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.
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Chronicles of A Diamond
Arriving four years after the Austin duo's eponymous debut -- a period of time when they were repeatedly nominated for Grammys, including nods for a Deluxe Edition reissue of Black Pumas and the concert set Capitol Cuts - Live from Studio A -- Chronicles of a Diamond finds Black Pumas orbiting the same sonic sun they created their first time around. Drawing equally from vintage psychedelia, producer/multi-instrumentalist Adrian Quesada and vocalist Eric Burton do achieve a certain kind of cinematic swirl, one that drifts in and out of focus due to shifts in textures and chords, not the melody. Often, Burton appears to be riding waves created by Quesada, murmuring, crooning, and testifying according to how the kaleidoscope shifts. Burton's falsetto feels like part of the tapestry masterminded by Quesada, never quite pulling attention to either his words or melodies. While this ultimately means that Chronicles of a Diamond doesn't leave enough hooks behind to linger in the memory, the pulsating, colorful vibrations it creates as its spins are certainly an enjoyable way to get lost in the ether for a half hour or so. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine (syndetics)
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Folklore
On her eighth studio album, Taylor Swift poured all her whims, dreams, fears, and musings into the seventeen tracks. She collaborated with some of her musical heroes: Aaron Dessner, Bon Iver, William Bowery, and Jack Antonoff. (syndetics)
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Live from the Northwest, 1959
Recorded in April, 1959, on this recording you can hear the Quartet's mastery of spontaneous counterpoint improvisation. (syndetics)
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Madres
Active as a producer and DJ for more than a decade, Sofia Kourtesis broke through with the release of her acclaimed 2021 EP Fresia Magdalena, which featured two sublime, bittersweet singles, "La Perla" (dedicated to her late father) and "By Your Side." Madres, her 2023 full-length debut, is a vibrant set of house tracks that serve as poignant reflections, celebrations, and peaceful protests. Originally from Peru, Kourtesis left at age 17 in order to escape the conservatism of her home community -- she was bullied and sent to conversion therapy after kissing a girl. She fled to Berlin, where she was able to embrace the freedom of club culture, and she became a staunch activist for gender equality. Her music is equally informed by European nightlife and her South American upbringing, incorporating personal recordings and lyrics inspired by her family. Compared to her earlier EPs, Madres feels more refined and less quirky and glitchy, with strong vocal hooks in line with contemporaries like Peggy Gou and Jayda G. "Si Te Portas Bonito" is one of her most memorable songs to date, thanks to its irresistible vocal melody and creative sampled rhythmic chants in the background. The heart-stirring "Vajkoczy" is named after Peter Vajkoczy, the renowned neurosurgeon who performed a life-saving operation on Kourtesis' mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. Kourtesis remained friends with Vajkoczy, bonding with him over the healing power of music, and she even took him out clubbing. Songs like the knocking garage rush of "How Music Makes You Feel Better" and the subtler "Funkhaus" (named after the club venue where Kourtesis first began working when she moved to Berlin) channel the ecstatic feelings of dancing and being accepted by the club community. While much of the album is based on personal experiences, it still contains a heavy subtext of political and social activism, particularly on the previously issued single "Estación Esperanza," which incorporates samples of chanting from an anti-homophobia protest as well as looped and re-sung lyrics from Manu Chao's signature hit "Me Gustas Tú." Album closer "El Carmen" is dedicated to the joy and livelihood of Afro-Peruvian culture, sampling gleeful vocal chants, percussion, and horns. Madres deals with serious subject matter, but ultimately it's an abundantly thankful, joyous, and celebratory record. ~ Paul Simpson (syndetics)
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Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
Polachek's first album release since her 2019 experimental pop masterpiece PANG, which cemented her as a generational talent. (syndetics)
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Outside problems
Andrew Bird's latest album features a combination of casual recordings made during the pandemic and a selection of outdoor recordings. (syndetics)
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Archives: Vol. 3, The Asylum Years (1972-1975)
The third volume in Joni Mitchell's ongoing Archives series covers her especially transformative phase between 1972 and 1975, when she was shedding some of her folk background and venturing into territory simultaneously more accessible and more unprecedented. This fruitful era produced the soul-searching soft rock of 1972's For the Roses, 1974 pop breakthrough Court and Spark, and 1975's pivot to more experimental, jazz-influenced songwriting on The Hissing of Summer Lawns. As with previous volumes of the series, Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years (1972-1975) offers an exhaustively complete window into Mitchell's creative process from its particular era, this time with 96 tracks that include previously unshared demos, alternate studio versions, live performances from the time, and the like. Impressively, the collection begins with early versions of two For the Roses tunes cut at an impromptu 1971 studio session with David Crosby and Graham Nash. These stripped-down versions of "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" and "For the Roses" are even more intimate than the album versions, highlighting the urgency and passion in Mitchell's voice and lyrics. A series of For the Roses demos played on piano are similarly effective, clearing away everything except the rawest components of the songwriting. Amid an abundance of fairly standard concert recordings and alternate versions of album tracks, this volume of Archives includes some of the most interesting Mitchell artifacts of the series up until this point. Among them are especially otherworldly demos of Summer Lawns tracks such as "In France They Kiss On Main Street," most of them with the liquid jazz instrumentation of the album boiled away, leaving just Mitchell's bright acoustic guitars and several layers of self-harmonizing vocals. In addition to some curious collaborations with James Taylor, the compilation includes multiple tracks made with Neil Young and different versions of his backing bands. An especially loose and rambling take on Mitchell's first Top 40 hit "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" plays up the country undercurrents that got smoothed out in its official version, but it's a version of Court and Spark's "Raised on Robbery" recorded during the same sessions that gave birth to Young's depraved masterpiece Tonight's the Night that's especially head-turning. If the Court and Spark version aimed for rip-roaring excitement, this performance peels away all of the polish and production, rocking out in a gloriously unhinged way that transposes the song's inherent fun into a reckless euphoria. Joni Mitchell's powers as a songwriter and creative spirit are unparalleled at every step of her journey, but her output in the '70s was on a higher plane, even for her. Archives, Vol. 3 reflects this with behind-the-scenes material just as storied and worthy as the music that Mitchell was making during one of her finest hours. ~ Fred Thomas (syndetics)
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Spirit Power: The Best of Johnny Marr
(syndetics)
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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)
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For That Beautiful Feeling
The Chemical Brothers, one of the most acclaimed and innovative electronic duos in the world, releases their tenth studio album. Recorded in the band's own studio near southern UK, this is a record that hunts for and captures that wild moment when sound overwhelms you and almost pulls you under yet ultimately lets you ride its wave, to destinations unknown. It's a record that pinpoints the exact moment you lose all control, where you surrender and let the music move you as if pulled by an invisible thread. (syndetics)
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