Astrud Gilberto is still the undisputed "Queen of Bossa-Nova" She was first introduced to the World in 1964 with the Grammy-winning recording of "The Girl From Ipanema". Along with Stan Getz, Antonio Carlos Jobim and her then-husband João Gilberto, she introduced the World to the sensual rhythms of Brazilian music. Although today the 63 year old legend donates much of her time to charitable causes, she has released a new album "Jungle" available online.
Goldfrapp
With their new album Felt Mountain, the duo of Will Gregory and Allison Goldfrapp, better known simply as Goldfrapp, has crafted a noteworthy debut. By combining noir-like moods and David Lynch-esque emotion with avant orchestration and neo-retro singing, Goldfrapp delivers a cinematic and spiritual album. The track"Oompa Radar" recreates the same eerie, yet comforting, tone found in Wim Wenders' film, Wings of Desire, in which an angel falls in love with a human. The cabaret waltz gives way to a lush refrain that's an intoxicating lullaby. "Pilots" uses inventive arrangements and soulful singing in the same way Bjork does, but with a sense of originality. Debut records are rarely this alluring, and it's to Goldfrapp's credit that it embraces past and futuristic music styles in a way that is totally its own.
Neil Halstead
Given that Brit guitarist-songwriter Neil Halstead's work with both Slowdive and Mojave 3 is as sleepy as it is pretty, you'd think his first solo record would provide him the chance to stretch and maybe even break a string in pursuit of a bona fide rock moment. Instead, Halstead's Sleeping on Roads--basically, a home recording featuring a bunch of his friends, dims the lights even more. Tracks like the chiming, trumpet-tweaked opener "Seasons" point to a keen sense of melody. Halstead's delicate touch with guitar and his barely-there vocals sustain the sense of quiet introspection throughout the album's nine tracks. Winsome, ethereal folk never sounded so good.
Idaho
This Los Angeles combo crafts hypnotic dream-core, using detuned guitars as a kind of sonic fingerpaint with which to emblazon its soundscapes with a rich, glowing vibrancy. Idaho recalls such narcotic forebears as Slintand Codeine, breathing some of the same particle-heavy air as those bands but possessing far stronger songwriting ideas and execution than either. Their 1998 album Alas is lightly sweetened with psychedelic condiments (a wispy violin on "Jump Up," a bassoon and tinkling xylophone on theSpinanes-like "Only In The Desert") and studded with alt-star guest appearances from the likes of Joey Waronker (Beck,R.E.M.) and Melissa Auf Der Maur (Hole). Alas floats above your consciousness at a dizzying altitude.
Interpol
Interpol initially sounds as if they must have been roaming about Manchester as the '70s screamed to a close. Combining the insistent drone of Joy Division with the dreamy melodies of the Chameleons, the fire of Mission Of Burma, and an occasional jagged edge a la The Fall, the foursome inconceivably manage to defy anachronism on their debut full-length TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS. Just how they do it is indefinable, perhaps it's just a trick of the light, or the life that breathes gloomily, radiantly throughout, but it's undeniable.
Jamiroquai
Intergalactic themes and verbose apocalyptic visions are abound and it's all funky disco, baby! Lead singer Jay Kay makes no pretenses about A Funk Odyssey being anything more than music to feel good to. You should also examine Kay as a lyricist. Try counting all those big words he uses: "Verbal decimation, fancy aspirations, altercation, desperation ... sonic infiltrator."
Kings of Convenience
Collared shirts. A sigh. Acoustic guitars. Precision. Wet grass at daybreak. Harmony. Quiet strumming. Intricate picking. Simon and Garfunkel. Lovely. Dark, yet warm. Sleepy. Simple. Retro. A shared glance with a stranger. Spend the day in bed. Fog. Zip up your jacket and go for a walk. Shy kids with glasses. Thoughtful. Norway. Happy being sad. Lonesome trumpet. Translucent. Boredom. Foreign films. Corduroy pants. No one to share a hot chocolate with. Depression. Indie? Avoid the mirror. Badly
Drawn Boy. Call a friend, no one answers. Not slowcore! Languid violins. Nick Drake. Acoustic revolution! Hours spent reading. Catchy. Smile through the tears. Dirty snow. Gray sky. Belle & Sebastian. Dusk. Watch the people hurry by. Do you like me? Yes.