Always more than a punk band, Idles have continued their rock evolution, now resolved to "discard the lure of generational nihilism for a more benevolent and unifying force: love." This doesn't mean their music has gone soft. Singer Joe Talbot, guitarist Mark Bowen, bassist Adam Devonshire, drummer John Beavis, and guitarist Lee Kiernan have learned to vary the textures and tempos and write with the wisdom that inevitably comes with age and experience. In "Gift Horse" ripsaw guitar and aggressive vocals roar over a pounding tempo.  Talbot forcefully delivers his gospel: "My baby she so great/ I wake up grateful every day/ My baby is beautiful/ All is love and love is all," before a final snarl of "Fuck the king/ He ain't the king/ She's the king." "Dancer" opens with a grand flourish of violins before jumpy, bass-led dance floor filler allows Talbot to paint a picture of himself: "Shoulders back/ Chest out/ I'm poised/ Like a god damn ape," reveling in the sexual energy and rhyming "sweat" with "pirouette" along the way.  James Murphy and Nancy Whang of LCD Soundsystem sing "Collide us while we work it out" as Talbot shouts "Hold the phone/ Hip to hip/ Cheek to cheek." It's an inspired fusion. Set to an edgy, inconsolable rhythm, "Grace" returns Talbot to Tangk's emotional north star, singing "No god/ No king/ I said love is the thing" which eventually modulates its way to an abrupt end. That's followed by the rocking guitar squall of "Hall & Oates" where a quiet break features Talbot— always more of a singer than a pure howler—eloquently vocalizing, before a screech of feedback leads to another sudden finish. Opening with cymbals, guitar distortion and a resonant bass line, "Gratitude" eventually revs up with vehemence, but generally lacks the anger and abandon of the past. After brooding "More old bloody murder from/ A bastard's old cake hole/ Rip up cuticles/ And moron's wistful/ And acid to wash my soul," Talbot reveals with urgency, "I'm soft to the core …. Hold my hands up/ And thank you/ Gratitude/ Hold my hands up."  The moody vocal dirge "Monolith'' closes out the album with an unexpected saxophone solo. Tangk is raw mastery and convincing finesse from these self-described truth-seekers who continue to brilliantly refine their pursuit of what they call "the grim persistence of joy and hope and love and wonder as long as that's what anyone needs to survive." © Robert Baird/Qobuz

While technically a companion work to 2020's A Celebration of Endings, Biffy Clyro's ninth studio album, the emotionally sanguine The Myth of Happily Ever After, stands on its own. Produced by Adam Noble and largely recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, the album bristles with a mix of frustration, anger, and yearning, all of which feel intrinsically linked to the turmoil surrounding the pandemic. It's a thematic state of emotion the band touched upon with A Celebration of Endings, but which they attack with a renewed sense of purpose here. Tracks like "A Hunger in Your Haunt" and "Unknown Male 01" are driving punk-prog anthems rife with a coiled and pent-up anxiety. Elsewhere, they take a more languid approach as on the shimmering "Separate Missions" with its crepuscular synth accents and falsetto melody evoking the paranoid romanticism of '80s bands like the Fixx and the Jam. Equally engaging are cuts like "Haru Urara" and "Existed," which find them dipping into '70s R&B grooves and airy post-punk balladry, respectively. Biffy Clyro have long been a band of extremes, crafting esoteric art rock epics one minute and melodic punk singalongs the next -- all the while aiming for a broad, gladiator-esque level of catharsis. It's that grasping for a unified release and the creeping feeling that society may never break free of its constraints that drive much of The Myth of Happily Ever After. As they sing on the album-ending "Slurpy Slurpy Sleep Sleep," "Life is a sad song/We only hear once/Please give it all that you've got/Before the rhythm stops."© Matt Collar /TiVo

Vitalic has a certain playful mystique that goes beyond Pascal Arbez's invented back story of being a Ukrainian trubcka player and occasional gigolo from a family of sea otter fur traders. In fact, his inability to take anything too seriously, least of all the music he makes, may be the key to Vitalic's appeal. In an interview around the time that his full-length debut, OK Cowboy, was released, Arbez stated that he didn't listen to techno albums "because they are boring," something that can't be said of this witty, stylistically omnivorous album. Acid house, techno, electro, rock, Gypsy melodies, and marches are mixed together into a sound that is both distinctly French (Eastern European pretensions aside, the comparisons to Daft Punk and Air are undeniable) and distinctly Vitalic. OK Cowboy collects Arbez's key singles and EP tracks, including everything from his much-loved 2001 Poney EP. "Poney, Pt. 1" and "Poney, Pt. 2" may still be Vitalic's best moments -- they're as eerie and emotional as they are hard-hitting and kinetic, with vocoders that are oddly scary and hilarious at the same time. The revving "La Rock 01," however, doesn't fare quite as well; while it still moves, the best of OK Cowboy's newer tracks show how much Arbez's style has developed in the years between the EP and this album. "My Friend Dario," the single that preceded OK Cowboy's release, is a standout: equal parts detached synth pop and head-banging hard rock, it's the poppiest Vitalic track yet, with vocals courtesy of Brigitte, a vocal-synthesis program that sounds as robo-sexy as a chick on speed. The video for the single -- which features electroclash fembots and heavy metal heshers meeting up and getting down à la the legendary Aerosmith and Run-D.M.C. team-up "Walk This Way" -- nails the song's trashy, giddy vibe. Nearly all of OK Cowboy is just as vivid. "Polkamatic" wouldn't sound out of place at Star Wars' Mos Eisely Cantina, while "The Past"'s blobby analog synths conjure visions of '70s shag carpeting and extruded plastic furniture. As good as interlude-like tracks such as these are, Vitalic's greatest strength still lies in elegantly punishing dancefloor workouts like the excellent "Newman" and "No Fun," another Brigitte-dominated track. Nevertheless, OK Cowboy is a full-fledged album, with a satisfying ebb and flow that shows that Arbez's sound has several sides to it. © Heather Phares /TiVo

Issued without advance notice 17 days after Kendrick Lamar's riveting 2016 Grammy Awards performance, untitled unmastered. consists of eight demos that are simply numbered and dated. Apart from segments previewed at the Grammys and late-night television appearances, there was no formal promotion. A postscript, it's (artfully) artless in presentation -- not even basic credits appear on the Army green liner card in the compact disc edition -- yet it's almost as lyrically and musically rich as To Pimp a Butterfly. The dates indicate that the majority of the material was made during the sessions for that album, and the presence of many of its players and vocalists is unmistakable. This was assembled with a high level of care that is immediately evident, its components sequenced to foster an easy listen. Track-to-track flow, however, is about the only aspect of this release that can be called smooth. After an intimate spoken intro from Bilal, the set segues into an urgent judgment-day scenario with squealing strings and a resounding bassline as Lamar confronts mortality and extinction with urgent exasperation. He observes terrifying scenes all the while sensing possible relief ("No more running from world wars," "No more discriminating the poor"). untitled unmastered. offers this and other variations on the connected themes of societal ills, faith, and survival that drove the output it follows, with Lamar at his best when countering proudly materialistic boasts with ever-striking acknowledgments of the odds perilously weighted against his people. Remarkably, this hits its stride in the second half. The stretch involves a rolling, ornamented retro-contemporary production from Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (with vocal assists from Bilal and Cee Lo Green), a stitched suite that is alternately stern and humorously off the cuff (featuring Egypt, five-year-old son of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, as co-producer and vocalist), and a finale of Thundercat-propelled funk. Even while coasting over the latter's breezy and smacking groove, Lamar fills the space with meaning, detailing a confrontation with sharp quips and stinging reprimands. While Lamar referred to these tracks as demos, and not one of them has the pop-soul appeal of "These Walls" or the Black Lives Matter protest-anthem potential of "Alright," untitled unmastered. is no mere offcut dump. It's as vital as anything else its maker has released.© Andy Kellman /TiVo

Frescobaldi brilliantly combines improvisation and architecture. These qualities resonate with the discography of harpsichordist Christophe Rousset, whose choice of repertoire and interpretation are adventurous and serious at the same time. Frescobaldi’s counterpoint goes along with the finest art of singing, inherited from the Italian madrigal, and the flexibility of his language highlights the virtuosity of his compositions. Christophe Rousset recorded toccate and partite on a beautiful and original harpsichord of the late 16th century. Its sound faithfully testifies for the significant place of this First Book of harpsichord pieces in the nascent modernity of Frescobaldi. If the modal harmonies are still old-fashioned, the free beat and subtle melodies make it an indisputable baroque master, admired from Italy to France and Germany: Bach is said to have had a copy of his Fiori musicali! This new disc by Christophe Rousset reveals the first treasures composed specifically for the harpsichord. Its repertoire was served from the beginning by musicians whose expressive boldness recalls in a musical way Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro. © Aparté

For the first time, lovers of Steve Reich will be able to hear his three string quartets all on one disc, by the same performers. Let’s be clear: neither Different Trains nor even Triple Quartet, strictly speaking, are string quartets (at least in the canonical sense of the form). The first two works are enhanced by the addition of sampled interviews, played off magnetic tape. As for the third, it can be performed (depending on artistic choices, and financial constraints) either by three quartets, or one quartet accompanied by two pre-recorded quartets.According to Reich himself, the three works, assembled in a single programme, represent a snapshot of what was creatively possible between the 1980s and 2000s - a period which preceded the democratization of software and loop-stations facilitating multi-track recording. In short, it sought to introduce a contemporary, expanded version of the string quartet into the repertoire. After working with the Kronos Quartet, the Ensemble Modern and the Ensemble Contemporain, the godfather of minimalist music has enlisted the Mivos Quartet as the newest wonderful ambassadors for his music. Their meeting was very auspicious indeed - the violinist Olivia de Prato is also a member of the Ensemble Signal, which already had the composer’s full confidence. That was all it took to get this ‘complete work’ underway.Different Trains (1988) and WTC 9/11 (2010) both deal with events in contemporary history, with each piece using documentary recordings as sound material. In Different Trains, Reich connects memories of his childhood with those of the Holocaust: a comparison between the many train journeys he made between the homes of his two divorced parents during the 1940s, and the far more sordid journeys that awaited the Jewish populations of Europe. WTC 9/11 echoes the terrorist attacks of 11th September 2001, which Reich and his wife experienced through phone calls with their son, who was only a few blocks away from the twin towers. Triple Quartet (1998), inspired by Bartok’s Fourth String Quartet, was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet offers the illusion of a triple quartet with the addition of magnetic tape.The Mivos’ sharp, nervous playing is ever appropriate for the heart-rending theme of WTC 9/11. Rhythmic treatment in Different Trains is almost totally fused with that of the tape, which creates a starkly neutral quality: the idea is to play ‘with’ the samples, rather than against them. The Quartet offers up a real treat here, and it is a great pleasure to get an updated rendition that is still faithful to the spirit of Steve Reich - an interpretation which certainly holds up against those of its great predecessors (Kronos, London Steve Reich, Ensemble Smith)… © Pierre Lamy/Qobuz

Recorded under the guise of Helmut Fritz, a German dandy living in Paris, En Observation is the debut album from French electronic musician Eric Greff. Produced by one half of Discobitch, Laurent Konrad, and co-written with Mohammad Sadeghin, the 2009 release includes the singles "Ca M'enerve," "Ca Gere," and "Miss France."© Jon O'Brien /TiVo