New Recordings

Shame, Shame

(Anti- ***)

nolead ends Philadelphia's Dr. Dog is now more than ever West Philadelphia's Dr. Dog. Baltimore Avenue gets named-dropped more than once in these melodically inviting songs set amid the Ethiopian restaurants and thrift shops west of the Penn campus' urban bohemia on the sixth album by the pop-rock quintet led by Scott McMicken and Toby Leaman. But what makes Shame, Shame notable is not its sense of place so much as its newly developed lyrical ballast and, ahem, maturity. "I crossed the path of a friend of mine, and I knew what that look upon her face meant," sings McMicken - he's the one with the higher voice - on "Shadow People." "Something's gone." These guys still make harmony-happy, often-ebullient music that pulls from the three B's - Beatles, Beach Boys, Band. But now that McMicken and Leaman are in their 30s, their songs have quit being on a nostalgia trip for a simpler time and started looking back with regret on their own lives as they ponder the "Unbearable Why" and wonder "Where'd All the Time Go?" There's a sadness at odds with the buoyant music that creates a winning frisson, making Shame, Shame the band's best album so far.

- Dan DeLuca

nolead begins Sharon Jones
& the Dap-Kings
nolead ends nolead begins I Learned the Hard Way
nolead ends nolead begins (Daptone ***1/2)

nolead ends It's not hard to describe what Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings do: It's old-school soul and R&B, straight up. The 54-year-old Jones, a powerhouse singer in the Aretha Franklin/Tina Turner mold, fronts the eight-piece Dap-Kings (the band Amy Winehouse borrowed for 2007's Back to Black), and they unabashedly take their cues from horn-fueled Stax / Volt and James Brown classics from the mid-'60s. They're not updating a tradition; they are firmly within it. Impressively so.

I Learned the Hard Way, the New Yorkers' fourth album, often dials back the hard-edged energy from 2007's 100 Days, 100 Nights to make way for new forays into Philly soul, with "The Game Gets Old" and other songs featuring vibrant string arrangements. Sure, one could footnote the source inspirations throughout the album, starting with "Money," which owes everything to the Barrett Strong classic of the same name. But that wouldn't diminish the authenticity of these powerful performances.

- Steve Klinge

nolead begins Ana Moura
nolead ends nolead begins Leva-me Aos Fados
nolead ends nolead begins (World Village ***1/2)

nolead ends Looking for a set of sprightly tunes to improve your mood? Not here - but not a problem, with so much to recommend in this fourth album from Lisbon's Ana Moura. It's all fado, Portugal's centuries-old song form of inherent longing. (Five of its 17 tracks are even fados about fado, starting with the title track, "Take Me to a Fado House.") Poetic lyrics are sung with heartrending emotion to the spare accompaniment of acoustic guitar and Portuguese guitar, the latter a steel 12-stringed instrument with a fat, teardrop-shaped body.

Moura, an erstwhile twentysomething rock singer, is a natural fadista with a smoky alto, achieving an earthier feel than revered fado superstars such as the late Amália Rodrigues and current crossover sensation Mariza. Some bass grounds the arrangements of producer/principal songwriter Jorge Fernando, but Moura's brooding, exquisite delivery is what communicates most (and the CD booklet's lyric translations help). In an older tune such as "Fado of the Waters," her brooding intonation amply expresses the ultimately cathartic sadness: "Under falling raindrops/ Falling like a fringe of my song/ I drench my life . . . My song is rinsed clean."

- David R. Stampone

nolead begins David Byrne/Fatboy Slim
nolead ends nolead begins Here Lies Love nolead ends nolead begins (Nonesuch/Todomundo ***)

nolead ends It's important to know that this whirlwind song cycle, starring the diverse likes of Steve Earle, Nellie McKay, and Santigold, started life as a musical theater piece. That's how David Byrne conceived of this schmaltzy disco splash dedicated to enigmatic Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos' wild life and love of shoes, the woman who raised her, her despot husband, and '70s nightlife. Knowing such gives you an indication why its melodies and arrangements are so hammy.

Byrne and co-composer Fatboy Slim left the evil politics of martial law implied and took Lady Marcos' sappy words, fashioned them into garish show-tune lyrics and got 20-plus vocalists to tell her tale. There are sprightly grooves and curious tales of courtship ("Eleven Days," sung by Cyndi Lauper) and Manhattan society ("Dancing Together," with Sharon Jones) that allow its vocalists dramatic breadth even when the music is fluffy. There are wrenching and darkly comic songs featuring Natalie Merchant (as Marcos' cast-aside caretaker) and the B-52s' Kate Pierson. With Byrne's patented tropical lilt and Fatboy's beats added to the music's snazzy patina, the whole affair comes across as equal parts Latin telenovela and Evita.

- A.D. Amorosi

Name the Day!

(Blind Pig ***1/2)

nolead ends With his first two albums, Love Me Tonight and Magic Touch, John Németh established himself as one of the best of the crop of young singers and songwriters revitalizing vintage soul and R&B styles. Name the Day! solidifies that stature for the Bay Area artist.

The album gets off to a dynamite start with "Breakin' Free," a fast, punchy vamp punctuated by a Németh harmonica solo. That sets the pace for a lively, horn-happy set that ranges from the sweet pop-soul of the title song, highlighting the rich tones and supple nature of Németh's vocals, to tougher material like "Save a Little Love" and "You Know." As good as Németh is at the high-energy stuff, however, two of the standouts here are "I Said Too Much" and "Why Not Me," which are wrenching, deep-soul ballads.

- Nick Cristiano

nolead begins Kasey Anderson
nolead ends nolead begins Nowhere Nights
nolead ends nolead begins (Red River Records ***)

nolead ends "This ain't my town . . . It's time I'm moving on," Kasey Anderson sings on "Bellingham Blues" in a drawl that recalls Steve Earle. It's the first song on Nowhere Nights, and it sets the theme and the mood of the Portland, Ore., artist's fourth album.

Working again with noted Americana producer-

guitarist Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, Anderson alternates between moodily atmospheric meditations and crisp, twang-tinged rockers. It all frames Anderson's sharply drawn takes on small-town experience: Mixing indictment and empathy, he nails the alienation and restlessness, the ambition and delusion. He does it in a manner worthy of Earle, although his voice is definitely his own. And if most of these stories were inspired by his time in Bellingham, Wash., "I Was a Photograph" highlights his storytelling skills in a different way. It's a searing portrait of an Iraqi war veteran that's as powerful as anything else on the album, if not more so.

- N.C.

Pathways

(Dare2Records ***1/2)

nolead ends Composer and bassist Dave Holland expands his quintet into an octet, and that seems to be liberating for the native Brit. Holland used Duke Ellington's small groups with five horns as an inspiration.

Here, three saxophones - altoist Antonio Hart, tenor Chris Potter, and baritone Gary Smulyan - join with two brass players, trombonist Robin Eubanks and trumpeter Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin, to turn Holland's group into a pocket-sized big band, recorded live at New York's Birdland.

The results are surprisingly funky on the leader's earthy original, "How's Never?," which he has played for many years.

Holland's conception can be staid and intellectual at times. But the added firepower seems to leaven his sophisticated conception and make it more arresting. "Blue Gene," colored by Steve Nelson's vibraphone and Smulyan's baritone, becomes a dark and sensuous ditty, while the leader's "Shadow Dance" evolves into some fierce solo statements.

The set stands as one of Holland's better recordings.

- Karl Stark
nolead begins Organissimo
nolead ends nolead begins Alive & Kickin'
nolead ends nolead begins (Big O Records ***)

nolead ends Organ jazz isn't exactly a happenin' genre, but the Michigan-based Organissimo struck a blow with 2008's Groovadelphia, which paid tribute to the key role that Philadelphians played in organ jazz's heyday.

Now the trio returns with this crackling disc, recorded live at WKAR-TV in East Lansing, Mich. Guitarist Joe Gloss and organist Jim Alfredson on the Hammond-Suzuki XK3 create some mesmerizing moments. Drummer Randy Marsh is an old sideman of Philly organist Shirley Scott, so he's got some cred for this work.

The pace is rapid-fire, except when it's in steamy ballad mode. "Jimmy Smith Goes to Washington" shows the trio's flying style, while "Clap Yo' Hands" is more soul-oriented and "Pumpkin Pie" cooks at a more sensual pace before it gets all gooey at the end with histrionic sound effects.

Frank Zappa's "Blessed Relief" also gets reverent treatment here from Gloss and Alfredson, who focus otherwise on originals. The set still reaches some righteous temperatures.

- K.S.

Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Claudio Abbado conducting

(Decca ****)

nolead ends nolead begins Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin
nolead ends nolead begins Helmut Deutsch, piano
nolead ends nolead begins (Decca ***)

nolead ends Tenor Jonas Kaufmann is one of the most glamorous figures in German opera since Peter Hofmann; his vocal sturdiness and intense dramatic sense would make him an important artist even if he had a more portly silhouette. This latest volume of romantic-era arias shows why: From Mozart's Magic Flute to Wagner's lyrical tenor roles (Lohengrin, Siegmund), every performance gives a clear face to each character and strong emotional purpose to every phrase. A key figure in this artistically distinguished package is conductor Claudio Abbado, who offers intriguingly lyrical glimpses of his take on Wagner's final masterpiece, Parsifal, in some extended excerpts. One hopes he records the whole opera soon.

Even for Kaufmann fans, however, his approach to Schubert's great song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin requires indulgence and adjustment. Few tenors have dared to impose such an operatic animation on the text, but as much as he exudes dramatic intelligence, he seems awfully aggressive in this miniaturist medium. With only piano accompaniment, his unusually exposed voice also reveals a lot of rough edges that don't wear well in the cycle's hour-long duration.

- David Patrick Stearns

nolead begins Haydn
The 12 London Symphonies
nolead ends nolead begins Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Marc Minkowski conducting
nolead ends nolead begins (Naive, four CDs, ****)

nolead ends nolead begins Haydn
Symphonies 12, 22, 16, 93, 98, 103 and 104
nolead ends nolead begins Vienna Philharmonic, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Zubin Mehta, Franz Welser-Most, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Pierre Boulez conducting
nolead ends nolead begins (Vienna Philharmonic Records, three CDs, ***1/2)

nolead ends Though a bit late for the Haydn anniversary year, these two Vienna-based sets command considerable attention. Marc Minkowski's, now available by download, was recorded live at the Vienna Konzerthaus and is the musicologically enlightened set the world has been waiting for. Unlike Roger Norrington's disappointing recent recordings, Minkowski is thoroughly up-to-date on the tempos expected in certain kinds of movements and makes interpretive points without fussing the music to death. That plus live-performance energy sets new standards in this repertoire.

The Vienna Philharmonic set is live radio recordings from 1972 to 2009 with a mixture of Haydn specialists and interlopers. In the latter category, Pierre Boulez is full of unconventional expressive possibilities achieved through unusual slow (though never lethargic) tempos in Symphony No. 104. Zubin Mehta couldn't be more stylish and charming in Symphony No. 22. Among the specialists, Nikolaus Harnoncourt trumps even the gravity of his previous Haydn recordings in Nos. 93 and 103, but Franz Welser-Most, for all of his strong viewpoints in Nos. 26 and 98, has significant lapses in the taste department.

- D.P.S.