New Recordings

Julian Plenti Is . . . Skyscraper

nolead begins (Matador **1/2 nolead ends nolead begins )

nolead ends Bemused by the Interpol phenomenon, I take the fifth regarding those guys, beyond the stray track ("Evil," "Specialist," maybe even an instrumental Turn on the Bright Lights; wanna dub one for me?), so maybe I'm not to be trusted. My best guess about the band's success? Well, male critics appear to evince overwhelming affection for the swooning Bright Lights, while female friends seem to prefer the blockier Antics. It appears to be some strange mass gender-role subversion: dudes swooning over gauzy vulnerability and women feeling on the more chiseled, guitar-heavy song shapes. And nobody liked Our Love to Admire.

So what is the target market for singer Paul Banks' pseudonymous solo debut Julian Plenti Is . . . Skyscraper? Interpol fans tiring of Interpol? It sure buzzes and whirrs like Banks was himself. Make no mistake: These tunes are pure solo-album forgettable, but unlike most audio vanity portraits, Banks' attempts at texture and computer and non-band arrangements are an improvement on the dully passive tones of Interpol. Try "Fun That We Have," an unsettling industrial chant, or the uncharacteristically melodic (and dynamic) "Only If You Run" for flattering new shades of blue. Instrumental closer "H" could even suit the background of some Cannes Film Festival finisher. Just don't expect a whineless vocal or painless lyric in the bunch.

- Dan Weiss
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Colin Hay
nolead ends nolead begins American Sunshine nolead ends nolead begins

(Compass ***)

nolead ends Though it's been nearly 25 years, Colin Hay is still usually identified as the frontman for the Aussie band Men at Work. That long-expired credit still follows him because most people are, sadly, unaware of his solo work. He's matured into a remarkably talented pop balladeer, a plaintive James Taylor. The unusually buoyant American Sunshine represents an ideal time to jump on the Haywagon.

Most of the songs on the album were recorded with Nashville session musicians. The busy arrangements, though, have a tendency to detract from the melodies.

The simplest track ("Baby Can I See You Tonight") is actually the prettiest, with just slide and acoustic guitars and Hay's distinctive voice, which resembles a handsomer version of Randy Newman's.

The guy makes gracious, grown-up music. Time to get with the program, people.

- David Hiltbrand

Loso's Way

(Desert Storm/Def Jam nolead ends nolead begins **1/2)

nolead ends nolead begins nolead ends After 10 years of records, the things you never hear about Brooklyn MC Fabolous are how exceptional he is; how rare his insights are; how twisted his verbiage is; how frenetic his beats might be. Don't get me wrong. Fabolous is all right. He's heretofore been a hip-hopper with kindly, clever ideas and an amusing flow - but not an artist to lose sleep over. Loso's Way is a marked change. As in the mini-movie released in conjunction with this CD, Fab portrays his life as being parallel with that of Carlito Brigante, antihero of Brian De Palma and Al Pacino's Carlito's Way. The music in Loso is his densest ever, with his rhymes at their most straightforward.

Jay Z (who appears on Fab's raw-knuckled "Money Goes, Honey Stay") did something similar with American Gangster. Yet Fabolous makes youth-gone-wrong-then-right poppier than Jay Z ever did. There are spare but creamy R&B-hoppers such as "It's My Time," with Jeremih in tow, and sweetly bouncy mid-tempo dance tracks like "Throw It in a Bag," wherein the Dream sings its honeyed hook. Yet there also are hard-line rumblers like "Pachanga" that give Loso's Way the feel of a good tele-drama without putting too much stress on covering a cornball plot.

- A.D. Amorosi

nolead begins Discovery nolead ends

nolead begins LP nolead ends nolead begins

(XL ***)

nolead ends Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend and Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot have collaborated to form Discovery, a "recording project" whose debut album, LP, is adorable and slightly affected, offering a geeky hybrid of the former's orchestral rock and the latter's "Upper West Side Soweto." LP's percussive computer pop approaches hip-hop but veers away from that genre's frequently overwrought production and preoccupation with excess. Minimalist jams such as "Orange Shirt" and "So Insane" are refreshingly weightless, and the playfully tinkling melody of "Swing Song," while danceable, remains stripped-down. The album incorporates insider friends and references throughout. Guest appearances by Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig and Angel Deradoorian of the Dirty Projectors, along with a nearly unrecognizable Jackson Five cover, reinforce Discovery's precocious, faintly pretentious appeal.

- Nayeli Rodriguez

From Elvis in Memphis: Legacy Edition

(RCA/Legacy ****)

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On the 32d anniversary of his death, it's nice to have a new reminder of Elvis Presley's greatness. That's what you get with this two-disc set from the King's triumphant return to his hometown in early 1969.

The reissue gathers the material that resulted in the albums From Elvis in Memphis and Back in Memphis, as well as singles such as "Suspicious Minds." This is the reborn Elvis, building on the credibility he regained with his spectacular TV special of December 1968. He doesn't really rock out, but he does show the mature heights of which he was capable, with a magnificent amalgam of R&B, country, and orchestral pop that never turns schmaltzy. And he connects with an exceptional collection of songs - "Any Day Now," "Long Black Limousine," "Stranger in My Own Home Town" - that were a far cry from the trifles that had littered his movie sound tracks.

- Nick Cristiano

nolead begins The Saddle Cats
nolead ends nolead begins Herdin' Cats
nolead ends nolead begins (EastLight ***)

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Hailing from the Bay Area, the Saddle Cats devote themselves to keeping Western swing alive while championing the West Coast's role in shaping music more often associated with Texas and Oklahoma. They make a pretty lively case on Herdin' Cats.

The four-man group, augmented by guests such as former Texas Playboys drummer Johnny Cuviello (now in his mid-90s), traverse familiar swing territory. They put their own stamp on the material, however, thanks mostly to steel guitarist Bobby Black, who played with Commander Cody and Asleep at the Wheel, and fiddler Richard Chon, of Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. They take the lead in defining an ensemble whose playing is hot and virtuosic but never flashy. Chon's tenor, meanwhile, lends an additional warmth to the vocal numbers, especially the slower selections, such as "Along the Navajo Trail" and "I've Got a Woman Crazy for Me (She's Funny That Way)."

- N.C.

Homecoming

nolead begins (ELM Classics nolead ends nolead begins ***1/2 nolead ends nolead begins nolead ends nolead begins )

nolead ends It was a memorable occasion when tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris met up with pianist Ellis Marsalis in 1985. Their duo recording originally was released on a small Texas label called Spindletop Records, which subsequently folded.

The reissue of this set with the performer of "Freedom Jazz Dance" and the patriarch of the New Orleans Marsalis clan proves to be a warm affair with high, swinging moments and some creative cacophony.

Harris, an extremely versatile player who died in 1996, was often dismissively typed as funky. But he had far more moves than that. "Ethereal Moments" finds him blowing gales that could recall Pharoah Sanders. "Zee Blues" is pretty spacey, too, while the title track shows an easy fluency in a more mainstream setting.

Marsalis lays down a quaint New Orleans mood on the classic "Have You Met Miss Jones?" and proves stellar throughout.

With the original session only 42 minutes in length, Marsalis teams up with fellow Crescent City pianist Jonathan Batiste on three tunes at the end. Their chemistry makes for a scintillating coda.

- Karl Stark

nolead begins Karrin Allyson
nolead ends nolead begins By Request: The Best of Karrin Allyson nolead ends nolead begins

nolead ends nolead begins (C nolead ends nolead begins oncord nolead ends nolead begins ***1/2 nolead ends nolead begins nolead ends nolead begins )

nolead ends Singer Karrin Allyson has recorded 11 CDs on Concord, and this compilation of her career represents her 12th. The Kansas-born singer burst on the scene in the early 1990s and consistently has delivered quality sultriness.

"O Pato (The Duck)," her trademark samba, is here. So are several standards, ranging from "Night and Day" to "Nature Boy," that never seem stiff in her hands.

"Sous Le Ciel De Paris (Under Paris Skies)" lets her wax poetically in French, enabling Gil Goldstein to contribute a veritable Left Bank accordion solo. Then Jobim's "A Felicidade (Happiness)" finds her supple in Portuguese. Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" shows some variety, while "Sweet Home Cookin' Man" displays some bluesy steaminess. She's had a reasonable run.

- K.S.

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Symphony No. 6
nolead ends nolead begins London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klaus Tennstedt conducting.
nolead ends nolead begins (LPO ****)

nolead ends nolead begins Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, David Zinman conducting. nolead ends nolead begins

(RCA Red Seal ****)

nolead ends Two great recordings of the Mahler 6th have arrived simultaneously, even if they were recorded roughly 25 years apart. The late Klaus Tennstedt recorded all the Mahler symphonies for EMI but was often on all-too-good behavior in the studio. So here's yet another live Mahler 6th from Tennstedt, this one from 1983 (a slower 1991 live recording has been published by EMI). Orchestral choirs make entrances with a jaw-dropping sense of drama and purpose. No matter how well you think you know the piece, things pop out of the side doors in ways that add immeasurably to the big picture. Even the Royal Albert Hall sound quality is excellent in ways that take you deep inside the orchestration.

A classicist at heart, David Zinman delivers a deeply felt recording that also makes the best-ever case for the symphony as an architectural entity. Mahler often changed his mind about the order of the movements; most conductors follow the first movement with the scherzo, even though they're so similar in character as to feel like more of the same. Zinman puts the slow movement before the scherzo, which is treated to a slower tempo and more pronounced, dancelike rhythms. Thus, the scherzo achieves a greater personality of its own in a sequence that follows the example of Mozart. As always with Zinman in Zurich, the playing is well-chiseled and well-enshrined by the Tonhalle acoustics. - David Patrick Stearns

nolead begins Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg
Together
nolead ends nolead begins Assad's Impressions, Piazzolla's Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances and Gershwin's "Bess, You is My Woman Now."
New Century Chamber Orchestra, Salerno-Sonnenberg violin and music director. nolead ends nolead begins

(NSS Music, ***)

nolead ends The eternal question of what ever-restless Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg will do next is answered by this new disc with her listed as music director of the San Francisco-based New Century Chamber Orchestra. The album notes suggest she isn't conducting in the typical sense but acting as an unusually interventionist concert mistress while also choosing the repertoire for programs performed in the Bay Area. Unquestionably, performances have the imaginative, exciting, go-for-broke Salerno-Sonnenberg touch.

But you wish the orchestra had waited another year before recording. Though the Astor Piazzolla Four Seasons enjoys a flinty, witty, first-class performance, other pieces are plagued with tuning problems that aren't so noticeable in performance but are magnified by microphones. Especially rough is Clarice Assad's Impressions, which is full of infectiously Brazilian high spirits and enveloping warmth. Though the disc is anything but a showcase for Salerno-Sonnenberg's playing, what solo work there is indicates she's having a high old time. - D.P.S.