First Listen: Helen Sung, 'Sung With Words'
The pianist merges jazz and poetry together to make a multi-movement work that explores themes of the human condition.
Music Reviews
First Listen: Richard Thompson, '13 Rivers'
Richard Thompson struggles with his emotional demons by creating some of his most searing and soaring guitar work.
First Listen: Low, 'Double Negative'
The static-scarred loops that open Double Negative portend another subtle reinvention: This is the sound of beauty as it's distorted to the point of disintegration.
Steve Coleman Offers Looped And Layered Music On 'Live At The Village Vanguard'
The alto saxophonist's new record with his band Five Elements is a two-disc set, in which most pieces are played twice, in differing elastic versions.
First Listen: Estelle, 'Lovers Rock'
Lovers Rock chronicles the love story of Estelle's parents through the romantic music of her forebears.
First Listen: Swamp Dogg, 'Love, Loss, And Auto-Tune'
The Southern soul survivor possesses the gonzo showmanship, expansive vision and warped wit to carry the imaginative fun of his music into the Auto-Tune era.
First Listen: Paul Simon, 'In The Blue Light'
Revision's redemptive potential permeates Paul Simon's 14th solo album. In the Blue Light features ten recordings of old works, newly considered.
First Listen: Spiritualized, 'And Nothing Hurt'
J. Spaceman makes a living room sound like a cathedral because, well, he didn't have a choice.
First Listen: St. Paul & The Broken Bones, 'Young Sick Camellia'
The Alabama band keeps getting weirder, more inventive and, in danceable ringers like "Apollo," more committed than ever to the pleasures of sprightly, joyous funk.
First Listen: Pig Destroyer, 'Head Cage'
Pig Destroyer has never just been a grindcore band; it also provides an evolutionary timeline of extreme music. Head Cage expands the group's rampaging palette.