Listen Up! New fall music arrivals

Published 1:30 am Monday, November 21, 2016

By Lisa, Everett Public Library staff

KT Tunstall – KIN (Caroline Records) – acoustic-guitar-driven power-pop. A little folky, very laid back.

Bobby Rush – Porcupine Meat (Rounder) – blues, funk, and a heavy horn section act as your guides through what sounds like one heck of a breakup.

Charlie Hunter – Everybody Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Mouth (Ground Up) – irresistible instrumental blues with NOLA-style jazz brass accompaniment.

Skye & Ross – Skye & Ross (Fly Agaric Records; Cooking Vinyl Limited) – Skye & Ross is a side project of British trip-hop legends, Morecheeba. It should be no surprise then that this album is packed with ethereal, sensual, downtempo. jazz, rock, soul, and trip-hop goodness. This seems to be classified as an electronic release everywhere, probably because of the band’s lineage but to me it listens more like a very low-key indie rock album.

Madeleine Peyroux – Secular Hymns (Impulse!) – beautiful vocal jazz with blues, folk, and swing undertones.

Amanda Shires – My Piece of Land (BMG Rights Management) – soft, gentle country music with a touch of folk.

Gallant – Ology (Mind of a Genius Records; Warner Bros. Records) – smooth and loungy RnB that makes you want to get up and dance.

Jamie Lidell – Building a Beginning (Jajulin) – Lidell departs from his electronic music roots to produce a smooth and soulful RnB record. Listeners can catch a strong Stevie Wonder influence in his sound, but it doesn’t go as far as parroting.

Pretenders – Alone (BMG Rights Management) – at times sultry, at others, gritty. This driving 10th release from frontwoman Crissie Hynde is apologetically irreverent and brutally honest.

Saint Motel – saintmotelevision (Elektra Records) – eclectic alternative rock. A strong gospel influence and an upbeat horn section give this release a lot of energy and depth.

St. Paul and the Broken Bones – Sea of Noise (Records) – a solid neo-soul album with lots of groove. Thought-provoking lyrics explore the issues of racial violence, political turmoil, and the everyday struggles of faith and love.

Older Titles, Newly Added

Hardcore Traxx: Dance Mania Records 1986-1997 (Strut Records) – Anyone interested in the history of house music needs to give this collection a listen. It’s like a musical time machine to Chicago in the 1980s.

Only 4U: The Sound of Cajmere & Cajual Records 1992-2012 (Strut Records) – Get in that musical time machine to Chicago and fast forward 10 years. This collection picks up on the Chicago sound from where the Hardcore Traxx collection leaves off.

Be sure to visit A Reading Life for more reviews and news of all things happening at the Everett Public Library.