Staff Picks Format: Music CD

Nilsson Schmilsson by Harry Nilsson [Music CD]

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Though RCA records proudly proclaimed, “Harry’s Got a Rock Album” upon the release of 1971’s Nilsson Schmilsson, it’s safe to say Mr. Nilsson had dabbled in rock n’ roll previously. However, his output mostly belonged in the vaudeville and light psychedelic, Sgt. Pepper stratosphere. After his first album, the mysterious solo artist was cited as the Beatles favorite “group”. He followed with two strong lps; one includes his version of Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talkin’” (which wound up as the Oscar winning vocal performance for the film Midnight Cowboy). Next Nilsson jumped into an album completely of Randy Newman material (then a mostly unknown songwriter) just before releasing a story and song record that later became the animated classic The Point.

Hippies [Music CD]

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Songs of our fathers by Andy Statman and David Grisman [Music CD]

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This is a wonderfully joyful, sorrowful, simple, virtuosic, and just plain fun recording. Statman and Grisman, together with their very talented band (which includes Edgar Meyer on bass!) play traditional and original acoustic Jewish music with strong klezmer roots. Statman is a fine clarinetist, and both Statman and Grisman are masters of the mandolin; it’s a treat to hear them play!

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard by Paul McCartney [Music CD]

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Upon George Martin’s suggestion, Sir Paul teamed up with producer Nigel Godrich (see his work with Beck & Radiohead) for this incredible 2005 studio album. Chaos and Creation… served as a return to form for McCartney. The album begins with “Fine Line”, a straight ahead piano driven, maraca laden rock number. He later weaves into “Jenny Wren” which recalls certain arrangement elements from the White Album’s “Black Bird”. Then, the word “peradventure” is plucked from his Charles Dickens readings on the airy “English Tea”. Essentially, what we are presented with is classic McCartney accompanied by interesting loops courtesy of the brain of Nigel Godrich: a recording both modern and vintage.

Under the Munka Moon by Alice Russell [Music CD]

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The 2004 debut album from the criminally overlooked UK singer with a lavishly soulful voice and sass to match. While British singers such as Duffy, Amy Winehouse, Estelle, Joss Stone and Lily Allen have sold millions, Alice has remained relatively unknown in the United States. With production fusing Latin, Girl Group, Hip-Hop, house, drum & bass, funk, gospel, jazz, rock and classic R&B sounds , Alice’s voice remains the core of her first release, which was largely a compilation of singles, remixes and collaborations. Known for her numerous side projects including Bah Samba, the Here Lies Love project with David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, the Bamboos, Quantic Soul Orchestra, her tours with diverse artists like De La Soul, Roy Ayers, the Roots and Lonnie Liston Smith and her collaborations with producer and co-writer TM Juke, the blue eyed, blonde haired lass from Brighton makes every song she performs unique and joyful.

Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney [Music CD]

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“Ram on give your heart to somebody…soon right away, right away,” McCartney laments on the ukulele driven “Ram On”. Ram, the sole album credited to Paul & Linda McCartney, is truly a family affair with half of the songs credited to the couple. Despite several tunes with surreal, nonsensical lyrics, Ram seems to give us a window into a simpler life. There’s numbers about dogs, the desire to live in the country and young love.

While retaining an element of the homemade sound McCartney crafted on his debut record, the pair also delve into Beach Boys arrangements and harmony as well as exploring something I’d like to call easy-listening/avante garde (see “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” or “Long Haired Lady”). Other highlights include the rocker “Eat at Home” and the false ending with futuristic tag on “The Back Seat of My Car”.

Ram gives us the impression that these are people who are doing it their own way… just have a look at the back cover to see the cryptic message Paul has left about his feelings toward his old group.

Appalachian Journey by Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O’Connor [Music CD]

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Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O’Connor play with ideas drawn from traditional American fiddle tunes on this album; the results are great fun. The traditional tunes on this album are often played at a slower tempo than that which you may be accustomed to hearing, but this fantastically talented trio fills the resulting space well, using harmonies and polyphonic lines that give the music an almost classical feel.

Yo-Yo Ma, cello; Edgar Meyer, bass; Mark O’Connor, violin. James Taylor and Alison Krauss join the trio for a song and a tune each.

Red Rose Speedway by Paul McCartney & Wings [Music CD]

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Sandwiched between the hastily recorded and yet magically off kilter Wild Life and the triumphant, triple platinum Band on the Run album lives a recording called Red Rose Speedway. This second Wings effort bridges the gap between freak outs and radio friendly hits. We find the number one smash “My Love” sitting side by side with the nonsensical jam “Big Barn Red” and the minor key piano ditty “Single Pigeon”. Mac and the gang also attempt a nod to the second side of the Beatles’ Abbey Road with a four song medley. As Alan Partridge once retorted to a person ignorant of McCartney’s second group, “Wings are the band the Beatles could have been.” So very true.

Next week we take a closer look at Ram.

McCartney by Paul McCartney [Music CD]

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Paul McCartney’s first solo album, which was certainly unpopular with many critics and his colleagues at the time of its 1970 release, has proven to be an immensely influential and enjoyable, homemade recording. This album was produced mostly at McCartney’s house in London using a simple technique of sending tracks directly into a tape machine. He also performed each instrument himself and the majority of the vocals (some background vocals were sung by Linda McCartney).

Home recording software and portable four-track machines are now sources where many artists, both professional and amateur, record their music. In retrospect, the innovative “McCartney” album was a bold statement that made music making more accessible to those with or without a record contract.

Big Old Life by Rani Arbo & Daisy Mayhem [Music CD]

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Local (western MA and CT) musicians Daisy Mayhem create something truly unique which they jokingly call “Agnostic Gospel.” With folk roots, rich vocal harmonies, sophisticated arrangements and passionate attitude, they make music that is original, moving and fun.

Fire & grace by Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas [Music CD]

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A fantastic collection of new and old Scottish fiddle tunes, with Alasdair Fraser on fiddle and Natalie Haas on cello. Alasdair Fraser is a master and Natalie Haas’s cello playing his perfect complement. Natalie plays beautiful counterpoint, but she has also mastered the fiddler’s “chop”, and uses it effectively in her driving rhythmic accompaniments. Having listened to this recording I find it difficult to understand why the cello is not used more often in this style of music!

The complete Flanders & Swann by Donald Swann and Michael Flanders [Music CD]

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I fell in love with the songs of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann as a teenager when I discovered At the Drop of a Hat among my parents neglected collection of LPs. I couldn’t imagine any songs more wonderfully silly than “The gnu song” and “The reluctant cannibal”, and Flanders and Swann’s delivery was charismatic, charming, more than a little endearing. The same album also contained the wonderfully clever “Ill wind”, which consisted of an amusing text set to the music of a Mozart horn concerto—complete with a cadenza. I was hooked.

The Complete Flanders and Swann contains all those familiar songs from At the Drop of a Hat, as well as songs from At the drop of another hat, The bestiary of Flanders and Swann, and some previously unreleased material. I recommend it!