding into the background by almost presenting a character, a musical alias that she seems to bring to life over the course of seven extremely high-quality tracks. © Brice Miclet/Qobuz

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Often overshadowed by the subsequent twin highlights of Toys in the Attic and Rocks, Aerosmith's 1974 second album, Get Your Wings, is where Aerosmith became Aerosmith -- it's where they teamed up with producer Jack Douglas, it's where they shed much of their influences and developed their own trademark sound, it's where they turned into songwriters, it's where Steven Tyler unveiled his signature obsessions with sex and sleaze. Chief among these attributes may be Douglas, who either helped the band ease into the studio or captured their sound in a way their debut never did. This is a leaner, harder album, bathed in grease and layered in grit, but it's not just down to Douglas. The band itself sounds more distinctive. There are blues in Joe Perry and Joey Kramer's interplay, but this leapfrogs over blues-rock; it turns into slippery hard rock. To be sure, it's still easy to hear the Stones here, but they never really sound Stonesy; there's almost more of the Yardbirds to the way the group works the riffs, particularly evident on the cover of the early 'Birds classic "The Train Kept a Rollin'." But if the Yardbirds were tight and nervy, Aerosmith is blown out and loose, the sound of excess incarnate -- that is, in every way but the writing itself, which is confident and strong, fueled by Tyler's gonzo sex drive. He is the "Lord of the Thighs," playing that "Same Old Song and Dance," but he also slows down enough for the eerie "Seasons of Wither," a powerful slow-churning ballad whose mastery of atmosphere is a good indication of how far the band has grown. They never attempted anything quite so creepy on their debut, but it isn't just that Aerosmith is trying newer things on Get Your Wings, it's that they're doing their bloozy bluster better and bolder, which is what turns this sophomore effort into their first classic.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

One year after his suicide, here we already have a posthumous album for EDM superstar Avicii, who was putting the finishing touches on it before tragically deciding to end his life near Muscat, Oman on April 20th, 2018. Wrung out from 800 dates in 6 years, alcohol was the only means he could find to manage his incredible global overexposure. While three quarters of the compositions were completed during his lifetime according to his family, it was friend and producer Carl Falk who finalized the album in Stockholm over the last few months. A first single with an evocative title, SOS, had fans salivating over a production with Caribbean touches, and with Aloe Blacc on the microphone: the voice that had launched Avicii's first studio album, True, with the hit Wake Me Up.But Tim is full of potential hits. The album features Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons on Heart Upon My Sleeve, Chris Martin from Coldplay on Heaven, as well as a big Swedish contingent, with producer Kristoffer Fogelmark aka Bonn, and beatmaker duo Vincent Pontare and Salem Al Fakir, who all form 12 farewell tracks to the prolific Avicii. All profits generated by the album will go to the Tim Bergling Foundation, created by his family and dedicated to suicide prevention. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

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Def Leppard have released a whole host of standout albums that combine great artistic creation with huge commercial success, particularly during the 80s with records like High’n’Dry (1981), Pyromania (1983) and Hysteria (1987)—the latter of which went 12 times platinum in the US alone. As grunge and new modern music gained traction, it really dealt a blow to MTV-era hard rock bands, but Def Leppard—like many of the old school rockers of the time—never gave up. If you’ve been closely following the band’s career since the early 90s, Diamond Star Halos won’t come as a surprise since the band have followed a fairly logical progression. From civilised ballads to huge productions that have swapped hard rock for more classic rock, they could easily be included within the AOR genre. This English band haven’t lost their knack for creating huge hits either: there’s three on this 2022 album alone.This album is smooth, clean, and harmonised. The agressive sound they went for in their early years has been replaced with the kind of class that only comes with age, even their big riffs have a classy edge (for example in SOS Emergency, which starts off heavy but eventually morphs into a track well-suited to mainstream radio). Naturally, this release features its fair share of ballads, some of them more accomplished than others. Keyboardist Mike Garson (David Bowie’s faithful companion) even features in the credits of Goodbye for Good This Time and Angels (Can’t Help You Now). The guest list also includes Alison Krauss, the 27-time Grammy Award-winning bluegrass star (who has also released two albums in duet with Robert Plant in the past). Her vocals light up This Guitar and Lifeless. There are few other tracks that pack a real punch too: the lively and synthetic Unbreakable, the groovy U Rock Mi (which has a chorus that was just made for live stadium performances) and the incredible Open Your Eyes (which really puts the spotlight on Joe Elliot’s evolution as a vocalist). Unlike Scorpions and Saxon with their recent viagra-fuelled albums, Def Leppard are now making music that’s “suited to their age”—and that’s no bad thing, no one’s going to be holding it against them. Diamond Star Halos is a great rock album (perhaps even a great hard rock album). It might have been worth dropping two or three tracks from the tracklist (see if you can spot them!), but this a still a brilliant, well-produced release. There’s no doubt that Def Leppard have still got something to say that’s worth hearing. © Charlélie Arnaud/Qobuz

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France's Benjamin Biolay left behind his provocative Buenos Aires cycle after two acclaimed albums, Palermo Hollywood in 2016 and the platinum-certified Volver in 2017). Grand Prix is nostalgic and unquestionably autobiographical. Its title references Formula 1 racing's excitement, drama, heroes, and tragedies. "Grand Prize" artfully contrasts racing with his own life experiences and the sacrifices he's made in pursuit of art. Of course his romantic life plays a major part: Ex-wife Chiara Mastroianni makes two guest appearances, former lover Keren Ann makes another, and current girlfriend, actress Anaïs Demoustier, assists on two others. The younger Biolay loved the Smiths, Happy Mondays, New Order, and the Strokes and he pays homage to them all and more, with a small band, analog synths, complete guitar and drum takes, and live vocals in songs that caress elements of Krautrock, post-punk, Brit-and electro-pop, Euro-disco, chanson, and MPB. Single "Comment Est Ta Peine," with Demoustier, opens with a disco-phonic synth similar to Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." However, the organic drums, sharp, funky guitars, and rigid bassline are adamantly rockist. Biolay's lyrics enquire about his lover's existential pain, contrasting it egotistically and ironically with his own. Mastroianni appears on the poignant yet hooky "Visage Pâle," where Biolay claims with too much protestation that "I have less appetite than sincerity/Love has a price that I can no longer pay…." On "Comme Une Voiture Volée," guitars ring with longing and excitement (think M83!) as drums and swirling synths propel the mix up and out. His lyrics offer only longing: "My heart is like an old engine when you lift the bonnet. You're as beautiful as a stolen car.…" The chanson ballad "Vendredi 12" questions a lost lover's memories while betraying the depths of his own abjection and loneliness. The title track is introduced by a nostalgic organ and distinctly "French rock" dancefloor beat. It's an uptempo elegy for Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi, who died from his racing injuries at age 24. For "Papillon Noir," with Demoustier, he channels New Order's dancefloor rock beautifully. Again, despite the joy in the mix, his lyrics are resigned to always being in a temporary place when it comes to love: "I am an evening visitor, I am the vestiges of the dark sun/I am the night watchman, I am the bizarre boy...who has nothing to do/I am your only alibi, your temporary libido…." Closer "Interlagos (Saudade)" touches on the 1994 death of Brazilian Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senn, then revels in Biolay's own tears, joys, and small victories; it's a dreamy lament, complete with choirs, strings, and shuffling percussion, elevated by the presence of his daughter Anna (credited as "Bambi") on backing vocals. Ultimately, Grand Prix is Biolay's finest album since 2009's La Superbe, if not his best overall, and is easily his most revealing and vulnerable. No longer the enfant terrible of modern chanson, the singer, songwriter, and producer is now one of France's most evocative -- and necessary -- artists.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Thanks to good timing and some great singles, Last Splash turned the Breeders into the alternative rock superstars that Kim Deal's former band Pixies always seemed on the verge of becoming. Yet in some ways, the group's commercial breakthrough was the most unpredictable music they'd made up to that point. Joined by Deal's twin sister, Kelley, the band builds on the Safari EP's polished production, but instead of merely making their sound bigger or more palatable, they play with more styles, textures, and moods than ever before. Nowhere is this more evident than on the album's blockbuster single "Cannonball." From the foghorn-like vocals that announce it to Josephine Wiggs' bouncing bassline to its singsong vocals, virtually every part of this mischievously sexy, choppy yet grooving song is a hook. Though it became a symbol of the 1990s alt-rock revolution, it's so light and playful that it still sounded fresh years later. The Breeders extend "Cannonball"'s jumps, twists, and tangents to Last Splash as a whole, balancing irresistible pop with whimsical detours. They take this approach to extremes by teasing listeners with the elliptical shuffling and muttering of "Mad Lucas" before delivering two and a half minutes of flirty pop perfection with "Divine Hammer." More often, the album's patchwork offers a wealth of ideas and feelings. "Hag" and "No Aloha," a startling hybrid of desert island balladry and churning punk-pop, update Pod's surreal feminism, a mood that trickles down to the aching independence of "Invisible Man." Then there's the band's obsession with summer, which ranges from "Flipside"s high-tide surf-pop to "Saints," a sunburnt celebration of a state fair complete with braying riffs and lines like "pony in the air" that reflect Deal's brilliance at abstract yet immediately recognizable imagery. Kim and Kelley's mega-watt charm is one of the main reasons Last Splash holds together as well as it does. "Drivin' on 9" (a cover of a song by fellow Dayton, Ohio band Ed's Redeeming Qualities) provides one of the album's best showcases for the pure charisma of the former's voice, while "I Just Wanna Get Along"'s apocalyptic power pop puts the spotlight on the latter's singing and razor-sharp songwriting. Along with its emphasis on fun, Last Splash is one of the defining albums of early-'90s alternative rock precisely because of its anything-goes mood -- an attitude that the Breeders held on to for the rest of their career.© Heather Phares /TiVo