New Recordings

Actor

(4AD ***)

nolead ends Indie songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark - who performs as St. Vincent - ups the conceptual ante on her stunner of a second album. It's a cool idea that could have gone terribly wrong. For each song on Actor, Clark used as inspiration one of her favorite movies - Badlands, Pierrot le Fou, The Wizard of Oz - and started off writing an alternative film score in her head that wound up sprouting personalized story lines of their own. So to appreciate the music, do you need to have seen the movies or understand the specific details of what Clark is singing about when she's pleading, "Save me from what I want" in the song of the same title? Not at all. Besides being a jaw-dropping guitar shredder, Clark - who before going solo with 2007's Marry Me toured with Sufjan Stevens and the Polyphonic Spree - is a sly, crafty arranger. Her layered art songs shift gears with chamber-music precision (and a taste for distortion), and demonstrate a knack for marrying pretty atmospheric pop with nasty, arresting imagery, as in "Laughing With a Mouthful of Blood." She plays the First Unitarian Church on May 21.

- Dan DeLuca

nolead begins Peaches
nolead ends nolead begins I Feel Cream
nolead ends nolead begins (XL Recordings ***)

nolead ends Though Peaches is on her fifth full-length album, the sexually charged, gender-bending electroclash artist still owes a word of thanks to Bill Murray. It was the use of her song "F- the Pain Away" in the movie Lost in Translation that brought her witty, raunchy lyrics and illicit beats to a whole new audience. The one-time elementary school teacher's latest album maintains Peaches' trademark use of profanities, sexual imagery, pulsating rhythms, and minimalist electronica melodies, but incorporates elements from other genres for a well-rounded and surprising album. There's a rousing pop/rock gem, Missy Elliott-inspired hip-hop, and chugging death-metal melodies, but with her low, sultry voice and her synth harmonies peppering the tunes, it's always unmistakably Peaches.

- Katherine Silkaitis

nolead begins Del the Funky Homosapien
nolead ends nolead begins Funk Man
(the stimulus package)
nolead ends nolead begins (delthefunkyhomosapien ***)

nolead ends In 1991, while most MCs in Oakland, Calif., were either gangstas like NWA or in NWA itself (they had a lot of rappers), Del Tha Funkee Homosapien was having fun. Lots of laughs, actually. His jazzily flowing deep voice ripped into then-prevalent hip-hop requirements of machismo-driven rhymes and hard beats, replacing them with absurdist lyrics and poses.

Del (oddly enough, he's Ice Cube's cousin) countered the so-serious signs of the time with an elastic rap, sputtering rickety beats, weirdly deconstructed Parliament samples, and a character-driven sense of humor. Dr. Bombay and Mr. Bob Dobalina, you will never be forgotten.

While the 21st century brought collaboration (Deltron 3030 with Dan the Automator, Gorillaz with Damon Albarn), 2009 found Del moving from "tha" to "the," from "Funkee" to "Funky." And he embraced a spare musicality through which his silly, self-obsessed raps could wander.

Though "Go Against the Grain" gets cow-tipped by misogyny and "Land of Funk" sounds dated, the rest of this stimulus package is fresh, goofy and free. "I'm Smellin' Myself" takes on fragrance-making like no one since Prince, and the live dynamics of "News Alert" and the riveting "Get It Right Now" prove that Del hasn't lost his slippery touch.

- A.D. Amorosi

nolead begins Various Artists
nolead ends nolead begins Ben Folds Presents:
University A Cappella!
nolead ends nolead begins (Epic **1/2)

nolead ends "This is not a novelty. I consider this my new record," says Ben Folds about University A Cappella! He's being defensive and trying to head off criticism, but the album's concept is certainly novel: Via YouTube, Folds auditioned college a cappella groups to sing his old songs, and then he traveled the country to record 14 fourteen of them. He also did two a cappella renditions of his own.

Some of these tracks are gorgeous-the soulful soloist of Ohio U's Leading Tones nails "Brick" (strangely, none of the singers is credited by name) - and Princeton's Nassoons and, especially, West Chester U's Gracenotes acquit themselves nicely (on "Time" and "Fred Jones Part 2" respectively). But some are just silly, including Folds' own remake of the sophomoric "Effington," and nearly 70 minutes is an awful lot of do-do-do's, bah-bah-bahs, oohs and ahhs. It's a novelty. Fans of the Bobs should be thrilled, though.

- Steve Klinge

Brothers From
Different Mothers

(Rounder ***1/2)

nolead ends The title tells the story: Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent may not be biological siblings, but they are certainly brothers in bluegrass. Dailey played with Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, while Vincent backed his sister, Rhonda, in the Rage, and also Ricky Skaggs. The way they connect again on their second album, however, you'd think they were blood relations.

Dailey & Vincent pick up where they left off on their bracing, self-titled debut: breathless bluegrass breakdowns ("Head Hung Down"), mournful country ballads (Roger Miller's "You Ought to Be With Me"), country-folk narratives (Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' "Winter's Come and Gone"), and uplifting spirituals ("When I've Traveled My Last Mile," "When I Reach That Home Up There"). The beautifully tight harmonies throughout take various forms - duet, trio, quartet - but are rooted in the deep connection between the two "brothers."

- Nick Cristiano

nolead begins Barry and Holly Tashian
nolead ends nolead begins Long Story Short
nolead ends nolead begins (Rock-a-Lot ***1/2)

nolead ends Barry Tashian led a great '60s rock band, the Remains (the group still performs) and later played in Emmylou Harris' famed Hot Band. The music he has made over the last two decades with his wife, Holly, however, is as good as anything he's ever done. Which is saying a lot.

On Long Story Short, the Nashville-based singer-guitarists again show their easy mastery of various acoustic styles, from "bluegrass with a groove" to honky-tonk-flavored country, swing, folk, gospel, and blues. They rely mostly on first-rate originals that sound like instant classics - "Worry Doesn't Worry Me," and the title track - augmented by covers such as Doc Pomus' "Boogie Woogie Country Girl."

The spare arrangements are spiced with fiddle, mandolin, and slide guitar, but as usual it's the Tashians' stirring, perfectly blended harmonies that are the emotional heart of the music.

- N.C.

The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings

(Fantasy ****)

nolead ends Although this space deals mostly with new recordings, a reissue appears every so often that cries out to be heard.

The two albums that singer Tony Bennett made in the mid-1970s with pianist Bill Evans is one. Fantasy added a second disc to this collection containing outtakes of the original sessions. And while that makes the set more attractive, the pairing of the two giants is more than enough to carry the day.

Bennett, who was drawn in a pop direction earlier in his career, gets drawn back by Evans to a deeper jazz expression.

The settings are very simple and serve both men's talents. Evans is a terrific accompanist, creating wonderfully light and dark passages that stand on their own or set off the soloist in handsome relief.

Bennett finds himself in these tunes, from "Young and Foolish" to "You Must Believe in Spring," and he unrolls them with suppleness and conviction.

The newly released outtakes show the two men experimenting with the same tunes, changing the tempo or striking different emphases, such as the mournful climax of "You Don't Know What Love Is." It's cool to hear them stretching.

- Karl Stark

nolead begins Marcus Roberts Trio
nolead ends nolead begins New Orleans Meets Harlem Vol. 1
nolead ends nolead begins (J-Master records ***1/2)

nolead ends Just when you thought the blues was used up, pianist Marcus Roberts puts more life into it. His trio session jitterbugs across a swath of African American music from ragtime to jazz and blues.

Roberts, who rose to fame during a six-year stint with Wynton Marsalis starting in 1985, aims to show the effect that the music of New Orleans had on later styles of jazz in Harlem.

The result, released online at tunecore.com, is a highly listenable romp through the music of Scott Joplin, Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk.

Roberts establishes his credentials with a wonderful reworking of Joplin's "The Entertainer." Monk is an important touchstone for how the Harlem styles developed, and Roberts pays tribute with a finger-snapping take of Monk's "Balue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are."

Much of the session works over the blues, from Morton's climactic "Jungle Blues" to Roberts' own high-stepping "Searching for the Blues." No doubt he finds it.

- K.S.

Works by Palestrina, Guerrero, Gombert, Lassus, Victoria and others

(Harmonia Mundi ****)

nolead ends In only a few years, the 14-member British vocal group Stile Antico has created a niche in the world of Renaissance-era specialists with its flawless, low-vibrato blends and an emotional and intellectual engagement that makes a considerable, if subtle, difference in the personality of the performances. In the group's first disc to venture outside English polyphony, the exterior luster remains, but now fueled by a sense of the music's inner purpose, often comparing the treatment of the same borderline-erotic secular texts by different great 16th-century composers. The program is also intelligently paced among polyphonic songs, chants and music of contrasting nationality and style. Also lovely is the way the group attenuates any given final chord a few nanoseconds, just to let you enjoy the sound longer.

- David Patrick Stearns

nolead begins Brahms
String Quartet Op. 51, No. 1; Piano Quintet Op. 34
nolead ends nolead begins Arcanto Quartet, Silke Avenhaus, piano
nolead ends nolead begins (Harmonia Mundi ***1/2)

nolead ends nolead begins Trio in A minor Op. 114, Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 120 Nos. 1 and 2
nolead ends nolead begins nolead ends nolead begins Kennedy Center Chamber Players
nolead ends nolead begins nolead ends nolead begins (Dorian ****)

nolead ends nolead begins

nolead ends nolead begins Quintet in B Minor Op. 115
nolead ends nolead begins nolead ends nolead begins Ricardo Morales; Wister Quartet and others
nolead ends nolead begins nolead ends nolead begins (Direct-to-Tape Recording ***1/2)

nolead ends nolead begins No matter that these discs all have Brahms chamber music in common, they're hugely different experiences, because of the endless range of interpretations this composer offers, and because the juxtapositions of the programs redefine even the most familiar works. Though the Arcanto Quartet lineup includes high-profile soloists such as violist Tabea Zimmermann and cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, the performances are remarkably low-ego, which yields a greater sense of inner characterization than the group's previous Bartok disc - even in the Piano Quintet, often treated like a chamber concerto.

The other discs are most notable for their individual participants. The Kennedy Center's is masterminded by pianist Lambert Orkis, whose restless intelligence always commands attention. Here, he believes the three pieces together create an emotional arc of struggle, acceptance, and hope. It makes sense, but most important is the performances' sense of inner life. Though National Symphony clarinetist Loren Kitt dominates, you first hear an incredibly stylish, emotion-packed cello entrance by David Hardy.

Among clarinetists, the Philadelphia Orchestra's Ricardo Morales (heard with the excellent Wister Quartet) is in a class by himself, even if the acoustics of the recording venue, Carmel Presbyterian Church in Glenside, feel a bit remote. The rest of the disc is more Carmel than Brahms, with organ prelude and postlude plus the recently composed Illuminations, a wonderfully original song cycle by Stephen Mager based on texts in archaic English for voice, piccolo, and harp. Though soprano Janice Fiore isn't the ideal interpreter, the piccolo and harp contributions by Lois Bliss Herbine and Sophie Bruno Labiner are models of color-driven expression.

nolead ends - D.P.S.
nolead begins nolead ends