- THE ROOTS Phrenology (MCA) The mediocre crossover single “Break You Off,” featuring wan vocals from Musiq, is the Philadelphia hip-hop band’s sole concession to biz pressure–even their inclusion of murmured hooks from Nelly Furtado, Jill Scott, and Alicia Keys sounds like an aesthetic choice. Staying true to the restless spirit of invention that gave birth to hip-hop, they stake out new turf with a tossed-off hardcore track, a three-part epic dominated by an abstract instrumental section, and a scrappy soul-rock collaboration with Cody Chesnutt. But they also play to their strengths, carving out their deepest grooves yet, and each listen reveals one more subtly shifting detail in their kaleidoscopic mix.
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WILCO Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Nonesuch) An “uncommercial art record,” sez Rolling Stone, but all I hear is beautifully constructed introspective pop. Over the last year and a half the tunes have too often been overshadowed by the album’s admittedly great back story and mixer Jim O’Rourke’s rep. But none of this would resonate if the album weren’t chock-full of heartbreaking melodies. Though they’re adorned by a nearly orchestral catalog of instrumental effects, Jeff Tweedy’s plaintive hooks are still what make ’em go.
ORCHESTRA BAOBAB Specialist in All Styles (World Circuit/Nonesuch) This storied Senegalese dance band reunited in 2001 to record this new offering, their first in 15 years. The group indulge in some warm and fuzzy nostalgia for the days when they were Senegal’s leading music makers–before Youssou N’Dour (who coproduced the album) became a star by mixing ethnic musical traditions with rock-tinged rhythms to create mbalax in the early 80s. Their gentle Afro-Cuban grooves are cut with dollops of reggae, while the vocal blend of three Baobab vets and griot newcomer Assane Mboup sounds both bluesy and faintly Middle Eastern. Issa Cissokho’s airy tenor saxophone and Barthelemy Attisso’s sublimely precise guitar–which underlines every lilting phrase with tonal bite, every stinging lick with plush depth–make the band sound as vital as any of their modern peers.
KRONOS QUARTET Nuevo (Nonesuch) I’m usually turned off by the Kronos Quartet’s high-concept approach–the group’s attempt to go global on 2000’s Caravan, for instance, jammed too many disparate musical styles into a lifeless mishmash–but this is just too much fun to resist. Violinist David Harrington set out to reconstruct the jumble of traditions he heard while walking along the streets of Mexico City, drawing on a century of music in the process. There are wild banda, a schmaltzy Esquivel cover, and a dramatic piece by the great composer Silvestre Revueltas, and the quartet collaborates with everyone from Cafe Tacuba to Nortec Collective charter member Plankton Man to a Mexico City street musician who plays the melody to “Perfidia” by blowing on the edge of an ivy leaf. A postmodern collision that works.
