Popular Music CDs for Adults
Hundreds of CDs are added to the Library's collection each month. Here are the most popular Music CDs for adults.
-
![Prequel: [an American Fight Against Fascism]](https://secure.syndetics.com/index.aspx?isbn=9780593868317/MC.GIF&client=sepup&type=sepup&oclc=)
Prequel: [an American Fight Against Fascism]
Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was?with?the Axis, not against it. It was a sophisticated and shockingly well-funded campaign to undermine democratic institutions, promote antisemitism, and destroy citizens' confidence in their elected leaders, with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the U.S. government and installing authoritarian rule. That effort worked, tongue and groove, alongside an ultra-right paramilitary movement that stockpiled bombs and weapons and trained for mass murder and violent insurrection. At the same time, a handful of extraordinary activists and journalists were tracking the scheme, exposing it even as it was unfolding. In 1941 the U.S. Department of Justice finally made a frontal attack, identifying the key plotters, finding their backers, and prosecuting dozens in federal court. None of it went as planned. While the scheme has been remembered in history, if it all, as the work of fringe players, in reality it involved a large number of some of the country's most influential elected officials. Their interference in law enforcement efforts against the plot is a dark story of the rule of law bending and then breaking under the weight of political intimidation. That failure of the legal system had consequences. The tentacles of that unslain beast have reached forward into our history for decades. But the heroic efforts of the activists, journalists, prosecutors, and regular citizens who sought to expose the insurrectionists also make for a deeply resonant, deeply relevant tale in our own disquieting times.
Format: Audiobook CD
Availability: All copies in use
View Prequel: [an American Fight Against Fascism] -
200% DYNAMITE! SKA, SOUL, ROCKSTEADY, FUNK & DUB IN JAMAICA (CD)
Carrying on perfectly from 100% Dynamite, this second compilation continues to trace the history of Jamaican reggae and the influence of American styles such as funk and jazz had on this music. Featured here are serious funk and rocksteady tunes from the likes of The Skatalites and Johnny Osbourne through to Jamaican jazz from masters such as Tommy McCook and Byron Lee, as well as some serious dub from the likes of Augustus Pablo, King Tubby and Jackie Mittoo. New bonus tracks on this new 2023 edition include seminal dancehall party cuts Sister Nancy's 'One Two' and Chaka Demus and Pliers' 'Murder She Wrote', alongside classic soul to reggae covers including cuts of Marlena Shaw's 'Women of the Ghetto' and Odyssey's 'Don't Tell Me Tell Her'.
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View 200% DYNAMITE! SKA, SOUL, ROCKSTEADY, FUNK & DUB IN JAMAICA (CD) -
50 Years of De-evolution, 1973-2023
Devo are sometimes cited as One Hit Wonders, given the fact that "Whip It," which peaked at number 14 on the Singles Charts in 1980, was their one and only song to crack the Top 40 and unwittingly became their musical signature. (Their cover of Lee Dorsey's "Working in a Coal Mine," issued in 1981, just missed the mark, topping out at number 43.) Add the group's sci-fi costuming, robotic stage moves, and their trademark "Energy Dome" headgear and you get a group that seemed like a prank or a novelty to those not paying close attention. That was probably fitting for a band whose concept was built on the notion of cultural entropy, that as a civilization mankind was slowly but surely moving backward rather than forward without most people noticing, thanks to technology and ignorance. If the masses didn't get it, enough people did that Devo refused to go away, becoming a gateway into alternative music for plenty of listeners and inspiring dozens of left-of-center musicians in a career full of creative troublemaking. As Devo celebrate their golden anniversary, they've chosen to mark the occasion with 50 Years of De-Evolution 1973-2023, a double-disc anthology that serves as a convenient guide to their history in 50 songs. The first half serves as a "Greatest Sorta Hits" collection, featuring 24 of their best known tunes, including, of course, "Whip It." (Significantly, only one track on Disc One was released after 1990). Part Two is devoted to rarities and fan favorites, including a 1974 demo of "I'm a Potato" that suggests they were still working some blues influences out of their system; their early independently released singles; alternate versions of songs that only appeared on singles, and the cover of the Kingston Trio's "It Takes a Worried Man" they recorded for Neil Young's film Human Highway. The first half reveals how Devo were able to shape their sometimes morbid ideas into expressive and unexpectedly accessible forms (especially after electronics and dance beats became a bigger part of their formula), and the the harder-edged material in the second half shows they learned a lot from the electronic artists they most certainly influenced. And "No Place Like Home," from 2010's Something for Everybody, is that rarity in their repertoire: a sincere plea for sanity in a world bent on self-destruction that, in the context of their deeply cynical philosophy, is actually moving. No one interested in the bleeding edge of New Wave should be without 1978's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and 1980's Freedom of Choice, but if you're looking for a concise yet thorough summation of one of the smartest and most inventive bands of their time, 50 Years of De-Evolution 1973-2023 will fill the void nicely. ~ Mark Deming (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View 50 Years of De-evolution, 1973-2023 -
THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES (CD)
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES (CD) -
-
Music From Big Pink
The debut album from the Band was a landmark release that brought together elements of rock, country, and other forms of American roots music. This expanded edition offers more insight into one of rock's greatest albums. (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View Music From Big Pink -
-
ETERNAL SUNSHINE (CD)
After four years, Ariana Grande is releasing a brand-new album. The latest from the star of the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked includes the single 'Yes, And?'.
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View ETERNAL SUNSHINE (CD) -
DANIEL (CD)
Real Estate's sixth full-length album was recorded in an ebullient nine-day spree in RCA Studio A, in Nashville with celebrated producer and songwriter Daniel Tashian. In eleven compulsively tuneful songs, they connect the uninhibited wonder of their earliest work with the earned perspective of adulthood.
Format: Music CD
Availability: On order
View DANIEL (CD) -
Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings
Seventy years on from the legendary 1953 concert at Massey Hall in Toronto, featuring jazz legends Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach on stage together, comes this complete two-CD set. (syndetics)
Format: Music CD
Availability: All copies in use
View Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings