Rock
Mary Timony works her way through loss and anger on Untame the Tiger, her first solo album since 2005′s Ex Hex. The rawness is all too real on ”The Guest,“ as she tries to make sense of it all: ”You dig in your claws when I try to leave ... loneliness, I guess you’ve been a friend.“ Combining their native Scandinavian and European rock and metal influences with American-style party jams, Barren Womb have a certified rock opus on their hands with Chemical Tardigrade. This record demands unconditional surrender to riffs even in the face of blatant hero worship. Guitars confidently chime and shimmer on Ducks Ltd.’s Harms Way, their followup to 2019′s full-length debut Modern Friction. Earworm melodies remain front and foremost for this Toronto duo. What Do We Do Now is a slight departure from the usual wall of noise via Neil Young jams from the J Mascis. While the sound is a little tamer, the Dinosaur Jr. frontman tackles the softer sonics with the same aplomb.
Classical
Piano takes center stage this February with Tiffany Poon’s PentaTone debut, Diaries: Schumann, and Katia & Marielle Labèque’s four-hands arrangements of Philip Glass : Cocteau Trilogy. If you love Strauss, don’t miss soprano Asmik Grigorian’s Strauss: Four Last Songs, featuring both orchestral accompaniment and piano arrangement versions. We also highly recommend cellist Anastasia Kobekina’s major label debut, Venice, where she explores a challenging and exciting program all relating to the city of Venice. Graindelavoix and Björn Schmelzer tackle a unique Renaissance piece with 12-part vocals in Antoine Brumel: The Earthquake Mass.
Pop
Brittany Howard continues to thrill with an elastic voice that can take on all modes of modern R&B on What Now, whether she’s steering a slow burn or untangling a mess to a danceable beat. MGMT’s latest is called Loss of Life but there’s no loss of big productions on these 10 tracks which can pack a full journey into just five minutes. On Filthy Underneath, British singer/songwriter Nadine Shah creates gothic beauty out of the darkness of her last few years, a brutal stretch that included her mother’s death, the dissolution of her marriage, and struggle with addiction. Dina Ögon’s Orion improves upon their slightly-funky pop rock in sound and in structure, a feat that seemed impossible after their incredible first two records.
Electronic
A remastering of the post-minimalist Midnight Colours combines Rafael Anton Irrisari’s disciplines. His ear for post-rock builds, classical movements, and electronic melodies make a reverb-soaked, noise-laden splash—but the overall sense of peace in his work is undeterred. Producer Stephen Buono pulls together guests like Jeff Parker, Takako Minekawa, Thalma de Freitas, and Nels Cline for Church Chords, a shape-shifting project that hops, skips and long jumps from genre to genre. After Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer’s marvelous 2022 album Recordings from the Åland Islands it seemed there was little room to grow. Working with legendary New Age artist Ariel Kalma proved that idea wrong; this is an expansive and marvelous work. Retrospective (One) provides a short glimpse at the incredible career of Todd Terry, NYC legendary ouse producer and remixer.; it’s a perfect place to start down a deep and rewarding rabbit hole. Serious Autechre vibes offset rising, cinematic undertones in a wild and inventive release from Terminal 11. The noises seem childlike until the full web of sounds develop, leaving the listener in different spinning rooms all at once.
Jazz
At times Familia feels spare, but it never lacks in activity. Rodrigo Recabarren’s drumming is busy yet allows the musicians to play outside of his shadow—the truest mark of a good bandleader. Vijay Iyer teams with Linda May Han Oh and Tyshawn Sorey for Compassion, a second round of incredible compositions propelled by their remarkable improvisational skills. This trio is a winner. Idiosyncratic vocal and instrumental textures abound in percussionist Ches Smith’s Laugh Ash but the shifts never seem out of context. Any excuse to listen to Ray Baretto’s Acid is a good one. Even better, a full hi-definition remaster is a great reason to listen to this masterful Latin jazz record.
Qobuzissimes
What better way to introduce yourself than with a titularly-titled album? Hello, I’m Britti. captures the Louisiana newcomer’s spirited throwback style with a production hand from Dan Auerbach. Human theremin Molly Lewis’ debut will initially evoke Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s, but she invites the whistling indoors, where it feels right at home in a dimly-lit, dark-walled speakeasy. Erick the Architect’s first solo foray from the Flatbush Zombies crew veers violently away from the verse-hook mentality to let guest stars, psychedelic beats and Erick himself breathe freely on an excellent record.
More Favorites
Vocals are heard for the first time on the late Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru’s Souvenirs, deepening the enchantment of an already mesmerizing sound created amidst the violent political unrest of her homeland Ethiopia. After four years, Daymé Arocena returns to deliver a celebration of Santeria culture, Afro-Cuban R&B, and Latin jazz infused with a style all her own. Historical meantone pipe organs from Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden sound like actual, meditative breaths of life on Kali Malone’s All Life Long. The Stockholm-based Malone also composes for brass and voice on this sixth album. Veteran David Nance locks into a dusty groove with his Mowed Sound debut. Though he’s loathe to refer to it as a country record, there’s an undeniable Southern roots rock through line that enriches the album’s most memorable cuts.
