Richard Thompson
Sweet Warrior
(Shout Factory)
After four years of side projects (a film score, cover albums and an acoustic album), Thompson returns with his strongest band-backed album since Rumor & Sigh. The sabbatical helped him deliver an album that’s one of his most textured. “Francesca” has a comfortable, laid-back reggae beat, and the ballads, such as the moving “Take Care the Road You Choose” and “Sunset Song,” feel influenced by the traditional songs he played during his 1,000 Years of Popular Music tour. But as with much of his work, gloom and doom hangs heavy on even the record’s toe-tappers. While that may be appropriate for a war-themed album, it doesn’t offer any escape from today’s headlines. —Mark Roessler
*
Sun Ra
Strange Strings
(Unheard Music Series)
Strange Strings is a major album disguised as a curio. Its genesis springs from the exotic stringed instruments Sun Ra collected during his globe-spanning travels. He passed them out to his band, unperturbed by their professed inability to play them. Derided at the time as an exercise in ignorance, it’s now easier to appreciate the album’s potent brew of otherworldly orchestral textures, spiraling horn solos, and heavy dub rhythms. This is truly cosmic music, birthed through jazz improvisation but barely tethered to traditional musical ideas from either East or West. Strange Strings is the most unusual effort from the musician who claimed to hail from Saturn. For those willing to absorb such visionary musical vocabulary, it’s also one of his most satisfying. —Jeff Jackson
*
Kris Drever
Black Water
(Compass)
2007 is Kris Drever’s breakout year: a duo album with Irish accordionist Éamonn Coyne, a trio album with Lau and now Black Water, which spotlights Drever’s solo skills. His voice is reminiscent of the late Davy Steele with dulcet high notes and raspy edges. Drever offers a fresh take on traditional songs—his take on “Patrick Spence” is jolly but less music hall than previous takes of this well-traveled song. Drever demonstrates Woody Guthrie-like championing of the underdog in songs such as “Harvest Gypsy” and “Poor Man’s Son.” Mix with two crisp guitar solos, dynamic covers of recent Scottish singer-songwriter material, and guest work from stalwarts such as Donald Shaw, Ian Carr, Eddi Reader, and John McCusker, and the product justifies the buzz. —Rob Weir
*
Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation: Deluxe Edition
(Universal)
Let’s assume you own a copy of Daydream Nation, that seminal slab of indie rock dubbed “Dark Side of the Moon for people who love the Sex Pistols.” It’s a perfect album, but you knew that already. So this review revolves around the extras on the new deluxe edition. Unlike so many watered-down repackagings, it offers genuine revelations. The raw and ferocious live versions of the album tracks don’t trump the definitive studio takes, but they’re different enough to make you hear the songs with fresh ears. You also get superlative covers of Mudhoney, Neil Young, Capt. Beefheart, and one of the best Beatles covers ever waxed—a nuanced psychedelic noise rendition of “Within You Without You.” Essential, all over again. —Jeff Jackson
