1. Bear Creek, Brandi Carlile
2. Valtari, Sigur Ros
3. Americana, Neil Young and Crazy Horse
4. Let’s Go Out Tonight, Curtis Stigers
5. Blunderbuss, Jack White
6. Big Moon Ritual, Chris Robinson Brotherhood
7. Little Broken Hearts, Norah Jones
8. Here, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
9. Big Station, Alejandro Escovedo
10. Scars on 45, Scars on 45
11. Analog Man, Joe Walsh
12. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars 40th Anniversary, David Bowie
13. That’s Why God Made the Radio, The Beach Boys
14. Born & Raised, John Mayer
15. Celebration Rock, Japandroids
16. Freak Puke, Melvins Lite
17. Kin: Songs By Mary Karr and Rodney Crowell, Various Artists
18. Boys & Girls, The Alabama Shakes
19. Rize of the Fenix, Tenacious D
20. Bloom, Beach House
CIMS HANDPICKED: RYAN SHAW'S SOUL
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Two-time Grammy nominee and quiet stormer Ryan Shaw described this sophomore album to Essence as “A gumbo infused with soul, rock and two tablespoons of gospel.” If that’s translatable to a sound that is a little splash of Otis Redding and another of Al Green into what is his own breed of soul, then Shaw’s goods are the real deal. Too often, production is sacrificed for good songwriting, or the production is so slick that it’s too late when we notice how bad the lyrics are or how weak the performance is. Fortunately, Real Love seems to have each detail covered to bring together a great sophomore album of songs that are informed by the past but are rooted firmly in the present. The album launches off with the insistent declaration of the title track, setting the tone for the next eleven tracks to come. One of the highlight tracks is “Gone, Gone, Gone,” where Shaw sings “I shoulda put a ring on your finger, that’s what I shoulda done,” with soulful regret. In the swinging ballad “In Between,” Shaw recalls some of the greatest moments of Sam Cooke, whereas in “The Wrong Man,” he seems to be wholly himself.
CIMS HANDPICKED: EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROS' 'HERE'
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Ever since we first saw Edward Sharpe marching with his beardy band of gypsies (the Magnetic Zeros) across a field to serenade us “Home,” it’s been tempting to wonder if the guy could really be as sincere as he seems to try to come across. The follow up to its, at times, darkly wandering debut Up From Below, Here shies away from the darkness of a sophomore slump, yet maintains an introspective nature that is often inherent in second efforts. The interplay of Sharpe and co-singer Jade is still ever present, as in tracks like “That’s What’s Up,” a Woodstock-y throwback tune. Drifty afternoon stoniness blankets the middle portion of the album with “Mayla,” and “Dear Believer.” “One Love To Another” is one of the album’s more seductive listening moments, with subtly reggae undertones, which is followed by the swaying swagger of track “Fiya Wata.” It’s not the same persistent energy we heard on Up From Below, but Sharpe and his mates are proving their sincerity and commitment to the Magnetic Zeros sound.
CIMS HANDPICKED: SIGUR ROS 'VALTARI'
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Valtari is Sigur Rós’ first full length album in four years, and it signals a return to the gorgeous, alien moodiness that captured listeners from the start. Valtari moves with glacial grace, recalling images of large pastoral landscapes painted in muted watercolor, impressionist as ever. The tempo, if ever indicated, never drags, but moves with great breadth. Jónsi’s voice returns to the ether as well, eerily calling into the fog of music enveloping him. “Ekki múkk” creates immense, static stillness under his high warble, while “Varúð” moves and sways with a gentle yodel. The title track is perhaps the most cinematic and dynamic of the collection of songs, but all eight pieces included on Valtari are yielding aural landscapes for the imagination. And, wouldn’t you know, the band has plans for a film for Valtari as well. Titled “Mystery Film Experience,” the piece will be a collection of music videos for the album, each by a different filmmaker. The result is sure to be lovely, but even if nobody ever made a single film for Sigur Rós, the cinematic scope of their inventive music is too lovely to miss.
PATTI SMITH'S 'BEST LP SINCE HORSES' AND OTHER RX CD RECOMMENDATIONS
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Patti Smith’s very existence as a major, major-label artist flies in the face of music biz logic. The queen of the fierce poet-androgynes hasn’t had a hit single since “Because the Night,” her 1978 power-ballad co-write with Bruce Springsteen. Its parent album, Easter, is the only Smith set to reach the UK top 20 (both Easter and its 79 follow-up Wave cracked the US top 20).
The 65-year-old took eight years off in the 80s to raise her children, and has made just seven albums in the 24 years since her comeback. Yet here she is, still in tandem with her first guitarist Lenny Kaye, still getting the big prestige-artist push from her label, and still making tough-but-dreamy, sensual-but-uncompromising primary colour rock that behaves as if the last 30 years of musical innovation never happened. Weirdest of all, Patti Smith still sounds vital, relevant and quite, quite brilliant.
You know that old joke about how every Bowie album gets reviewed as “his best album since Scary Monsters” but never actually is? Well, it’s time for the iconic female equivalent of the same yarn. Banga is the best Patti Smith album since Horses. No one else makes rock records as rich, poetic and sexy as this. Not even Polly Harvey. — BBC
OTHER NEW RX CD RECOMMENDATIONS:
Neil Young and Crazy Horse Americana
Brandi Carlile Bear Creek
Chris Robinson Brotherhood Big Moon Ritual
The Beatles Yellow Submarine
The Beach Boys That’s Why God Made Radio
Japandroids Celebration Rock
The Hives Lex Hives
Liars Wixiw
Mynabirds Generals
Paul Simon Graceland 25th Anniversary Edition (deluxe and box set versions also available)
Langhorne Slim and the Law The Way We Move
Joe Walsh Analog Man
Shawn Colvin All Fall Down
David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars 40th Anniversary Edition
Curren$y Stoned Immaculate