English listeners went mad for Katie Melua with the release of her debut album in late 2003. Issued domestically in June 2004, Call Off the Search posits the lovely Melua pristinely in between pop, adult contemporary, and traditional American musical forms, with savvy marketing handling the finishing touches. (Think Norah Jones.) It's a comfortable, lightly melodic affair that drinks red wine safely in the middle of the road. Raised in Soviet Georgia and the United Kingdom, Melua has a beguiling accent that colors the ends of her phrases, adding character to her velvety, if occasionally only satisfactory singing voice. She has a nice time with the understated R&B sashay of John Mayall's "Crawling Up a Hill," as well as Mike Batt's "My Aphrodisiac Is You," which is spiced up with barrelhouse piano, muted trumpet, and sly references to opium and the Kama Sutra. The singer's own "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" opens nicely with a few measures of solo acoustic guitar before it's joined by the orchestral maneuvers that sweep through the majority of Call Off the Search's after-dark cabaret. (Melua also penned a dedication to Eva Cassidy, who she's been compared to vocally.) While the instrumentation is never overbearing, a stoic version of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and a couple of late-album pop vocal entries do dawdle a bit in the soft-focus halo that hovers over Search's more easygoing stretches. These selections are perfectly capable, yet pretty obvious, as if the decision was made to sprinkle Melua's debut equally with safety and variety, in case a particular style didn't stick. Still, despite a few detours down easy street, Call Off the Search is a promising debut, and comfortable like the first drink of the evening.© Johnny Loftus /TiVo

After three albums under the name The Marcus King Band (Soul Insight in 2015, the eponymous The Marcus King Band in 2016 and Carolina Confessions in 2018), the Southern prodigy now operates under simply his own name. At only 23 years old, the South Carolina kid has always played freely, a craftsman of a very location-oriented bluesy rock, with outlaw country influences as well as timeless soul à la Atlantic/Stax. Unsurprisingly, El Dorado juggles between sounds that are akin to The Allman Brothers, Faces, The Black Crowes, Gov’t Mule, Tedeschi Trucks Band and The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street. This time, King has called in Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys for production, in order to focus more on the songwriting and the songs’ commercial potential. The spirit of infinite jam sessions that soundtrack a night of slow drinking feels as if it’s been left behind, in favour of more constricted songs. All the better: El Dorado is a flow of Al Green-esque soulful slows (Wildflowers & Wine), more uptempo ballads (One Day She’s Here) and country rock hits (Too Much Whiskey, a nod to Willie Nelson’s Whiskey River). Marcus King has the vocals of a weathered soulman, sometimes conjuring up the golden age of Rod Stewart with Faces or John Fogerty from Creedence Clearwater Revival. Furthermore, to breathe even more history into his album, King brought in drummer Gene Chrisman and pianist Bobby Wood, big names of the American Sound Studio who have played with Dusty Springfield and Elvis. Paul Franklin’s pedal steel guitar even makes a feature. But under this avalanche of sounds, influences, names and vintage tones which could quickly submerge the main artist, Marcus King possesses a highly original personality, something which this album manages to strongly transmit to the listener. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

English listeners went mad for Katie Melua with the release of her debut album in late 2003. Issued domestically in June 2004, Call Off the Search posits the lovely Melua pristinely in between pop, adult contemporary, and traditional American musical forms, with savvy marketing handling the finishing touches. (Think Norah Jones.) It's a comfortable, lightly melodic affair that drinks red wine safely in the middle of the road. Raised in Soviet Georgia and the United Kingdom, Melua has a beguiling accent that colors the ends of her phrases, adding character to her velvety, if occasionally only satisfactory singing voice. She has a nice time with the understated R&B sashay of John Mayall's "Crawling Up a Hill," as well as Mike Batt's "My Aphrodisiac Is You," which is spiced up with barrelhouse piano, muted trumpet, and sly references to opium and the Kama Sutra. The singer's own "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" opens nicely with a few measures of solo acoustic guitar before it's joined by the orchestral maneuvers that sweep through the majority of Call Off the Search's after-dark cabaret. (Melua also penned a dedication to Eva Cassidy, who she's been compared to vocally.) While the instrumentation is never overbearing, a stoic version of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and a couple of late-album pop vocal entries do dawdle a bit in the soft-focus halo that hovers over Search's more easygoing stretches. These selections are perfectly capable, yet pretty obvious, as if the decision was made to sprinkle Melua's debut equally with safety and variety, in case a particular style didn't stick. Still, despite a few detours down easy street, Call Off the Search is a promising debut, and comfortable like the first drink of the evening.© Johnny Loftus /TiVo

English listeners went mad for Katie Melua with the release of her debut album in late 2003. Issued domestically in June 2004, Call Off the Search posits the lovely Melua pristinely in between pop, adult contemporary, and traditional American musical forms, with savvy marketing handling the finishing touches. (Think Norah Jones.) It's a comfortable, lightly melodic affair that drinks red wine safely in the middle of the road. Raised in Soviet Georgia and the United Kingdom, Melua has a beguiling accent that colors the ends of her phrases, adding character to her velvety, if occasionally only satisfactory singing voice. She has a nice time with the understated R&B sashay of John Mayall's "Crawling Up a Hill," as well as Mike Batt's "My Aphrodisiac Is You," which is spiced up with barrelhouse piano, muted trumpet, and sly references to opium and the Kama Sutra. The singer's own "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" opens nicely with a few measures of solo acoustic guitar before it's joined by the orchestral maneuvers that sweep through the majority of Call Off the Search's after-dark cabaret. (Melua also penned a dedication to Eva Cassidy, who she's been compared to vocally.) While the instrumentation is never overbearing, a stoic version of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" and a couple of late-album pop vocal entries do dawdle a bit in the soft-focus halo that hovers over Search's more easygoing stretches. These selections are perfectly capable, yet pretty obvious, as if the decision was made to sprinkle Melua's debut equally with safety and variety, in case a particular style didn't stick. Still, despite a few detours down easy street, Call Off the Search is a promising debut, and comfortable like the first drink of the evening.© Johnny Loftus /TiVo

Originally released as a limited-run LP for 2014's Record Store Day before Modular issued a digital version later that year, Live Versions is a live album from Australian psych rockers Tame Impala. Made up of nine beautifully recorded tracks captured during a 2013 performance at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, the record features tracks spanning all the way back to the band's self-titled 2006 EP. With its great production values and a superb set list featuring excellent cuts like "Desire Be Desire Go" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards," Live Versions is one of those rare live albums that could easily double as a best-of compilation for new fans, while offering enough in the way of new experiences that die-hard Tame Impala devotees will want to get in on the action. © Gregory Heaney /TiVo

Alan Parsons' Try Anything Once, released in 1993, is made up of beautifully mastered songs that carry their own charisma, thanks to the numerous vocalists that contribute throughout the album. No single track rises from among the others, and the final product actually makes this album work. Singers such as David Pack, Chris Thompson, Eric Stewart, and Jacqui Copland present each tune with refreshing differentiation and style. There is no overall concept strewn together on Try Anything Once, but many of the songs touch on religion and the hope of an afterlife, like "Wine From the Water" and "Turn It Up." Each song carries its weight with either rich instrumentation or delicate lyrics, and Parsons' use of puzzling metaphors once again makes for an intriguing collection of songs. The four instrumentals -- "Dreamscape," "Breakaway," "Jigue," and "Re-Jigue" -- add wonderment and a classical savoir faire to the album, with "Re-Jigue" benefitting from the Philharmonia Orchestra. An element of wonder and fascination hovers above songs like "The Three of Us" and "Mr. Time," and the cloudiness and uncertainty of Parsons' themes create an attraction to his thought-provoking words. Since his message is left for the listener to contemplate (unlike past albums that were conceptually blatant like I Robot or Pyramid), Try Anything Once breeds its own allure and intricacies. The absence of the word "Project" at the end of his name makes no difference, because the music and the atmosphere on this album harbor the same mysterious effects as when it was included.© Mike DeGagne /TiVo

Sean Paul doesn’t waste any time when it comes to creating music. He only recently released a successful album in 2021, Live n Livin, on which he surrounded himself with the best Jamaican talents, from Buju Banton and Damian Marley to next-gen artists such as Leftside, Skillibeng and Masicka. It took just one year for the dancehall star to release his pop-inspired eighth studio album. This album is a turning point for “Dutty Paul” who has publicly announced that after years gracing the American airwaves with pure dancehall music, he’s now decided to branch out into the dance craze that has gripped US pop. Helping him take this step are Canadian producers The Banx & Ranx, who worked with him on Dynamite featuring Sia, How We Do It featuring Pia Mia and Calling On Me. On Scorcha,  major release No Fear, featuring Damian Marley and Nicky Jam, he embraces the Afrobeat style, which is now popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite this new direction, reggae and dancehall are far from forgotten. Gwen Stefani is the perfect match for the track Light My Fire, singing alongside Shenseea. On the title track, Scorcha, Sean Paul adds great vocals whilst delivering one of the best versions of Style A Style Riddim, a popular instrumental produced by Chimney Records. From the beaches of Kingston to the bright lights of L.A, Sean Paul is still a huge star. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

Based very loosely around the motif of literary genres (science fiction, fantasy, classics, etc.), XII shows Barclay James Harvest following many other progressive bands in the late '70s with slicker production and simplified song structures. This attempt at the mainstream doesn't always succeed; the album begins inauspiciously with "Loving Is Easy," a generic rock track with embarrassing "shoot my love into you" lyrics. But the simple yet effective arrangement of the keyboard ballad, "Berlin," shows that the band is capable of stripping down their compositions without having to sink to the lowest common denominator. Still, most fans won't find much to love here, except perhaps for "In Search of England," which briefly resurrects Wolstenholme's epic keyboard-driven orchestration.© Paul Collins /TiVo

While it's always been true that Ben Harper has been a musically restless soul with a penchant for changing up his groove from album to album, most of them have been recorded with his longtime unit the Innocent Criminals. As a result, both live and in the studio, a particular vibe existed. Familiarity breeds that, and it also sets up a dynamic. For White Lies for Dark Times, Harper put the Innocent Criminals on hiatus and hooked up with a new group: three Austin, TX transplants to Los Angeles called Relentless7, comprised of guitarist Jason Mozersky, bassist Jesse Ingalls, and drummer Jordan Richardson. The end result is, to say the least, explosive. While it's true that this 11-track collection does have some beautiful acoustic balladry on it, and a touch of Harper's brand of soul in its grooves, most of what we find here is balls out Rock with a potent dose of ragged, modern Texas blues thrown in. Indeed this may be the most electric sounding recording Harper has ever issued. He co-wrote six of the tracks with his bandmates, and those he wrote himself have been arranged and/or written to be played with this band. It's in the mix from the opener, "Number with No Name," the slow slide guitar playing an electric blues stomp that's pure Harper, but the drums are pure thud and whomp rather than snap and crackle. The bassline is enormous and the second guitar matches both volume and nastiness with that slide. In other words, this sounds like a band playing this jam, not Harper and his band. One can hear traces of Jimi Hendrix, early ZZ Top, and Johnny Winter in the attack, but it's pure rocking blues thunder and lightning spit out via Texas and the Delta.The more spacy rock of "U pto You Now" is more directly a "Harper" tune with its stretched rhythmic sense and soulful vocal, but the utterly popping bass and wooly distorted guitar mix move it beyond his sensitive singer/songwriter frame. "Shimmer & Shine," the set's first single, begins as a double-timed rocker with Richarsdon's drum break, but kicks in with a staggered set of power chords that blend angsty punk and anthemic rock. "Why Must You Always Dress in Black" is pure blues-rock venom, the overdriven distortion (engineer and co-producer Danny Kalb did a brilliant job on this set, and on this track in particular) makes the guitars sound like they're breathing fire. The scattershot breaks from Richardson are impressive, especially as underscored with a syncopated bass pattern that marries blues, rock, and funk by Ingalls. Harper's slide chops -- especially when matched against that screaming blues riff of Mozersky's -- marks the toughest cut on the set. And that's saying something, because there isn't a throwaway here. Whether it's the shimmering, gospel-tinged balladry of "Skin Thin," the crunchy wah-wah electric funk-rock of "Keep It Together (So I Can Fall Apart)," the tripped out voodoo-psych, percussion-driven skronk that is "Boots Like These," or the straight up gorgeous, midtempo soul-rock ballad "Faithfully Remain," that closes the set on an uplifting (if reserved) note; it's all inspired and executed flawlessly. And while it's true that many of the tunes have lyrics that reflect anger, disillusionment, and sometimes bitterness, the snarling yet joyous attack in the music balances them. This is the record that finally matches the excitement Harper generates in a live setting and is not to be missed.© Thom Jurek /TiVo

Sean Paul doesn’t waste any time when it comes to creating music. He only recently released a successful album in 2021, Live n Livin, on which he surrounded himself with the best Jamaican talents, from Buju Banton and Damian Marley to next-gen artists such as Leftside, Skillibeng and Masicka. It took just one year for the dancehall star to release his pop-inspired eighth studio album. This album is a turning point for “Dutty Paul” who has publicly announced that after years gracing the American airwaves with pure dancehall music, he’s now decided to branch out into the dance craze that has gripped US pop. Helping him take this step are Canadian producers The Banx & Ranx, who worked with him on Dynamite featuring Sia, How We Do It featuring Pia Mia and Calling On Me. On Scorcha,  major release No Fear, featuring Damian Marley and Nicky Jam, he embraces the Afrobeat style, which is now popular on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite this new direction, reggae and dancehall are far from forgotten. Gwen Stefani is the perfect match for the track Light My Fire, singing alongside Shenseea. On the title track, Scorcha, Sean Paul adds great vocals whilst delivering one of the best versions of Style A Style Riddim, a popular instrumental produced by Chimney Records. From the beaches of Kingston to the bright lights of L.A, Sean Paul is still a huge star. © Smaël Bouaici/Qobuz

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