Best zeuhl-ish, avant-prog, drummy-keyboardy thing I've run across since discovering Patrick Gauthier's 'Bébé Godzilla.' Lovely mix of angular edges beaten crooked by distorted, crunchy pocket grooves and dissonant inquiry, countered by lush melodies and spatial studies that ease off the pedal at just the right intervals. Great sax tones. Enjoyed the concept of each song as a vignette in a continuous narrative.

Favorite song: "A Red Glow Down the ... read more

Compellingly sleazy vapour-noir dance punk with dense, sweaty textures. Flavors of '80s post-punk/new wave crossover, exotica, ethereal wave, zolo, and nu disco. Deep, hooky grooves throughout.

Favorite song: "Theme For Group A.D."

Irrepressibly dynamic and molten with energy. The live album prototype; intoxicating montage, pace, flow, and fidelity. Listening to Fitzgerald's bubbling "thank yous" plunge into deeply felt jazz standards, then modulate back into nimble improvisation is breathtaking.

Favorite song: "Summertime"

Putrid, gnarled, screeching, malignant 'through the looking glass' vignettes anchored by one of the most batshit vocal performances I've ever heard on a metal album. Delightful.

Early Simone and she's in full control. Production side from Colpix, on the other hand, renders a polaroid from a painting. Fidelity is distant, muddy, and muted on the high end, recording quality and levels are inconsistent from track to track, and the edit feels ragged and lacking in transitional flow, often abbreviating audience response. Startling whiplash in quality when compared to Thelonious Monk's album recorded at the same venue five months prior.

Flawless; dominates my attention from start to finish. Has a unique operatic genre crossover element that I don't think gets talked about enough. Germaín de la Fuente's inimitable voice and soul-destroying interpretations complement the gothic melodies, minimalist arrangements, and bolero-beat swing perfectly.

Fantastic end to end, chock-full of filthy head-nod pocket grooves. Lovely reverb and tone color to the space and recording. Feels intimate and refined for big band staging and arrangement — tastefully indicted by Monk's humorous, off-kilter prodding at foundations of rhythm and harmony. I've got a limited tolerance with a lot of hard bop, but I could listen to this on repeat.

Favorite song: "Little Rootie Tootie"

Rodrigues' spectacular voice is genuinely moving in its strength and control, complemented perfectly by the accompanying guitarists, filling the intimate venue space and anchoring the mix quite well; one of the better-sounding live recordings I've encountered from this time period.

Favorite song: "Tudo isto é fado"
Reminded me of: El cancionero popular by Amparo Ochoa

Shallow, repetitive, bougie-safe heartland schmaltz about traveling, eating, drinking, roads, trucks, jeans, and misbehavin' girls that for me rings phony and patronizing with nearly every lyric. The balance of arrangement, instrumentation, and spatial dynamics is varied enough, but Bryan's voice and songwriting couldn't be more one-note, and keeps this massive album pegged to the ground.

Does what it does but doesn't reflect on doing what it's doing. Enjoyed the tension between curated flatness and little bursts of melody. Shrinkwrapped production saps a lot of would-be transgressive energy. Can't wait 'til producers drop this airless, close-mic fetishism and start experimenting with space again.

Interesting mix with a sneaky hook. Love the layers of rapid, flitting instrumentation feathered around sparse, punchy base tones. Sounds like an interlude morphing into a full-fledged song. Meek's voice is so light and unobtrusive it's like listening to someone hum fragments of a melody to a song they can't quite recall.